Saving Faith

One of the greatest statements about the gospel is in the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Romans. He says that the gospel is the power of God at work that saves everyone who believes. It is how God makes us right with him from start to finish by faith. Let’s learn more about this amazing passage and the nature of saving faith with some study notes and an article from the Chronological Life Application Study Bible.  

Text: Romans 1:16–17

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”

Life Application Study Notes

Verse 16

Rom 1:16 Paul was not ashamed because his message was the Good News about Christ. It was a message of salvation, it had life-changing power, and it was for everyone. When you are tempted to be ashamed, remember what the Good News is all about. If you focus on God and on what God is doing in the world rather than on your own inadequacy, you won’t be ashamed or embarrassed.

Rom 1:16 Why did the message go to the Jews first? They had been God’s special people for more than 2,000 years, ever since God chose Abraham and promised great blessings to his descendants (Gen 12:1–3). God did not choose the Jews because they deserved to be chosen (Deut 7:7–8; 9:4–6) but because he wanted to show his love and mercy to them, for it would be through them that his Messiah would come into the world. God chose them, not to play favorites but so that they would tell the world about his plan of salvation.

For centuries the Jews had been learning about God by obeying his laws, keeping his festivals, and living according to his moral principles. Often they would forget God’s promises and laws, and they would have to be disciplined; but still they had a precious heritage of belief in the one true God. Of all the people on earth, the Jews should have been the most ready to welcome the Messiah and to understand his mission and message—and some of them did (see Luke 2:25, 36–38). Of course, the disciples and the great apostle Paul were faithful Jews who recognized in Jesus God’s most precious gift to the human race.

Verse 17

Rom 1:17 The Good News shows us both how righteous God is in his plan for us to be saved and also how we may be made fit for eternal life. By trusting Christ, our relationship with God is made right. “From start to finish,” God declares us to be right with him because of faith and faith alone. Paul then quotes from Habakkuk 2:4 to show that as we trust God, we are saved; we have life both now and forever.

Article: What Is Faith?

Faith is a word with many meanings. It can mean faithfulness (Matt 24:45). Faith can mean absolute trust, as shown by some of the people who came to Jesus for healing (Luke 7:2–10). It can mean confident hope (Heb 11:1). Or, as James points out, it can even mean a barren belief that does not result in good deeds (Jas 2:14–26). What does Paul mean when, in Romans, he speaks of “saving faith”?

Faith is a gift not a work

We must be very careful to understand faith as Paul uses the word because he ties faith so closely to salvation. It is not something we must do in order to earn salvation—if that were true, then faith would be just one more deed, and Paul clearly states that human deeds can never save us (Gal 2:16). Instead, faith is a gift God gives us because he is saving us (Eph 2:8). It is God’s grace, not our faith, that saves us. In his mercy, when God saves us, he gives us faith—a relationship with his Son that helps us become like him. Through the faith he gives us, he carries us from death into life (John 5:24).

Even in the Old Testament times, grace, not deeds, was the basis of salvation. As Hebrews points out, “it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Heb 10:4). God intended for his people to look beyond the animal sacrifices to him, but all too often they instead put their confidence in fulfilling the requirements of the law—that is, performing the required sacrifices. When Jesus triumphed over death, he canceled the charges against us and opened the way to the Father (Col 2:12–15). Because he is merciful, he offers us faith. How tragic if we turn faith into a deed and try to develop it on our own!

We can never come to God through our own faith any more than his Old Testament people could come through their own sacrifices. Instead, we must accept his gracious offer with thanksgiving and allow him to plant the seed of faith within us.

Keep Reading the Chronological Life Application Study Bible

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