(Romans 1:17)

     Today is the 496th anniversary day of the Reformation. ‘Only by faith’ is one of the most important mottos for the Reformation and at the same time the central theme for the Reformation. Not only that, it is the kernel of the Christian gospel. But when we think of the phrase, ‘only by faith’, we first have to think about the source of ‘the faith’, which is saving sinners like you and me. That is ‘the righteousness of God.’ So, today, we are going to be appreciating the meaning of the righteousness of God and how it is revealed in gospel and saves sinners.

     In verse 17, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” Here, in the phrase ‘for in it’, ‘it’ means gospel, the gospel of Christianity. The verse is now saying that in the gospel of Christianity, the righteousness of God is revealed.

     By the way, before we find the true meaning of the righteousness of God, we need to clarify why we need the righteousness of God, that is, why the righteousness of God should be revealed in the gospel. In the following verse, verse 18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” Human beings’ ultimate problem is in the fact that they all are under the wrath of God. Why does the wrath of God come against us? This verse says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men….”, ‘all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.’ The following verses are clearly describing our ‘ungodliness’, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” (Romans 1:21-25). Our serious problem, that is, human beings’ ultimate problem, is not in the brokenness of the relationship between men ourselves, nor in the brokenness of keeping harmony between countries, nor in the brokenness of keeping morality and rules, and nor in the brokenness of establishing proper educational or legal systems. The very terrible problem of human beings is in the very brokenness of the relationship between us, creature, and God, the Creator. No problems are at all in those values, systems, and efforts. The problem is human beings’ nature, fallen nature. That is to say, the problems is the fact that men do not know what and why they are supposed to do with all the factors in this human world toward their Creator, their Lord. Depravity and inability is the true picture of life. Romans verses that I have just read is succinctly showing us the miserable situation of men. See again the expression in the verse, ‘all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.’ The ‘unrighteousness’ is the natural outcome of the ‘ungodliness.’

     Then God is righteous and men are unrighteous. The righteousness is one of the important attributes of God. So God cannot allow such the ‘unrighteousness of men.’ Therefore, verse 18 tells us the fact, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” And the verse continues to say the reason why our human world has been becoming disordered, desperate, and hopeless more and more despite the science and philosophy developing more and more, despite many unbelievers arguing the improvement in the past and hope for the future of human society. In verse 24~25, “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” ‘God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity…..’ – this is the main reason why our world is still ungodly and unrighteous. In this brute fact, all we are found as sinners, all we are found as in sinfulness. There is no exception, as “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). And another obvious declaration of God about this situation is that God will not let them in the situation endlessly but will completely judge the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men at His own time according to His own criterion of the perfect righteousness. God is very angry at our unrighteousness and the way we suppress and distort the truth to justify ourselves. Who is able to avoid this wrath of God? Who is able to save themselves from the sinfulness? Who is able to be found as the righteous before the perfect criterion of the righteousness of God? Penance and discipleship is in some sense valuable as itself. Attaining of Nirvana under a bodhi tree through deep and high level meditation is a great thing. Devoting one’s whole life to helping the needy all over the world is really respectable and recommendable, and it is one of Christians’ roles. But do these things save us from our unrighteousness or contribute to be righteous for us? No, no, no! At all! Don’t pretend that you can gain righteousness to the slightest extent through your behavior or mind with the sinful and depraved nature before God. It is because “we were dead in the trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:2).We are not just defected and lacking, but totally dead. That is why men in natural condition without Holy Spirit’s illumination and working never react to the resounding rescue sound, the gospel of Christianity. It is because there is no life in them which means that there is no energy and sense in them to react to the rescue sound, as corpses cannot lift their hands even though a lifeguard stretches his hand towards them. What they need is not some more energy or religious sense but a new life. Here, this is what we need saving from in the end.

     In this doomed and cursed situation, the good news is heard and delivered to men. In today’s verse, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” The expression, ‘the righteousness of God’ would have a couple of meanings in the light of the whole teaching of the Bible. But here we should focus on one meaning of the expression according to the context here. In verse 17, the “righteousness of God” means in the sense of our right standing before God as forgiven, acquitted sinners without guilt. In other words, as people who are justified, or declared righteous because the righteousness of God has been imputed to us. We now have a right standing with God. God imputes to us his own righteousness even while we are still ungodly. He counts us as having his righteousness. That’s what is revealed in the gospel. So the verse is saying, “The righteousness of God is revealed…..” And this amazing status of us is realized from faith for faith. Specifically, faith in what? Let’s look at another verse of the same book, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.” (Romans 3:21-22).

    Jesus Christ our Lord perfectly met the requirements to be found as righteous before God. God credits Jesus’ righteousness to sinners like you and me. God has manifested his own righteousness by imputing or crediting that righteousness to sinners and pronouncing them righteous or just with his own righteousness through Jesus Christ. This is called justification. The only way for us to be righteous before God is to have faith in the righteousness of God, Jesus Christ. The only way for us to survive the wrath of God against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men is to have faith in the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel, Jesus Christ our Lord. There is no hope in ourselves. There is no possibility in our depraved and unable status. Men are all under the wrath of God. For being saved from it men should find the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel of God. It is to hold the merits of Jesus Christ by faith. It is to rely on only Jesus’ righteousness being imputed into us by faith. It is to be united with Jesus Christ by faith. Then you can live, and get a new life and power, and cry victorious triumphant songs when the wrath of God judges the world against the ungodliness and unrighteousness. Believe in Jesus Christ. Don’t even try to get your righteousness through any religious manners and ceremonies or cultic ways or good behaviors and mindsets. Our justification will never be accomplished based on these human beings’ attitudes or emotions. Don’t even imagine that these imperfect and depraved outcomes from sinful human beings can appease God’s wrath against the ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe in what Jesus Christ has done for your justification. That’s it. This is the gospel of Christianity. Today’s text is saying, “From faith for faith.” This very faith also makes believers keep believing. Let’s look at thelast part of the verse again as the Apostle Paul is quoting from the prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous shall live by faith.” It means that in terms of the previous phrase, “from faith for faith”, one can be found as righteous only by faith, which means that the one is able to live eternally as the righteous by faith at the same time it means that the one who is found as righteous by faith before God shall live by the faith.

     Everyone, for us, to be righteous which means that we will not be under the curse of God’s wrath, is God’s plan and act. It comes from God’s righteousness, that is, its origin and bare source is God’s righteousness. And it is realized through his only begotten son our Lord Jesus Christ. No churches, popes, and pastors ever have an influence on being righteous of men in the least. No discipleship, efforts, and attitudes and mindset ever have an influence on being righteous at all. Be humble before God. Acknowledge your unworthiness as a sinner before God. And come to the amazing grace of God and believe in Jesus Christ, firmly grasp Jesus’s merits, the only righteousness given by God. This promise never fails and never betrays, and nothing is able to shake or break it. At the last time of your life, only this promise will be with you forever, and you live your life only by this faith. Listen again to God’s declaration to the ones who have the ear to hear, “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”