FROM FAITH TO FAITH.
Rom_1:17 For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is
written, The just shall live by faith.
There is another
expression in the text which stands at the beginning of this tract: "For
therein [in the gospel] is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith." This expression has been the subject of much learned discussion by
theologians, and very few of them are agreed as to its meaning. The fact that
learned men are disagreed in regard to it, need not frighten us from it with
the thought that it cannot be understood, for we read that things hidden from
the wise and prudent are revealed unto babes. If we are but simple enough to
accept the obvious Scripture meaning, as explained by the Scriptures, we need
not be in darkness.
One of the greatest
causes of the failure of many people to understand the book of Romans, and
indeed any other portion of Scripture, is a failure to hold to first principles
and Bible definitions. Men attempt to define some terms according to their theological
training, and find it hard work to make them fit. Then if they at one time
accept the Bible definition of a term, they do not adhere to it, but give it
some other meaning the next time they meet with it. This can lead to nothing
else but confusion.
The cause of the difficulty in understanding this
text, is a failure to cling to the Bible definition of the term, "the
righteousness of God." We have already seen that it is an expression
indicating God's character, and that his character is set forth in the ten
commandments. They sum up the whole duty of man, which is to be like God. The
law, having been transgressed, cannot, as a matter of course, be perfectly
represented in any person's life, and so the gospel was devised, that man might
in Christ find the perfect righteousness of the law. The gospel is the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, because it makes manifest the
righteousness of God. Not only is the law–the righteousness of God–preached,
and its majesty upheld, by the gospel, but by the gospel the fruits of
righteousness are made to appear in the life of the believer.
Some would make
"righteousness of God" in this text synonymous with
"justification." That is all right, if they do not limit the
application of the text to the moment of justification from past transgression.
It is the application of the law in Christ to the life of the transgressor that
justifies him. Through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, God by his
grace counts the past life of the sinner who believes as though it had been in
every respect, in accord with his law. Rom. 3:25. This is justification. It is
the revelation, or manifestation, through the gospel, of the righteousness of
God. Rom. 3:21, 22. But the text says that this is revealed "from faith to
faith;" and this can mean nothing else but a progressive work of
righteousness. The verse teaches that the righteousness of God is revealed from
one degree of faith to a higher degree of faith, and consequently that
righteousness must ever be on the increase. This is shown by the quotation
which the apostle makes to prove his statement. It must be that the
righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, he argues, because it is
written, "The just shall live by faith."
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