Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.” These two verses are the key verses in Romans. They convey the entire purpose of Paul in his writing to the Romans. The phrase, “The righteous (or just) shall live by faith,” is a quote from the Old Testament book of Habakkuk. It is repeated 3 times in the New Testament. Here in Romans, Paul places the emphasis on “the just.” In Galatians (3:11), the emphasis is on “by faith.” And in Hebrews (10:38), the emphasis is on “shall live.” All three books explain this verse from a different perspective. In this letter, Paul fully explains what the gospel is, what/who it is about, how it relates to us, and how we are involved both in position and practice. These two verses are a summation of this book. Paul was “not ashamed of the gospel.” This is a remarkable statement. What did he mean and why did he say he wasn’t ashamed? Why would shame be involved at all? The word or title “Christian” is all around us today. The world sees Christianity as a religion with a specific set of beliefs. It is seen as one of hundreds, perhaps thousands of belief systems, or religions, whereby one gets to heaven, or a place of joy/peace/etc. in the afterlife. Each religion has its own particular set of beliefs that include actions that one must perform in order to appease God (or gods) and be allowed into heaven, or paradise, or wherever, after he/she dies. Everything is based on obedience to whatever religion you happen to belong to. Nutshell, if you perform, you “make it.” If not, you don’t and end up in a place of torment, or are given another life to make up, or any number of other options. Regardless, not making it means some sort of punishment, depending on your system. Christianity however, is not a religion but a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It certainly has beliefs, but these beliefs are regarding what God has done for us rather than what we do for Him. There are no actions or deeds that are necessary. True Christianity is the admission of ones total depravity to do anything to appease a holy and perfect God. It is the belief that we have fallen so far from God, that unless He takes action and saves us by His grace, we would be forever lost. This is where Christianity differs, and actually opposes every other religion and system of religious beliefs mankind has ever come up with. Christianity in its absolute true form is based solely on what God has done for us. God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to live the sinless life that we could not, and take God’s righteous wrath and punishment for our sins. Jesus presented Himself as the perfect sacrifice, sinless, took on our sins and the sins of the entire world, was crucified, died, buried, and three days later, rose again from the dead, thereby proving that His sacrifice was indeed sufficient to appease God’s holy wrath against us and our sins. The “work” of Christianity is simply (though it is not easy) believing in that truth (John 6:29). Paul says that he is not ashamed to admit his total inability to save himself and therefore must rely solely on God’s mercy and grace for salvation. In a nutshell, “religion” says “do,” while Christianity says “done.” The term “believer” is often used interchangeably with “Christian.” The Christian is a believer in Christ (Acts 5:14; 1Timothy 4:10; 1 Peter 1:21). Believing (or trusting/having faith) in Jesus Christ, in what He has done, what God has done through Him, is all that is necessary to be saved and have a place secured in heaven after we die (John 14:1-3). Sole-Fide is a Latin term and it means “alone faith” or “faith alone.” This phrase is used exclusively in Christianity and Protestantism specifically, to convey salvation in its simplest form. Believing is simply putting one’s trust in someone or something. It is the object of faith that is important and not the quantity of faith. Believing in Christ is putting our trust in Him and accepting the free gift of salvation that God has offered to everyone, without exception. It is a gift that we can neither earn nor pay (back) for (if you paid for it, it wouldn’t be a gift). It is offered to humanity “to the Jew first and also for the Greek” chronologically. Salvation comes from the Jews (John 4:22); the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2). All that is necessary to obtain salvation is simple faith (see John 1:12, 2 Timothy 1:8-9, Titus 3:3-8, Hebrews 11:1-3). Paul will deal with the ramifications, objections to, our reaction, and other questions that would be naturally asked by his readers in response to this truth. He will anticipate these questions and answer them as we move through Romans. Now, he goes on to say that, “the just (righteous) shall live by faith.” This is where works come in. We identify or recognize Christians by how they act and treat one another. Jesus said, “God saves us unto or for good works (Ephesians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:18; Matthew 5:16). Good works are a result, or a fruit, of salvation. They accompany saving faith, but are not necessary to obtain salvation. This is extremely important and it what separates Christianity from religion as we have stated. James confirms the relationship between faith and works when he says, “but someone may well say, ‘you have faith and I have works.’ show me your faith without the works and I will show you my faith by my works (James 2:18).” Good works will ALWAYS follow saving faith as God will produce these in the life of the believer. Saving faith is a living faith and without works, it is dead (see James 2:17). Now a warning: There are some sects of “Christianity” that say that good works are required for salvation. This is foreign to what the Bible says and must be rejected. Not only are works not necessary, but there are no works that could possibly make up for our sins. Salvation can only be by God’s grace and nothing else. Romans 1:16-17 should be memorized by every believer. This concludes Paul’s salutation and introduction to his letter to the Romans. Next time, we will begin exploring the gospel. Paul will begin with us, mankind, and our natural sinful condition. He will deal with mankind and people in general, the “morally good” people, and religious people. We will see that all are in need of the free gift. Until next time, may God richly bless you.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 13:41:32 +0000
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