From Faith - For Faith
In Romans, Paul demonstrates that all men have sinned. Jews and Gentiles alike violate God’s revealed will, therefore, no one is or can be justified before Him “from the works of the Law.” Jews have the Mosaic Law but fall short of its requirements. Gentiles have the witness of their conscience yet live and even revel in their sins. So, if no one is set right before God “from the works of the Law,” how is anyone “justified” or reconciled with Him?
Fortunately, Paul
does not leave us without explanation or hope. After his opening salutations,
he declares that there is a “righteousness of God” that is being “manifested
apart from the law”:
- “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every man who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it is being revealed a righteousness of God from faith for faith, as it is written, But the righteous one shall live from faith” – (Romans 1:16-17 – Emphasis added).
Arguably, this
pronouncement is the main theme of the Letter and goes to the heart of its message.
In His Son, God
has provided salvation for all men and women who exercise faith in him, and the
Gospel alone contains the “power” to achieve their reconciliation with their
Creator.
HIS FAITHFULNESS
Paul refers to
the righteousness “of God” - something that He possesses - and
not to any moral absolute or ethical standard that men must attain through
their own efforts. Certainly, there are moral absolutes, but that is not what
is under discussion.
In the Greek
sentence, Paul uses a progressive present tense verb - God’s “righteousness,”
His faithfulness, is “being revealed”
wherever and whenever the Gospel is proclaimed. The salvation that commenced with
his death and resurrection continues as Jesus is borne witness to before men.
This proposition could quite accurately be described as “apocalyptic.”
And His righteousness is being revealed, “from faith for faith.” The two Greek prepositions are quite specific – “from” (ek) and “for” (eis – or “unto faith”). There is a source (“from”) and a recipient of this righteousness (“for faith”).
And its source is
the “Righteous One.” Here, Paul uses a noun in the singular number
accompanied by a direct article or “the.” He is referring to a specific and
known person, namely, Jesus of Nazareth. And again, he uses a specific
preposition – “from” or ek.
This is Paul’s
shorthand description of what Jesus accomplished by his death. At this point, the
language is cryptic. But this bare framework is filled in with further details as
the Letter progresses.
In his
declaration, Paul is not talking about how believers live a daily Christian
life; he is describing how they are set right with God in the first place - the
basis of their “justification” before Him.
Moreover, in a
letter in which he stresses that “no one is righteous, no not one,” it
would be strange to describe anyone other than Jesus as “righteous.” Unrighteous
sinners are reconciled with God “through the faith OF Jesus Christ” -
(Romans 3:21-22).
In the passage
cited from Chapter 3, Paul uses a genitive case noun. If he intended to write “in
Jesus,” he would have used the dative case and inserted the preposition en
or “in.” But no Greek preposition is present in the clause, and the
genitive noun signifies something that Jesus possesses.
Paul is
referring to his faith, namely, the “faith” or “faithfulness
of Jesus,” and most likely, he means his faithful obedience “unto death.”
And this righteousness is now “for
[eis] all men who believe” - faith is how the penitent man responds
to the righteousness “from the faith of Jesus.” We are set right “freely
by His grace” that is available “through the redemption that is in Jesus”
- (Romans 3:21-22).
REDEMPTION
The term “redemption”
represents the Greek word formed with the preposition apo (“from”), the
noun lutron (“ransom”), and the verb luô (“loose,
release”). The idea is a “ransomed release,” that is, a release that is accomplished
through ransom. The language is metaphorical, and questions about who paid
what to whom do not enter Paul’s discussion - (Romans 3:23).
Moreover, in his
death on the cross, God “presented Jesus.” Paul uses a verb that means
to set something forth, to “present” something or someone for public display.
And Christ was “presented” on the cross as the ‘hilastérion.’
When we debate
whether this last Greek noun means “propitiation” or “expiation” we overlook
the background from the Book of Leviticus. The Greek Septuagint
version uses hilastérion for the “mercy seat” that was in the
inner sanctum of the Tabernacle. Paul uses an analogy from the annual Day of
Atonement when the high priest entered the “holy of holies” with
sacrificial blood that was sprinkled before and on the “mercy seat” to “cover”
the stain of Israel’s sin - (Leviticus 16:15-17).
The “mercy seat” was the place where the presence of
Yahweh met with the priestly representative of Israel and reconciliation was
made by applying animal blood to it. In Leviticus, the blood “covered”
the stains of Israel’s sin that had defiled the “mercy seat” and the “holy
place” over the preceding year. The blood was not applied to any Israelite.
Thus, in Romans, Jesus is both the place and the means of
reconciliation between God and man.
But there are
differences between the Levitical ritual and the sacrifice of Jesus. In the Temple,
the high priest entered the “holy of holies” alone and out of sight of
the people, but God “presented” Jesus as the place of sacrifice openly
for all to see. And the high priest applied the blood of bulls and goats to the
“mercy seat,” but God applied the blood of Jesus, the “righteous”
and faithful one.
Through
his faithful act, Jesus became the “mercy seat,” the place of
reconciliation, and the means for reconciling us to God. His sacrificial death is
also “proof,” the evidence of God’s “righteousness,” of His
justice and covenant faithfulness.
PROOF
In His “forbearance,”
God “passed over” our past sins. By putting off our just desserts until
the “Day of wrath” He spared us from experiencing the very “wrath”
that we so richly deserve. That is, until now, for in Jesus Christ He has dealt
decisively with the problem and made provision for our justification.
But this has been done “for proof in the
present time,” for God has made salvation available to all men through His Son.
That is why the paragraph concludes - “To the end, his righteous one, even
the one who is being set right from the faith of Jesus.”
The clause rendered “to the end”
translates eis to einai indicating purpose - “to the end, for the
purpose.” And the term “his righteous one” (auton dikaion,
singular) reiterates the Letter’s opening proposition that the “righteous
one (ho dikaios, singular) will live from faith (ek pisteôs).”
Only now, the source of that faith is identified – “from the faith of Jesus.” That is to say, the righteous man is being reconciled to God on the basis of Christ’s faithful act. His faithfulness in death is the foundation of God’s declaration that a man is justified before Him.
This understanding is confirmed in the conclusion
of Chapter 3. There can be no “boasting,”
no claim laid upon God because of our faithful law-keeping. He owes us nothing
but wrath and death. We are not justified “from the law” of Moses, but “from
a law of faith,” namely, the “faith of Jesus Christ.”
And in this “present time,” men are justified
by responding to that gracious act with faith in what God has done “through
the faith of Jesus.” Thus, the Gospel preached by Paul is the “power of
God for salvation” to all men and women who respond to the “faith of Jesus,”
his faithfulness in death, with faith.
