Romans 1:17

Romans 1:17 (R.V.)

I. The most characteristic and weighty expression in this verse is of course God's righteousness,the revelation of which makes the gospel to be a saving power. The Pauline use of the word righteousness is this: righteousness is the condition of any man's being justified, vindicated in law or acquitted of blame by his righteous Judge. And the characteristic of the gospel its joy and glory lies here, that it has revealed how that condition of our justification has been reached. By its disclosure of that for the trustful acceptance of mankind, it becomes a message with power unto salvation.

II. We are now in a position to see in what sense this righteousness revealed in the gospel is God's. It is God's in its inception; for He it was who in the beginning, when we were yet sinners, sent forth His Son. It is God's in its achievement; for He it was the Son of the Father who, in the fulness of time, made many righteous by His own obedience. It is God's in its revelation; for He it was the Holy Spirit who comforts us by His teaching, who first through the apostles of our Lord discovered it to all nations for the obedience of faith.

III. God's righteousness of, or out of,faith. The relation of God's righteousness is thus expressed by its very name, on both sides toward God and toward man. As respects God, it is His,in a sense, opposed to its being mine; His as its Author, Originator, meritorious Achiever, and proper Proprietor. The simple personal possessive marks His relation to it; it is God's. But as respects my relation to it it comes to me, stands me in stead, is reckoned to me for my acquittal "by faith," in consequence of my believing and trusting in Him. Just because this righteousness is another's, it can only be made available for me by my relying upon that other and accepting it as a gratuitous present from His kindness. Because it is God's, it comes to me out of faith; and it is out of faith, that it may be by grace.

J. Oswald Dykes, The Gospel according to St. Paul,p. 13.

References: Romans 1:17. G. Ireland, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xiv., p. 222; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 567; G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount,p. 83.Romans 1:18. Homilist,vol. vi., p. 157; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. xii., p. 381; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 561.Romans 1:18. Bennett, Thursday Penny Pulpit,vol. ii., p. 325.