God's Righteousness Revealed To Faith
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
10/31/2010 AM
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Text:
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Romans 1:17
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Psalters: |
128, 26, 231, 403 |
- The fact.
- The setting (16).
- Paul declared that he was not ashamed to bring the gospel of God concerning Jesus (1:1,3).
- God’s gospel concerning His Son reveals.
- What the gospel of God reveals is His righteousness – God’s attribute whereby He, in His willing and working, is in perfect harmony with His own perfect being. His works are perfect and He rewards and punishes in perfect justice.
- Luther thought the gospel revealed only this attribute, which blocked his way to salvation.
- But Paul meant that the gospel reveals that Jesus made man to be in conformity to God.
- How does this righteousness become ours? By the means of faith.
- The righteousness of God is revealed “from faith to faith.”
- This faith is a gift of God (not earned nor man’s work, Eph. 2:8,9).
- Faith is the instrument God uses to give His declaration of righteousness to the conscious believer.
- Paul quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 to show that this is the way it has always been.
- Habakkuk judged God to be doing it wrong to punish sinful Judah with the more sinful Chaldeans.
- Note that Habakkuk contrasts faith (humble accepting of God’s will) with a “lifted up soul” (pride).
- To say that one is righteous by faith alone is to say that man’s good works have nothing to do with it.
- With Luther let us grasp our justification in Christ by faith.