Chapter 1:16–17

The main theme (1:16)

The Gospel - it brings justification - meaning God’s mercy - to all people. Here, the Gospel is “of Christ” (see 1:1 - “of God”). It means that Christ - its saving act - is the content of the Gospel.

Paul is not ashamed of preaching the Gospel. Were there any Christians who were ashamed to preach it?

The Gospel is “the power of God unto salvation”.

Soteria- salvation - has two dimensions:

  1. The present one - hope of experiencing the fullness of salvation (Rom 8:24);
  2. The eschatological one - the time of Parousia (Rom 13:11).
  3. The opposite of salvation is damnation - apoleia (see 2 Cor 2:15; Phil 1:28).
  4. This salvation that Gospel brings although available to all - the Jews and Greek alike - it can be experienced ‘only’ by the believing ones.
  5. The process of believing the Gospel is outlined in Rom 10:14–17:
    A. Proclamation - what is proclaimed is the word of Christ, not other words, nor our words;
    B. Listening;
    C. Putting one’s faith in what one has just heard;
    D. Obedience to its message.

Why is the Gospel of Christ so powerful (1:17)

God’s justification is revealed in it! What is it? It is the main attribute of God, namely God’s mercy. On the opposite is God’s wrath (1:18).

God’s justification is:

  1. Independent from the law (3:21);
  2. It is a gift (5:17);
  3. It does not belong to us (10:3) - it comes from God (Phil 3:9).

Rom 10:3 and Phil 3:9, both indicate that there two modes of righteousness: (1) human; (2) divine.

God’s righteousness is “from faith to faithfulness”. In Greek the word “pistin” can be translated as faith or as faithfulness. I translated it here as faithfulness. Its understanding is as follows. Righteousness begins with faith / trust in God’s promise - like in the case of Abraham - and it leads to faithfulness - a full commitment to follow God no matter where He would lead us, no matter what He would expect from us - like Abraham again (see Heb 11:8.17–19).

A translation rendering 1:17 as “from (1) faith to (2) faith” is more common. The usual explanation sees the (1) faith as a ‘beginner’s faith - smaller faith’ that needs to grow to a ‘mature faith’ - the (2) faith. Again Abraham is an example. Jewish tradition based on the Bible lists ten test of Abraham that led him to full maturity in faith:

  1. God tells him to leave his homeland to be a stranger in the land of Canaan (Gen 12:1).
  2. Immediately after his arrival in the Promised Land, he encounters a famine (Gen 12:10).
  3. The Egyptians seize his beloved wife, Sarah, and bring her to Pharaoh (Gen 12:15).
  4. Abraham faces incredible odds in the battle of the four and five kings (Gen 14:13–16).
  5. He ‘marries’ Hagar after not being able to have children with Sarah (Gen 16:1–2).
  6. God tells him to circumcise himself at an advanced age (Gen 17:24).
  7. The king of Gerar captures Sarah, intending to take her for himself (Gen 20:2).
  8. God tells him to send Hagar away after having a child with her (Gen 21:10–12).
  9. His son, Ishmael, becomes estranged (Gen 21:14).
  10. God tells him to sacrifice his dear son Isaac upon an altar (Gen 22:2).

Paul supports his statement with a quote from Hab 2:4 LXX. However, in his quote he omits the personal pronoun “my” that is present in the book of the prophet: “the just shall live by my faith” (Hab 2:4 LXX - see our discussion on the letter to the Galatians on that matter).

In the text, we have three key words: (1) the just / righteous, (2) faith; (3) life.

There are two possible explanations of the meaning of this important statement:

  1. Faith is the source of justification and removes a righteous person from the law of death;
  2. A righteous person needs faith to live in relationship with God. Faith sustains him in this relationship.

In the Gospel of Christ is revealed God’s righteousness “from faith to faithfulness”. The entire life of righteous person is marked by faith. Yet, there is also something else that is revealed, namely God’s wrath. This God’s wrath is revealed from heaven, not in the Gospel (1:18).

Thus, we have two things being revealed:

  1. God’s righteousness in the Gospel - being preached on the earth;
  2. God’s wrath from heaven - coming down from heaven upon the earth, God’s judgement for all people’s “impiety and unrighteousness” (1:18).
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