Romans 1:16-17
This is an exegetical sermon from Romans 1:16-17. It shows the connections between Romans 1 and the book of Habakkuk, examining the grace of God in how he deals with his people. This sermon was originally preached by Pastor Justin Bragg at The Resolved Church in San Diego, CA. Audio unavailable.
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:: The Resolved ::
Justin Bragg (elder)
Romans 1:16-17
I am not ashamed of the gospel, for in it the righteousness of God is revealed by faith unto faith, as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”
Capital letters, Why does the phrase start with “but?” Most people won’t really think twice about this, and it may not seem that important. But we, as your elders, are responsible for teaching you correct doctrine, and to protect you from error and lies, so we passionately study the whole counsel of God, and strive to make clear to you what Scripture says. Leave Romans for a bit, and look at the phrase, “the just shall live by faith” from a different perspective, the perspective of the original text in which we find this phrase.
HABAKKUK
Historical Background
AUTHOR – only know his name. Interesting prophecy. Only one that is not directed to the people. The entire thing is a conversation between Habakkuk and God, similar to parts of Job.
HISTORICAL SETTING – date difficult to determine, author gives none. Background of decline and fall of Judean kingdom (626-586 BC) Severe sin in the land of Judah (1:2-4) which was not present during Josiah’s reign, but consistent with reign of Jehoiakim. This is during the reign of Jehoiakim. Invasion of Babylonians (Chaldeans) predicted in 1:6-10. Habakkuk asks “how long?” (1:2), and God responds that it will be during Habakkuk’s day (1:5). Language indicates invasion of Neb and Babylonians will come soon. Therefore, Following death of Josiah (609 BC), and prior to the Babylonian invasion (605 BC).
Josiah, grandson of good king Hezekiah, instituted reform in his reign, following the sinful reign of Manasseh. Josiah repaired the temple after 60 years in ruin, found a copy of the Law, and purged idolatry from cities of Judah. Josiah died tragically on the battlefield, and his death greatly impacted the nation. Jehoiakim abandoned Josiah’s reforms, and wickedness was again rampant.
Here is a man who loved justice and peace. He had lived under a good king, and as a righteous man, was appalled and disgusted by the wickedness of God’s people. He comes to God, and begs, pleads, and even accuses God concerning His justice. Why is there so much wickedness and evil? How can God allow this to happen?
The question Habakkuk asks is the same question asked today – If God is all good, all loving, and all powerful, why is their sin and evil in the world?
Structure of Habakkuk:
Chapters 1 & 2 explain two problems related to God’s holiness
Problem stated: Reconciling God’s holiness and longsuffering (inaction) with Judah’s sin. (1:1-11 – Habakkuk and God). Reconciling God’s holiness and use of a wicked nation to judge Judah (1:12-2:20 – Habakkuk and God). Problem reconciled (Habakkuk’s prayer in chapter 3)
God is longsuffering with sinful men and sovereignly chooses instruments to accomplish his ends without compromising his holiness, but rather showing his mercy and sovereignty.
Let’s walk through this incredible conversation between Habakkuk and God.
1:2-4 – Habakkuk’s complaint
Lodging complaint against God
Troubled by violence (2, 3)
Injustice and wrong, destruction, strife and conflict (3)
Paralysis of law, inability of justice to prevail, perversion of justice (4)
Clearly an anguished cry from a man who loved justice. He had seen justice perverted and had cried out to God against evil
1:5-11 GOD’s REPLY (Read 5-6)
The answer, “yes Judah is full of wickedness and evil, and God is going to do something about it – he is raising up the ruthless Babylonians who are bent on violence to sweep across the land (6)
God tells Hab to “be astonished! Wonder!” You wouldn’t believe what I am going to do. In this time of moral decay and rampant wickedness, God is going to send a more evil and wicked people to destroy them. The rest of the passage goes into the brutal details how this will happen. Not the answer Hab expected to hear. Surely Judah was better than Babylon. How could God have this wicked people have victory over his own people? Great cry of “That’s not fair!”
1:12-2:1 Habakkuk’s second complaint (Read 12-13)
Appeals to God’s attributes in covenantal terms. God is certainly holy and eternal – why has He appointed the Babylonians to execute judgment and punishment? How can a holy God use unholy instruments of judgment? Why is God tolerating wrong and treacherous? Why is he silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? How can this be?
Incredibly applicable to all times – We see this over and over again throughout the Bible in the life of Job, and Asaph’s prayers in Psalm 73? In the suffering of John the Baptist, in Matt 11:1-6, asked Jesus when imprisoned if his suffering was in vain, to which Jesus replied, “the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.”
The overwhelming theme throughout the Bible, and what we will look at more closely next week, is that God is holy, faithful and sovereign, and that nothing happens in this world that is not directly ordained by our good God. We can have confidence that “All things work together for good, for those who love God, and are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).
Habakkuk shows wisdom in 2:1 (READ).
He will wait upon wait upon God for the answers to his questions.
The idea of waiting on a watchtower seems to carry the notion of careful separation, intense watching or looking for any ‘movement on the horizon.’ Just as a guard on the watchtower of a protected city watches intently for the enemy, so Hab will patiently watch for the answer for the Lord
2:2-20 THE LORD’s ANSWER (READ 2:2-4)
Don’t know how long he waited, but answer finally comes
Lord instructs Hab to write down the rev and make it plain on tablets. Let everyone know, write it in stone and have everyone be made aware of this assurance from God. The revelation awaits an appointed time, and will not prove false. Wait for it, it will come and not delay. Habakkuk had asked God if what he was doing was right. The Babylonians, though they would have victory, were not justified in God’s sight. There is a clear distinction between how God deals with the justified and the unjust. The unjust: 4-5
The just: 4 The righteous will live by faith. The Babylonians will be punished for their deeds harshly.
God delivers woes against greed, injustice, violence, seduction and idolatry. This is the way of the unrighteous – the way of the world.
They strive to succeed and find happiness through sinful means
But not the righteous – they will live by faith! They will not fall into the trap of false pleasure and security! The just will triumph by faith!
The Babylonians are merely an instrument in the hand of the God who is in control of history, who controls the affairs of the world with a divine plan and a divine timetable. All of history is bound up with the divine kingdom. The key to understanding every event in the history of the world is to understand that God has a kingdom that is presently being established and ruled, but will be fully realized when Christ comes to vindicate the righteous fully and punish the wicked in full measure.
The purpose of God’s action in Judah, and in the whole world at all times is pronounced in v 14. He is making Himself known to all people. He is asserting his majesty and glory. V 20 – Let all the earth be silent before Him – for He is in His holy temple.
Go Back to Habakkuk 2:4
Paul, in Romans 1:17, is quoting this great pronouncement by God
In the midst of God’s pronouncement against the ungodly, in direct opposition, we are told that the righteous will live by faith, that’s why that “but” is there. In contrast to the Babylonians, who will ascend for a time, for the purpose of receiving condemnation, the just, or upright, are assured that they will live, be preserved by thier faith, or faithfulness, which entails a dependent trust and steadfast commitment in vital relation to God. This is the greatest pronouncement God has ever made. There is no doubt why we find it three times in the New Testament, each time, emphasizing part of the masterful truth.
The Just (Rom 1:17)
To understand what justification is, and who the justified man is, we turn to Romans. IS it ok for Paul to use this text in Habakkuk to support his justification by faith alone comments? Isn’t Habakkuk talking about those who are justified living by their faith? How can Paul use this verse to say that we are “saved,” or justified by faith?
True Translation of the passage: Paul appears to give words a different meaning. The message of Habakkuk is that the person who is already righteous is instructed to have faith that God is faithful and just. In Paul, the quotation functions to characterize how it is that one can attain right standing with God and so live eternally.
What do you connect on “on the basis of faith” with? Many connect “on the basis of faith” with “will live,” so we have “the just shall live by faith.” While this interpretation is accurate, to understand the fullness of what is being said, we need to connect “on the basis of faith” with “the one who is righteous,” so that it reads, “He who through faith is righteous will live.”
In Romans 1-8, Paul continually connects faith with righteousness (5:1) and shows how “life” is the product of that righteousness (5:18) It is also important to note what Paul means by “live,”
For Paul and many Jews Life (especially eternal life) is practically synonymous with salvation In Aramaic, the language Paul probably spoke there is one word for both life and salvation.
So we can take it a step further and say, “he who through faith is righteous will be saved.
Because for Paul, salvation begins with justification, but goes beyond it to include sanctification (or becoming holy), and final consummation in glory. That’s exactly what Duane has been talking about. Our salvation begins with justification, so that we can say that we have been saved by faith. But we also can say that we are “being saved” currently, by faith, and that we will be saved, in the end, by faith as well.
So it is not just that the one who is justified will live by faith, but that justification itself is attained through faith, from the beginning, and on that basis, we will live. From Habakkuk we know that a person can be righteous before God. Paul, in the introduction of his great letter, is attempting to ask the question of how can a person be made righteous before God. He knows that the justified man will live by faith, but how do you get justified in the very first place?
Because of the broad and indefinite statement in Habakkuk, Paul is not out of line to use this text to support his argument. In a moment we will look at Galatians, written earlier than Romans, in which Paul uses the verse again to support that the justified man should live his life by faith, and not by works, so Paul has studied this passage fully, and is convinced of it’s crucial message for believers.
If we are to continue living by faith, it follows that we would first be brought to life (justified) by faith. God has, since the time of Christ, one way in which his people are saved – by faith!
So as we have seen over the past few weeks from Duane’s teachings, it is perfectly acceptable for Paul to claim that faith in Jesus Christ, faith in the saving power of the gospel, is how we are justified, made right before God
By Faith (Hebrews 10:38) READ 10:36-39
How do we receive God’s gift of justification? Hebrews tells us that it is by faith – by believing God and acting upon that belief.
From the long list of heroes of the faith in Heb 11, we see that faith is an action. In salvation matters, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who dies in our place and thus turning from sin to follow Him is the definition of faith. Similarly to Hab’s revelation of faith in hard times, the author of Hebrews writes, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him
We see here, as we do early on in Romans, that faith and obedience are inseparable (v5, the obedience of faith)
Our lives in relationship to God are to be lived by faith, which leads us to the final place we find the great statement from God to his justified children
Shall Live (Gal 3:10-14)
Here we find Paul telling God’s people how to live their lives.
The problem in Galatia was that the believing Jews had received God’s justification by faith, but were turning back to works to “remain” saved. Paul doesn’t mix words when he says in 3:10-11.
The only way to live the Christian life is by faith. The word may crumble around us, causing us to question God. all that we love and know may vanish. But the righteous will live by his faith.
He will live by faith in the One who keeps us, not only in the moment of our initial belief in Jesus Christ, but in every moment of life as well.
The message is clear in v 13-14. Christ has redeemed us from wickedness and eternal punishment, and guarantees for us, if we would place our complete trust in His atoning work, that we will never be lost. We will never lose our adoption into the family of God. God’s declaration of justification is irreversible. Hebrews warns us about those who fall away, but we trust that those who leave were never part of us. We believe the testimony of Scripture that the just will live by faith. And by faith, we will never lose our salvation.
The just will live by faith
Joe did a good job talking about the life of faith last week. Faith is relentless, reckless abandon to our need for human security, and self-preservation. Faith is denying our own efforts save us.
Faith is total devotion to the God who has redeemed us apart from any good work on our part. Faith is utter trust in the God who never disappoints, who will not ever lose one sheep from his fold
We have Faith, trust, and confidence in a holy, faithful, sovereign God who is in control
Faith is also experiencing, the hard lesson of joy in suffering
Joy in suffering seems to be an oxymoron, a contradictory statement. But when we come to Hab 3, we find what it means for the just to live by faith. God’s pronouncement in 2:4, that the just will live by faith is really the foundation for Hab’s final prayer
Hab gets it. he understands what God is doing, and where before he cried injustice at God for his actions, he now cries utter amazement and unrelinquished joyful faith in the midst of suffering
Hab is now comforted and satisfied with what God has told him he will do.
The key is 2:20, “But the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before him.” Who are you oh man, to question the ways of God? God is God, and you are not – shut up (my translation) Habakkuk finally understands the faithfulness of God. God is faithful to his covenant with his people. God makes us righteous, and he will preserve those who place their faith in him without fail.
Calamity will come. We live in a wicked and evil world, and the wrath of God is being poured out all around us. You will suffer! That is certain. But when we read the Word of God, we find that we worship a mighty and sovereign God who is purposeful about every moment of life. Where is your confidence? What will you do when you suffer? Where do you turn when life sucks?
We learn a tremendous lesson from Habakkuk, about how God is glorified in our suffering. Nothing has changed from the first chapters – God is still going to crush his people by the foreign invasion of a cruel and wicked nation, but Habakkuk’s tone has changed, because he has come to understand that the just will live by faith. Those who are the Lord’s will be kept in the midst of suffering
Instead of trying to explain and teach this chapter, I am just going to read it to you. This is one of the most beautiful prayers in the Bible. It’s no Prayer of Jabez, but it’s pretty good – I would love to see this prayer as a national best seller, but I fear that day is not soon forthcoming.
Close your eyes, and breath in the rich aroma of a prayer of the justified man, praising God for his righteousness and mercy.
Drink the bitter-sweet water of what it means to have joy in suffering, which is the way God is most glorified in our turmoil.
PRAYER
You are holy. Let all the earth be silent before you
The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of you
We tremble before you, our lips quiver and decay enters our bones
In the midst of all calamity and distress, we exult in you oh Lord
We rejoice in you God, our salvation
You are our strength
You, Jesus Christ, are our justification, our righteousness
Lord, give us faith to believe and cling to our only hope, that we are saved by faith in your son, Jesus Christ
We pray with the great poet, William Cowper, who wrote:
Though vine nor fig tree neither
Their wonted fruits should bear
Though all the fields should wither
Nor flocks nor herds be there
Yet, God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
I cannot but rejoice
Tune our voice to rejoice in all things from your mighty hand
Tune our hearts to live by faith
