Romans:
May 25, 2008
Romans 1:17
SECOND LESSON: Romans 1:8?17
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by Godfs will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you? that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each otherfs faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, 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. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
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 for faith, as it is written, gThe righteous shall live by faith.h
L: This is the Word of the Lord.
From now until September, the Epistle lesson each week will be from St. Paulfs Letter to the Romans. So, this summer, letfs become more familiar with this letter. We will start each sermon with Bible study and proceed with gWhat does this mean?h
The Book of Romans was written by St. Paul. He had not yet visited that city, but he wanted to visit Rome and the Christian Congregation there. He wanted to go to Rome so that he could preach the Gospel there. Paul had been given the mission to preach to the Gentiles, to people who were not Jews. He had done that in many places, but he was eager to preach in the Capital City of the Roman Empire, too. This Letter to the Romans is a presentation of what Paul would preach when he arrived in Rome. Todayfs reading is a summary of Paulfs teaching. Romans 1:16-17, gFor 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 for faith, as it is written, eThe righteous shall live by faith.fh
gThe righteous shall live by faith.h There are three big words here that are used over and over again in the Letter to the Romans: grighteous, live, and faith.h To explain these words, Paul wrote 16 chapters in the letter, so I hesitate to try to explain in just a few paragraphs, or in just one sermon. So today we will just make a beginning.
The opposite of righteous people are the godless and wicked sinners who deserve the wrath of God. To be righteous means to do right things, but all people are sinners, there is no one who is sinless, so it is impossible to become righteous by doing right things perfectly. So the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that righteousness happens not because of a personfs action, but rather through the action of Jesus Christ. That is called forgiveness. And then grighteousnessh is defined differently. It is being in the right relationship with God. Paul will talk about this later when he talks about the relationship of the Jews with God. And he will talk how even we Gentiles can have a right relationship with God. Because if we are not gright with God,h we can not have salvation, we cannot live. (By the way, to be righteous means to be gjust right,h and so often this verse is translated like this as in the KJV, gThe just shall live by faith.h)
This sentence is in the future tense: gThe righteous shall live by faith.h Does this mean future eternal life in heaven or life here on earth after we believe in Jesus as our Savior and start living in a right relationship with God? It is both, of course! It is the promise of eternal life, and it is the way of life right now. To live is more than just being alive, it is how we live. What is the power in our lives? What is the guiding principle in our lives? What is the attitude of our behavior? Our life is guided by faith.
gBy faith.h We do not have time this morning to ponder the depths of this expression. What is faith, what does it mean to believe? And what does that preposition gbyh mean? In faith, by faith, through faith, because of faith, with faith? Faith can also mean faithfulness, that is, loyalty, keeping faith, keeping promises. And then whose faith is it, our faithfulness or the faithfulness of God who keeps his promises through Jesus Christ? The sentence can also be translated as in the RSV, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." So, does our faith make us righteous or does it give us life or both? I think it can mean all of this at the same time. It keeps our heads working and our hearts warm as we who are righteous by faith live by faith. We are faithful to God, but even more so, God is faithful to his promises.
And now we have to ask, gWhat does this mean?h It means that we are alive! By faith we grab a hold of this God who is faithful toward us in Jesus Christ. In faith we live in a good, correct, right relationship with God who forgives our sins. And we have to hold tight to this faith because in the next few chapters of Romans, as we read, we may begin to doubt our faith and our relationship with God. We may wonder if we are included in the list of sinners who are excluded from the Kingdom of God because of sin. We are going to be challenged to look at our beliefs and at our lives.
In the Small Catechism Martin Luther always asks gWhat does this mean?h Let us ask the same. gWhat does it mean that the righteous shall live by faith?h It means that we are alive! When the evil of this world attacks us, when our sin gnaws at our conscience, when sickness and injury and weakness assail us we fall back on this precious promise of God. gThe righteous shall live by faith.h When the world does not seem right or just, we have faith that the promise of God is right and just. When we have to make decisions, decisions at home or at work, business, moral, ethical decisions, decisions for the future, we have the faith to know that by faith we shall live. That is the confidence we have as Christians to overcome all worry. It means we live with Christ who died on the cross. It means we live with Christ who rose from the dead. It means we live with Christ who will come again.
This weekfs memory verse is Romans 1:17, gThe righteous shall live by faith.h I pray that it will be the way you live this week, in a right relationship with the Lord, and by holding to the promises of God by faith.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church
