The Righteousness of God

Romans 1

God has good news for you, me, and all humanity! It is promised in the Old Testament and centered in Jesus Christ alone. He came to earth a Jew as a Gift from God. He lived a perfect life, and died a cruel death on a Roman cross.  He was buried and arose 3 days later by the Power of the Holy Spirit.  He ascended to heaven to be seated at the right-hand of the Throne God. And, He saves all who will trust by faith in Him because of his amazing grace and mercy. He alone purchased salvation, and this message must be preached to the whole world. Why? Because the gospel alone is “the power of God to salvation.”
 
The word Gospel means “good news.” Throughout Romans it refers to the entirety of salvation: justification (salvation past), sanctification (salvation present), and glorification (salvation future).
 
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  Romans 1:16–17 (ESV)
 
How about you? Are you trusting in this Gospel of Jesus Christ? Or, are you ashamed of the Gospel? Do you believe it? Are you sharing it?
 
"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,“ Romans 1:1-6 (ESV)
 
The Jews had expected a Messiah who would reign on David’s throne; they had not anticipated Him to also be divine. They were looking for and earthly king; not the King of Kings born to establish His Kingdom. The resurrection served as a demonstration and a validation of Jesus’s divinity.
 
"To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.“ Romans 1:7-15 (ESV)
 
Paul was so insistent on seeing the Roman believers. He wanted to impart to them and emplore for them to discover and use their spiritual gifts to strengthen the church in Rome and to all churches throughout His journey. He wanted to have a spiritual impact on them and bring them spiritual benefit so that their ministry would grow even stronger. 
 
Paul was so gripped by the gospel; that his whole life was controlled by it. Called to be an apostle, he felt himself a debtor to the whole world. Through His church, God is calling people to Jesus Christ.He felt obligated to preach the gospel. Why? Because the cost of not sharing the gospel is too high. If you see your neighbor’s house on fire, do you shrug and say, “Glad that’s not my home”? No! You feel an obligation to act, because something valuable is at stake, and doing nothing is too costly.

​How has the gospel gripped you? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Have you experienced the love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ? Are you compelled like Paul to share the Gospel with those without hope; those being controlled and killed by sin?
 
Are you seeking righteousness? Do you have accountability? Do you understand that God is a God of love and salvation, and a God of wrath, a Despiser of sin?
 
Dr. Tony Evans says, "If we’re ashamed to share the gospel, it’s because we do not understand the power embedded in it. If we really believe it has power not only to save sinners but also to give victory to saints, we’ll share it.”
 
Dr. Evans goes on in His Bible Commentary to explain: "One reason Paul had confidence in the gospel was that in it the righteousness of God is revealed. The word righteousness means “to be right.” Not “better than others” or “good enough,” but right, as in, right with God.”
 
Our problem is that we mentally dumb down God, reducing him to our level so that our sin doesn’t seem so bad. The gospel, though, makes God’s righteousness the standard. So, it doesn’t matter how nice of a sinner you are, you are still a sinner.
 
“The gospel also gives us a provision: The righteous will live by faith. If we appeal to our relative goodness, we’ll always fall short. But if we appeal to God by faith, then the gospel has already saved us. Think of it this way. If I can’t afford a house, but a generous oil baron puts up his bankroll for me, my finances are irrelevant. He bought the house for me. I am dependent on his resources, and he can afford it. That’s what the gospel is like: God has resources available for every believer who lives by faith. The act of faith in the finished work of Christ justifies us, and it is the lifestyle of faith that sanctifies and transforms us.” Evans, T. (2019). The Tony Evans Study Bible (p. 1315). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible.
 
“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 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. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 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 1:18-25 (ESV)
 
"God’s wrath is his righteous and just retribution against sin. The focus here has to do with God’s wrath in history not in eternity. He does not apologize for it. Sinful human beings, conversely, would rather suppress the truth. Suppress means “to hold down.” A beach ball held underwater resists and wants to pop back up; so if you want to keep the ball under, you have to force it down. Humans tend to do the same thing to the truth about God’s righteousness because we don’t want to deal with it.” Evans, T. (2019). The Tony Evans Study Bible (p. 1315). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible.
 
Paul’s main theme is the righteousness of God, but here in Romans 1, he presents it against the dark background of the judgment of God, which is going on right now in our culture and our world. Men know God from creation and conscience; but refuse to honor Him as God. They live for the creature, not the Creator, and make themselves into gods, much like in the beginning. 
 
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4–5 (ESV)
 
Because of their sin, God gave them up and let them suffer the consequences. The greatest judgment God can inflict on us is to let us have our own way.
 
"Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 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. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." Romans 1:24–32 (ESV)
 
Is this not a picture of the sin in our current generation and culture?  Is this not the description of the sin currently being openly accepted, embraced, and even entitled by our world? Understand, the same God who delivered up sinners to judgment delivered up His own Son for lost sinners! May all living in unrighteousness understand it is not only dishonoring God, but not His best or design for those He created or died.
 
Know that God desires and awaits repentance and seeks to restore life and light to those living in darkness, for He is a Holy God who loves His creation. He wants nothing more than for all to receive his Gospel.
 
"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Ro 8:31–33 (ESV)
 
“Religions are man’s search for God; the Gospel is God’s search for man. There are many religions, but one Gospel.” E. Stanley Jones
 

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