David Bahn – Reflections

Romans 1:8-17

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Tom didn’t want anyone to know he was a Christian when he visited a “massage parlor,” so he took the cross off his lapel before entering. Mary was embarrassed about being a Christian so she told the guy she had just met that she wore it to keep vampires away. Maybe you cannot relate to these examples, but there are other ways we show that we are ashamed of the gospel. Keeping quiet when the issue of God comes up at the office, or avoiding faith conversations at all costs shows we are ashamed of the gospel. Denying our sin essentially sets aside the gospel: isn’t that a kind of shame? Isn’t refusing to forgive someone also a means by which we shame the gospel? Refusing to be broken – stiff upper lip and all – is yet another.

Paul declares that he is not ashamed of the gospel. The Reformation Study Bible notes that, “Although the gospel is folly to the cultured, Paul sees his message as divine wisdom (1 Cor. 1:22–25, 30), and is not embarrassed by God’s way of salvation.” This Good News message, says Paul, is the power of God, revealing the righteousness of God for, through, from, and to faith.

Martin Luther was deeply fearful of the righteousness of God. He saw it as demanding justice, and judgment against his sin. He greatly feared God’s judgment. But when he discovered – through deep and prolonged study of the Word of God – that the righteousness of God is God’s gift of righteousness to those who believe, he experienced his “tower conversion experience.” He wrote of it this way:

I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: “The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: ‘The just person lives by faith.’” I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: “The just person lives by faith.” All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God. [1]

The gospel had been long-obscured by the Church in Luther’s day. Today that is not so obviously the case. So we may not struggle as Luther did with issues of the justice of God or the righteousness of faith. Surely, however, we can lean into this truth: the righteous shall live by faith. We are not only saved by faith, we live by faith. The righteous (read “justified”) live by faith; they embrace faith 24/7. They connect Jesus with everything they do.

Faith is not an adornment, hanging around their neck like a cross or pendant. It is not a compartment in which Jesus is kept for religious occasions only. Faith is at attitude of life, a world-view that flows from the Holy Spirit within the believer into the streets and towns, markets and offices, the homes and playgrounds of life. Faith is a way of life for the righteous. I want to learn more about what this means. How about you?

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[1] An Excerpt From: Preface to the Complete Edition of Luther’s Latin Works (1545) by Dr. Martin Luther, 1483-1546 Translated by Bro. Andrew Thornton, OSB from the “Vorrede zu Band I der Opera Latina der Wittenberger Ausgabe. 1545” in vol. 4 of Luthers Werke in Auswahl, ed. Otto Clemen, 6th ed., (Berlin: de Gruyter. 1967). pp. 421-428. (c)1983 by Saint Anselm Abbey. Courtesy of Project Wittenberg.