Romans 1:16-17

The General theme for Romans verses 1:18‑3:20 mean that no one is Righteous by the Law! All have sinned, all are condemned! The Gospel is the lightning rod that conducts God's creative and loving power, because it reveals the justice of God in the justification of the ungodly! Our justification rests solely on the mercy of Christ, and not on the Law, or anything we can do. What Christ did for us, is that He lived a perfect life in our place and died as a sacrifice in our place, to take away our sins.

What does this all mean to my life here and now? We are not to be embarrassed of who we are as Christians, nor do we fear to share our faith!

We have Power is Salvation; it is by the work of Christ alone through the Holy Spirit. This is through God. It is for all, All people universally with the only requite is to accept the work of our Lord by faith.

· "Salvation" means to be rescued from a terrible situation. Ultimately it means being delivered from God's wrath. It is also God's work for us: redemption!

· Justification and sometimes righteousness are synonyms in English Bible translations in Romans. Justification can be a synonym of salvation, or it can refer to the future work of redemption. These works are from our Lord Jesus Christ and from no other!

· This means Christ's righteousness is given to us (imputed, propitiation) by our faith, which we did not earn; hence grace is the ultimate free gift.The righteousness of God is His character that vindicates His people. His people are to show their faithfulness back to Him. Justification is God's righteousness covering us! Righteousness is His character. This is not passive on our part; we are active "in with" faith. (Rom. 2:5-16; 3:22; 5:10; 9:30)

• Faith is still trusting what is not seen and believing our God (Rom. 1:16-32; 5:1-11; 10:14-17; Gal. 3:1-4; Eph. 2:8-9; James 2:14-26)!God imputes His righteousness unto us by what Christ has done by declaring us righteous (Rom. 3:21-26; 5:10-19; 10:3). This declaration means we as the elect are free from our debt of sin, but we as debtors are to be witnesses to the lost! This is the verse that helped convert Martin Luther from a religion to a faith!

This is what Jesus did for us to have faith:

• He took our place in life and in death.


• He took our place in judgment before God's just wrath, which we could never attain by ourselves, no matter how good and faithful we are.


• Our creation and salvation is by His choosing and purpose, that as Christians we are not our own, but belong solely to our Lord. Thus we must live our lives as a reflection of His glory, and not of ourselves, because there is nothing we can do alone that deserves any kind of Merit to please God for salvation.


• Thus, God desires and deserves our whole-hearted loyalty, allegiance, trust, obedience, and devotion; so, what is stopping you?

Have you realized that your debt has been cleared, your sin has been covered, and your dread has been replaced with Wonder and Eternity? Then how has it effected your life? Do you obey His call and precepts? Does this transformed life impact others around you? Do you "get it" so all that you are is because Christ is in you? If not why and what is in the way? Are you willing to go on your knees to seek His face and His righteousness for your life? Without it, you have nothing but debt and sin!

Our response to Christ and what he has done is by godly living, exercising out our faith with trust and obedience, whatever we face! This does not earn us Salvation, rather it build us more in Him. In Christ we deal with God as a Man, a God/Man, and a mediator on our behalf.

Questions

1. Does the redemption that Christ gave, cause you to feel relief and comfort?

2. Christ's righteousness is given to us, this is called "imputed" this means the pureness, the sinlessness of Christ has been ascribed to you as a Christian who accepted Him as Lord and Savior. We are not necessarily made pure (because we still sin), we are declared pure. What do you think is the difference between being made and being declared?

3. Read Habk. 2:4; how does this passage compare to the Romans passage?

4. Justification can be a synonym of salvation, or it can refer to the future work of redemption. These works are from our Lord Jesus Christ and from no other! What ways have you tried to look for 'justification' outside of Christ? Maybe the approval of a parent, boss, identity in your clothes, work, education, money, car.

5. How do you live out your faith with passion and conviction?

6. How can you live out your faith better with passion and conviction?

7. What do you grasp about verse 17? Is there something that makes you think or stutter, such as there is something missing from your life?

8. How can you show your faithfulness back to Him?

9. Our response for what Christ did for us is godly living, exercising our faith with trust and obedience, whatever we face! How have you done this? How can you do this better?

10. What about when your life is crashing all around you? Maybe a job loss, death or divorce of a spouse, cataclysmic sickness or everything all at once?

11. Have you ever faced a lot of adversity?

12. What was your response? What did you learn?

13. How would you respond now that you have been through it (if you have)?

14. Do you feel better, stronger and more mature and ready to face things, now that you have gone through adversity?

15. What can you do specifically to give God your whole-hearted loyalty, allegiance, trust, obedience, and devotion?

16. What are the things that stop you?

17. How would you explain verse 17 to someone turned off to Christianity?

18. What do you still need to do so this passage is real in you?

© 1998, 2001, 2003, Richard J. Krejcir, Ph.D., Discipleship Tools www.discipleshiptools.org