Sir, in a sermon, the preacher said that the
earlier Baptists all concentrated on Romans 1:16, but the later Reformed guys will
concentrate on Romans 1:17.
What do you say to that?
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Kindly note that Romans 1:16-17 is a 2-verse paragraph; the thoughts are
interconnected.
16 ¶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
17 For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Both ought to be taken together.
The "Reformed guys" concentrated on
1:17 likely because they are intoxicated by the sound bite of "the just
shall live by faith". However, they have COMPLETELY missed the points of
verse 17.
Note a few things. Understand them well, and
learn a few things.
1. In the preaching of the gospel - obviously
by one who is not ashamed of it - the righteousness of God's own provision,
through the redemptive work of Christ, is revealed, made known, proclaimed. The
gospel is perceived by every believing one as the message that declares the
power of God in saving sinners. The gospel is not the power; the gospel is the good
news that declares the power of God to save His people in Jesus Christ; don't
confuse the two.
2. It is "from faith to faith,"
THAT IS, from the preacher who has faith and is not ashamed of the gospel to
those IN WHOM the Holy Spirit HAS WORKED the grace of faith; i.e. in those
ALREADY EFFECTUAL CALLED (already
justified by God's free grace, regenerated by the Spirit of God, adopted by the
Father, and, indwelt by the Holy Spirit who works faith in them.)
- This faith
worked in them by the indwelling Spirit is drawn out by gospel preaching.
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17 KJT
1 Corinthians 1:18 KJT — For the preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which ARE SAVED it is
the power of God.
"From faith to faith" completely
repudiates the fiction of gospel regeneration.
3. "... the just shall live by
faith" is completely PERVERTED and TWISTED by so many, both the reformed
as well as the deformed and the unformed.
- "... the just shall live by
faith" is an indicative statement of fact about *the just.* It is a description about the just - they shall
live by faith. It is NOT a prescription what the unjustified must do (i.e. believe) in order to be justified.
- Who are the just? They are those whom God
HAS freely JUSTIFIED by His grace. Romans 3:24 KJT "Being justified freely
by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
Justification is NOT through your faith but through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus. Did you get it?
Those whom God HAS FREELY JUSTIFIED shall
live by faith... they shall not live by observing the ceremonial laws, as the
Judaizers insisted and wanted to impose upon the Gentile believers.
Apostle
Paul marshalled Abraham as the classic example of this truth - the just shall
live by faith - to refute the fiction of the Jewish Judaizers.
BUT the reformed people make "the just
shall live by faith" to mean "the unjustified man is justified by his
faith, i.e. when he believes."
It is like twisting a statement like
"the living shall live by breath" into "the dead
shall be made alive by their breath."
They have defiled the holy faith. But you do
this:
Jude 1:20 KJV — But ye, beloved, building up
yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
