SEV Biblia, Chapter 1:17
Porque en l la justicia de Dios se descubre de fe en fe. Como est escrito: Mas el justo vivir por la fe.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Romans 1:17
Verse 17. For therein] In the Gospel of Christ. Is the righteousness of God] God's method of saving sinners.
Revealed from faith to faith] Shown to be by faith, and not by the works of any law; for Abraham, the father and founder of the Jewish people, was justified by faith, before even the law was given; and by believing, in reference to the spiritual object held forth in the various ordinances of the law, and now revealed under the Gospel, he and all his believing descendants have been justified. And thus the faith of the old covenant led on to the faith of the new covenant, which shows that salvation has been by faith from the call of Abraham to the present time.
And, from the beginning, all that were just or righteous in the earth became such by faith, and by this principle alone they were enabled to persevere; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. That dikaiosunh, which we translate righteousness in this verse, signifies God's method of saving mankind by faith in Christ, is fully evident from the use of the term in chap. ix. x20: The Gentiles which followed not after RIGHTEOUSNESS-who had no knowledge by revelation, of God's method of justifying and saving sinners, have attained to RIGHTEOUSNESS-have had imparted to them God's method of salvation by faith in Christ. chap. ix. x21: But Israel, the Jews, which followed after the law of righteousness-that law, the end or object of which is CHRIST, and through him justification to all that believe (chap. x. 4,) have not attained to the law of righteousness-have not found out the genuine plan of salvation, even in that law which so strongly and generally proclaims justification by faith. And why have they not found it? chap. ix. x22: Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law-they did not discern that even its works or prescribed religious observances were intended to lead to faith in that glorious Mediator of whom they were the types and representatives; but the Jews trusted in the observances themselves, hoping to acquire justification and final salvation by that means. For they stumbled at the stumbling-stone-at the doctrine of Christ crucified as the only sure ground on which the expectation of future salvation can be founded. Therefore, being ignorant of God's righteousness-God's method of saving sinners, and going about to establish their own righteousness-their own method of salvation, by the observance of those rites and ceremonies which should have led them by faith to Christ, they did not submit themselves to the righteousness of God-they would not submit to be saved in God's way, and therefore rejected, persecuted, and crucified the Lord Jesus; see chap. x. 3. This collation of passages most evidently shows that the word righteousness here means simply God's method of saving sinners, or God's way of salvation, in opposition to the ways and means invented by the fancies or prejudices of men.
There are few words in the sacred writings which are taken in a greater variety of acceptations than the word hqdx tsedakah in Hebrew, and dikaiosunh in Greek, both of which we generally translate righteousness.
Our English word was originally rightwiseness, from the Anglo-Saxon, (Anglo-Saxon), justice, right, and (Anglo- Saxon), to know; and thus the righteous man was a person who was allowed to understand the claims of justice and right, and who, knowing them, acted according to their dictates.
Such a man is thoroughly wise; he aims at the attainment of the best end by the use of the best means. This is a true definition of wisdom, and the righteous man is he that knows most and acts best. The Hebrew qdx tsadak, in its ideal meaning, contains the notion of a beam or scales in equipoise, what we call even balance; and it is well known that in all the personifications of Justice, both ancient and modern, she is represented as a beautiful female with a bandage on her eyes, and a beam and scales in her hand, so perfectly poised that neither end preponderates.
The Greek word dikaiosunh has been derived from dicazw, to divide; and hence dikh, justice, because it is the property of this virtue to divide to each his due. With other etymologies it is useless to trouble the reader.
Both the noun dikaiosunh and the verb dikaiow have a great variety of meaning in the New Testament; but they are all reducible to this original idea, acting according to the requisitions of justice or right. It may not be improper to notice some of the chief of these acceptations in this place.
1. The act of distributing to each man his due is the sense of the word, Acts xvii. x21: He will judge the world in RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e. according to the principles of eternal justice and rectitude. See also Rev. xix. 2: In RIGHTEOUSNESS doth he judge and make war.
2. It signifies a holy life, as proceeding from piety towards God. Luke i. l25: Might serve him in holiness and RIGHTEOUSNESS all the days of our life.
3. It signifies benignity, liberality, and particularly almsgiving, as justice and righteousness require us, being only stewards of God's bounty, to share it with the necessitous. Matt. vi. 1: Take heed that ye do not your ALMS, dikaiosunhn, your RIGHTEOUSNESS, before men. chap. iii. 5: But if our unrighteousness commend the RIGHTEOUSNESS, the benignity of God. 2 Cor. ix. 10: Increase the fruits of your RIGHTEOUSNESS, i.e. of your liberality.
4. It signifies God's method of saving sinners; the way which is agreeable to his righteousness and liberality. See the former part of this note, and the scriptures there referred to.
5. It signifies the reward or issue of liberality. 2 Cor. ix. i10: He hath scattered abroad; he hath given to the poor; his RIGHTEOUSNESS-the reward of his bounty, remaineth for ever. See Psa. cxii. 9.
6. It signifies the whole collection of graces, which constitute the complete Christian character. Matt. v. 6: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after RIGHTEOUSNESS- they who ardently long for the full salvation of God.
Matt. v. 10, 20: If your RIGHTEOUSNESS exceed not the righteousness, &c. Matt. vi. x23: Seek the kingdom of God and his RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7. It signifies the result of faith in God and submission to his will, exemplified in a holy and useful life. Heb. xi. 7: By faith Noah prepared an ark, and became heir of the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is by faith-he escaped the deluge and became the instrument of repeopling the world.
8. It signifies an exact observance of religious ordinances and precepts.
Phil. iii. 6: Touching the RIGHTEOUSNESS which is of the law, blameless-having lived in an exact conformity to all the Mosaic precepts.
In this sense it is to be understood, Matt. iii. 15: Thus it becomes us to fulfill all RIGHTEOUSNESS-to observe every precept of the law.
9. It signifies the favour or pardoning mercy of God. chap. iv. 6: The blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth RIGHTEOUSNESS-] without works-the man is happy to whom God has granted the remission of sins, without respect to his observance of the law of Moses.
10. In 2 Cor. v. 21, dikaiosunh, righteousness, is put for dikaiov, righteous: That we might become the righteousness of God-that we might receive such a righteousness or holiness, such a salvation, as is worthy of God's grace to impart, and such as the necessities of mankind require.
A few of the leading acceptations of the verb dikaiow, which we translate to justify, may be here properly subjoined, as this verb is so repeatedly used in this epistle.
1. It signifies so declare or pronounce one just or righteous; or, in other words, to declare him to be what he really is. 1 Timothy iii. 16: He was JUSTIFIED in the Spirit. - By the almighty power of the Spirit he was proved to be the TRUE MESSIAH.
2. To esteem a thing properly. Matt. xi. 19: Wisdom is JUSTIFIED of her children. - Wisdom, propriety of conduct, is properly estimated by wise men.
3. It signifies to approve, praise, and commend. The publicans JUSTIFIED God, Luke vii. 29; praised him for calling them to such a state of salvation.
Luke xvi. 15: Ye are they which JUSTIFY yourselves before men-Ye are self-commended, self-applauded, and self-praised. In this sense it is often used in the Greek apocryphal books. Ecclus. vii. 5: JUSTLFY not thyself before the Lord-Do not applaud thyself in the presence of thy-Maker. Ib.
x. x19: Who will JUSTIFY (praise or applaud) him that sinneth against his own soul. Ib. xviii. 2: The Lord only is righteous, dikaiwqhsetai, shall be JUSTIFIED, i.e. praised, because there is none other but he.
4. The verb dikaioomai is used to clear from all sin. 1 Cor. iv. i5: For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby JUSTIFIED-A man's own consciousness of integrity is not a proof that he is clear from all sin in the sight of God.
5. A judge is said to justify not only when he condemns and punishes, but also when he defends the cause of the innocent. See EURIP. Heraclid. ver. 190. THUCYD. iii. p. 200. POLYB. iii. 31, and SCHLEUSNER on dikaiow.
Hence dikaiousqai is taken in a forensic sense, and signifies to be found or declared righteous, innocent, &c. Matt. xii. xx17: By thy words shalt thou be JUSTIFIED-thou shalt be declared to be righteous. chap. iii. i5: That thou mightest be JUSTIFIED in thy saying-that thou mightest be proved to be true in what thou hast said.
6. It signifies to set free, to escape from. Acts xiii. xx19: And by him all that believe are JUSTIFIED from all things, from which ye could not be JUSTIFIED by the law-by faith in Christ a man escapes those evils which, otherwise, the law of Moses would inflict upon him. chap. vi. 7: For he that is dead, dedikaiwtai, is JUSTIFIED, properly rendered by our translators, is FREED from sin.
7. It signifies also to receive one into favour, to pardon sin. Romans viii. x20: Whom he called, them he also JUSTIFIED-he received them into favour and pardoned their sins. Luke xviii. 14: This man went down to his house JUSTIFIED-he humbled himself, repented of his iniquity, and God forgave his sin. chap. iii. 20: By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be JUSTIFIED-no soul can have his sins forgiven through the observance of the Mosaic law. chap. iv. 2: If Abraham were JUSTIFIED (had his sin pardoned) by works. 1 Cor. vi. 11: Such were some of you, but ye are JUSTIFIED-ye are received into the Divine favour, and have your sins forgiven. See James ii. 21-25; chap. iii. 24, 28; v. 1, 9; Gal. ii. 16, 17; iii. 11, 24; v. 4; Tit. iii. 7. In all these texts the word justify is taken in the sense of remission of sins through faith in Christ Jesus; and does not mean making the person just or righteous, but treating him as if he were so, having already forgiven him his sins.
The just shall live by faith.] This has been understood two ways: 1.
That the just or righteous man cannot live a holy and useful life without exercising continual faith in our Lord Jesus: which is strictly true; for He only who has brought him into that state of salvation can preserve him in it; and he stands by faith. It is contended by some able critics that the words of the original text should be pointed thus: o de dikaiov ek pistewv, zhsetai. The just by faith, shall live; that is, he alone that is justified by faith shall be saved: which is also true; as it is impossible to get salvation in any other way. This last meaning is probably the true one, as the original text in Hab. ii. 4, speaks of those who believed the declarations of God when the Chaldeans besieged Jerusalem, and, having acted conformably to them, escaped with their lives.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed , etc..] By the righteousness of God, is not meant the essential righteousness of God, the rectitude of his nature, his righteousness in fulfilling his promises, and his punitive justice, which though revealed in the Gospel, yet not peculiar to it; nor the righteousness by which Christ himself is righteous, either as God, or as Mediator; but that righteousness which he wrought out by obeying the precepts, and bearing the penalty of the law in the room of his people, and by which they are justified in the sight of God: and this is called the righteousness of God, in opposition to the righteousness of men: and because it justifies men in the sight of God; and because of the concern which Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, have in it. Jehovah the Father sent his Son to work it out, and being wrought out, he approves and accepts of it, and imputes it to his elect: Jehovah the Son is the author of it by his obedience and death; and Jehovah the Spirit discovers it to sinners, works faith in them to lay hold upon it, and pronounces the sentence of justification by it in their consciences. Now this is said to be revealed in the Gospel, that is, it is taught in the Gospel; that is the word of righteousness, the ministration of it; it is manifested in and by the Gospel.
This righteousness is not known by the light of nature, nor by the law of Moses; it was hid under the shadows of the ceremonial law, and is brought to light only by the Gospel; it is hid from every natural man, even from the most wise and prudent, and from God's elect themselves before conversion, and is only made known to believers, to whom it is revealed: from faith to faith ; that is, as say some, from the faith of God to the faith of men; from the faith of preachers to the faith of hearers; from the faith of the Old to the faith of the New Testament saints; or rather from one degree of faith to another; for faith, as it grows and increases, has clearer sights of this righteousness, as held forth in the Gospel. For the proof of this, a passage of Scripture is cited, as it is written , ( Habakkuk 2:4); the just shall live by faith : a just, or righteous man is, not everyone who thinks himself, or is thought by others to be so; nor are any so by their obedience to the law of works; but he is one that is made righteous by the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, which is before said to be revealed in the Gospel. The life which this man lives, and shall live, does not design a natural or corporeal life, and a continuance of that, for such die a natural death, as other men; nor an eternal life, for though they shall so live, yet not by faith; but a spiritual life, a life of justification on Christ, of holiness from him, of communion with him, and of peace and joy; which spiritual life shall be continued, and never be lost. The manner in which the just lives, is by faith. In the prophet Habakkuk, the words are, the just shall live wtnwmab , by his faith (( Habakkuk 2:4)); which the Septuagint render, by my faith: and the apostle only reads, by faith, omitting the affix, as well known, and easy to be supplied: for faith, when given by God, and exercised by the believer, is his own, and by it he lives; not upon it, but by it upon Christ the object of it; from whom, in a way of believing, he derives his spiritual life, and all the comforts of it.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 16, 17 - In these verses the apostle opens the design of the whole epistle, in which he brings forward a charge of sinfulness against all flesh declares the only method of deliverance from condemnation, by faith in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ; and then builds upon it purit of heart, grateful obedience, and earnest desires to improve in all those Christian graces and tempers, which nothing but a lively faith in Christ can bring forth. God is a just and holy God, and we are guilt sinners. It is necessary that we have a righteousness to appear before him: there is such a righteousness brought in by the Messiah and made known in the gospel; a gracious method of acceptance notwithstanding the guilt of our sins. It is the righteousness of Christ, who is God, coming from a satisfaction of infinite value. Fait is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state and then works kept us in it; but it is all along from faith to faith it is faith pressing forward, and gaining the victory over unbelief.
Greek Textus Receptus
δικαιοσυνη 1343 N-NSF γαρ 1063 CONJ θεου 2316 N-GSM εν 1722 PREP αυτω 846 P-DSN αποκαλυπτεται 601 5743 V-PPI-3S εκ 1537 PREP πιστεως 4102 N-GSF εις 1519 PREP πιστιν 4102 N-ASF καθως 2531 ADV γεγραπται 1125 5769 V-RPI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM δε 1161 CONJ δικαιος 1342 A-NSM εκ 1537 PREP πιστεως 4102 N-GSF ζησεται 2198 5695 V-FDI-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed (dikaiosunh gar Qeou en autw apokaluptetai). Rev., more correctly, therein is revealed a righteousness of God. The absence of the article denotes that a peculiar kind of righteousness is meant. This statement contains the subject of the epistle: Righteousness is by faith. The subject is not stated formally nor independently, but as a proof that the Gospel is a power, etc. This word dikaiosunh righteousness, and its kindred words dikaiov righteous, and dikaiow to make righteous, play so important a part in this epistle that it is desirable to fix their meaning as accurately as possible.CLASSICAL USAGE.
In the Greek classics there appears an eternal, divine, unwritten principle of right, dwelling in the human consciousness, shaping both the physical and the moral ordering of the world, and personified as Themis (Qemiv). This word is used as a common noun in the phrase qemiv ejsti it is right (fundamentally and eternally), like the Latin fas est. Thus Homer, of Penelope mourning for Ulysses, qemiv ejsti gunaikov it is the sacred obligation of the wife (founded in her natural relation to her husband, ordained of heaven) to mourn ("Odyssey," 14, 130). So Antigone appeals to the unwritten law against the barbarity of refusing burial to her brother.
"Nor did I deem thy edicts strong enough, That thou, a mortal man, shouldst overpass The unwritten laws of God that know not change." SOPHOCLES, "Antigone," 453-455.
See, also, "Odyssey," 14, 91; Aristophanes, "Clouds," 140; "Antigone," 880.
This divine ordering requires that men should be shown or pointed to that which is according to it - a definite circle of duties and obligations which constitute right (dikh). 16 Thus what is dikaiov righteous, is properly the expression of the eternal Themis. While dikh and qemiv are not to be distinguished as human and divine, dikh has a more distinctively human, personal character, and comes into sharper definition. It introduces the distinction between absolute right and power. It imposes the recognition of a moral principle over against an absolutely constraining natural force. The conception of dikh is strongly moral. 17 Dikaiov is right; dikaiosunh is rightness as characterizing the entire being of man. There is a religious background to the pagan conception. In the Homeric poems morality stands in a relation, loose and undeveloped indeed, but none the less real, to religion. This appears in the use of the oath in compacts; in the fear of the wrath of heaven for omission of sacrifices; in regarding refusal of hospitality as an offense against Zeus, the patron of strangers and suppliants. Certain tribes which are fierce and uncivilized are nevertheless described as dikaioi righteous. "The characteristic stand-point of the Homeric ethics is that the spheres of law, of morals, and of religion are by no means separate, but lie side by side in undeveloped unity." (Nagelsbach).
In later Greek literature this conception advances, in some instances, far toward the christian ideal; as in the fourth book of Plato's "Laws," where he asserts that God holds in His hand the beginning, middle, and end of all things; that justice always follows Him, and punishes those who fall short of His laws. Those who would be dear to God must be like Him. Without holiness no man is accepted of God.
Nevertheless, however clearly the religious background and sanction of morality may be recognized, it is apparent that the basis of right is found, very largely, in established social usage. The word ethics points first to what is established by custom. While with Mr. Grote we must admit the peculiar emphasis on the individual in the Homeric poems, we cannot help observing a certain influence of social sentiment on morals. While there are cases like the suitors, Paris and Helen, where public opinion imposes no moral check, there are others where the force of public opinion is clearly visible, such as Penelope and Nausicaa. The Homeric view of homicide reveals no relation between moral sentiment and divine enactment. Murder is a breach of social law, a private and civil wrong, entailing no loss of character. Its penalty is a satisfaction to the feelings of friends, or a compensation for lost services.
Later, we find this social aspect of morality even more strongly emphasized. "The city becomes the central and paramount source of obligation. The great, impersonal authority called 'the Laws' stands out separately, both as guide and sanction, distinct from religious duty or private sympathy" (Grote). Socrates is charged with impiety because he does not believe in the gods of the state, and Socrates himself agrees that that man does right who obeys what the citizens have agreed should be done, and who refrains from what they forbid. 18 The social basis of righteousness also appears in the frequent contrast between dikh and bia, right and force. A violation of right is that which forces its way over the social sanction. The social conception of dikaiov is not lost, even when the idea is so apprehended as to border on the christian love of one's neighbor. There is a wrong toward the gods, but every wrong is not in itself such. The inner, personal relation to deity, the absolute and constraining appeal of divine character and law to conscience, the view of duty as one's right, and of personal right as something to be surrendered to the paramount claim of love - all these elements which distinguish the christian conception of righteousness - are thus in sharp contrast with a righteousness dictated by social claims which limit the individual desire or preference, but which leave untouched the tenacity of personal right, and place obligation behind legitimacy. 19 It is desirable that the classical usage of these terms should be understood, in order to throw into sharper relief the Biblical usage, according to which God is the absolute and final standard of right, and every wrong is a sin against God (Ps. li. 4). Each man stands in direct and primary relation to the holy God as He is by the law of His own nature. Righteousness is union with God in character. To the Greek mind of the legendary age such a conception is both strange and essentially impossible, since the Greek divinity is only the Greek man exaggerated in his virtues and vices alike. According to the christian ideal, righteousness is character, and the norm of character is likeness to God. This idea includes all the social aspects of right. Love and duty toward God involve love and duty to the neighbor. Here must be noted a peculiar usage of dikaiov righteous, and dikaiosunh righteousness, in the Septuagint. They are at times interchanged with ejlehmosunh mercy, and eleov kindness. The Hebrew chesed kindness, though usually rendered by eleov, is nine times translated by dikaiosunh righteousness, and once by dikaiov righteous. The Hebrew tsedakah, usually rendered by dikaiosunh, is nine times translated by ejlehmosunh mercy, and three times by eleov kindness. Compare the Heb. and Sept. at Deut. vi. 25; xxiv. 13 (15); Genesis xix. 19; xxiv. 27. This usage throws light on the reading dikaiosunhn, Rev., righteousness (kindness?), instead of ejlehmosunhn mercy, A.V., alms, Matt. vi. 1. Mr. Hatch ("Essays in Biblical Greek") says that the meaning kindness is so clear in this passage that scribes, who were unaware of its existence, altered the text. He also thinks that this meaning gives a better sense than any other to Matt. i. 19 "Joseph, being a kindly (dikaiov, A.V., just) man." 20
1. In the New Testament dikaiov is used both of God and of Christ. Of God, 1 John i. 9; John xvii. 25; Apoc. xvi. 5; Rom. iii. 26. Of Christ, 1 John ii. 1; iii. 7; Acts iii. 14; vii. 52; xxii. 14. In these passages the word characterizes God and Christ either in their essential quality or in their action; either as righteous according to the eternal norm of divine holiness (John xvii. 25; 1 John iii. 7; Rom. iii. 26), or as holiness passes into righteous dealing with men (1 John i. 9).
2. Dikaiov is used of men, denoting their normal relation to the will and judgment of God. Hence it means virtuous upright, pure in life, correct in thinking and feeling. It stands opposed to ajnomia lawlessness; aJmartia sin; ajkaqarsia impurity, a contrast wanting in classical usage, where the conception of sin is vague. See Rom. vi. 13, 16, 18, 20; viii. 10; 2 Corinthians vi. 7, 14; Eph. v. 9; vi. 14; Philip. i. 11; Jas. iii. 18. Where dikaiosunh righteousness, is joined with oJsiothv holiness (Luke i. 75; Eph. iv. 24), it denotes right conduct toward men, as holiness denotes piety toward God. It appears in the wider sense of answering to the demands of God in general, Matt. xiii. 17; x. 41; xxiii. 29; Acts x. 22, 35; and in the narrower sense of perfectly answering the divine demands, guiltless. So of Christ, Acts iii. 14; 1 Pet. iii. 18; 1 John ii. 1.
3. It is found in the classical sense of it is right, Philip. i. 7, or that which is right, Col. iv. 1. This, however, is included within the Christian conception.
Dikaiosunh righteousness, is therefore that which fulfills the claims of dikh right. "It is the state commanded by God and standing the test of His judgment; the character and acts of a man approved of Him, in virtue of which the man corresponds with Him and His will as His ideal and standard" (Cremer).
The medium of this righteousness is faith. Faith is said to be counted or reckoned for righteousness; i.e., righteousness is ascribed to it or recognized in it. Rom. iv. 3, 6, 9, 22; Gal. iii. 6; Jas. ii. 23. In this verse the righteousness revealed in the Gospel is described as a righteousness of God. This does not mean righteousness as an attribute of God, as in ch. iii. 5; but righteousness as bestowed on man by God. The state of the justified man is due to God. The righteousness which becomes his is that which God declares to be righteousness and ascribes to him. Righteousness thus expresses the relation of being right into which God puts the man who believes. See further, on justified, ch. ii. 13. Is revealed (apokaluptetai). Emphasizing the peculiar sense in which "righteousness" is used here. Righteousness as an attribute of God was revealed before the Gospel. Righteousness in this sense is a matter of special revelation through the Gospel. The present tense describes the Gospel in its continuous proclamation: is being revealed.
From faith to faith (ek pistewv eiv pistin). Rev., by faith unto faith. According to the A.V. the idea is that of progress in faith itself; either from Old to New Testament faith, or, in the individual, from a lower to a higher degree of faith; and this idea, I think, must be held here, although it is true that it is introduced secondarily, since Paul is dealing principally with the truth that righteousness is by faith. We may rightly say that the revealed righteousness of God is unto faith, in the sense of with a view to produce faith; but we may also say that faith is a progressive principle; that the aim of God's justifying righteousness is life, and that the just lives by his faith (Gal. ii. 20), and enters into "more abundant" life with the development of his faith. Compare 2 Cor. ii. 16; iii. 18; iv. 17; Romans vi. 19; and the phrase, justification of life, Rom. v. 18.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
1:17 {For therein} (gar en autwi). In the gospel (verse #16) of which Paul is not ashamed. {A righteousness of God} (dikaiosune qeou). Subjective genitive, "a God kind of righteousness," one that each must have and can obtain in no other way save "from faith unto faith" (ek pistews eis pistin), faith the starting point and faith the goal (Lightfoot). {Is revealed} (apokaluptetai). It is a revelation from God, this God kind of righteousness, that man unaided could never have conceived or still less attained. In these words we have Paul's statement in his own way of the theme of the epistle, the content of the gospel as Paul understands it. Every word is important: swterian (salvation), euaggelion (gospel), apokaluptetai (is revealed), dikaiosune qeou (righteousness of God), pistis (faith) and pisteuonti (believing). He grounds his position on #Hab 2:4 (quoted also in #Ga 3:11). By "righteousness" we shall see that Paul means both "justification" and "sanctification." It is important to get a clear idea of Paul's use of dikaiosune here for it controls the thought throughout the epistle. Jesus set up a higher standard of righteousness (dikaiosune) in the Sermon on the Mount than the Scribes and Pharisees taught and practised (#Mt 5:20) and proves it in various items. Here Paul claims that in the gospel, taught by Jesus and by himself there is revealed a God kind of righteousness with two ideas in it (the righteousness that God has and that he bestows). It is an old word for quality from dikaios, a righteous man, and that from dike, right or justice (called a goddess in #Ac 28:4), and that allied with deiknumi, to show, to point out. Other allied words are dikaiow, to declare or make dikaios (#Ro 3:24,26), dikai"ma, that which is deemed dikaios (sentence or ordinance as in #1:32; 2:26; 8:4), dikai"sis, the act of declaring dikaios (only twice in N.T., #4:25; 5:18). dikaiosune and dikaiow are easy to render into English, though we use justice in distinction from righteousness and sanctification for the result that comes after justification (the setting one right with God). Paul is consistent and usually clear in his use of these great words.
