Romans 1:16, 17 - Gospel Power of Salvation & Faith.
Rom.1:16, 17: Gospel Power of Salvation & Faith.
Rom 1:16 (KJV) For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that
believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
Rom 1:17 (KJV) For therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Rom 1:16 (NIV) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is
the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first
for the Jew, then for the Gentile.
Rom 1:17 (NIV) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it
is written: "The righteous will live by faith."
Rom 1:16 (TEV) I have complete confidence in the gospel; it is
God's power to save all who believe, first the Jews and also the
Gentiles.
Rom 1:17 (TEV) For the gospel reveals how God puts people right
with himself: it is through faith from beginning to end. As the
scripture says, "The person who is put right with God through faith shall
live."
Rom 1:16 (EAV) For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news)
of Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation [for
deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal
trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek,
Rom 1:17 (EAV) For in the Gospel a righteousness which God
ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith
[disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is
written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and
shall live by faith.
CONTEXT/OVERVIEW
In the letter to the Romans we find the apostle Paul's clearest
and most detailed explanation of the gospel message... [Nelson SB]
Martin Luther and John Wesley, two of church history's towering
figures, came to Christ through Romans 1:17. [The 365-Day Devotional
Commentary]
INTRODUCTION
Ro 1:16-17 The theme of the entire book. [NIV SB]
Most Bible students regard this section as a statement of the
theme of Romans..... a "launching pad" providing "the primary thrust and
direction for the rest of the letter"... [College Press NIV Commentary]
These two verses contain one of the greatest summaries of the
gospel ever written. It is a clear declaration of God's power to save
all who believe, [Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
Paul is quoting here from Hab 2:4 - this quotation is used again
in Gal 3:11 and Heb 10:38. (The Life Application Commentary
Series)
This golden maxim of Old Testament theology is thrice quoted in
the New Testament, namely, here; in ; and in ) (Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary)
Verse 17 embodies the substance of all that is contained in the
Epistle. It is the doctrine which he seeks to establish; and there is not
perhaps a more important passage in the Bible than this verse; or one
more difficult to be understood. (Barnes' Notes)
DEFINITIONS
Gospel Of Christ:
The gospel of Christ, the Good News. It is a message of
salvation, it has life-changing power, and it is for everyone. [Life
Application SB mod]
"good news," the glad annunciation that sin may be pardoned, and
the soul saved. (Barnes' Notes)
Power Of God
Power is dunamis. This is not, as some would have it, the
explosive force (dynamite) of God, but rather the unquenchable energy that
enables Him to transform human beings from within.... [Victor Bible
Background Commentary]
The Greek word for power (dynamis) is the source for our words
dynamite and dynamic. Dynamite was not invented by Nobel until 1867, so
it is obvious that Paul did not have that specific picture in mind.
Instead, the inventor of the explosive took its name from the Greek. But
the parallel is instructive. The gospel can be like spiritual
dynamite. Under certain circumstances it has a devastating, even
destructive effect, demolishing world views and traditions-paving the way
for new construction. Placed inside a stone-hard heart that is
resistant to God, it can shatter the barrier. God's power in the gospel is
not only explosive; it also overcomes evil. (The Life Application
Commentary Series)
The word "power" (dunamis) means the might, energy, force, and
strength that is within God. The power is "of God," of His very nature.
As God, He is the embodiment of power; He possesses all power, that
is, omnipotent power, within His Being. He can do and act as He
chooses. [Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
Salvation
What then is salvation? It is the forgiveness of sins, but it
goes even deeper-to a restoration to wholeness of all that sin has
defaced or destroyed. (The Life Application Commentary Series)
The Greek word for salvation used by Paul literally means
"deliverance" or "preservation." In a spiritual context, the idea is rescue
from the power and dominion of sin.... [Nelson SB]
Salvation means complete deliverance from sin and death, and all
the foes and dangers that beset man. (Barnes' Notes)
Righteousness Of God
"the righteousness of God" i.e., the restoration of right
relations between man and God, [Ryrie SB]
"the righteousness of God" does not refer to God's own righteous
character, but to his saving activity whereby he puts men in the right (as
a judge declares a man innocent), or whereby he puts men in a
right relationship to himself. (UBS Translator Handbook Series)
The righteous man is one who lives by his trust in God. [Victor
Bible Background Commentary]
From Faith To Faith; Live By Faith.
Faith is a word with many meanings. [Life Application SB]
The Greek words for faith mean "to rely on, to believe, to
trust, to have confidence in."... First, faith includes assent:
acknowledging the truth of a statement, or granting the fact that a particular
statement is true.... The second component of saving faith is trust:
acknowledging the trustworthiness of a person, entrusting yourself or
something you value into another person's care, or surrendering yourself
in some sense to that person....[College Press NIV Commentary]
Faith means belief. It means the conviction that something is
true.... Faith is sometimes practically equivalent to indestructible
hope.... faith means total acceptance and absolute trust. [Barclay
Commentary]
COMMENTARY
Not Ashamed
Paul was not ashamed, because he knew from experience that the
gospel had the power to transform lives, so he was eager to take it to
as many as would listen. (The Life Application Commentary Series)
Paul was not intimidated by the intellect of Greece nor the
power of Rome. (The Life Application Commentary Series)
Gospel Of Christ:
The Gospel: God's panacea for mankind's spiritual need. [Bible
Knowledge Commentary]
Science and literature cannot bring into the darkened mind of
men the light which the glorious gospel of the Son of God can bring.
The Son of God alone can do the great work of illuminating the
soul.... The gospel of Christ becomes personality in those who believe,
and makes them living epistles, known and read of all men. In this
way the leaven of godliness passes into the multitude.... FE199-200
The gospel's source is God, its nature is powerful, its purpose
is salvation, its scope includes everyone, its limit is faith, and
its result is righteousness. [Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown
Commentary]
The Gospel is the power of God--power that flows to all who
believe, to deliver us from every ruinous consequence of our sin and make
us spiritually healthy at long last. [Victor Bible Background
Commentary]
"The Gospel" (1:16). The word means "good news." The Christian
Gospel is about Jesus (its content) and reveals God's gift of
righteousness (its significance). It brings salvation (its outcome) to all who
believe (its invitation). [Victor Bible Reader's Companion]
New Testament writers portray Jesus Christ, on the basis of His
sacrificial death on the Cross in the place of sinners, as the Author and
Provider of salvation (see 3:24, 25; 5:21; Acts 4:12; Heb. 12:2). This
spiritual deliverance is graciously and lovingly offered by God to all
people, but only those who repent and trust in Jesus will experience its
blessings (see John 3:16; Eph. 2:8, 9; Heb. 2:3). [Nelson SB]
The gospel is the way in which God exerts His power for the
salvation of men. Wherever the gospel finds believing hearts it is a
divine power by which all the obstacles to man's redemption are
removed. [SDA Commentary]
The gospel is powerful because the power of God resides in it by
nature. (The Life Application Commentary Series)
Power Of God
It is not a raw, coercive, irresistible power that violates our
God-given wills, but rather a drawing, persuasive, convicting power; and
this power is not selective but is exerted equally on all who hear it
(John 12:32).... [College Press NIV Commentary]
God has chosen to use His power in a loving way by sending men
the "good news," the gospel of salvation. Being all powerful, God
could wipe men off the face of the earth, but instead He has chosen to
give men the good news of salvation. This tells us a critical truth:
God's nature is love. He is full of compassion and grace. He is the
God of salvation; therefore, He sent the "gospel of Christ" to the
world that men might be saved. [Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
The Power And The Glory
The text says that the gospel of Jesus is the "power" of God.
What kind of power is that? Is God powerful? How would you measure
the power of God? I have an answer for that question, but first
let's talk a bit about power.
What kind of power runs your home? You may use natural gas or
you may use electricity, or you may use some combination of both,
but you undoubtedly have some type of electricity in your home. Is
electricity powerful? How do you measure electricity? The electrician
measures electricity in volts and amps (which is the abbreviation for
amperes). Do you know how much electrical power is in one volt or one
amp?
Electric power is caused by the flow of free electrons from one
place to another, usually through a wire or some other type of
conductor. Voltage is the pressure with which the electrons are moving, and
amperage refers to the number of electrons moving. For example, when
exactly 6 quintillion, 242 quadrillion electrons pass a point in a wire
within one second's time, that is one amp. If you have a heavy
electrical power source and you attempt to force electrons through the wire
faster, or if you try to force them through a smaller wire, the voltage
goes up because the "pressure" is greater. When both the voltage and
the amperage is high, the power is tremendous.
Now, let's talk about God's power. His electrical power is
illustrated in a bolt of lightning, and one lightning flash may measure up
to 100 million volts and 160,000 amps! Our God is certainly
powerful, but is that the way to measure God's power if the gospel is the
power of God?
The answer to the question "How powerful is God?" is simply
this: He gave Himself, the Creator of all the power on earth and
throughout the universe, for you and me. Nothing else was powerful enough
to save us. [Glimpses Of God's Love by J & P Tucker]
That word "power" fascinates me because in the Greek it has the
same root word as does dynamite.
Paul is telling us that the gospel works like dynamite in our
lives when we let God in, when we give Him permission to reshape our
lives into the likeness of Jesus.
God doesn't come in and merely lop off this or that problem. No,
He is interested in getting to the root of the problem, blasting it
out, and then recreating our lives into something ever more
beautiful.
That is truly good news. The truth is that God's solution to the
sin problem not only offers forgiveness, it also offers the
possibility of new life in Him.
Have you let the dynamite of God into your life? Or are you
afraid of the changes He might make if you gave His power free rein?
[Walking With Jesus By Knight]
Salvation
Salvation is a broad concept. It includes the forgiveness of
sins, but involves much more, because its basic meaning is soundness
or wholeness. It promises the restoration of all that sin has
marred or destroyed. [Expositors Bible Commentary]
Salvation can be described both negatively and positively, in
terms of what it saves us from and what it saves us to.... It saves us
to the blessed states of grace and glory (5:2).... With reference to
the past, we have already been delivered from the penalty of sin
into the state of justification. Regarding the present, we are being
delivered from the power of sin by the process of sanctification. As to
the future, we will be delivered from the presence of sin in the
final glorification.....[College Press NIV Commentary]
Salvation has past (forgiveness), present (power to live a godly
life), and future (resurrection transformation) aspects. [Victor Bible
Reader's Companion]
Salvation has three facets: past salvation from the penalties of
sin (Luke 7:50; Eph. 2:8); present salvation from the power of sin
in the daily life (Rom. 5:10); and future salvation from the actual
presence of sin (in heaven; 1 Cor. 3:15; 5:5).... We receive and experience
it through faith, [Ryrie SB]
Salvation is in three tenses: (1) The Christian saved
from the guilt and penalty of sin (Luke 7:50; 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 2:15;
Eph 2:5,8; 2 Tim 1:9) and is safe. (2) The Christian
saved from the habit and dominion of sin (Rom 6:14; 8:2; 2 Cor 3:18;
Gal 2:19 - 20; Phil 1:19; 2:12 - 13; 2 Th 2:13). And (3) the
Christian saved at the Lord's return, from all the bodily
infirmities that are the result of sin and God's curse upon the sinful world
(Rom 8:18 - 23; 1 Cor 15:42 - 44), and brought into entire conformity
to Christ (Rom 13:11; Heb 10:36; 1 Pet 1:5; 1 John 3:2). [Scofield
SB]
The New Testament speaks of salvation in the past tense (Eph.
2:8), the present tense (2 Cor. 2:15), and the future tense (13:11).
In the past, the believer has been saved from the penalty of sin.
In the present, the believer is being saved from the power of sin.
In the future, the believer will be saved from the very presence of
sin (see Matt. 5:10-12; 8:17; 2 Cor. 5:10; 2 Tim. 2:11-13; Rev.
22:12). [Nelson SB]
Blessings? .... Summarize them as salvation from the penalty of
sin, salvation from the power of sin, and salvation from the presence
of sin. Theologians use the terms justification, sanctification,
and glorification. Justification is the divine act of declaring
sinners to be righteous on account of their faith in Jesus. He paid for
their sins completely and finally on the Cross, and through faith in
Him their sins can be forgiven (see 3:21; 4:5; 5:1). Closely related
to justification is regeneration, in which the Spirit of God
indwells a repentant sinner and imparts eternal life to his or her
spiritually dead soul (see Eph. 2:1-5). Sanctification is the process in
which God develops the new life of the believer and gradually brings
it to perfection (see 6:11; Phil. 1:6). Glorification is the
ultimate salvation of the whole person. This occurs when we are face to
face with our Savior in His coming kingdom. At that time, God will
completely mold us into the image of Christ (see 8:29, 30; Phil. 3:21).
Then we will be able to enjoy complete fellowship with God, singing
His praises forever. Other benefits of salvation include
reconciliation and adoption. [Nelson SB]
Believeth;
God saves all who believe. Belief is the one condition for
salvation, but we must always remember that a person who really believes
commits himself to what he believes. If a man does not commit himself he
does not believe. True belief is commitment. Therefore, God saves the
person who believes, that is, who really commits his life to the gospel
of Christ [Preacher's Outline & Sermon Bible]
Belief in the content of the Gospel is only part of its meaning.
Above this it means trust or personal commitment, to the extent of
handing over one's self to another person. Though belief does involve
response to a truth or a series of truths, this response is not mere
intellectual assent but rather wholehearted involvement in the truth
believed. To believe in Christ is to commit oneself to him. To trust
Christ is to become totally involved in the eternal truths taught by
him and about him in the NT. Such total involvement brings moral
earnestness, a dedication and consecration apparent in every aspect of life.
[Wycliffe Bible Commentary]
From Faith To Faith... Live By Faith.
The phrase "from faith to faith" has been variously interpreted.
It has been understood as meaning: (1) from the faith of the O.T.
to that of the N.T.; (2) from the faith of the preacher to that of
the hearers; (3) from God's faithfulness to man's faith; or (4) from
a young faith to a mature faith. Literally, the words can be
translated "out of faith unto faith." The fourth interpretation is the most
probable. [Believer's SB]
The expression by faith from first to last translates what in
Greek is literally "from faith to faith." It is also possible to
translate this as "through faith for faith" (NRSV). In this expression
some have seen Paul's description of the development of faith from
beginning to maturity. Others think that Paul might be outlining the
transmission of faith from the faithful proclaimer to the faithful responder.
The thrust of the phrase, however, indicates that our relationship
with God begins and exists by faith. (The Life Application Commentary
Series)
From faith to faith means faith is at the beginning of the
salvation process, and it is the goal as well. When a person first
exercises faith in Christ, that person is saved from the penalty of sin
and declared righteous. As the believer lives by faith, God
continues to save him or her from the power of sin to live righteously
(see v. 16). [Nelson SB]
The just shall live by faith. Just by faith, there is faith
justifying us; live by faith, there is faith maintaining us; and so there
is a righteousness from faith to faith. Faith is all in all, both
in the beginning and progress of a Christian life.... it is all along
from faith to faith, as <2 Cor. 3:18>, from glory to glory; it is
increasing, continuing, persevering faith, faith pressing forward, and
getting ground of unbelief.... (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
From faith to faith. The righteousness of God is received by
faith, and when received, results in ever-increasing faith. As faith is
exercised we are able to receive more and still more of the righteousness
of God until faith becomes a permanent attitude toward Him..... The
just man will not live by reliance on his own works and merit but by
confidence and faith in God. [SDA Commentary]
What is meant by the two statements... "from faith to faith,"
and, "the just shall live by faith"? Very simply, the whole life of
the believer is to be a life of faith, from beginning faith to
ending faith, from faith to faith. Therefore, the righteousness of God
is revealed continuously through all of life, from the beginning of
a person's faith to the ending of a person's faith. [Preacher's
Outline & Sermon Bible]
"Faith from first to last" (1:17). Salvation has past
(forgiveness), present (power to live a godly life), and future (resurrection
transformation) aspects. Faith in Christ is the key to experience every aspect
of salvation--from first to last. [Victor Bible Reader's Companion]
Being justified by faith he shall live by it both the life of
grace and of glory. (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
APPLICATION
All of us have failed in one way or another, and we all know
what shame feels like. We are ashamed of our past failures, our bad
habits, or even the abuses we have suffered. Paul tells us that the Good
News of Jesus Christ is God's power to deliver us from all the
shameful things in our life. And it's for everyone! God has the power to
deliver and transform us when we turn our life over to him. The Good
News is certainly nothing to be ashamed of! [Life Recovery SB]
Without salvation, we have no spiritual life. Without it, we
have no righteousness. Without it, we stand guilty and condemned
before the holy God. There is no hope for any person aside from the
by-faith salvation that God offers us in Jesus!. [Victor Teacher's
Commentary]
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS/SUMMARY STATEMENT
The power of God is displayed in those who believe. And the need
for God's power in those who do not. [The 365-Day Devotional
Commentary]
Standing Tall
I am part of the "Fellowship of the Unashamed" I have Holy
Spirit power. The die has been cast. I've stepped over the line. The
decision has been made. I am a disciple of His. I won't look back. Let
up. Slow down, back away or be still. My past is redeemed, my
present makes sense and my future is secure. I am finished and done with
low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless
dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed
goals! I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions,
plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops,
recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, lean by
faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My face is
set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is
rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot
be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted,
or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in
the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy,
ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won't give up, shut up, let up, or burn up till I've preached
up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of
Christ. I am disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I
drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops. And when He comes
to get His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors
will be clear. Amen [source unknown]
RELATED THOUGHTS
The medicine prepared will not cure the patient if it be not
taken.-- (Matthew Henry's Commentary)
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