Only By Faith

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” Romans 1:16-17 (NLT)

The Good News, also called the “Gospel”, is a message and a story of God’s saving activity through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s unique Son (Romans 1:1, see also John 1:14). Thus, the Good News is from and about the very Son of God, Jesus Christ! This message starts with Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry and continues with the apostolic preaching in the book of Acts.

The Good News message starts with the Jews first. “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). The Good News about God came "to the Jew first" in the ministry of Jesus Christ (the Messiah) (Matthew 10:5-7; see also Romans 1:16; Romans 11:18) and the first Apostles. Of course, the first disciples and apostles were faithful Jews who recognized Jesus as God's Messiah to the human race. Even more, the “very words of God” (Romans 3:2), the covenants, the Law, the Temple, worship, revelation of God’s glory, and the Messianic prophets came from the Jews (Romans 9:3-5). These privileges were given to the Jews not because of their superior merit or because of God’s partiality to the Jews. Instead, these privileges were necessary that the Gospel message begin at a particular point with a particular people, who in turn were responsible to carry the Gospel message throughout the world to all people.

The Gospel message has a life-changing power to change people's lives from inside the heart! This message, through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, does what no amount of mere human can do – to change! Only God can change a person as the Gospel is the power which blasts away self-complacency, self-delusion, and sinful self-reliance. This message of Jesus Christ had transformed the lives of the first disciples and apostles, including Paul’s own life, and they knew the Gospel could transform the lives of others. The outcome of the Good News is the power of God unto salvation (Romans 1:16).

The basic meaning of the word “salvation” is “deliverance”. The Good News delivers sinners from the penalty and power of sin. Salvation is the great need of the human race (see Romans 10:1, 9-10). If men and women are to be saved, it must be BY FAITH in God’s saving activity through the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The outreach of the Good News is for everyone – Jews and Gentiles without distinction of age, sex, race, or condition (Romans 1:16-17). All people are lost without Jesus Christ! But faith is the key to receiving the Gospel message and life-changing power. Most important, God does not ask people to behave in order to be saved, but to BELIEVE. Only faith in Jesus Christ’s finished work saves! By trusting Jesus Christ, our relationship with God is made right. So, “from first to last” God declares us to be righteous because of faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ. Simply put, the Good News is “the power of God” to change a person’s life by their faith.

Romans 1:16-17 are key verses of the book of Romans. In these verses, Paul announces the theme or thesis: “the righteousness of God.” The Good News is the power or “dynamite” or “dynamo” because through the Good News the righteousness of God is revealed. The word “righteousness” also means “righteous”, “just”, and “justified”. The basic meaning of righteousness is moral uprightness or doing the right thing for the right reason – a pure heart and pure motives. Righteousness is used in various ways in the Holy Bible, righteousness refers (1) to God's holy character (John 17:25), (2) to the gift everyone receives through faith in Jesus Christ’s finished work (Romans 3:21-22; Romans 5:17), and (3) to standards of right living (Romans 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22). In the Person of Jesus Christ is revealed the perfect righteousness.

The Good News reveals a righteousness that is by faith. As sinners, we receive God’s righteousness from faith to faith that is righteousness is received by faith in Christ Jesus’ finished work and is in turn revealed in faithful living to God. In the Old Testament, righteousness was by works, but people soon discovered they could not obey God's Law and meet God’s righteous demands.

In Romans 1:16-17, Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4: “The just shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4, NKJV). In other words, “those who are right with God will live by trusting in Him” (Habakkuk 2:4 NCV) and trusting that God is directing all things according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted frequently in the New Testament to support the teaching that everyone is saved by grace (God’s gift) through wholehearted faith (see Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Ephesians 2:8) and should live by faith (Hebrews 10:38-39; Hebrews 11:6-7; see also Genesis 15:6). In essence, the Apostle Paul is emphasizing in Romans 1:16-17 that one can be righteous in God's sight only through faith. This faith means wholehearted acceptance of Jesus Christ, a personal trust, a confident surrender, and firm reliance in God and characterized by a life style of righteous living (see Paul’s teaching on righteous our living at Romans chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15). Wholehearted faith in God will always lead to moral living.

As we trust God, we are saved and find life both now and forever. Through faith in God’s saving activity in Jesus Christ, we receive salvation from the penalties of sin or past sins (Luke 7:50; Romans 1–3; Ephesians 2:8); present salvation from the power of sin in the daily life (Romans 5:10; see also Romans 6:3–11), and future salvation (or heaven) from the actual presence of sin (Romans 8:16–25; 2 Corinthians 4:16–5:10). If anyone believes the Good News that same person has life (union with God); otherwise he has death and separation from God. The basis of salvation is God’s grace (Romans 3:23–26) and the only means by which we sinners can receive God’s grace is through faith (Romans 10:9–17).

The Holy Scriptures discusses six kinds or expressions of faith. Doctrinal faith refers to the content of our belief (Jude 3). Saving faith is trusting in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation (Acts 16:31). Justifying faith is a person’s reliance on the fact that God has declared one righteous through faith (Genesis 15:6). Indwelling faith is trusting God’s Word in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Daily faith is day-by-day dependence on God – the sanctification process (2 Corinthians 5:7). The gift of faith is a special ability received from God’s Holy Spirit (Hebrews 11:1–3). Illustration of this kind of faith is God’s hall of faith found at Hebrews 11. These individuals listed in Hebrew 11 experienced God’s blessing as a result of their faith and all pleased God by their faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Essentially, no one can please God without faith in Him (Genesis 15:6; Romans 1:17; Romans 4:20). Living by faith means we place our whole heart, our dependence, and our reliance on God first and foremost for all of life needs (Matthew 6:33; see also Habakkuk 2:4). This faith ceases from all self to all God. We are to live patiently and by trusting our sovereign God. The Jewish rabbis taught that there were 613 commandments for the ancient Israelites to obey if they wanted to be righteous. Psalm 15 reduces those commandments down to eleven. Isaiah 33:15-16 gives six requirements, and Micah 6:6-8 lists three requirements and to two by Isaiah again (Isaiah 56:1) and to one by Habakkuk 2:4 — faith! Faith (belief and trust) in God is of upmost importance rather than any works (see also Genesis 15:6; Romans 4).

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is God’s powerful method of bringing all who believe it to heaven. This message was preached first to the Jews alone, but now EVERYONE is invited to come to God in this same way. This Good News tells us that God makes us ready for heaven—makes us right in God’s sight—when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scripture says it, “The man who finds life will find it through trusting God.” Romans 1:16-17 (The Living Bible)

References

King James Version Study Bible. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1988.

KJV Bible Commentary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1994.

Life Application Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2005.

NLT Study Bible. Carol Streams, IL: Tyndale House Pub., 2008.

Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. Chicago, IL: Moody, 1995.

The Amplified Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1987.

Zondervan NIV Study Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008.

Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans Pub., 2012.

Wiersbe, Warren W. Bible Exposition Commentary. Victor Books, 1989.