Saturday 24 November 2007

From faith to faith

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." Romans 1v16-17

-

There is so much in the book of Romans that it is difficult to know what to do in this type of reading. Even here in verses 16-17 there are plenty of valuable lessons.

The need not to be ashamed of the gospel

The gospel is the power of God to salvation

The gospel is for everyone who believes

The gospel breaks down old barriers

The gospel is where the righteousness of God is found

The gospel is revealed from faith to faith

The just shall live by faith

For me, out of all this, the thing that sticks out is the phrase – “From faith to faith.” There are a lot of theological debates about what this means, but I think the simple lesson is the best. How is the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel? How does the power pass on? How does it apply to both Jews and Gentiles alike? Simple – it passed on from faith to faith. One day someone shared their faith with me. I share my faith with others. This has been from the time of Christ to today and will be the story forever more.

I think that’s why Paul made it so clear that he was not ashamed of the gospel. He was not ashamed of the gospel because his shame would keep him from sharing his faith with others.

How about you and me? Does our shame keep our own faith from going to others – from faith to faith?

No comments: