Romans Chapter 1 Vs. 17

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:17




For therein is... God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel on the ground of faith as the absolute condition of salvation, and is only effective in those who believe.

The just shall... Quoted from Hab. 2:4. It means that the just must live by continued faith, and go from faith to faith as light is received (1Jhn. 1:7).







The theme of the letter is expressed in the phrase a righteousness from God is revealed. The subjective genitive (lit., “of God”) identifies this as a righteousness that God provides for people on the basis of and in response to faith in the gospel (cf. Rom. 3:22). (NIV’s by faith from first to last render the Gr. ek pisteōs eis pistin, lit., “out of faith in reference to faith.”) Such righteousness is totally unachievable by human efforts. This righteousness is not God’s personal attribute; however, since it comes “from God,” it is consistent with His nature and standard. In response to faith this righteousness is imputed by God in justification and imparted progressively in regeneration and sanctification, culminating in glorification when standing and state become identical. “Righteousness” and “justify,” though seemingly unrelated in English, are related in Greek. “Righteousness” is dikaiosynē, and “justify” is dikaioō;. Paul used the noun many times in his epistles, including 28 times in Romans (Rom. 1:17; 3:21-22, 3:25-26; 4:3, 4:5-6, 4:9, 4:11, 4:13, 4:22; 5:17, 5:21; 6:13, 6:16, 6:18-20; 8:10; 9:30; 10:3-6 twice in Rom. 10:3, 10:10; 14:17). And Paul used the Greek verb 15 times in Romans (Rom. 2:13; 3:4, 3:20, 3:24, 3:26, 3:28, 3:30; 4:2, 4:5; 5:1, 5:9; 6:7; 8:30 twice, Rom. 8:33). To justify a person is to declare him forensically (legally) righteous. “Declared righteous” is the way the NIV translates dikaioō in Rom. 2:13 and Rom. 3:20 and “freed” is NIV’s rendering in Rom. 6:7. “Righteousness of God” is better translated: “righteousness from God.” A major theme of the book, appearing over 30 times in one form or another, righteousness is the state or condition of perfectly conforming to God’s perfect law and holy character. Man falls woefully short of the divine standard of moral perfection but the gospel revels that on the basis of faith, and faith alone, God will impute His righteousness to ungodly sinners.

From faith to faith: This may be a parallel expression to “everyone who believes” as if Paul were singling out the faith of each individual believer, from one person’s faith to another’s faith to another’s and so on. Or, each person has a portion of faith, but some seem to have more than others.

To make our faith stronger, we must use it. Each time we depend on our faith it becomes stronger. This (faith to faith) above just means that trials come and we must have faith to overcome each trial; as we do, our faith grows. The just means, as we have said before, just as if we had never sinned. Faith believes in our hearts in things we cannot see with our physical eyes.

Paul’s closing words in Rom. 1:17, The righteous will live by faith, are a quotation from Hab. 2:4, also quoted in Gal. 3:11 and Heb. 10:38. As a result of faith (cf. “believes” in Rom. 1:16) in Christ, a person is declared “righteous” (cf. Rom. 3:22) and is given eternal life. What a marvelous work of God!