Paul’s Letter to the Romans
Part 6
For the first 15 verses of chapter 1, Paul has been setting the stage, introducing himself, giving a parenthetical description of his gospel and connecting with the Romans by letting them know they have been on his prayer list for a long time. Now, in verses 16 & 17, he states the theme of his letter:
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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "But the righteous man shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17 NASB95)
With this Paul begins the transition from his personal introduction and salutation to the Romans to his description of the gospel he first identified in verse 1 as the gospel of God. In distilled form, Paul sees the gospel as God's power to save all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Historically, this message was proclaimed first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles. Although some translations use the word "Gentiles", the literal translation is Hellen (hel·lane).
Why would Paul, when writing a letter to Romans use the word Greek instead of Roman?
As noted in our last lesson, the word "Greek" as used here does not mean Greek nationals, but rather everyone who is not a Jew. Paul wanted to be sure to say that his gospel was not just for Jews and Romans, but included everyone…all the Jews and all those who were not Jews.
Why would Paul even mention the idea of possibly being ashamed?
Not surprisingly, there is a divergence of opinion on exactly what Paul means by "not ashamed".
Some feel that the phrase has nothing to do with moral disgrace or personal pride and should be translated, For I am not put to shame by the gospel. In the Septuagint, "to be put to shame" is to have a hope or expectation disappointed, a confidence proven to be misplaced (Ps. 119:6; Is. 54:4). Its opposite here is to have the base on which one rests one's life turn out to warrant the trust placed in it.
Others feel that Paul is here associating himself with his Master who, according to the writer of Hebrews (12:2), endured the cross, despising the shame...
Still others feel that since the primary focus of Paul's gospel is the story of a Jew (not the most respected race), from Jerusalem (capital of a small nation Rome had conquered), who was crucified (the form of execution reserved for the lowest of criminals), he might naturally have thought others looked at him in a way that would normally cause one to feel shame.
The Greek is epaischunomai (ep·ahee·skhoo·nom·ahee) and appears 11 times in AV and is always translated "ashamed"...to feel shame, guilt or disgrace...to be embarrassed.
Most translations use the phrase "not ashamed", but a few take the positive side and use phrases like "proud", "most proud", or "complete confidence".
Which of these phrases do you think conveys Paul's sentiments more clearly?
It is amazing to think of the background of that statement using either "not ashamed" or "proud". Paul had been imprisoned in Philippi, chased out of Thessalonica, smuggled out of Berea, laughed at in Athens and in Corinth his message was foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling-block to the Jews. Out of that background he declared that he was proud of the gospel. There was something in the gospel which made Paul triumphantly victorious over all that men could do to him.
These two verses contain the three pillars of Pauline theology, each word carries a richness that can be easily overlooked. See if you can identify the three key words...here's a hint, two of the words appear as themselves, but one is the definition of a phrase.
The Greek for salvation is soteria (so·tay·ree·ah) carries the idea of deliverance, preservation, safety.
When Paul wrote this letter, it was a time in history when men were looking for salvation more than ever before. For hundreds of years the speculation was about the one basic element of which the world was composed. This could be described as natural philosophy. But with the passing of time...the tyrants...the wars...the natural disasters and the basic degeneracy of the human race, the focus changed from pondering "the one basic element of which the world is composed" to "how do we cope with the reality of our existence?" And what we now call moral philosophy replaced natural philosophy with the aim of building a ring of defense against the chaos of the world.
Salvation is seen in a wide variety of ways...every person has a unique perspective on their need for it:
How do you see salvation…what do you think of being saved from?
As with salvation, faith is a complex word that carries a wide variety of meanings. The Greek is pistis (pis·tis):
In its most Pauline usage, faith means total acceptance and absolute trust. It means "betting your life that there is a God and that He's never going to give up on reconciliation."
Side Note:
The word reconciliation triggered a thought I want to share. In researching for another Bible study this week in Luke, I found an interesting reference in Isaiah. Remember my saying that I believe that the judgment Jesus described in Matthew 25:31-46 where some go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life is really a description of the end of this present age and the beginning to two final and simultaneous new ages before the end of time. One where the righteous go away to experience life with God and another where those who have not yet "learned righteousness" will stay here and experience a time of remedial correction…God’s punishment. As with much of Isaiah, these words originally applied to Judah, but also seem to have an eschatological application as well. Most commentators believe this is a song written by the prophet to be sung by the redeemed when Christ establishes His millennial kingdom: The way of the righteous is smooth; O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level. Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O Lord, We have waited for You eagerly; Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls. At night my soul longs for You, indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently; for when the earth experiences Your judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness. Though the wicked is shown favor, he does not learn righteousness; he deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, and does not perceive the majesty of the Lord. (Isaiah 26:7-10 NASB95)
Faith is not something we decide to have, it is a gift from God and it doesn’t operate in everyone exactly the same way. The exercise of faith as it relates to God seems to generally follow these steps: First there’s receptivity (a willingness to listen to the message of truth), then comes mental assent (I agree that it is true), and finally, total surrender (I have heard the truth, agreed it is true and finally give myself in total yieldedness...placing my complete confidence in the trustworthiness of God).
Here we have one of the three places in the New Testament where this golden maxim of the Old Testament found in Habakkuk 2:4 is quoted: But he who is righteous by faith, shall live. Some translations use the word "just" or "justified" rather than "righteous". (See also Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38)
Our two English words just and righteous, especially when used to describe a human's standing before God, come from the same root word in Greek: dikaios (dik·ah·yos).
In verses 16 & 17, Paul concisely states what he will take the whole letter to say: The good news of the gospel is the truth that God's power will save everyone who will believe and that the basis for doing this is God's own justice and righteousness.
Paul contends that humans experience this salvation by trusting God...by putting their confidence in Him.
What does Paul mean by the phrase from faith to faith?
The clause from faith to faith has been interpreted quite differently by Biblical scholars. Some feel, based on the use of such phrases elsewhere, that it means "from one degree of faith to another". And although that may in fact be a true statement, other scholars point out that here Paul is not arguing for progressive stages of faith, but that faith is God's only appointed way of receiving His salvation. These scholars interpret this passage to say that "the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel message in order to be by faith received".
This reminds me of the mustard seed illustration when the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith and He told them that it was not the quantity or quality of their faith that was important, but the object of their faith. The focus is always on God's faithfulness, not our faith!