On The Sixth Day #5

Romans 1.14 – 17 Good News, Salvation and the justice of God

I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Thus I am eager also to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith, just as it is written, "The righteous by faith will live."

• "I am a debtor to ..." is not about an obligation that the Greeks & barbarians [wise & foolish] can make claims against – but it is about God's claim on him to be the apostle to them – it's an obligation to God from which the Greeks & barbarians [wise & foolish] are the beneficiaries -- how this particular bond-servant/slave works in the service of and at the direction of his Lord
  
• Why would Paul preach the gospel to people who were already Christians? Because "the gospel" is not just a call to initial saving faith but also a call to continue in a daily walk of faith
  
• his eagerness stems from his desire to pleasingly serve his Lord
  
• and therefore he is not – and cannot be – ashamed to do this work of sharing God's power for the salvation/healing/mending/setting straight individuals and the cosmos – maybe he is thinking of Psalm 119:46, "I shall speak of your decrees before kings and I will not be ashamed."
  
• and he clearly understands how it is to be done --
  
  • he announces God's good news first to the Jews wherever he goes
    
  • then to the Greeks [gentiles/barbarians/whatever] wherever he may be
    
  • just as he has always done
    
• and ultimately all prior DIVISIONS of peoples is wrong
  
  • Greek view: Greek OR barbarian
    
  • Roman view: Roman OR barbarian
    
  • Jewish view: Israelite/Jew OR gentile
    
• the true dividing point is "who is Lord"?
  
  • Good news begins with God's power
    
    • raised Jesus
      
    • defeated the ultimate worldly weapon
      
  • when announced new life, new creation takes place in those who receive it
    
    • new hearts, minds, & lifestyles
      
    • salvation happens
      
      • a present reality
        
      • as well as a future hope
        
  • such acceptance is by faith – the opposite of both sight and doubt
    
    • NT Wright describes it as "a settled conviction that God has raised Jesus and that he is indeed Lord of the world."
      
    • it is the FIRST thing that happens when the good news strikes home, in the power of the Spirit
      
    • and it brings God's declaration that the believer is indeed "set right" and a new creation here and now even before final judgment
      
  • and membership is available to everyone on equal terms
    
• v. 17 – the righteousness of God - a phrase that is the subject of intense debate. It carries firstly and more fully, I think, a meaning which refers directly to God's right moral character, particularly manifested in His Own faithfulness, holiness and justice; it also carries the meaning "righteousness from God," so that it denotes right standing before God (a legal reality) that is given to people by God
  
• God has been faithful to His plan & promises – if you want to benefit from His faithfulness, His righteousness – respond in faithfulness "believing obedience" from v. 5
  
• because the righteous live by faithfulness – Habakkuk 2:4 – righteous/just not only believe [mind/heart] but live in accordance with that belief [soul/strength] Mark 12:30 & Luke 10:27 – the whole human being lives by and in faithfulness
  

(Source material from N T Wright, John Wesley, Martin Luther, ESV Study Bible, Orthodox Study Bible, et al)