Romans 1:16-17

We are working through 2 very significant verses that helps us peer into the heart of the apostle Paul. These 2 verses are a condensed presentation of Romans, and are the essence of Christianity. These 2 verses summarize what became the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago as Martin Luther pondered their significance. These 2 verses also address the eternal question that people have: “How can I be found acceptable to God?” In unpacking these 2 verses, we will understand why Paul’s existence was given to the Gospel.

catalyst for the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago.and

for the Protestant Reformation 500 years ago, and answers the eternal question that people have: “How can I be found acceptable to God?” In delivering the answer to this question to the known world of the apostle Paul’s day, we discover that Paul was completely given to the Gospel.

and answers the eternal question that people have: “How can I be found acceptable to God?” In delivering the answer to this question to the known world of the apostle Paul’s day, we discover that Paul was completely given to the Gospel.

In delivering the answer to this question to the known world of the apostle Paul’s day, we discover that Paul was completely given to the Gospel.

CONTEXT: Paul is writing this letter in advance of his trip to visit the church in Rome, and he is clarifying his mission. Having gone through the significance of one’s obedience in faith, and heart for the faith. Paul now explains why he has given his life to the ministry of the Gospel.

BODY

There are 3 things that I want to share with you about this Gospel:

I. Praise for the Gospel (16a)

16a [eager] For I am not ashamed of the gospel,

Reasons why people are ashamed of the Gospel:

1. Intellectual reasons. We are afraid that it sounds too simple.

(a) imprisoned in Philippi,

(b) chased out of Thesselonica,

(d) laughed at in Athens,

(e) called a fool in Corinthand a blasphemer in Jerusalem, and

(f) stoned near death in Lystra.

2. Philosophical reasons. While all other religions maintains a philosophy of man reaching up to God, the Gospel is based on the philosophy of God reaching down to man.

3. Social reasons. We get ashamed and close our mouths when we sense that it is socially unacceptable to speak of the Gospel. Talk about it in the safety of small groups or worship services, but we clam up when we get in a diverse social setting.

4. Moral reasons. People are ashamed because they know that the Gospel makes moral demands on your life. Once saved, you are given the gift of the indwelling Spirit, which begins a process of change, and you may not want that. I can’t tell you how many times I have heard that while sharing the Gospel.

None of these reasons affected the apostle Paul, however. Paul was:

Our shame of the Gospel can be so subtle as sin.

(a) imprisoned in Philippi,

(b) chased out of Thesselonica,

(d) laughed at in Athens,

(e) called a fool in Corinth and a blasphemer in Jerusalem, and

(f) stoned near death in Lystra.

Our shame of the Gospel can be so subtle and subconsious.

Take an inventory of yourself and ask, “In what ways am I subconsciously ashamed of the Gospel?”

Now make a commitment to consciously praise the Gospel.

TRANSITION: As we recognize ways that we are ashamed, listen next to why we should not be ashamed...

II. Power of the Gospel (16b)

16b for it is the power of God for salvation [deliverance] // to everyone who believes, [repentance] // to the Jew first and also to the Greek [progression of salvation history to ALL].

A. Gospel is Dynamite

16b for it is the power of God for salvation [delivered] to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [progression of salvation history].

I will spare you the “dynamite” illustrations of power. There is power, and then there is GOD’S power.

The Power that came over me when I was delivered by God, is what took me from lost sinner to saved servant .

No need to feel like we can do nothing in a near “post-Christian culture.” The Gospel is power of God to deliver from darkness.

2 qeustions:

(1) In what ways has the power of God changed your life?

(2) How many times last week did you tell others of the power of God?

TRANSITION:

We must WALK in the power of God and TALK of the power of God.

TRANSITION: Not only is Paul proud of the Gospel for its power, but he is also proud of the Gospel for what it provides...

III. Provision from the Gospel (17)

Provides 2 things:

III. Purpose of the Gospel (17a)

17a For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written [], “The righteous shall live by faith.” [context: faith = relationship]

17a For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,

The debate

Paul’s allusion to both here and indicates that this righteousness is only attained by faith.

17b as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Galatians 3:11 ESV

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Imputed righteousness of God as a gift to you when you EXPRESS faith, and it affects all manner of life.

I would say “express” both verbally and visually!

Martin Luther’s expereince (St. John of Lateran)

Martin Luther’s expereince of trying to be righteous, but realized that God provided his righteousness to him.

Lee signed the pardon, but it was never handed to the president. The pardon request did not go into effect for over 100 years when a historian found the lost pardon request and President Gerald Ford officially made Lee a citizen again.

The famed Confederate general who lost the Civil War surrendered at Appomattox courthouse in 1865. President Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate soldiers, but there were several groups of exceptions. These people, such as officers, had to send an application to the president asking to be pardoned. Lee sent his request and signed an Amnesty Oath to become a member of the Union again, and that should’ve been the end of his pardon. But no one ever processed his oath, so while he and everyone else acted as though he’d been pardoned, he wasn’t actually pardoned until 1868 when Johnson granted an unconditional pardon to everyone who participated in the rebellion. Even stranger, Lee wasn’t an official citizen until about 100 years later when a historian found his lost Amnesty Oath and President Gerald R. Ford officially made Lee a U.S. citizen again, though he’d been dead for a century.

Governor offered a pardon.

God has provided you a pardon from your sin, but you must make the request known by faith in Christ.

Consider these blessings of the pardon:

(1) With reference to the past, we have already been delivered from the penalty of sin into the state of justification.

The salvation brought by the gospel is a process.

(2) Regarding the present, we are being delivered from the power of sin by the process of sanctification.

(1) With reference to the past, we have already been delivered from the penalty of sin into the state of justification.

(3) As to the future, we will be delivered from the presence of sin in the final glorification.

(2) Regarding the present, we are being delivered from the power of sin by the process of sanctification.

(3) As to the future, we will be delivered from the presence of sin in the final glorification.

The options (“righteousness of God”) are neither exhaustive or exclusive.

We can define it as the act by which God brings people into right relationship with himself.

we can define it as the act by which God brings people into right relationship with himself

CONCLUSION

Probably, however, in light of the only clear NT parallel to the construction, the combination is rhetorical and is intended to emphasize that faith and “nothing but faith” can put us into right relationship with God.

The point in Habakkuk is that faith is the key to one’s relationship to God.

Righteousness is broader than the imputed righteousness of God and refers to all manner of life.

Through faith in Christ, God offers a pardon from your sins.

CONCLUSION

Through the praise, power, and provision of the Gospel, I appeal to you this morning to turn in your pardon request to God.

You may be asking, “How may I receive a pardon?”

Repentance & Faith

RESEARCH SECTION

Theme: righteousness from GodTheme: Because it is the powerful means God uses to save everyone who trusts in Christ, no matter who, I very confidently proclaim the good news about what Christ has done, since by it God reveals his way of declaring people righteous. (ESV)

Having uttered his thanksgiving and petition and having made his preliminary statement about his plans to come to Rome, Paul begins the major topic of his letter. Although vv 16bc–17 continue the last statement of v 15 and introduce the topic that will be discussed in vv 18–32, they announce the major theme of the letter and one that will be developed until 11:36. This theme recapitulates the whole doctrinal section, which covers eleven chapters in the letter.

The climax of the development of this theme comes when Paul discusses how both Jews and Gentiles fit into the salvific plan that Paul is now about to sketch, how Gentile Christians become heirs to the promises made to Israel of old, and how both Jews, and Gentiles are related to the mystery of God’s redemption in Christ Jesus.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 253). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

The gospel is not just a message sent from God; it is a “power” unleashed in the world of humanity that actively accosts human beings, challenging them to accept it through faith in Christ Jesus. That “power” is not unrelated to the power of the risen Christ (1:4), which is thus proclaimed. Moreover, the gospel reveals something about the God who promised it of old (1:2) and who now acts in a new way; it reveals his “uprightness” or “righteousness” for those who accept this gospel in faith.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 254). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

What should be noted in this announcement of the theme of Romans is Paul’s formulation of the effect of the Christ-event as “salvation” and not as justification, despite the fact that the main emphasis in part A will be on justification. Four further affirmations in the announced theme are noteworthy: (1) the universality of God’s salvation for all who are willing to accept it; (2) the equality of Jew and Greek in this plan of salvation, which, however, admits a priority for the Jew, both de facto (in a temporal, chronological sense) and de jure (according to Paul’s view of salvation history: this gospel was announced through Israel’s prophets, 1:2 [cf. 2:9; 9:1–11:36]); (3) this universality and equality of salvation come through the gospel, a force unleashed by God revealing his dikaiosynē and directing human history; and (4) human beings share in this salvation through faith, which can be progressively intensified in dedication to God. Striking in this announcement is the absence of any reference to Christ, the description of whose role is put off until 3:21–26.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 254). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

Paul terminates his theme by quoting , “the one who is upright shall find life through faith.” He thus takes from the OT a key passage that summed up the value of observance of the law for the Jew. But Paul not only quotes it; he makes it the pillar of his thesis about salvation through faith, thus wresting it from the clutches of the law. It is now made part of his gospel and becomes the motto of his view of God’s new salvific process, which does not depend on the observance of the law. The quotation from Habakkuk illustrates what Paul wrote in , “Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ ” By quoting Habakkuk, Paul gives a concrete example of what he said in his introductory verses about “God’s gospel which he promised long ago through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures” (1:1–2).

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 255). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

These two verses serve as the launching-pad and provide the primary thrust and direction for the rest of the letter, with the double explanation concerning the gospel (“for … for …”) giving both the raison d’être for Paul’s missionary endeavor and the outline of the main argument to be developed through chaps. 1–15.

Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). (Vol. 38A, p. 46). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

These theologically dense verses are made up of four subordinate clauses, each supporting or illuminating the one before it. Paul’s pride in the gospel (v. 16a) is the reason why he is so eager to preach the gospel in Rome (v. 15). This pride, in turn, stems from the fact that the gospel contains, or mediates, God’s saving power for everyone who believes (v. 16b). Why the gospel brings salvation is explained in v. 17a: it manifests God’s righteousness, a righteousness based on faith. Verse 17b, finally, provides scriptural confirmation for this connection between righteousness and faith.

from the standpoint of syntax alone, this means that the main statement of the sequence is Paul’s assertion of desire to preach the gospel in Rome (v. 15)

In the present case, the language of v. 16a implies a shift in focus. Up to this point, Paul has been telling the Romans about his call to ministry and how that ministry relates to the Romans. Since the gospel is the very essence of his ministry (vv. 1, 9) and is also the message that Paul wants to bring to Rome (v. 15), it has naturally figured prominently in these verses. Now, however, using v. 16a to make the transition, Paul turns his attention away from his own ministry and focuses it on the gospel as such.

.Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 63–64). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

In other words, the epistolary material of 1:1–15 and 15:14ff. “frames” what appears to be a theological treatise.

Therefore, while vv. 16–17 are technically part of the proem of the letter, they serve as the transition into the body by stating Paul’s theme.

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 64). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

However, as we argued in the Introduction, the breadth of the letter’s contents requires a correspondingly broad theme. And standing out by virtue of its importance in vv. 1–15 as well as by its leading position in the structure of vv. 16–17 is the term “gospel” (for further exploration of the theme of the letter, see the Introduction).

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 65). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

I. Pride in the Gospel (15a) - [explains why eager in v.15]16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, This is why Paul is “eager” v.15 to preach the Gospel, as well as his various commitments (vv. 1, 5, 9, 14, 16b). He is proud because he knows God’s saving power attends its proclamation.

it is better to see in vv. 16–17 two specific reasons why Paul was not ashamed of the gospel: (1) it is the power of God, and (2) it reveals a righteousness from God.

Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 72). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

a paradox and a contradiction to the society of the capital of the Roman Empire. Yet he knows that God has chosen what is foolish in the sight of the world to shame the wise (); cf. .

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 255). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

He is aware of the temptation to shame about the gospel because he realizes the hostility that it can arouse, and yet he is more than ready to proclaim it, even proud to do so in Rome. For the gospel is for him not merely a passing on of truths or a report about noteworthy events, but the word in which God’s will is presently accomplished.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 255). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

The reason for his confidence is not because he can dispute such an inference, nor because of the gospel’s sophistication or appeal to the rational mind, but because it is the power of God to salvation. It not merely contains somewhere in it the secret of or bears witness to the power of God through other channels, but is itself the power of God to salvation. That is to say, his confidence in the gospel rests in what is for him a clear and simple fact: the gospel is the effective means by which God brings about the wholeness and preservation of the whole person. He does not say when this goal will be achieved, and there is certainly no implication that it will be instantaneous; his confidence is simply that the goal will be achieved. This is a point worth grasping even at this early stage: Paul does not see the gospel as something which merely begins someone on the way to salvation, but as something which embraces the totality of the process toward and into salvation. The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim—in terms of the rest of the letter, not just chaps. 1–5, or 1–8, or even 1–11, but the whole letter.

Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). (Vol. 38A, pp. 46–47). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

II. Power of the Gospel (16b) [Paul’s pride is from the fact that Gospel has saving power]16b for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

The gospel does not negate a person’s free will but is God’s power for “everyone who believes.” God does not force himself upon people against their will. For the power of the gospel to effect salvation, the hearer must respond in faith. Our faith is in no way meritorious, but without faith there can be no individual salvation.46

Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 71). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

The gospel is God at work. He lives and breathes through the declaration of his redemptive love for people. To really hear the gospel is to experience the presence of God. The late evangelist Dwight L. Moody commented that the gospel is like a lion. All the preacher has to do is to open the door of the cage and get out of the way!

Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 70). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

God’s power. Whenever the gospel is proclaimed, God’s power becomes operative and succeeds in saving. His power thus catches up human beings and through the gospel brings them to salvation. This is the essential, all-important theme that Paul announces: salvation comes to all through faith.

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 256). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

“Salvation” often has a negative meaning—deliverance from something—but positive nuances are present at times also, so that the term can denote generally God’s provision for a person’s spiritual need. Particularly, in light of and the use of “save” in 8:24 (cf. vv. 18–23), “salvation” here must include the restoration of the sinner to a share of the “glory of God.”

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 67). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

To “believe” is to put full trust in the God who “justifies the ungodly” (4:5) by means of the cross and resurrection of Christ. Though intellectual assent cannot be excluded from faith, the Pauline emphasis is on surrender to God as an act of the will (cf., e.g., 4:18; 10:9). Pauline (and NT) faith is not (primarily) agreement with a set of doctrines but trust in a person

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 67). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

As Calvin puts it, faith is “a kind of vessel” with which we “come empty and with the mouth of our soul open to seek God’s grace.” “Believing,” then, while a genuinely human activity, possesses no “merit” or worth for which God is somehow bound to reward us; for salvation is, from first to last, God’s work.

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 67–68). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Faith is both the initial and the continuing access point for the saving power of God into human life, the common denominator which God looks for in every case.

Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). (Vol. 38A, p. 40). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

However much the church may seem to be dominated by Gentiles, Paul insists that the promises of God realized in the gospel are “first of all” for the Jew. To Israel the promises were first given, and to the Jews they still particularly apply. Without in any way subtracting from the equal access that all people now have to the gospel, then, Paul insists that the gospel, “promised beforehand … in the holy Scriptures” (1:2), has a special relevance to the Jew.

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 69). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

III. Presentation through the Gospel? (17a) [the Gospel manifests God’s righteousness, a righteousness based on faith]17a For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, Several times in the early chapters of the book Paul connects righteousness with faith, he never connects righteousness with living by faith.

Augustine used the objective sense of iustitia Dei in De Trinitate 14.12.15 (CCLat 50A.443) in addition to the subjective sense: “iustitia Dei, non solum illa qua ipse iustus est, sed quam dat homini cum iustificat impium” (not only that justice by which he himself is just, but also that which he gives to a human being, when he justifies the impious)

Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008). Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol. 33, p. 259). New Haven; London: Yale University Press.

“to justify”: does it mean “to make righteous” or “to count righteous?” This is the classic dispute between Catholic and Protestant exegesis (see particularly Ziesler whose whole analysis revolves round this question; and the Lutheran-Roman Catholic dialogue in Reumann). Since the basic idea is of a relationship in which God acts even for the defective partner, an action whereby God sustains the weaker partner of his covenant relationship within the relationship, the answer again is really both

It is God’s righteousness which enables and in fact achieves man’s righteousness.

Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). (Vol. 38A, pp. 41–42). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Paul uses the word to denote the “uncovering” of God’s redemptive plan as it unfolds on the plane of human history

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 69). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

The perfect tense in 3:21 focuses attention on the cross as the time of God’s decisive intervention to establish his righteousness. In 1:17, on the other hand, the present tense suggests that Paul is thinking of an ongoing process, or series of actions, connected with the preaching of the gospel. Wherever the gospel is being proclaimed, the “righteousness of God” in its eschatological fullness is being disclosed

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (pp. 69–70). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

But what is this “righteousness of God:”

(1) The expression might refer to an attribute of God. (ie, God’s faithfulness)

(2) “Righteousness of God” in 1:17 might refer to a status given by God. (God given status)

(3) “Righteousness of God” might denote an activity of God. (God’s salvific intervention).

A particularly attractive and popular combination is that found in the interpretation of Käsemann. He argues that “God’s righteousness” is “God’s salvation-creating power,” a concept that incorporates the ideas of status given by God and activity exercised by God—with the emphasis on the latter—and the addition of nuances such as God’s reclaiming of creation for his lordship

Paul’s use of “righteousness” language in Romans, then, strongly suggests that “righteousness of God” in 1:17; 3:21, 22; and 10:3 includes reference to the status of righteousness “given” to the believer by God.

The contexts in which the related occurrences of “righteousness of God” are found evidence the same ambiguity: God’s righteousness is “manifested” (3:21), and people are to “submit” to it (10:3)—suggesting activity; and yet it is also “based on” faith—suggesting gift or status.

Most interpreters make a decision at this point, choosing either activity or status and offering more or less convincing explanations of the data that appear to conflict with the view they have chosen. But must we make this choice? Do we have to choose between theology (God acting) and anthropology (the human being who receives)—as some have stated the dilemma? Could we not take “righteousness of God” here to include both God’s activity of “making right”—saving, vindicating—and the status of those who are so made right, in a relational sense that bridges the divine and the human?

The LXX usage, out of which Paul’s use of the phrase grows, makes it likely that “the righteousness of God” is first of all the saving intervention of God in history, predicted by the prophets, manifested on the cross, and constantly made effective in the preaching of the gospel. But God’s righteousness never operates in a vacuum, and the OT occurrences often allude also to the situation or status of those who experience God’s saving intervention (see section A.2 in the Excursus). Partly because he needs to distance his interpretation of God’s righteousness from the prevalent Jewish view, in which works and the law play so prominent a role (cf. 3:21; 10:3), Paul insists that God’s righteousness can be experienced only through faith: “For Paul the righteousness of God is essentially a righteousness that comes by faith.” His theology also leads him to develop the idea of righteousness as an enduring, judicial status far beyond anything found in the OT. This emphasis shifts the focus of the phrase a bit with respect to its OT usage, although, as we have said, the dual aspect of God’s righteousness as both divine activity and human status does have its antecedents in the OT.

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 70). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

IV. Proof of connection between righteousness and faith (17b)17b as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

The quotation from confirms (cf. “even as”) the truth that righteousness is to be attained only on the basis of faith. There are textual differences between Paul’s wording and the original text of Habakkuk, but the main problem is that Paul appears to give the words a different meaning. is God’s response to the prophet’s complaint about God’s inaction and injustice. It instructs the person who is already righteous how to face the difficulties of life and, especially, the apparent contradictions between God’s promises and what takes place in history. In Paul, the quotation functions to characterize how it is that one can attain right standing with God and so live eternally. Another key difference is found if we take “on the basis of faith” with “the righteous one” rather than with “will live.” Indeed, a large number of scholars deny that we should do this. They argue that Paul, like Habakkuk, connects “by faith” with “live” (KJV: “The just shall live by faith”; also NASB; NIV).66 But a better case can be made for connecting “the one who is righteous” with “on the basis of faith” (RSV: “He who through faith is righteous will live”; also TEV; NEB).67 Of greatest significance is the way Paul in consistently links faith with righteousness (cf. the summary in 5:1) and shows how “life” is the product of that righteousness (cf. 5:18 and 8:10). These connections favor the translation “the one who is righteous by faith will live.”

In both the meaning of the terms and their connections, then, Paul’s quotation differs from the meaning of the original. But the differences should not be magnified. The point in Habakkuk is that faith is the key to one’s relationship to God.

Moo, D. J. (1996). The Epistle to the Romans (p. 78). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

In short, Paul probably intends the Habakkuk quotation to be understood with a richness of meaning which can embrace within it the fuller understanding of the gospel for which Paul stands, in its continuity with the revelation to Israel. He who is maintained within or has been brought into the relationship with God which brings about salvation, by the outreach of God’s faithfulness to his own faith, shall experience the fullness of life which God intended for humankind as he lives in the dependence of faith on the continuing faithfulness of God. Such an elaboration may seem to modern ears unduly complex, since we today are more familiar with the convention that if a statement has one meaning it cannot simultaneously have a different meaning. But it would be quite otherwise for Paul.

Dunn, J. D. G. (1998). (Vol. 38A, p. 49). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

In support of his declaration that righteousness comes by faith, Paul turned to words of the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous will live by faith” (). In Paul used the same quotation to prove that no one is justified by keeping the law. The prophet Habakkuk used the term “faith” in the sense of faithfulness or steadfastness. The righteous will be preserved through times of difficulty by their steadfast loyalty to God. Paul used the passage in a slightly different way to make it mean that those who are righteous by faith will receive life.

Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, p. 74). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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