Faith in Jesus Christ is a marvelous thing. Something that frees us from
the
penalty of sin. It is joyous and wondrous. Danny Hall writes about the
power
of faith.
May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
---
THE POWER OF FAITH
By Danny Hall
One of the most frustrating things about being a human being is being a
human being! There are so many times when we just can't seem to do the
right
thing, or think the right thing, or make the right decision. Even on our
best days there is always an undercurrent that isn't quite right.
About a week ago I came across a Dennis the Menace cartoon. A box of
crayons
is lying on the floor, and there are drawings all over the wall. Dennis'
mom
has put him in the corner. Dennis is saying, "Boy, I sure do wish life
came
with an eraser!" Have you ever felt like that? So many times I have. The
good news is that there is an eraser. You just have to know where to look
for it.
This is the second message in a series on the statement in Scripture "The
just shall live by faith." This message will focus on the wonderful power
of
faith. For the most part we'll study Paul's letter to the Romans, where
he
uses this statement "The just shall live by faith" in his theme verses,
1:16-17. In order to understand this statement, we're going to do a quick
survey of the whole book of Romans, just as we surveyed the book of
Habakkuk
in the last message (Discovery Paper 4671). Paul uses this statement as a
launch pad for all the rest of his discussion in the book.
Verses 1-17 of chapter 1 are the introduction of the letter, and it is
much
longer than Paul's introductions usually are. It begins with powerful
statements about who Jesus Christ is. It talks of Paul's longing to come
and
see the Romans and bring the gospel to them. It concludes with this
powerful
statement of what the letter is going to be about in verses 16-17, and
we'll
come back and study those two verses in just a moment.
In 1:18 Paul launches into a discussion of the plight of man. He talks
about
the problem of sin and its downward spiral in life, about how we fail to
acknowledge who God is and give him the glory as our Creator and Lord.
That
leads to all kinds of deterioration and destruction of the very moral
fabric
of humanity. He spends the rest of chapter 1 talking about that.
In chapter 2 Paul speaks specifically to his Jewish brethren, who came to
believe that by the privileges given them by God as his chosen people,
they
were special spiritually. Paul goes through chapter 2 and well into
chapter
3 confronting that error. He reminds them that while they do have the Law
and all kinds of special privileges, and they are called by God to be the
conduit of his Messiah, to be the custodians of his truth and a light to
the
world, they have abrogated that responsibility. They have become ingrown
and
spiritually proud. Just as the pagans outside their nation have, they have
fallen short of what it means to be truly human, to be people who are
alive
in God as we all were created to be.
But in 3:21 to the end of chapter 8, Paul gives us the wonderful news that
God has an answer for all the problems of humanity's sinfulness, whether
the
pagan's or the Jew's. Paul builds a glorious exposition of who Christ is,
what he has accomplished for us, and how faith in Christ will help us. By
the time Paul gets to chapter 8, we are in a wonderful attitude of praise
and wor****p for the great salvation God has given us.
Chapters 9-11 have posed all kinds of difficulty for students of the book
of
Romans. In these chapters Paul seems to be sidetracking into the problems
connected with the nation of Israel's being set aside as God's people and
the Gentiles' being "grafted in." But when we study our theme verses, we
will see that these chapters play an im****tant part in the argument Paul
is
unfolding as to what God is doing. It is directly related to what we
learned
in the last message from the book of Habakkuk about trusting God and his
sovereign purposes.
Then in chapters 12-16, Paul finishes with a wonderful explanation of how
our life in Christ impacts us practically, day by day.
In summary, Paul is unfolding the glorious story of what Jesus Christ has
done for us and how it impacts our lives so that we are set free by him.
With that overview in mind, let's go back and look at our theme verses,
1:16-17:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in
it
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is
written,
"But the righteous man shall live by faith."
In these two short verses Paul has managed to compress an incredible
amount
of wonderful truth. Let's try to unpack it as we look at the key elements
of
the verses.
The gospel proclaims Jesus
First Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the gospel.." What possible reason
could there be for him to be ashamed of the gospel? Some have theorized
that
perhaps Paul was a rather obscure preacher from an unim****tant ****tion of
the Roman Empire, and he was now planning to go to the capital city of
Rome
and begin to proclaim Christ in the face of the powerful might of Rome, to
enter the teeth of the lion, so to speak. He might have been tempted to
feel
insignificant in the larger scope of things.
That could be true, but it is not at the heart of what Paul is saying.
Possibly what Paul is speaking of here is his realization of what the plan
of salvation looks like in its entirety. There is no other book in Paul's
writings where he is more passionate and positive about his own
Jewishness,
yet brokenhearted about the unbelief of his Jewish brethren. "Paul," we
want
to ask, "didn't God promise the Jews, your people, that they would be the
conduit of the Messiah? Aren't they God's chosen people? How is it that
now
the Jews seem to be set aside in favor of the Gentiles?"
This hearkens back to Habakkuk. Remember, Habakkuk too was concerned about
the fate of the Jewish nation. God said he would raise up the Chaldeans
(Babylonians) to come in and discipline them. Habakkuk was aghast that God
would raise up Gentiles to discipline the Jews! He couldn't understand and
was actually angry and disillusioned with God. But God told Habakkuk to
step
back and take in the bigger picture. The sovereign God of the universe was
working out his purposes, and Habakkuk needed to trust him.
In the same way Paul as a Jew might be tempted to be ashamed of the fact
that the Jews had failed, and that this church he is planning to visit is
a
predominantly Gentile church, yet he, a former Pharisee, is the apostle to
the Gentiles! This might seem like a crazy plan to him.
But regardless of the reason he is tempted to feel ashamed, what Paul
wants
us to realize is that he is not ashamed, because God is doing something
greater than either Jew or Gentile could ever imagine! God has done
something so significant, so wonderful, so amazing, that it transcends
even
the distinction between Jew and Gentile. This is God's sovereign work for
the whole world, which he had always intended for the nation of Israel,
now
fulfilled!
The second word I want us to look at in Paul's theme verses is "gospel."
We
sometimes equate the word "gospel" with what we call the plan of
salvation,
in other words a description of what we believed to become a Christian.
But
that's not the way Paul uses the word "gospel." Paul is talking about the
proclamation of who Jesus Christ is--the Son of God, crucified, risen, and
reigning as Lord--the Savior. In the opening five verses of Romans he
writes:
"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for
the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in
the
holy Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David
according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the
resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus
Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostle****p to
bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's
sake."
The gospel is all about Jesus Christ. It is the proclamation of Christ
that
draws people to him, and the proclamation of Christ was at the center of
all
that Paul was. In 1 Corinthians 2:2, where Paul is reflecting on his first
visit to the Corinthians, he reminds them, "I determined to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."
The gospel is able to save
Paul then says about this gospel that it is "the power of God for
salvation." The word "power" is the great Greek word dunamis (from which
we
have derived our word "dynamite"). That word simply means to be able. It
speaks of the inherent ability of the gospel to do what it's supposed to
do.
Paul makes this same point in Galatians 3:10-14, which is the other place
where he quotes the statement "The just shall live by faith":
For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is
written, "Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in
the
book of the Law, to perform them." Now that no one is justified by the Law
before God is evident; for, "The righteous man shall live by faith."
However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who practices them
shall live by them." Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having
become a curse for us--for it is written, "Cursed is every one who hangs
on
a tree"--in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come
to
the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith.
Paul reminds us here, as he teaches in Romans, that there is no inherent
power in the Law to make us new or to change our lives. Rather, as the Law
directed us toward holiness in God, it would expose us as being sinful. In
contrast to that, Paul says that the gospel, the message of who Jesus
Christ
is and what he has done, is able to save us. The gospel is where we can
find
the "eraser" we're looking for. The gospel of Jesus Christ is how things
can
be made new, as we trust in him.
One of the manifestations of our spiritual weakness as human beings is
that
we tend to settle for less than what God offers. There are at least four
categories that we fall into in this.
Some people's response to their spiritual need is despair. "I can't change
anything. I'm awful. The world is awful. There's no spiritual hope."
Another category is what I call fatalism. "I'm not getting any better, and
I
can't do anything about it. I'm just doing what I can." It amounts to
drudgery. There may be those days when an inspirational speaker or a
crisis
helps people in this category to rise to the occasion for a moment or two,
so that things go better. But then they fall back into the rut of drudgery
again. A lot of us live this way.
A third category we might fall into when settling for less than what God
offers is humanistic pride. People in this category cling to
accomplishments
or success to feel good about themselves. It may be in the arts or s****ts
or
their profession. It may be in doing enough community service so everybody
will think they're the most wonderful person in the community. Maybe they
experience this through their children. There's a certain task where they
get a little more accomplished, and people recognize them for that. There
is
nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, but some people settle for
that as if that were what life is all about--human applause. Every morning
they get up and run back to the rat race saying, "I've got to work harder,
write a few more lines of code. Maybe we'll go public in the next six
months
and I'll be the richest guy on my block!"
The fourth category is religious pride. Some develop an attitude in life
of
being the most spiritual person they can be to feel good about themselves.
Every religion, Christian and non-Christian, develops around its faith
system a set of beliefs about what a good Christian (Muslim, Mormon, etc.)
is. We have one in this church. If I were to ask you what a good Christian
looks like, certain behaviors and religious activities, "Christian"
things,
which, again, are not bad in themselves, would come to mind: go to church
every Sunday, read the Bible every day, etc. But when we define ourselves
by
how many good things we do and come to feel that these things are the
essence of life, then we've settled for less than God offers us.
In contrast to these lesser responses to spiritual need, Paul says,
indirectly in Galatians 3:10-14 and specifically in Romans 1:16, that the
gospel itself is the power of God for salvation. The gospel will give us
something far beyond anything we ever dreamed of. It's what will break the
back of all that despair, drudgery, or pride, whether humanistic or
religious, and set us free to experience the real life that God wants to
offer. The gospel tells us there is something more out there to be had!
There is something real, in relation****p with God himself, by which we can
be set free from what holds us down, as we believe. This is the real power
of the gospel.
Life-changing faith
Paul goes on to say in 1:17 that in this powerful gospel, to everyone who
believes, the righteousness of God is revealed. There are basically two
positions on what he means by the righteousness of God. One is that this
is
God's own moral quality of righteousness. The other is that this is the
righteousness of God that is given to us. Throughout the book of Romans
Paul
actually uses this phrase both ways. Depending on the context, he
emphasizes
one meaning or the other. In 3:21ff especially, he uses both meanings when
he talks about God's being shown to be a righteous and just God while also
giving to us his righteousness.
I think, however, that in this theme verse Paul is using the first
meaning.
This display of the gospel reveals to us that God himself is a righteous
God. We might question his ways and motives at times, but the gospel, the
finished work of Jesus Christ, declares to the world that God himself is
righteous and he has acted justly in his world, even as he has acted
lovingly and wonderfully and graciously toward all who would believe.
Paul then says the righteousness of God is revealed "from faith to faith."
Now if you were to look up the phrase "from faith to faith" in a number of
commentaries on the book of Romans, you'd find umpteen different opinions
on
what it means. The Greek text literally says, "Out of faith unto faith."
Sometimes the interpretation of this phrase is that it's intensifying or
emphasizing the idea of faith. Another interpretation points to the
progression of our walk with God; it begins with faith in Christ and
continues with faith in Christ.
But I'd like to suggest another interpretation. The Greek word for faith
is
also the word for faithfulness, and depending on its context, it can be
used
that way. For instance, in Romans 3:3, Paul clearly uses this word in
reference to God's faithfulness: "What then? If some did not believe,
their
unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it?" So, in this
case, I would suggest that "faith to faith" is a hinge phrase in Romans
1:17. The righteousness of God is revealed from his faithfulness to our
faith. That is, based on God's righteous faithfulness to fulfill all his
promises and accomplish his works, we place our faith in him. The powerful
gospel has revealed him this way, and as we encounter his wonderful,
transforming grace, the gospel comes home to us personally and powerfully,
changing our lives.
Real life
That brings us finally to the little statement "The righteous man shall
live
by faith." Interestingly, Paul's quote from Habakkuk is not a direct
translation of either the Hebrew text or the Septuagint, the Greek
translation of the Old Testament used in Paul's time. Paul is basically
giving us his own paraphrase.
People have struggled as to how to translate this statement. It is most
often translated as we read it above. But an alternate reading, which you
may find in the margin notes of your Bible, is also compelling: "The just
by
faith shall live." There are strong arguments in favor of each, but in
light
of the whole course of the argument of Romans, I believe the second
reading
fits better. Paul is saying to us, "The just by faith shall live." What he
is inviting us to recognize is that this powerful gospel he is talking
about, and which he is going to explain, gives us something more than just
some sort of new religion--it gives us real life. The pagans can try to
find
life in self-indulgence or accomplishment. The Jews can search for it in
religious privilege as well as in the ethnicity, legalism, and social
structure that they have built. You can search for life in whatever you
want, but you will find life only in Christ. The one who is justified by
faith in Christ is the one who lives.
What God is offering to us is life that is outside of the normal human
experience. An interesting study for you to do would be to trace out the
word "life" or "live" in the New Testament using a concordance. The New
Testament concept of life is not mere existence. It is a special kind of
life, a life that is empowered by God himself. What Paul wants us to see
is
that in the gospel of Christ, what has kept us in bondage is broken and we
are set free.
At the end of each major section of the book of Romans, Paul's heart
breaks
forth in a song of praise. At the end of Romans 8, after his long
discourse
on the wonders of Christ and of his salvation, he offers a beautiful song
of
praise to God that concludes with these words: "For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things
present,
nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created
thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ
Jesus our Lord" (8:38-39).
At the end of chapter 11, after going through his discussion about how the
gospel is for the Jew and Gentile alike in God's sovereign purposes in the
unfolding plan of salvation, Paul writes: "Oh, the depth of the riches
both
of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and
unfathomable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who
became
His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to
him again? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him
be
the glory forever. Amen" (11:33-36).
At the end of chapter 16, after giving us wonderful instruction about how
the gospel is to impact our life and giving his final greetings to his
friends, he says, "Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my
gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of
the
mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is
manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the
commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations,
leading to obedience of faith; to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ,
be the glory forever. Amen" (16:25-29).
The power of the gospel is that we can be made new, we can be made alive.
Remember those four categories of settling for less than what God offers?
What the gospel does is turn those things on their heads.
In the place of despair, the gospel offers hope. I will not be forever
caught in the bondage of frailty and sinfulness. I can be set free. There
is
hope for new, eternal life and real victory.
In the place of fatalism, the gospel gives joy, a heart of praise and
wonder
that God has done something amazing to set us free.
In the place of humanistic pride, the gospel brings peace. I do not have
to
get up tomorrow morning and prove myself again. I don't have to accomplish
something so that someone will pat me on the back so I can justify my
existence. God reaches into the turmoil of that rat race and gives me
peace.
I am truly loved, eternally welcome in the presence of God.
And finally, in the place of religious pride, there is freedom. I don't
have
to worry whether I'm doing enough for God to make the grade, whether I've
put enough money in the plate, whether I need to go feed the poor this
afternoon, or come to church on Wednesday as well as Sunday. We are freed
from that kind of bondage. God's acceptance of us derives from what Jesus
Christ has done on our behalf. Through him we are set free to just be who
God created us to be, fully alive in him.
In the last message we saw that faith means having the perspective of
God's
sovereignty. Added to that, we can now see that faith means trusting in
the
gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of which break the bonds of our
sinfulness
and sets us free to experience the freedom of life in him.
Scripture quotations are taken from New American Standard Bible, ã 1960,
1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 The Lockman
Foundation.
Used by permission.
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