Paul writes this book, and after
he is given the greeting and the opening salutation, he gets
right down to business with the matter of the book, content of
it, and such like. So in chapter 1, verse 13. Now, I would not have you ignorant,
brethren, that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you but was let
hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as
among the other Gentile. I am debtor, both to the Greek
and to the barbarian, both to the wise and the unwise, so as
much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein
is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. Now, that is our first
subject, the revelation of righteousness made in and through the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. A little introduction, if we
might. Paul did not have a hand personally in the raising up
of the church and the assembly that was there in Rome, nor could
I tell you why or who did. And he had not personally ministered
among them. He had not been there in person
to preach them and to instruct them, though he greatly desired
to do that. And it all promised him that
he would come among their midst, that he might impart some spiritual
benefit unto them. in verse 10 through verse 13
of the first chapter. He had been thankful for them,
for he knew about them, and their faith was known in many places
in that day, chapter 1 and verse 8. He had made fervent prayer
on their behalf, as he says in verse 9, making mention of you
always in my prayer. And then in verse 13, he had
often purposed to visit them, but time and time again he had
been hindered, was not led hitherto. And in chapter 15 and verse 22,
for which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to
you. The margin has it many ways,
or oftentimes I had purpose to come and had been hindered by
the providence of God. Linsky renders it this way in
his book, I continue to be cut off in many ways from coming
unto you. And this had been the case for
several years, chapter 15 and verse 23, having a great desire
these many years to come unto you. And yet it had not occurred
until he had been arrested and brought there before Caesar.
Now in chapter 1 and verse 14, Paul calls himself a dettar. For I am dettar. Not in the sense that he needs
to repay some kind of favor that someone had done unto him, but
you have them to know that he was under obligation and that
by his call from God and his commission by the Lord Jesus
Christ, under obligation to carry the gospel here and there and
to preach the gospel unto all kinds of people in all kinds
of places. Of course, to the Jew first,
but also unto the Gentile. And that's seen in his commission
in Acts chapter 9 and verse 15. He is a chosen vessel unto me. to bear my name before the Gentile,
the kings of the earth, and the children of Israel. Consider Romans 1 and verse 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
according to the call of God, separated unto the gospel of
God. Paul, an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God. A chosen vessel to preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse
16. For though I preach the gospel,
I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is me if I preach not
the gospel. And here in our text, in verse
14 through verse 16 is a wonderful unfolding of the truth regarding
Paul and the gospel. And it begins with his assurance
that he purposed and desired for a long time to minister among
them. Verse 15, notice, I am ready
to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also, a distance
of some great distance. And the word also, I believe
cast an eye back on verse 14, both to the Greeks and to the
barbarians, both to them that are wise and them that are unwise. And we might add also, whether
they're bond or whether they're free, whether they are slaves
or whether they are free, whether they are Scythian, whether they
are whatever they are, circumcision or uncircumcision, I am ready
to preach the gospel also at Rome." Now, he had assured them,
I am better to preach as much as in me is, I am ready to preach
the gospel to you that are at Rome, to fulfill my obligation
and to carry out my calling. that has been bestowed upon me
by the Lord." Then he goes on to say, I am ready to preach
the gospel to you that are at Rome, for I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. You see his line of reasoning?
I'm deader. I'm ready to preach the gospel
at Rome. I'm ready to preach the gospel
at Rome, for I am not ashamed of the gospel. Now, not to break
Paul's connecting thought, but let us not miss something here
in the saying of this great apostle. I am not ashamed of the gospel,
by which he means, of course, the message of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the doctrines of Christ, the faith and truth as it is
in Christ Jesus. And that includes our Christ
to be crucified upon the cross, dead by the hands of wicked men,
but delivered up by God, bearing our sin. Crucified upon the cross. I'm ready to preach the gospel,
which is that salvation is only by and through the death of Christ. I'm ready to preach the good
news. the remission of sin by the redemption that is in Jesus
Christ. I am ready to preach it, and
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Not ashamed, he said. And this word means to have a
fear or a shame about a particular thing. It prevents one from doing
a thing because it is a shame unto them or a feeling of shame
because of something that has already been done. as used in
the latter sense in Romans 6 and 21. You're now ashamed of that
which you used to do. Shed thought that the word ashamed
hinted at the scornful, awful treatment that the gospel received
when it was preached out into the world in such places as Athens. and Corinth and Ephesus, which
were seats of Grecian culture, therefore a revolt against the
principle of the gospel. And Rome, you must remember,
was the center of power of the Roman Empire, the epitome of
worldly power and of glory. at that particular time. Such
places are seldom friendly to the gospel. Those steeped in
culture and the world and such like are seldom friendly or receive
the gospel in a friendly manner. There is arrogance there because
of their power and their learning and their culture and their arts
and their society. Any place that human wisdom greatly
flourishes in the power of philosophy and of the age, there is an unfriendly
view toward the gospel of Christ. Nor in this are we forgetting
what Paul tells the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 22. The Jews require a sign, but
the Greeks seek after wisdom. And therefore, when we preach
the gospel, when we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, it
becomes to the Jew a stumbling block and becomes under the Gentile
or under the Greek a foolishness. The Jews stumble at Christ upon
a cross, they wanted him upon the throne. And the Greeks are
offended at the gospel because they look for the wisdom of man. But Paul preached the gospel
and was not ashamed of it. Whether it was in the face of
Judaism or whether it was in the face of atheism or polytheism,
or deism or whatever it might be, Paul stood to preach the
gospel and not ashamed of it. But let's go back to Paul's reason. I am debtor, I'm ready to preach
the gospel, I'm not ashamed. And in verse 16, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation to the
ones believing to the Jew first, and then also to the Greek. And then the great connection
that is made here, it is the power of God unto salvation. And it is the power of God unto
salvation for a specific reason, and that is, therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, in verse 17. So from I
am debtor to it is the power of God unto salvation. Some say here is the main theme
of the Roman epistle, chapter 1, verse 16 and 17, and that
is the revelation of the saving righteousness of God's choosing
and of his providing, carrying the good news. proclaimed in
the gospel, telling the story, declaring the way of salvation
to be in and through the death and blood of the Lord, proclaiming
the finished work of Christ for our redemption and for our salvation. John Murray I was reading, and
in verse 16 and 17, four things are given prominence, he said,
here in this place in the scripture. Number one, God's power or the
power of God. It is the power of God. Number two, salvation. It is
the power of God unto salvation. in and through it is the message
and the effectual salvation. Number three, revelation, which
is revealed in the gospel. And number four, the righteousness
of God. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. So we have God's power, salvation,
the revelation of Christ in salvation, and the righteousness of God.
Now, let's speak now on the thing so prominently seen in the calling
and the ministry of Paul, and that is the gospel, the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a word that Paul used 13
times in this one epistle, the gospel,
the good news, the evangelion, and dozens of time in his other
epistle. Now remember what he said? I
am separated unto the gospel. It is his claim and it was substantiated
that he received this by direct calling and revelation from the
Lord Jesus Christ. You have that in Galatians 1,
11, and 12. He separated me from my mother's
womb, and he called me by his grace. that I might preach Christ
among the heathen, wherein rebuking some of the Galatians in that
chapter, we were giving ear to another gospel and turning away. I certify you, brethren, he said,
that the gospel which was preached by me is not after man. I neither received it of man,
nor was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."
He tells those Galatians, chapter one, the gospel I preached among
you. And by the way, he says to them,
under which you were called and which you responded is not of
human origin. I did not learn it in the school.
I did not learn it at the feet of Gamaliel. I did not learn
it from men. In fact, I did not even learn
it from the other apostle in Jerusalem. I learned it by direct
revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ. J.B. Lightfoot, an old
writer, said, Paul is saying, it flashed upon me as a revelation
from Jesus Christ, unquote. Who else could say that? Not
another minister in all of history could make that claim about the
gospel. Certainly not these cons and
these fraud men that are around today. making their wild claim. In fact, Paul connects both his
apostleship and his gospel. The gospel he preached as neither
having been humanly conveyed unto him or learned at the hand
of another man. And both his commission as an
apostle and his gospel were directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. And these two things in Paul's
life and case, either stand or fall together where his ministry
is concerned. Thus the gospel is the message
of Christ, and to preach the gospel is to preach, yes, the
death, the burial, and the resurrection of Christ. The gospel may be
defined as the good report that he was made sin in our behalf,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, that our sins
were imputed to Him and He bore them upon the cross, that righteousness
then might be imputed unto us as it was unto Abraham. Now the
gospel also, in addition to the death, burial, and resurrection
of Christ, proclaims adoption, redemption, reconciliation, satisfaction
for sin has been made by Christ and received by God. That Christ
has made what the Bible calls a propitiation unto God. And he has freed us from the
curse of the law and the power and bondage of depravity. And now the gospel announces
that all the benefits and all the blessings that are bestowed
upon the elect by virtue of the eternal decree of God come by
the propituary death of our blessed savior who in that dying upon
the cross made peace by the blood of the cross of death upon which
he died and be Because the Lord has done that, the Lord is favorable
toward them for whom Christ has propitiated him. How this description
of the gospel conflicts with what is being preached by so
many today and being called the gospel. That God wants you to
be all you can be. That God wants you to open up
your full potential for Him. He wants you to prosper. He wants
you to be healthy and wealthy and wise and overcomers of the
world. But then we learn they must attain
this in their own strength, by their own power, by an act of
their own free will, which brings an impossibility to the matter. But the connection we're interested
in now, and from here on, Paul's assertion that in the gospel
is made a revelation of righteousness. Now we got to get that. In the
gospel is revealed a righteousness of God. Robertson calls this,
in the Greek, a subjective genitive, whatever that means. That is,
a kind of God-righteousness. In the gospel is revealed a righteousness
of God. At a first reading, we might
be prone to identify this righteousness as being one and the same with
the attribute of the righteousness of God that we read about in
the scripture. Taking it at face value and first
reading, we might say, well, is Paul talking about that wonderful
attribute of the righteousness of God. We don't deny it. Righteousness is one of the outstanding
attributes of the eternal God. He is nothing if he is not righteous. He is righteous in all of his
way. John Owen, a great and deep thinking
Puritan, described God's attribute of righteousness this way, quote,
It is the infinite purity, the glorious essential holiness of
the nature of God." And it is an attribute much to be desired
and admired in God Almighty. But the context here, and the
flow of thought here in Romans, I think favors the position that
Paul is not referring here to the attribute of the righteousness
of God as being revealed in the gospel, but of a saving or a
justifying righteousness that is revealed and proclaimed in
the gospel. A righteousness that justifies
is in the mind of Paul in this place. And it's not the personal
righteousness of the individual that is made righteous. Not their
personal righteousness, but the imputed righteousness provided,
approved, and purposed by God. imputed by faith and experienced
by the faith of the individual. He says in the end of the verse,
the just shall live by faith. That's that old text from Habakkuk
chapter two and verse four, and it's quoted three times by the
authors in the New Testament. And then he describes it in chapter
three, And verse 22, the righteousness of God, which is by faith. Not God's attribute of righteousness
revealed in the gospel, but the righteousness of God, which is
by faith. Now, of course, God's attribute
of righteousness is involved in the saving of the elect sinner,
as are several of the attributes of God and the Eternal One. But that righteousness here that
is revealed in the gospel is that whereby those who are personally
and individually unrighteous in the sight of God are justified
by the righteousness that God imputes unto them. And this is
revealed and then it is experienced by them in faith or through faith. So let's look closer here at
what Paul is saying. Therein, that is, in the gospel,
in this message, in this preaching, is revealed the righteousness
of God. Now, in the second verse of this
Roman epistle, Paul had written of the gospel that it had been
promised before are of old beforehand and that by God by the prophets
in their holy scripture and in the third verse of chapter one
thus this concerned his son the Lord Jesus Christ the gospel
which was set forth before concerned the son of God Jesus Christ Now
of all, it was set forth in types, shadows, prophecy, and it, the
gospel, was preached unto Abraham in Galatians chapter 3 and verse
8. But in the appearing of the Lord
Jesus Christ came that very clear revelation of the gospel that
provides a righteousness that justifies, revealed in the gospel. Therein is a righteousness of
God revealed. Now, revealed in the scripture
means exactly the opposite of hidden or covered. It is revealed. The cover's taken off. It is
brought into plain view. To reveal means to uncover, to
uncover or to unveil. It means to bring into view.
It means to manifest. It means to remove the cover,
the hiding cover, and disclose it. And the same word is more
than 20 times in the New Testament, and revealed suits its meaning
quite well out of the Greek. It is revealed in and through
the gospel. And yet, I think that John Murray
has a good point, that although it is revealed in the gospel
to human apprehension, that is, by faith, it is revealed from
faith unto faith. It can be known It can be understood
when faith comes. The gospel instructs us in the
righteousness that justifies. But still, Murray made that point. It is revealed also in action
and operation. Not only is it revealed for our
human apprehension that we might know. and understand it. But it is also revealed in action
and operation. What I mean is, it is revealed
with saving effect. It is saving sinners. It is bringing
them into a right relationship under God. And this righteousness
of God is redemptively and savingly active against human depravity. It actually makes sinners righteous
in the sight of God. not just teaches them the way
to be reckoned righteous, but again, to quote Murray, in the
gospel, the righteousness of God is actively and dynamically
brought forth to bear upon man's sinful condition, not merely
made known to human apprehension, unquote. Though both of them
are certainly true. There are two things nearby here,
I believe, in Romans 1 that support this idea that the gospel is
revealed in active operation, actually saving. Two things. Let's look at them. Number one,
in verse 16, where Paul calls the gospel the power of God unto
salvation, and that both to the Jew and to the Gentile. Now, the word power here I think
is the word dunamis, the might of God. We might say the dynamite
of God. Strength. It is the strength. It is the power of God. This Paul had experienced firsthand
in his conversion, in his preaching the gospel. He had seen the dunamis
of God at work in the lives of people. For it's not just the
oral hearing of the gospel that is the dunamis of God unto salvation. For there are many that hear
Christ crucified. There are many that hear the
gospel and have heard the gospel preached orally. And to many
of them, it's just a stumbling block. And to others, it is foolishness. Again, 1 Corinthians 1, 21 through
23. Remember that to some the gospel
is hid, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verses 3 and 4, while to
some they are appointed to stumble at Christ. 1 Peter chapter 2
and verse 8. Yes, it says it. The gospel is
only the dunamis of God unto salvation to as many as believe. To them that believe. To them
that are given faith, it is the power of God unto salvation. And yet, as John Gill, an old
writer, cautioned, and I quote, this does not suppose that faith
gives the gospel its efficacy. but only is a description of
the person to whom the gospel attended with the power of God
and grace is efficacious," unquote. They're given the faith of God's
elect, Titus chapter 1. And the gospel directs them in
the way unto Christ. The gospel then instructs them. They hear the voice of Christ. and the way of salvation in the
gospel. But I said there are two things
here. And the second one is just ahead, but I think it also confirms
the view. If we look for a moment down
in verse 18, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against
all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men. This is our next text.
God be willing. But the point is, that the two
words revealed in verse 17 and again in verse 18 are the same
Greek word and from the same Greek word. So this cannot, in
verse 18 and following, be restricted to mere knowledge or to mental
apprehension. It is not that the wrath of God
is only revealed to knowledge or to mental apprehension. For Paul means there that the
wrath of God is actively and dynamically brought to bear against
human wickedness manifested with evidence. And Paul lists, and
we'll get into them, some manifestations of the actual wrath of God revealed
in the last half of chapter one. Saving that for next week. So
that the words are the same, the two revelations are direct
opposite. One is a revelation of righteousness,
the other is a revelation of wrath. The first is the remedy
for the second. For as wrath is operative, in
the lives of people on account of their sin and ungodliness
and impiety. So righteousness is operative
through the gospel to deliver from the wrath of God. And as I say, we'll have more
on that later. Paul has much more to say about
this righteousness operating and revealed in and through the
gospel. But before he does, return to
it in chapter 3 and verse 21. He returns to it. Before he does,
however, there is an interjection, a digression, if we call it,
and he declares the depravity of the whole race, Jew and Gentile,
from chapter 119 through chapter 3 and verse 20. Then in chapter
3 and verse 21, he returns again to discuss this righteousness,
verse 17, chapter 1, Therein is the righteousness of God revealed. Then, chapter 3 and 21, but now
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested. Righteousness apart from law. And the two words righteousness
in 117 and 321 through 30 are the same. As she had put it at Romans 3,
20 and 21, give an account of that extraordinary righteousness
referred to in 1 and 17, unquote. Now the first thing that Paul
says about this righteousness in 321, it is without law. It is apart from law. It is separate
from law. It has nothing at all to do with
law. Verse 20, by law shall no flesh
be justified in his sight. No personal obedience, not works,
no keeping of the law, has any influence or any bearing on attaining
this righteousness that is revealed in the gospel and that justified. Not the moral law. and not that
given to the Jew, not the natural law of conscience put in the
heart of the Gentile, chapter 2, 14 and 15. However, in chapter
3, verse 21 and the last part, This righteousness was witnessed
by the law and by the prophet. That is, it was witnessed, it
is set forth, you may find it in the Old Testament scripture. It was witnessed by Moses, by
the psalm, by the prophets, major and minor, and so forth. And
not only witnessed to, but witnessed to as being without Law let's
put that in there as well in instances of justification and
of righteousness in the Old Testament such as in the case of Abel and
Noah and Abraham and others under the old economy and that before
the law was ever adopted formerly given at Mount Sinai. Before
the law was ever given, there was a witness that righteousness
is without the law. Then verse 22 of chapter 3 sums
it up. Even or and, thee are that righteousness
of God by faith of Jesus Christ. upon and unto all that believe,
that is, by faith. This also takes us back to chapter
1, verse 16 and 17. To every one that believe, reveal
from faith unto faith. The just shall live by faith. And the last is that quotation
from Habakkuk chapter 2 and verse 4. Now, in verse 24, 25, and
26 of Romans chapter 3, you have a cluster of words here that
are related to the saving righteousness. They are justification, grace,
redemption, propitiation, and remission. For all are guilty,
though all are guilty, before the law, all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God, yet these same guilty sinners
are, many of them, justified freely. Now the word freely is
the word gratuitous. It actually means without a cause. They are justified freely, gratuitously. They're justified without a cause. No cause in themselves whatsoever. Through the grace of Him, through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is literally the tense
being justified. Being justified without any cause,
without any condition, without any contribution from the sinner. Christ has redeemed them. Now redemption means freedom
by the paying of a price. Redemption, ransom is the paying
of a price in order to free one, and the price of our redemption
is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament,
it might be silver and gold, but New Testament redemption
is by the paying of a price, which is the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and it buys or redeems the elect out of their
slavery into sin. Now look at verse 25, chapter
3. What a wonderful verse. Whom,
that is Christ, is set forth, or placed forth. God purposed
and he set forth Christ as a perpetuary or a placating sacrifice before
God, a perpetuary sacrifice for or because the wrath of God is
revealed against ungodliness and unrighteousness. Now, God
set forth Christ a propitiation. Read John's word, 1 John 4, verse
10, and 1 John 2, and verse 2, whereby God's justice against
sin is completely satisfied by the death of Christ. And then
God forgives, and he remains just and righteous in forgiving
sin, even those sins here that have passed through the forbearance
of God, as Paul describes it here in Romans 1, 25 and along
in there. His justice is not slighted. nor his righteous snisselied
by free forgiveness of sin. Let me say that again. God's
righteousness is not sullied and his justice is not slighted
by the free forgiveness of sin. It had its just due. Sin had
its just due in the death of Christ. Nothing therefore more
is required from the hand of the sinner. The sinner hath nothing
to put the perfection to the death of Christ. He hath nothing
to put the closure with Christ that he might do in the way of
good works or law or merit. So let's close with a discussion
of faith or belief as it fits into this matter, whether it
is a condition or a work, or whether it is a grace endowed
by God, and whether it procures grace, faith, or whether it itself
is a work of grace. Does faith procure grace or the
elect center, or is faith a work of God's grace itself? For Paul makes multiple mentions
of it in the end of chapter 3. Verse 22, 25, 27, 28, verse 30,
and verse 31. All of these have a mention of
faith in them. But consider two verses particularly,
Ephesians 2 and 8, you're familiar? For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself. And there's a great passage in
Romans 4 and verse 16, perhaps we get to it next week, Therefore
it is of faith that it might be of grace or by grace. They agree. It is by faith that
it might be a matter of grace. And again, this is the righteousness
of faith. To faith it is revealed. Faith
believes. Faith lays hold on the revelation
and it espouses Christ. And by the way, Christ in Hebrews
chapter 12 and verse 2 is the author and finisher of our faith. He is both the author and the
object of the faith of God's elect. To quote John Gill, faith
is a means of apprehending and receiving righteousness. It views
the excellency of Christ's righteousness and owns the sufficiency of it
to save the soul. By renouncing its own righteousness,
it espouses Christ and rejoices in it and gives it glory. Unquote the words of John Gill
Jeremiah 3 23 and verse 6 the Lord our Righteous Christ is
our righteousness Christ is made unto us righteousness as Paul
said in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse verse 30 Christ who of
God is made unto us righteousness and redemption and all that we
need Christ our righteousness and that righteousness imputed
unto the elect so in the gospel in conjunction with it there
is revealed a saving righteousness for our apprehension and belief
and and for actively and dynamically working to bring sinners into
a state of salvation before Almighty God. Thank God for revelation
number one. Therein is the righteousness
of God revealed.