First to Last

One of the great texts concerning grace is Romans 1:16,17.

"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.' "

This particular text changed the life of Martin Luther, who in turn, changed the course of history. Tormented by the thought that he could never be good enough to please God (anyone else been there?!)--in spite of his best efforts--Luther discovered this text to be a breath of fresh air to his soul. He had been led to believe that grace could only be received from God in response to a prescribed list of activities and duties that he must perform to demonstrate that he deserved God's favor. But on reading this text, Luther understood for the first time in his life that righteousness does not come as a result of trying, but of trusting.

Let me highlight some of my favorite parts of this passage.

First, Paul makes it clear that the gospel is God's power. It's not my power, it's not your power, it is God's power. No human being can take credit for the gospel--only God can. He alone is deserving of our gratitude and thanks.

Second, the gospel is inclusive. Have you ever felt marginalized in some way? Too young, too old. Too rich, too poor. Too smart, too dumb. Too tall, too short. Too large, too small. Too light, too dark. Too female, too male. Our society has perfected the art form of lauding my characteristics at the expense of yours. Value and worth is assigned to having the right traits. But the gospel cuts across all of that. It is truly radical in declaring that the gospel is for anyone and everyone who chooses to believe. Who you are, what you've done, where you're from does not disqualify you from being a recipient of the gospel. That is indeed, Good News!

Third, God is the source of all righteousness. No matter who we are or what we do, we cannot manufacture nor can we take credit for righteousness. It comes from God to us as a gift--grace! Some of us have busied ourselves trying to produce righteousness and have only worn ourselves out by our working. Others of us have known that we aren't good enough to be counted righteous and have worn ourselves out by our worrying! Here's the one and only solution--we must simply accept that righteousness is God's gracious gift to provide for us what we cannot provide for ourselves--salvation.

Fourth, those who are righteous live by faith. This was the part of the passage that gripped Luther's heart. He had tried with all his might to live to please God by the things he did, yet he did not have peace. Peace only came to his heart when he realized that he simply had to trust God for his salvation rather than trying to work for it.

Understand that living by faith can be a humbling experience. Why? Because we have to admit that we can't receive it in any other way. Our best efforts aren't good enough. And who of us likes to acknowledge that? Do I see any hands of those who enjoy admitting that you can't do something? I didn't think so! Further, as Paul will discuss later in Romans, not only are our best efforts not good enough to qualify us for righteousness, but in fact, our best efforts disqualify us!

Paul emphasizes by quoting the Old Testament--Habakkuk 2:4 to be specific--that God's plan for receiving righteousness has always been by believing. There never was any other way. The righteous have always and will always live by faith.

Finally, I want to come back to my favorite part of this passage: Righteousness is by faith from beginning to end. There is never a point where we mix some of our righteousness with some of God's to get just the right proportions. Absolutely not! Or as Paul himself might say, God forbid! You see, when we try to stir in some of our "goodness" to an already perfect recipe, all it does is create a recipe for disaster--it spoils the whole thing! If we could add some of our "goodness" to the mix, then we would be deserving of some credit. That would deflect credit from the One and Only who is worthy of all praise for our salvation--God and God alone!

There is another aspect of this portion of the passage that has had some practical implications for my own life. As righteousness is by faith from first to last, then every step of my journey with Christ is a step of faith. I don't take one step forward by faith and then a next step by works. No! Every step of the Christian journey--from the time I acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior until the day I see Him face to face--is a step of faith. No more and no less. And that has given me great peace.

Like Martin Luther, I've discovered that peace is not something I do, but is something I receive as a gift from God. I'm not good enough to deserve it. I'm not strong enough to achieve it. I'm not smart enough to earn it. Righteousness is only possible in my life as I trust in Jesus at every step of the way in my Christian journey--from first to last!