Live by Faith

Let’s start here: Is God completely sovereign or does He give mankind free will?

Yes.

Written while Paul was in Greece (probably Corinth), it was to a church he did not start.

Romans 1:1–17 ESV

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, 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. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Paul knew who he was. He knew who he had been. He knew who he had become.

He had transferred his faith from his birthright, his upbringing, his training, his status and his ability to JESUS.

Philippians 3:4–10 ESV

4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Oh to have this kind of attitude about all the STUFF I have accumulated around me!

His faith was proven through his obedience. Obedience is the true measure of a person’s faith.

The whole world was hearing about the church in Rome.

Coming from looking at the life of David, how worship and thanksgiving were so important to him, we see Paul adopting the same attitude: first, I thank God for you.

What the world was hearing about was actually the faith of the church in Rome.

The faith He places in and grows in us draws out a response: we share what He has given.

Paul knew he had a message to share.

The growth of the church has always been contingent on the openness of believers to express their faith!

WIlliam Fay was a wealthy, although unscrupulous, businessman. He had ties to the mafia and even ran a prostitution ring. But when God saved him, he realized there are two kinds of Christians: Those who talk about the lost and those who talk to the lost.

If I “buffet” the bible, I can pick and choose the parts that agree with what I want to believe. I can build a theology and a doctrine around what makes me feel good. But appropriate study of scripture allows a positive tension to keep me centered in the truth of the whole word. Similar to our first question of the day: sovereignty or free will? Careful application of scripture lets me see that those two ideals are actually friends, not enemies.

Paul builds toward this very important point: Faith in the gospel results in faith to share the gospel.

Romans 1:16–17 ESV

16 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Romans 1:1

The righteousness of God is revealed beginning and ending in faith. A key ingredient of biblical righteousness is relationship. Specifically between God and man. It affects our relationships with each other, but its root is in our relationship with Him.

Righteousness is much more a ‘legal state’ than an achievement.

Righteousness is not only revealed in faith, it is imputed through the cross. When Jesus took the punishment for our sin, He imputed His own righteousness to us. To become sin, He had to ‘take off’ His righteousness. When He did, He sat it squarely on us.

If you haven’t taken advantage of that incredible gift, today can be the day. If you are willing to admit the sin He became was yours, the righteousness He offers can be yours as well. I’d love to pray about it with you.

If you have already, let the challenge of sharing your faith be what you deal with during this invitation.