Request your free, three-month trial to Tabletalk magazine. You’ll receive the print issue monthly and gain immediate digital access to decades of archives. This trial is risk-free. No credit card required.
Try Tabletalk NowAlready receive Tabletalk magazine every month?
Verify your email address to gain unlimited access.
Romans 1:16–17
… the gospel of Christ … is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.… For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith (Rom. 1:16b–17a).
Up to this point in his letter, Paul has used the word Gospel several times. The Romans know, of course, that he is speaking of “Good News,” and he already has told them that the Good News to which he is referring is that which is from God and concerns Jesus Christ. Furthermore, he has spoken of his fervent desire to spread this Good News in Rome and of his absolute confidence in it to have a powerful effect even in the capital city, despite what the sophisticates might say.
But what is the Gospel? What is it all about? Paul begins to answer these questions in verses 16 and 17, briefly setting forth the main points of the Gospel that he will unfold in detail in this epistle.
First of all, the Gospel is the key to salvation, for it is the means by which God rescues sinners (“the power of God to salvation”). It is so powerful that everyone who believes it is saved. However, it is also exclusive—only those who believe it are saved. There is no specific way of salvation for Jews and another way (or more than one way) for Gentiles. The Gospel is the way to be made right with God. And all Jews and all Gentiles alike need it.
What they specifically need is righteousness. As Paul will explain, all men are sinful and lack the righteousness God demands. Thankfully, the Gospel shows how man can have this righteousness (“in it the righteousness of God is revealed”). Incredibly, the message of the Gospel is that God gives righteousness to His people. As Dr. James M. Boice writes in his commentary: “The righteousness we need in order to stand before the holy God is not a righteousness we can attain. In fact, it is not human righteousness at all. It is divine righteousness and it becomes ours as a result of God’s free giving. Our part is merely to receive it by faith.”
Faith is indeed the modus operandi. Paul says the Gospel teaches us that we acquire righteousness from God by faith (“from faith to faith”). And what is faith? “Faith is not a work,” Boice explains. “It is believing God. It is opening a hand to receive the righteousness of Christ that God offers.” When we believe the Gospel, the things “concerning … Jesus Christ our Lord” (v. 3), we exercise faith. In response, God imputes righteousness to us and we are enabled to stand before Him justified. Thus, “ ‘The just shall live by faith.’ ”
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Think about Paul’s main points in these verses: the universal need of humans; God providing only one way; God giving righteousness; the place of faith; the just standing before God. Is there anything here that is new or challenging to you, or about which you need to learn more? Pray for wisdom as we follow Paul’s instruction in these areas.
For Further Study
- Romans 10:3–4
- Galatians 2:16
- Galatians 3:6
- Philippians 3:9
- Titus 3:5
- Hebrews 11:7