"I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it God's righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith." Romans 1:16-17
"In memorizing Romans 1:16-17, you have the whole book of Romans in digest form. These verses, coming at the end of Paul's magnificent prologue to Romans, summarize the theme and thesis of this book. Verses 16 & 17 provide the essential vocabulary of the Christian dictionary. As you read these two verses, underline these words:
I appreciated Mr. Morgan's very straightforward analysis of these two verses and all that they cover. He states it so well, that I felt compelled to share completely. What a lot of great, basic Christian theology is packed into these two verses. For in these two verses we learn of the saving news of Jesus, sent by God to deliver us from our sin and resulting death. We come to understand that this offer is extended to all peoples, presented to us as a gift from God and revealed by His Spirit, and our acceptance of this beautiful gift is expressed by our belief, and belief then takes form as lives subsequently lived by faith.
Two short verses - lots of power! Lots of truth! God has laid out such a wonderful plan for us to be redeemed. It is not a complicated plan, but it does take faith. "Faith to faith"...it is all about faith, start to finish, first to last. It is revealed to us through faith, and that revelation adds to our faith. Faith builds on faith.
I cannot imagine traveling through this life, through its peaks, and especially through its valleys, without this life-sustaining faith. "The righteous will live by faith." I can only claim righteousness through the work of Christ, but I know that I do live by faith. I know that without my faith in an all-knowing, completely loving God, who I can place all my confidence in when otherwise I am totally shaken, my life would be empty and pointless. I would pray that if you do not share this faith, that you find it now...for when you're in the middle of the valley, it is truly your only source of sustenance.
"In memorizing Romans 1:16-17, you have the whole book of Romans in digest form. These verses, coming at the end of Paul's magnificent prologue to Romans, summarize the theme and thesis of this book. Verses 16 & 17 provide the essential vocabulary of the Christian dictionary. As you read these two verses, underline these words:
- Gospel - The good news of Jesus Christ
- God - The source of life, hope, forgiveness and justification
- Power - The omnipotence of heaven is packed into this message
- Salvation - Deliverance from sin, death, despair and hell
- Everyone - The scope of the gospel is universal in its offer
- Believes - The condition and requirement for justification
- Righteousness - The state of being made right with God
- Revealed - This message can't be discovered from below; it had to be revealed from above
- Faith - This term occurs three times in verse 17, explaining the word believes in verse 16."
I appreciated Mr. Morgan's very straightforward analysis of these two verses and all that they cover. He states it so well, that I felt compelled to share completely. What a lot of great, basic Christian theology is packed into these two verses. For in these two verses we learn of the saving news of Jesus, sent by God to deliver us from our sin and resulting death. We come to understand that this offer is extended to all peoples, presented to us as a gift from God and revealed by His Spirit, and our acceptance of this beautiful gift is expressed by our belief, and belief then takes form as lives subsequently lived by faith.
Two short verses - lots of power! Lots of truth! God has laid out such a wonderful plan for us to be redeemed. It is not a complicated plan, but it does take faith. "Faith to faith"...it is all about faith, start to finish, first to last. It is revealed to us through faith, and that revelation adds to our faith. Faith builds on faith.
I cannot imagine traveling through this life, through its peaks, and especially through its valleys, without this life-sustaining faith. "The righteous will live by faith." I can only claim righteousness through the work of Christ, but I know that I do live by faith. I know that without my faith in an all-knowing, completely loving God, who I can place all my confidence in when otherwise I am totally shaken, my life would be empty and pointless. I would pray that if you do not share this faith, that you find it now...for when you're in the middle of the valley, it is truly your only source of sustenance.
1 comment:
We don't and can't ever understand God's creation. We can only believe and live by faith. We want to know the reasons, understand the actions, but we are only meant to remain faithful and reassured of God's Love through the Holy Spirit. The only thing we can be sure of is God's existence and through our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
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