January 17 Click on verses for Full Scripture	previous - - - - - - - - - - next
Today's Pathway: Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

As we were going through Romans 1 we saw that verses 16 and 17 indicate that it is only through the Scriptures that the Gospel message of reconciliation to God can be found. I want to go back to verse 17 and look at a couple things that are mentioned there. It states that the righteousness of God is revealed "from faith to faith". What does that expression mean? First of all, the only way to be saved is through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:3 teaches that one of the reasons why the Jews weren't choosing to receive Christ was because they were "ignorant of God's righteousness". Until a person realizes how righteous and holy God is, he won't see himself as the sinner that he is. In order to get to Heaven we must have our sins forgiven and have the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to us (II Cor. 5:21). Therefore, when a person understands this, he will receive Christ as Savior "by faith". So, the righteousness of God brings men to saving faith.

However, the righteousness of God should also motivate believers to a living faith. Because we understand the holiness of God, and know that He never makes any mistakes, we should be able to trust Him as we go through our lives. We should trust what He says about right and wrong. We should trust what He says about His provision for us. In fact, faith should be the catalyst for everything we do. Paul quotes Habakkuk 2:4 when he writes, " the just shall live by faith". That expression occurs four different times in the Bible, so it is important to understand its meaning. It is often interpreted as teaching that people are saved by faith alone. While that is a true statement, that is not what is being said here. The "just" are those who have already been justified, which means that they are already saved. It is these saved people who are progressing from saving faith to living faith, and basing their lives upon the righteousness of the God Who saved them. This is what the Lord expects, and this is what we who are saved must be doing.

Pastor Mark J Montgomery