Today’s Food for the Soul: Romans Chapters 1-2
God’s Righteousness Revealed
“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. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17, NKJV)
To be righteous is to be in a straight or right way. In the context of morality, the word righteous means living or acting correctly.
In today’s society, many people claim they have the ability and the privilege to determine what is right and wrong for themselves. Either by ignorance, or they strongly reject the statement of truth that says, “the Lord Jesus presents God as the final measure of morality – No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Luke 18:19, NKJV)
For us who believed, God is the ultimate standard of perfection and righteousness. For this reason, when we first came to faith and stood in God’s presence, we immediately recognized our flaws and admitted that we fall short of God’s standard (Romans 3:23). We saw ourselves lacking and unable to meet His requirements no matter what we do; as Isaiah put it, “our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6b). But praise and thanks be to God, for His love and mercy – He sent His only Son Jesus Christ and saved us from all our sins and cleansed us from all our unrighteousness. God recognized Jesus’ righteousness, by which all believers were redeemed and rendered us the ability to live righteously through the power of the Holy Spirit (Titus 2:14).
Remember, without faith in Jesus Christ, no one can discover, understand, and live a righteous life. As the scripture stated, “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” Therefore, be bold! Declare the gospel – share Jesus – the great story ever told. He is God’s righteousness that brings life to man- not only on earth but also in eternity!
– Contributed by Ptr Neil Marlon Crisostomo