The Faithfulness of God
In his Letter to the Romans, Paul stresses the “righteousness of God” that is revealed whenever the Gospel is proclaimed. It is the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Moreover, in the Gospel, this “righteousness” is being proclaimed throughout the earth to “Jews and Greeks” alike. Salvation is now available for all men through the “faith of Jesus Christ,” His “Righteous One” (“From faith to faith… My Righteous One will live from faith”).
And by the “righteousness of God,” the
apostle means HIS “righteousness” - God's faithfulness in
providing salvation for His wayward creatures. And the genitive construction of
the Greek clause, the “righteousness of God,” must be given its full
weight.
Like the “goodness of God” and the “mercy
of God,” it refers to something that belongs to Him, a characteristic that
defines Who and What He is.
And that “righteousness” is found in
and demonstrated by His concrete acts on behalf of humanity accomplished
in His “Righteous One,” Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was “marked
out as the Son of God according to a Spirit of Holiness, from a resurrection of
the dead” - (Romans 1:4).
SIN SEPARATES FROM GOD
The second and third chapters of Romans present
the Gospel as the Great Leveler. Both Jews and Gentiles have fallen
short of the requirements of the Law. Therefore, both groups stand under its “just
sentence.” Thus, short of divine intervention, both Jews and Gentiles alike
are destined to suffer His “wrath” on the future “Day of Wrath.”
Every man is “without excuse”
because all have sinned, and none is in a proper state to judge others. Regardless
of ethnicity, whether “within the law” or “apart from the law,”
all men and women are doomed to experience His “wrath” unless God provides
for their redemption - (Romans 2:5-11).
In Chapter 2, Paul declares that “God
will render to each one according to his works.” Here, the emphasis is on the
future aspect of this “wrath.” It will be unleashed on “the day when
God judges the secrets of men…through Christ Jesus.”
And elsewhere in his letters, Paul links the
“Day of Wrath” to the moment when Jesus arrives from heaven - the
“Day of the Lord.” At that time, all men will be judged by Him and
receive their just desserts - (1 Thessalonians 1:10, 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10).
GOD’S PROVISION
Next, using a series of scriptural proof texts,
Paul demonstrates conclusively that “both Jews and Greeks are under sin”
- “All have sinned and lack the glory of God” - therefore, men and women
are NOT and cannot be reconciled with God “from the works of the Law.”
Instead, the Law serves to “expose sin” for what it is – the trespass of God’s clear commandments and righteous requirements - (Romans 3:9-18, 3:23).
But mercifully, the “righteousness
of God” is being revealed through the proclamation of the Gospel - “through
the faith OF Jesus Christ for all who believe.” In Christ, God declares all
who believe “righteous by His grace, through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus,” and all this is provided apart from the works required by
the Torah - (Romans 3:22-24).
This has been done “with a view to showing
forth of His righteousness in the present season.” In Paul’s teaching, the
stress falls on the present reality of the “righteousness of God,”
and this is demonstrated in the proclamation of the Gospel to all
nations - clear evidence of His faithfulness to redeem men who respond in
faith to Him - (Romans 1:16-18, 3:19-30).
Thus, the faithfulness of God is
unveiled in the present whenever He declares men to be in right standing through
the “faith of Jesus Christ,” and in response to their faith in him. The
provision of salvation in Christ demonstrates the righteousness of God.
Paul speaks of His “righteousness”
from an Old Testament perspective, that is, of “righteousness” as
the faithfulness of God to His promises. Thus, He demonstrates His
“righteousness” for all men to see, in the present tense, and in a most
personal way, by providing redemption and the forgiveness of sins through the “faith
of Jesus.”
