17"For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
The gospel reveals the righteousness of God. This revelation of God's righteousness comes to those with faith, fulfilling Habakkuk 2:4: The just - that is, the justified ones - shall live by faith.
i. It is essential to understand exactly what the righteousness of God revealed by the gospel is. It is not speaking of the holy righteousness of God that condemns the guilty sinner, but of the God-kind of righteousness that is given to the sinner who puts their trust in Jesus Christ.
ii. Righteousness: William Barclay explains the meaning of this ancient Greek word dikaioo, which means I justify, and is the root of dikaioun (righteousness): "All verbs in Greek which end in oo … always mean to treat, or account or reckon a person as something. If God justifies a sinner, it does not mean that he finds reasons to prove that he was right - far from it. It does not even mean, at this point, that he makes the sinner a good man. It means that God treats the sinner as if he had not been a sinner at all."
iii. "It was the happiest day in Luther's life when he discovered that 'God's Righteousness' as used in Romans means God's verdict of righteousness upon the believer." (Lenski)
iv. This declaration is even greater when we understand that this is the righteousness of God given to the believer. It is not the righteousness of even them most holy mere man, nor is it the righteousness of innocent Adam in Eden. It is God's righteousness. "The righteousness which is unto justification is one characterized by the perfection belonging to all that God is and does. It is a 'God-righteousness'." (Murray)
iv. This faith (trust) in Jesus Christ becomes the basis of life for those who are justified (declared righteous); truly, the just shall live by faith. They are not only saved by faith, but they live by faith. (From Blue letter Bible)
What an amazing gift! That God would give us His righteousness in exchange for nothing more than our faith in Him! Praise Him!
No comments:
Post a Comment