ROMANS 1:14-17 THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH

Romans 1:14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

 Flow of thought with the three I am statements

I am a debtor v14

So, because I am a debtor, I am eager v 15

I am eager, For or Because I am not ashamed v 16

Because I am not ashamed, why, it is the power of God v 16

Negatively I am not ashamed, Positively, I am eager to share the gospel

It is a debt to humanity he needed to repay and obligation, (he had been given a stewardship) and it is the Power of God to everyone who believes (He had a sense of conviction because he knew if the Gospel could change him it could change anyone.

1.             He was not ashamed of Christ, the person of the Gospel – even though Jesus was a Jew

• Jews were a despised minority and Rome was a mighty and proud city

2.    The nature of the gospel is that it is the power of God ........without that power it is but a dead letter

3. The aim of the gospel is salvation, not ashamed because of the plan of the Gospel

4.             The gospel is for everyone who believes... Believes means an ongoing condition not a one-time event of belief. True faith is a way of life.

5.             Saving faith consists of three elements:

·       Mental - The mind understands the gospel and truth about Christ

·       Emotional - one embraces the truthfulness of those facts with sorrow over sin and joyfulness over God's mercy and Grace

·       A volitional or voluntary submission of the sinners will to Christ and trusts in Christ alone as the only hope of salvation.

V17 the revelation of God's righteousness - Better translated the Righteousness from God

·       The gospel is the revelation of God's righteousness through faith that He is just and holy and we are guilty sinners

·       Justification of believers means God absolves or removes the consequences of our sin which is accomplished by Propitiation

·       The gospel is the Propitiation or legal payment for our sins which is why Jesus had to die on the cross. The legal side had to be paid. There is no remission of sins without the shedding of blood.

 Salvation is of God's appointing, of God's approving and God's accepting

To cut off all claims to a righteousness resulting from the merit of our own works

Now Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 The just shall live by faith

This verse summarizes the Gospel

The Law was given to Moses in 613 precepts or rules of conduct

In the 15th Psalm they are reduced to 11

In Isaiah 6 ........Micah to 3 ........then again Isaiah reduces them to 2 and finally Habakkuk condenses them into 1 rule

The words " The just shall live by faith" are found 4 times in the Bible, Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, and Hebrews 10:38

God established Abraham as the pattern of faith in the OT and thus calls him the father of all who believe

OT faith was in a Christ to come and NT faith is in the fact that Christ has already come