Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the book of Romans. Tonight is study 32 of Romans, chapter 1, and we are going to be reading Romans 1:16-17:

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. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

In our last study, we were looking at the statement in the first part of Romans 1:16:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…

Then it continued, saying in Romans 1:16:

… for it is the power of God unto salvation…

The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation. I mentioned before that the Gospel is a synonym for the Word of God, the Bible. It is His testimony and there are several other words God uses to refer to the Bible or the Scriptures. So the Gospel of Christ is itself “the power of God unto salvation” or the Word of God. That is what the Gospel is, as it is the power God uses unto salvation. We can understand this by looking at another verse in the book of Romans, in Romans 10:17:

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Faith comes by the Gospel. Faith comes by hearing and hearing comes by the Gospel, the Word of God. And faith would be salvation. God grants the gift of faith: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.”

That is the power of God unto salvation and, again, it completely identifies with the Word. Then it goes on to say in Romans 1:16:

… to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Here, the Lord is laying out the order of salvation. That is what is in view after telling us that the Gospel “is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth,” and “believing” is conditioned by everything else the Bible says. We have to allow the Bible to define its own terms and, basically, to be its own dictionary. And when we do that, we learn that many can profess belief and have intellectual belief, but few are truly believers or truly God’s elect people because Biblical or saving belief is not something that happens in the human mind, nor is it a result of what comes out of the mouth. God tells us that genuine belief must be in the heart. We also read that in Romans 10:8-9:

But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Most preachers out there and most gospels out there are fine with the first part of Romans 10:9 that says you must confess Jesus with your mouth. They strongly emphasize that part: “Believe on the Lord Jesus. Do you believe?” If the response is, “Yes, I believe,” then they say, “Then you are saved.” But they omit the second part of the statement that must go hand-in-hand with the first part: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart…” And that is the big problem area because it is not saying to believe with the human brain or mind, but the heart, and the heart is a synonym for the “soul.” You have to believe in your soul, and the problem is that the soul of man is dead in trespasses and sins, and a dead thing cannot believe, so there cannot be belief in the heart of man. That is why the Bible tells us is in 2Thessalonians: “…all men have not faith.” Not in their hearts. Many men profess faith, but when it is tried and tested by God, they fail: “Ok, you say you are a Christian. You say you are a believer. You say you have faith. Now let me put you to the test.” He did this to the Israelites in the wilderness. They failed the test. He did it during the church age, and many failed the test. He is doing it in the Day of Judgment, and many have failed the test. “Oh, I believe,” they say, “I am a Christian.” Almost two billion people make that profession. But then the Bible said that the doctrine of Christ is that the church age is over and they had to get out of the churches. “Oh, no, I am not going to do that.” Then the Bible said there is no place called Hell of eternal torment, but it is the grave and “hell” is a condition that identifies with death and the grave, and when an individual dies unsaved, that is it. There is no place of suffering forever and ever. “Oh, no I am not going to believe that.” Or, the Bible tells us about marriage and divorce and that there is not to be divorce for any reason. “Oh, no, I do not believe that. I think there is an exception, and a loving God would allow that.” You see, they reject the Bible on point after point. Or, the churches set up pastors, elders and deacons that are single men. That is contrary to the Bible. Or, they set up men that have been married and divorced. And that is contrary to the Bible. “Oh, I do not believe that.” But the Bible says it. Why do they not believe these things? Why do they not trust the Bible on these points? It is because they have no faith in the heart. There is no faith operating in their hearts.

Going back to Romans 1, it says in Romans 1:16:

… for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth…

And belief would happen when God saves us and gives us a new heart or new spirit, and then we confess with our mouths, which is now in agreement with our heart condition that has been made anew. Then all is well. All is fine. There is no hypocrisy. Then the last part of the verse goes on to say in Romans 1:16:

… to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

We are familiar with this order. The Bible tells us that judgment begins at the house of God. When it comes to God’s wrath and His judgment program, we have learned there is an order of events or an order in which it is worked out. He started with the house of God. And, you know, that language of the “house of God” is picked up from the Old Testament. The temple was the house of God. And, likewise, the Israelite or the Jew is a figure that represents the Christian. God uses Israel as a type and figure of the New Testament churches and congregations, although we might say that when it comes to salvation, God did deal with Israel first. The nation of Israel was His corporate body in the Old Testament. They were His outward representatives to the earth, but God did not start saving people with the nation of Israel. It started all the way back with people like Abel and Noah, and they were not Jews.

The idea here is for the New Testament era, and in the New Testament era, God saved the Jew first. Besides that, I mentioned that He judges the Jew first, and then the Gentiles (or the Greeks). We see that order in Romans 2:8-9:

But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

There is the order for God’s judgment program that we have seen. Judgment begins at the house of God, or as Jeremiah 25 puts it: “…begin with the city called by my name,” and in that same chapter we see that it expands and transitions to the nations.

Likewise, God began judgment on the churches and congregations of the world on May 21, 1988, the end of the church age, and He judged them for 23 full years until May 21, 2011. Then there was the transition from “the Jew,” which was typified by the Christian churches. There was “tribulation” or judgment to the Jew first, and then it goes on to say in Romans 2:9: “…and also of the Gentile.” And the word “Gentile” here is the same word translated as “Greek” in the verse we are looking at in Romans 1:16. So that is the sequence or order of events when it comes to “tribulation.” It is the Jew first and then the Gentile, and “tribulation” is a synonym for “judgment.” The tribulation transitioned on that day of transition, May 21, 2011, to the beginning of the Day of Judgment. It transitioned to “the Greek,” or all the people that were not “Jews.” Therefore, they are Gentiles. It was “to the Jew first,” and now we are living on the earth in the day of the judgment or tribulation of the Gentiles. That is why it will be a prolonged period of time, which may be 23 inclusive years, according to the Biblical evidence that points to the year 2033 A. D. This is the evidence the Bible indicates when the world will end. So God is following this pattern that He has established. He gave His Word to the Jew, and then after a period of time, He came to visit. In the case of the churches, He came to visit after 1,955 years and He said, in effect, “What did you do (with my Word)?” There is the parable of the talents and the parable of the pounds, and that was basically the question to the churches: “What have you done with my Word?” Then He was done with them.

But it is interesting that after being done with the churches in 1988, a few years later God sent forth His Word to the nations of the world, the Gentiles. And the Gentiles had the Word for about seventeen years in a great way. It was a very short period of time, but the Word was bountiful; there was an abundance of Scripture that was proclaimed to the nations of the earth over the electronic airwaves, and God saved them greatly by saving the great multitude. There were many more saved than all during the church age and in all previous history. Then He came on May 21, 2011 to the Gentiles: “What did you do with my Word?” You see, it is the same question. They were entrusted with the Word of God, just as the corporate church had been for a much longer period of time. But then God came to the world and said, “I gave you my Word. What have you done with?” Then began the judgment process, the “tribulation” upon the Gentiles, because they, too, had been given the Word of God, and now God has come to visit and make judgment. “What have you done with my talent? What have you done with the pound that was given to you?” This relates to the truth of the Bible that had been given to the nations.

So, really, God is laying out His two-fold judgment program here. “Tribulation” is the key word in Romans 2:9, and it is to the Jew first and also to the Gentile: two tribulations. And that is what we have learned.

But we also see what it says in the next verse, in Romans 2:10:

But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

You see, that agrees with what we are reading in Romans 1:16:

…for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

And, again, the word “Greek” is the same word translated as “Gentile” in Romans 2. So God’s salvation program was also given first to the Jew and then to the Greek, or the Gentiles. And I just mentioned how that was. When God established the church age, He gave them His Word. They were the “two witnesses,” as represented by Moses and Elijah (the Law and the Prophets) that were witnessing and active within the churches and congregations. The churches had the Holy Bible in their midst. They were the caretakers of the Oracles of God for century, after century, after century, and God blessed the churches by saving His people over the course of those centuries. Therefore, the “Jew” received this power of God unto salvation that did produce belief in the hearts of certain ones that were the elect people of God, predestinated to receive it.

Following that, the church age ended after the grievous 2,300 evening mornings that separated the seasons of the early rain and the Latter Rain, which began to fall in early September in 1994. Then God sent forth His rain from heaven, and His doctrine dropped like the dew upon the nations of the world to the Greeks or Gentiles.

You see, God had a similar order. It was an order or sequence of salvation: first, the church, and then the nations; the Jew first, and then the Greek.

And there is an order or sequence for judgment after the Word had been given for the sufficient period of time according to God’s program of times and seasons. For 1,955 years, the churches had the Word, and then God came to visit to see what they had done with the Word, and then came the judgment to the Jew. They had the Word unto salvation first; then they had God’s judgment first. Following that, the Gentiles received the Word for a little season during the second part of the Great Tribulation, which was the Latter Rain, but it was a tremendous outpouring regarding the numbers that heard it. The earth was saturated with it over the course of the period of Latter Rain until May 21, 2011. Then came the visit from God: “What have you done with my Word?” Then came judgment. You see, the nations followed the Jews in receiving the Word, the power of God unto salvation, and then they also followed the Jews in judgment and tribulation, and that is where we are currently in God’s judgment program.

Let us move on to Romans 1:17:

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The word “therein” is referring back to the Bible. Literally, in the Greek text, it says, “For the righteousness of God in it,” so the translators translated it as “therein.” In the Bible is the righteousness of God, and we know this from many verses, such as 1Corinthians 1:30:

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

So Christ Jesus is made to us “righteousness.” And the righteousness of God is in the Bible: “For faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” And so does righteousness (within the perimeters of the day of salvation) when God saved someone, He made them righteous, as it says in Romans 5:19:

… so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

And everyone who is truly saved has been made righteous by the righteousness of Christ as it was delivered to them through the hearing of the Word of God during the time when the Lord was applying Christ’s atoning work (the shedding of His blood) through the hyssop of that Word being dipped into that blood, spiritually, and applied the soul of the sinners that were chosen to receive it by God before the foundation of the world. Then they were made righteous. Their sins were washed away. They became equipped with the garment or cloak of Christ’s righteousness. Again, it says in Romans 1:17:

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith…

We at EBible Fellowship (and Mr. Camping and Family Radio before us) have spent a great deal of time discussing how Christ is “the faith.” Whenever the Bible speaks of saving faith, it has Jesus in view, and there is no exception here because it is referring back to salvation in verse 16: “…the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation.” There in the Gospel, or in the Word of God, righteousness or salvation is revealed to the sinner as he received it “from faith to faith.” Now this is an unusual statement. It is not easy to understand. Theologians have really struggled with this. We are helped with it because we have the advantage of knowing that Christ is the faith, and we are also helped by the concluding part of the verse that says, “as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” We know that is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4, which says, “The just shall live by his faith.” So, again, God is leading and directing us to the understanding that Christ is that faith – He is the starting point of faith. Literally, this verse in Romans 1:17 would read: “For righteousness of God in it is being revealed out of faith into faith.” That is the literal interpretation. The word translated as “from” is the Greek word “ek,” and it means “out of.” The word “ek” just means “out,” but it is genitive, so it is “out of faith.” Then the preposition “to” is “into.” It is going “into” something – into faith. So, it is “out of faith, into faith.” I think a good way to allow the Bible to illustrate this is for us to read in the Gospel of Mark about the woman that had an issue of blood for twelve years, from which she suffered and could not be healed. Then she thought that if she could only touch Jesus (she would be healed) and she did so. It says in Mark 5:27-30:

When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

Again, here the preposition “ek” is used in relationship to Jesus when he knew that virtue had gone “out of” Him. That is the idea. Virtue was “in” Him. In this case, it was virtue to staunch the flow of blood and heal her plague. To have an issue of blood made her “unclean,” and to be unclean is a figure of being a sinner, as we are all spiritually unclean in our sins. Christ healed her flow of blood, thereby making her clean again. And it came forth of Jesus; it was, literally, virtue leaving “out of” Him and “into” her. Then He said to her in Mark 5:34:

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.

The preposition “in” is that Greek word “eis.” She is going into peace, with Christ being the peace. Her faith would be Jesus Himself. He could have said, “Thy God hath made thee whole.” And that would have been a true statement, as well as His saying, “Thy faith hath made thee whole,” because He was her faith.

Well, we are out of time. We will have to continue this in our next Bible study.