The Just Shall Live by Faith – Romans 1:17
Bethel Baptist Church, David Rising
Romans 1:17; March 29, 2026 Sunday AM
The Just Shall Live By Faith
Two weeks ago we covered Romans 1:8-16 where the Apostle Paul gave thanks to the Lord because the testimony of faith of these Roman believers was well known. The gospel had taken root in their lives and it was evident.
It was the apostle’s desire to come see them and to have a ministry among them, furthering the impact of the gospel and being an encouragement to them and also being encouraged himself by them.
One of the reasons he desired to visit them was because of an obligation – he was a debtor. Debtors with integrity seek to pay their debt.
Listen again to verses 14-16:
Romans 1:14–16 (NKJV) 14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.
16 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.
Paul was not embarrassed to preach the gospel to anyone. It didn’t matter if someone was sophisticated or less so, wealthy or less so, either Jew or a Greek. It didn’t matter.
Paul knew that the gospel he proclaimed was the power of God for salvation to anyone who would receive it by faith by the power of the Holy Spirit.
When we talk, we hope that our words have an impact on those who hear us. Teachers seek to impart truth and wisdom to their students. Protesters hope to persuade those who hear to their point of view.
Preachers seek to change the minds and hearts of those who are listening. Paul knew that the message he proclaimed – the gospel of Jesus Christ – had the great potential to make the most important change in one’s life, and that motivated him. As it should us as well.
In our text for today, we see the capstone logical point that ties it all together. Here is the verse:
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
This is an important verse that bridges into the next section which we’ll talk about next week.
We want to see how the gospel reveals God’s righteousness and also the importance of faith. Pray.
Here is our verse again:
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Notice in the first part of the verse we see the focus on
1. Righteousness of God (1:17a)
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
17δικαιοσύνη γὰρ θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ ἀποκαλύπτεται ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν, καθὼς γέγραπται·ὁ δὲ δίκαιος ἐκ πίστεως ζήσεται.
Verse 17 begins with another connecting word ‘for’ that ties it with the discussion before.
Paul wanted to visit because he was a debtor to all. He was ready to preach to anyone.
Why? Because he was not ashamed of the gospel.
Why? Because the gospel was God’s power for salvation to anyone who believed.
How so? Because in the gospel God’s righteousness is revealed.
“In it” – the gospel. In the gospel is truly something important.
The gospel reveals to us the righteousness of God. As the gospel is preached, God’s righteousness is revealed.
Now this little phrase “righteousness of God” is critical to understand here as we seek to understand the gospel in this entire book.
Is Paul describing God’s righteousness, that is, His character of justice, which would include His punishment for sin?
That was Martin Luther’s initial understanding of this phrase, and it greatly troubled him. As a somewhat perfectionist monk, Luther recognized his own shortcomings, and it troubled him how preaching this could be good news.
It was later that he came to understand what we have traditionally understood this phrase to mean. That is, the righteousness of God noted here in verse 17 is that righteousness God imputes or puts on the account of the unrighteous sinner. This gift is granted by faith and is not based on any human merit.
2. Revealed (1:17b)
Notice the second part of the phrase in verse 17: the righteousness of God is revealed.
Three times in Romans we see this same word which Daniel Davey defines as ‘to cause something to be fully known (RBP, Romans, 20; 1:17, 18; 8:18).
In practical terms I would put it this way: the gospel that we proclaim tells the world that what we need most is available to them – by God’s grace and mercy, through Jesus Christ, by faith.
When we truly believe in Jesus for salvation, God declares us righteous. We have a new and immediate standing before God. We are His child. We stand before Him as if we had never sinned.
To those wired to earn their place in life, this teaching sounds crazy. My friend at the nursing home months ago told me it was too good to be true. Maybe you have heard the same response from some people.
It is very good indeed, and I believe it is also true.
What did the thief on the cross next to Jesus DO to earn his place in paradise? He was a convicted sinner. He was paying for his crime. He did absolutely nothing but simply believe the words of Jesus. He could do nothing.
We can do nothing to earn our spot. In the gospel the righteousness of God that we need is revealed.
As we will see in Romans, the life of a believer is more than simply believing at one moment in our life. God grants us new life, and then we grow in Christ as we walk with Him. Much of Romans explains that process – our maturing in Christ, our sanctification, to use a bigger word.
But for now, let us focus on the start.
Notice the last part of verse 17:
17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
3. Faith (1:17c)
The last part of the verse focuses on faith.
The revelation of God’s righteousness which we need is from faith to faith.
And then Paul supports his point by citing a passage from the OT, “The just shall live by faith.”
What does it mean that the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith? This last phrase has been interpreted in all kinds of ways.
Some think it means from one kind of faith to another (OT to NT, Law to Gospel, preachers to hearers, etc), but that is saying more than it says.
The NET bible study note indicates some see it as ‘by faith for faith’ indicating that this righteousness is obtained by faith because it was designed for faith. In other words, this righteousness cannot be obtained by anything other than faith.
We preach the gospel to all, but only those who by faith receive it obtain it. The righteousness of God that we need cannot be obtained by any other way – not money, not effort, not by lineage or ethnicity.
Verse 16 says that those who believe are saved. This merely underscores that point.
When someone trusts in Christ, they are transformed; the power of God is demonstrated and the righteousness of God brings about a new standing and a life-long process of growth. It is all about trusting in Christ, from beginning to end.
Paul says to the Ephesians:
Ephesians 2:8–9 (NKJV) 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
He also writes to the Galatians and says:
Galatians 2:16 (NKJV) 16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
To believe means to have faith. The word ‘faith’ and the verb ‘to believe’ come from the same root word (pistis, pisteuw).
The final phrase we see in verse 17 is a footnote he adds to indicate that this idea of faith is really nothing new.
You may see in your bible a reference to next to the phrase ‘The just shall live by faith’ that takes you back to the OT prophetic book Habakkuk.
As a student of the scriptures, we would expect that Paul, the learned Jew and practicing Pharisee, would draw from his knowledge of the OT. This reference shows that though the details are different, the idea of trusting God is nothing new.
Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk here, and it is important to consider the context of that book. So let me briefly give that context.
Habakkuk was a prophet and was a contemporary of Jeremiah. Both of these men lived at a time when the southern kingdom was continuing to decline and God’s longsuffering with His people was about to run out … again.
I say again because a little over 100 years earlier God had sent the Assyrians to wipe out the northern tribes which was horrible and devastating. Yet it was just because God had warned them over and over that this would be the case if they disobeyed His word and did not trust Him.
One would think that history is an excellent teacher to warn us about repeating mistakes, but our default human tendencies is to follow our flesh and do what we think is right.
In the southern kingdom, Josiah had been doing amazing reforms to turn the people around to hear and heed God’s word. And yet, as time kept progressing, the people of Judah continued their downward spiral.
Jeremiah preached, but very few were listening.
Habakkuk was troubled, and so in his prophet writing we have this interesting dialogue between the prophet and God.
Notice how the book begins:
Habakkuk 1:1–4 (NKJV)
1 The burden which the prophet Habakkuk saw.
2 O Lord, how long shall I cry,
And You will not hear?
Even cry out to You, “Violence!”
And You will not save.
3 Why do You show me iniquity,
And cause me to see trouble?
For plundering and violence are before me;
There is strife, and contention arises.
4 Therefore the law is powerless,
And justice never goes forth.
For the wicked surround the righteous;
Therefore perverse judgment proceeds.
We’ll put the time to about 600 B.C. Here the prophet is complaining to the LORD that everywhere he looks in Judah there is violence, wickedness, and injustice. “LORD, how can you keep ignoring my prayers to you about this?”
Notice how the LORD replies to him:
Habakkuk 1:5–11 (NKJV)
5 “Look among the nations and watch—
Be utterly astounded!
For I will work a work in your days
Which you would not believe, though it were told you.
6 For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans,
A bitter and hasty nation
Which marches through the breadth of the earth,
To possess dwelling places that are not theirs.
7 They are terrible and dreadful;
Their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than leopards,
And more fierce than evening wolves.
Their chargers charge ahead;
Their cavalry comes from afar;
They fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.
9 “They all come for violence;
Their faces are set like the east wind.
They gather captives like sand.
10 They scoff at kings,
And princes are scorned by them.
They deride every stronghold,
For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
11 Then his mind changes, and he transgresses;
He commits offense,
Ascribing this power to his god.”
This is not the answer Habakkuk was expecting. God tells the prophet that He is going to address the problem … by sending in another wicked nation – the Chaldeans or Babylonians.
Most of God’s reply to Habakkuk (vv 6-11) describe this terrible nation and what they do.
What stands out to me is what God said initially in vers 5 – that this reply is something that the prophet would not believe even if he were told. Well, he was told, and notice how the prophet replies:
Habakkuk 1:12–2:1 (NKJV)
12 Are You not from everlasting,
O Lord my God, my Holy One?
We shall not die.
O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment;
O Rock, You have marked them for correction.
13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil,
And cannot look on wickedness.
Why do You look on those who deal treacherously,
And hold Your tongue when the wicked devours
A person more righteous than he?
14 Why do You make men like fish of the sea,
Like creeping things that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with a hook,
They catch them in their net,
And gather them in their dragnet.
Therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice to their net,
And burn incense to their dragnet;
Because by them their share is sumptuous
And their food plentiful.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net,
And continue to slay nations without pity?
2 I will stand my watch
And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am corrected.
This has the feel of the book of Job in a way. Here the prophet objects to the LORD’s plan to judge the southern kingdom by the fierceness of another wicked nation.
Habakkuk pushes back based on theological grounds. He objects also on the ground that the Babylonians are ruthless people in their ways and godless in their religion.
We would object on the same grounds. This does not make sense. Why can’t God just send a lightning bolt from the sky and incinerate these sinful people? God’s ways are not our ways.
As Habakkuk winds down his second response to God, he knows the LORD will reply to this and he readies himself.
Notice how the LORD replies:
Habakkuk 2:2–5 (NKJV)
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time;
But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.
Though it tarries, wait for it;
Because it will surely come,
It will not tarry.
4 “Behold the proud,
His soul is not upright in him;
But the just shall live by his faith.
5 “Indeed, because he transgresses by wine,
He is a proud man,
And he does not stay at home.
Because he enlarges his desire as hell,
And he is like death, and cannot be satisfied,
He gathers to himself all nations
And heaps up for himself all peoples.
This is only a portion of God’s reply, but it is enough for our purposes today.
Notice in verse 4 we see the phrase Paul quotes in Romans 1:17.
The just shall live by (his) faith.
For Habakkuk, it was simply believing what God said He would do. It did not seem to make sense to him, but God said to trust Him.
In Habakkuk’s day, there were some of God’s people who were doing what was right. They were “righteous” in that sense, and so God tells Habakkuk that the only way for God’s people to live is by faith. Not by sight or by human logic, but by faith.
In Habakkuk there is a clear contrast between those who will live by faith and those who are proud, self-reliant, and will do as they please. Their ends are very different.
That pictures translates well to the message of the gospel as Paul quotes that key phrase as an important footnote to his message.
We cannot live by simply responding to what our eyes perceive and minds conclude. The just, the righteous one, does not live by logic and common sense. Those things can help, but only if they are enlightened by God’s Word. There is a logic to the gospel, but it is not the conclusion we could make apart from God revealing it to us in His word.
Habakkuk needed to understand the importance of living by faith in God. Paul understood the powerful point that we see in Habakkuk and attached it as a key footnote to underscore the importance of faith to the gospel.
The life of a Christian is a life of faith, from beginning to end. We wish we could see everything and live that way, but that is not our pathway.
When Jesus returns, faith will no longer be needed. We will see.
But not until then.
The gospel calls all men, all women, all boys, all girls – everyone to believe in Jesus as the Savior, the Redeemer, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
And then, having believed, to live their lives also by faith.
Not only would God use the Babylonians to judge Israel, but God would also judge the Babylonians because they were utterly wicked people.
Application
1. The Christian life begins by faith. Faith in Jesus. Faith in God’s Word. Faith that God will do what He said He will do.
2. The Christian life proceeds by faith. We do not begin by faith and then take it on our own from there. Paul addresses that in Galatians 3. Every day is a step of faith. And yes, our faith does lead us to work and do what God has prepared ahead of time that we should do.
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV) 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
This is the message of Romans: trust Christ, from beginning to end.
What about the unrighteous, the wicked, those who do not trust in Christ? That will be the topic beginning in verse 18ff, which we will see next time.