"For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith;as it is written, the just shall
live by faith" (Romans 1:16-17 AKJ).
There's a dual set of vital Kingdom
principles here, in these verses from Romans Chapter 1. We should
first take note that, Paul is affirming to the fledgling church at
Rome, his unabashed proclamation of the gospel of Messiah Jesus by;
declaring it to be the very power of God effectual unto salvation, to any and all who believe. And Paul, of
course, includes the Jew, as well as the Greek speaking gentile populations of his day, to whom he
preached.
Today, however, few within the
denominational churches at large, believe that the gospel is in
power,
or effectual, beyond a simple born
again experience. These are they whom Paul referred to as, "having
a form of religion, but deny the power
thereof..." That spiritually bankrupt condition was included in his enumeration of end time
signs, elsewhere in his writings. The Apostle then continued writing
in the 17th vs. that, "therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith..." That kingdom principle,
clearly defines Paul's purpose in these two verses, concluding the
teaching by appropriately declaring that the just
shall live by faith. That type of faith, to which Paul alluded in the 16th vs., is an ever increasing
faith, with limitless possibilities within the context and parameters of the promises of God, and the
empowerment of the Holy Ghost to every one who believes.
Yet, many professing believers today
miss the mark of their full potential for spiritual power and
authority, by subscribing to a weak and watered down gospel,
perpetuated and endorsed by the doctrines of men. And to many more,
there are continual doubts, and questions, about their own worthiness to qualify for these
promises. We therefore need to clarify for ourselves, and others, exactly what it means to be just; and
further, who among believers fall into that category of being justified in the eyes of God. Simply
put, to be in the state of divine justification, which Paul so matter-of-factly teaches here, one must be in right standing before God.
The original Greek. root, from which the King James translators derived the Anglo word "justified" was a legal term which denoted a definitive acquittal of an accused person for a
crime or crimes rendered by a court of law. The acquittal, however,
was contingent upon an admission of guilt. Once that condition was
met, the pronounced acquittal, could never be revisited again. Today,
as in Paul's day, all true remnant believers stand in a spiritually
equivalent verdict of "not guilty"of our sins,
transgressions, and iniquities, by virtue of the divine blood of
Messiah Jesus our redeemer. And all the scriptural promises of God
are ours by faith!
"There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..." Romans 8:1
AKJ
