Romans 1:16-17 Part 11
“From Faith to Faith; as it is written, The Just shall Live by Faith.”
I. We must come to the clear understanding that flesh HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO with the Righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel. Paul makes that plain in I Corinthians 1:28-29, “That NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE!!! After all, God’s goal in the Gospel is to call out the Adopted children of Ephesians 1:4-6 --“TO THE GLORY (MANIFESTATION) OF HIS GRACE.”!!! Our acceptance into His Presence (Hebrews 10:5-23) is always and only IN THE BELOVED.” (Matthew 3:17)
I Corinthians 1:30-31 But of Him (the Father’s will and purpose) you are IN CHRIST JESUS (Ephesians 1:3-11), WHO became for us (KJV-“Who is made unto us) Wisdom from God–and Righteousness (from God) and Sanctification (from God) and Redemption (from God).”
And since all that Christ Jesus is made unto us is from God, there is nothing left to be produced from us, out of our own resources! It is all of Grace, by, through, and IN Christ Jesus!
VS 31 “That (in order that) as it is written (Jeremiah 9:23-34) ‘He who glories, let him GLORY IN THE LORD.’” We must understand that God’s ABSOLUTE unadulterated Glory is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the right function of all created things, and that includes us. If I may suggest, Praise and Adoration of the Creator God is the “fuel” of the outworking of the Will and Purpose in time and Eternity of the Most High God. All Creation, and that includes us, was Designed for this purpose. Careful reading of Revelation 4 makes this plain.
II Corinthians 5:21 In Vs 20, Paul says that God is pleading with us to be reconciled to Him through the Apostles, and by extension, the Gospel that they preached. And here’s why:
“For He (the Father) made (made #1096-same word in John 1:12 where we are “made” that is, to become the Sons of God.) Him (His Beloved Son in Whom He was well Pleased) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM.”
Christ Jesus is the ONLY human Righteousness that God will accept into His Presence and the only human Righteousness that God requires. And Corinthians says that He was made to be sin for us and was, as the satisfactory sacrifice for our sin, made a way whereby we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him. And God requires PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
The Gospel is the revelation that the Man Christ Jesus is the Righteousness of God satisfied in such way as to bridge the impossible chasm between the perfectly Just and Righteous God and perfectly unjust and unrighteous man. Christ Jesus is the Man Job longed for Who could put His Hand on both God and Man. (Job 9:33) He is the Man, the Intercessor that God looked for in Isaiah 59:16–He is God’s “Own Arm that brought salvation, His own Righteousness that sustained Him. He is the “Demonstration of God’s Righteousness, that God might be Just and the Justifier OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS.”
II. Now notice the next phrase in our text:
A. “From faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’”. Remember, the Gospel is the Power of God unto salvation “FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES.” Gospel FAITH has only One Object, Christ Jesus our Lord, the Perfect Righteousness of God. The “Gospel work” of God, is all of Grace! (Ephesians 2:8-10) Notice, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, not of works lest any man should boast”!
In I Corinthians 2:9, Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4-7 to make it plain that the Revelation of the Power and Righteousness of the Gospel is through God’s Spirit, because “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” Vs 14 “But the natural man does not receive the things fo the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” The hearing ear is of, by and through the Holy Spirit. Why does Paul belabor this point for 10 verses? “That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the Power of God”. (Vs 5)
In Romans 10:16-17 Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1 (from the great prophesy of the Suffering Savior) to explain Israel’s rejection of the Gospel, and in Vs 17 says, “So then, faith come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” And to make it plain that all is of Grace, he quotes Isaiah 65:1, “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to these who did not ask for me.” This of course is speaking of the bringing in of the Gentiles to the Gospel.
B. But notice, there is a “progression” in faith–“from faith to faith”. This being brought to faith by the Word of the Gospel, through the Holy Spirit is no “one time act”. And Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to make his point, “The Just shall live by (‘his’ in Hab.) faith.” The Gospel of the Revelation of the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, births us into a continual “faith life” of dependance on that Gospel Revelation!!!
Romans 5:1-2 This Justification by faith that brings peace with God though our Man Christ Jesus, brings us into a continual “access by faith into this GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND”.
Hebrews 4:14-16 This is why our High Priest, our Advocate, sits on a throne of Grace and is there because of and for our ‘weaknesses”, and implores us to come boldly to this “throne of GRACE, to obtain Mercy and to FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.” This is where we live in this fallen world, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEED!!!
C. Habakkuk 2:4 Consider the faith of Habakkuk. It must be crucial for it is also mentioned also in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38! In the midst of Habakkuk’s questioning God as to how can a Righteous God allow unrighteousness to seemingly rule in Israel we have God’s answer, “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.” After further “give and take” between God and Habakkuk, we come to 3:17-19, and I believe this truly gives the context of the “to faith” of Romans 1:17. I believe this proclaims “faiths perseverance” in a Romans 7 experience in this world. In the midst of his perplexity, Habakkuk “reminds” God of His Eternal Character. That is the fuel for this faith. Who God is, not the circumstances whether internal or external. Notice–NO FRUIT, VERY LITTLE IF ANY EVIDENCE OF GOD’S BLESSING!!! But what is faiths response? “YET WILL I TRUST HIM.” And then comes Vs 19. God will make our feet like those of the mountain goat. The trials inward and outward become the mountains upon which we ascend into the fellowship of the most high God. Elijah’s very depression and sense of failure led to the greatest blessing of God! (I Kings 19)
Job 23:10 In the midst of Job’s perplexity, even his inability to perceive God in his desperate circumstance, Job proclaims the “resolve of faith”, “But He knows the way that I take; and when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Faith is not the avenue to “get stuff from God”. It is rather the “medium of perseverance” wrought in the adopted children of God by the Spirit of Grace!.
Psalm 94:16-19 and if “my foot slips, Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.” This is faith’s confidence.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you cast down, O m soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance (the One who can give me a joyful face in trial) and my God.”
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the Just is as the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.” And that path is walked only by faith!
“From Faith to Faith; as it is written, The Just shall Live by Faith.”
I. We must come to the clear understanding that flesh HAS NOTHING WHATSOEVER TO DO with the Righteousness of God revealed in the Gospel. Paul makes that plain in I Corinthians 1:28-29, “That NO FLESH SHOULD GLORY IN HIS PRESENCE!!! After all, God’s goal in the Gospel is to call out the Adopted children of Ephesians 1:4-6 --“TO THE GLORY (MANIFESTATION) OF HIS GRACE.”!!! Our acceptance into His Presence (Hebrews 10:5-23) is always and only IN THE BELOVED.” (Matthew 3:17)
I Corinthians 1:30-31 But of Him (the Father’s will and purpose) you are IN CHRIST JESUS (Ephesians 1:3-11), WHO became for us (KJV-“Who is made unto us) Wisdom from God–and Righteousness (from God) and Sanctification (from God) and Redemption (from God).”
And since all that Christ Jesus is made unto us is from God, there is nothing left to be produced from us, out of our own resources! It is all of Grace, by, through, and IN Christ Jesus!
VS 31 “That (in order that) as it is written (Jeremiah 9:23-34) ‘He who glories, let him GLORY IN THE LORD.’” We must understand that God’s ABSOLUTE unadulterated Glory is ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to the right function of all created things, and that includes us. If I may suggest, Praise and Adoration of the Creator God is the “fuel” of the outworking of the Will and Purpose in time and Eternity of the Most High God. All Creation, and that includes us, was Designed for this purpose. Careful reading of Revelation 4 makes this plain.
II Corinthians 5:21 In Vs 20, Paul says that God is pleading with us to be reconciled to Him through the Apostles, and by extension, the Gospel that they preached. And here’s why:
“For He (the Father) made (made #1096-same word in John 1:12 where we are “made” that is, to become the Sons of God.) Him (His Beloved Son in Whom He was well Pleased) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM.”
Christ Jesus is the ONLY human Righteousness that God will accept into His Presence and the only human Righteousness that God requires. And Corinthians says that He was made to be sin for us and was, as the satisfactory sacrifice for our sin, made a way whereby we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him. And God requires PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS!!!
The Gospel is the revelation that the Man Christ Jesus is the Righteousness of God satisfied in such way as to bridge the impossible chasm between the perfectly Just and Righteous God and perfectly unjust and unrighteous man. Christ Jesus is the Man Job longed for Who could put His Hand on both God and Man. (Job 9:33) He is the Man, the Intercessor that God looked for in Isaiah 59:16–He is God’s “Own Arm that brought salvation, His own Righteousness that sustained Him. He is the “Demonstration of God’s Righteousness, that God might be Just and the Justifier OF THE ONE WHO HAS FAITH IN JESUS.”
II. Now notice the next phrase in our text:
A. “From faith to faith; as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’”. Remember, the Gospel is the Power of God unto salvation “FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES.” Gospel FAITH has only One Object, Christ Jesus our Lord, the Perfect Righteousness of God. The “Gospel work” of God, is all of Grace! (Ephesians 2:8-10) Notice, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD, not of works lest any man should boast”!
In I Corinthians 2:9, Paul quotes Isaiah 64:4-7 to make it plain that the Revelation of the Power and Righteousness of the Gospel is through God’s Spirit, because “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” Vs 14 “But the natural man does not receive the things fo the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.” The hearing ear is of, by and through the Holy Spirit. Why does Paul belabor this point for 10 verses? “That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the Power of God”. (Vs 5)
In Romans 10:16-17 Paul quotes Isaiah 53:1 (from the great prophesy of the Suffering Savior) to explain Israel’s rejection of the Gospel, and in Vs 17 says, “So then, faith come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” And to make it plain that all is of Grace, he quotes Isaiah 65:1, “I was found by those who did not seek Me; I was made manifest to these who did not ask for me.” This of course is speaking of the bringing in of the Gentiles to the Gospel.
B. But notice, there is a “progression” in faith–“from faith to faith”. This being brought to faith by the Word of the Gospel, through the Holy Spirit is no “one time act”. And Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 to make his point, “The Just shall live by (‘his’ in Hab.) faith.” The Gospel of the Revelation of the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, births us into a continual “faith life” of dependance on that Gospel Revelation!!!
Romans 5:1-2 This Justification by faith that brings peace with God though our Man Christ Jesus, brings us into a continual “access by faith into this GRACE IN WHICH WE STAND”.
Hebrews 4:14-16 This is why our High Priest, our Advocate, sits on a throne of Grace and is there because of and for our ‘weaknesses”, and implores us to come boldly to this “throne of GRACE, to obtain Mercy and to FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.” This is where we live in this fallen world, IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD OF NEED!!!
C. Habakkuk 2:4 Consider the faith of Habakkuk. It must be crucial for it is also mentioned also in Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38! In the midst of Habakkuk’s questioning God as to how can a Righteous God allow unrighteousness to seemingly rule in Israel we have God’s answer, “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith.” After further “give and take” between God and Habakkuk, we come to 3:17-19, and I believe this truly gives the context of the “to faith” of Romans 1:17. I believe this proclaims “faiths perseverance” in a Romans 7 experience in this world. In the midst of his perplexity, Habakkuk “reminds” God of His Eternal Character. That is the fuel for this faith. Who God is, not the circumstances whether internal or external. Notice–NO FRUIT, VERY LITTLE IF ANY EVIDENCE OF GOD’S BLESSING!!! But what is faiths response? “YET WILL I TRUST HIM.” And then comes Vs 19. God will make our feet like those of the mountain goat. The trials inward and outward become the mountains upon which we ascend into the fellowship of the most high God. Elijah’s very depression and sense of failure led to the greatest blessing of God! (I Kings 19)
Job 23:10 In the midst of Job’s perplexity, even his inability to perceive God in his desperate circumstance, Job proclaims the “resolve of faith”, “But He knows the way that I take; and when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.” Faith is not the avenue to “get stuff from God”. It is rather the “medium of perseverance” wrought in the adopted children of God by the Spirit of Grace!.
Psalm 94:16-19 and if “my foot slips, Your mercy, O LORD, will hold me up.” This is faith’s confidence.
Psalm 42:11 “Why are you cast down, O m soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance (the One who can give me a joyful face in trial) and my God.”
Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the Just is as the shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.” And that path is walked only by faith!