God’s Righteousness Revealed to Faith
Minister: |
Rev. Ronald Van Overloop |
Date: |
10/30/2016 AM
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Text:
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Romans 1:17
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Psalters: |
34, 428, 231, 128 |
- In early 1513 God used the correct understanding of our text to turn around Martin Luther’s fearful thinking.
- The correct understanding of our text is essential to the name “Reformed,” “Protestant” and even “Christian.”
- Gospel revealing righteousness.
- In the context Paul states his readiness to preach the gospel and that he is not ashamed to do so, even in godless Rome.
- The gospel reveals, i.e., unfolds or unveils in the sense of making plain or clear.
- That which is revealed by the gospel is “the righteousness of God.”
- First, this is an attribute of God.
- Second, it is the fruit of the Messiah’s work according to which He makes men to be conformed and acceptable to God.
- The chief end of the gospel is to declare us to be just with God, able to stand as righteous before the holy God.
- The righteousness of God becomes a human’s possession by means of faith.
- God’s gift of righteousness is revealed “from faith to faith,” i.e., out of faith and into faith, by faith to faith.
- Faith is a gift of God to His elect enabling them to believe the gospel (Eph. 2:8,9).
- Faith is the instrument God determined to use to give the conscious believer the ability to know that he is righteous.
- Paul’s quote from Habakkuk 2:4 shows that the experience of being righteous has always been by faith.
- Note that faith has two contrasts.
- First faith and grace contrast with a “lifted up soul,” i.e., one which proudly judges God’s ways (Hab. 2:4a).
- Second, faith is contrasted to good works.
- Salvation is only to those who believe on Him that justifies the ungodly (3:24,25,28; 4:5).
- Let us, with Luther, grasp our justification by faith.