Senior High Sunday School 2/8/09

We started our study of the book of Romans. While we could go verse by verse and unpack all that God has for us, that would take quite a while. So we are going to hit some of the major passages. We focused on chapter one verse 17 which state, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith." The question we wanted to address is, "What is the righteousness that is revealed and how is it by faith?"
So we discussed the righteousness that is in the gospel. That is the righteousness which is given to us by faith. We talked about how we are not actually righteous in that we all still sin. The righteousness that Paul is talking about is a declared righteousness. The theological term for this is justification. It is a legal term. In a court of law a person is ruled innocent by the declaration of the judge. That person is freed from all penalty due to a guilty person. When we respond to God's effectual call by faith in Christ, He rules us innocent. We now do not have to suffer the punishment for sin. This is the first part of justification. For this puts us in a state on innocence (like Adam) and not seen a righteous as the Romans 1:17 declares. So there is a second aspect of justification that needs to be clarified.
God declares us righteous based on what Jesus accomplished in His life, death, and resurrection. It can be pictured as Jesus' righteousness being deposited in our account. We now receive the benefits of having Christ's perfect life while we are still struggling with sin. We have the righteousness of God by faith as Paul says. This is the good news (gospel) - God demands righteousness and we have none to give. So God gave us His through His Son.
The last phrase, "The righteous will live by faith" shows that this righteousness has been transfered to us. What was God's (a righteousness from God) now is attributed to us (the righteous).

As we read further in Romans, we will find this wonderful truth further explained as well as the command to now live righteously by faith. What God has started (declared us righteous), He will complete (actually becoming more and more righteous). God looks upon as through Jesus and now He is molding to become more like His Son.

"For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."