Roma 1:16-17

The Power of the Gospel

1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹  1:17 For the righteousness ²  of God is revealed in the gospel ³  from faith to faith, ⁴  just as it is written, “The righteous by faith will live.” ⁵ 

Roma 10:6-10

10:6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ⁶  ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” ⁷  (that is, to bring Christ down) 10:7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” ⁸  (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 10:8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” ⁹  (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 10:9 because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord ¹⁰  and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10:10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness ¹¹  and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. ¹² 

[1:16]  ¹ sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.

[1:17]  ² tn The nature of the “righteousness” described here and the force of the genitive θεοῦ (“of God”) which follows have been much debated. (1) Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:98) understand “righteousness” to refer to the righteous status given to believers as a result of God’s justifying activity, and see the genitive “of God” as a genitive of source (= “from God”). (2) Others see the “righteousness” as God’s act or declaration that makes righteous (i.e., justifies) those who turn to him in faith, taking the genitive “of God” as a subjective genitive (see E. Käsemann, Romans, 25-30). (3) Still others see the “righteousness of God” mentioned here as the attribute of God himself, understanding the genitive “of God” as a possessive genitive (“God’s righteousness”).

[1:17]  ³ tn Grk “in it”; the referent (the gospel) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:17]  ⁴ tn Or “by faith for faith,” or “by faith to faith.” There are many interpretations of the phrase ἐκ πίστεως εἰς πίστιν (ek pistew" ei" pistin). It may have the idea that this righteousness is obtained by faith (ἐκ πίστεως) because it was designed for faith (εἰς πίστιν). For a summary see J. Murray, Romans (NICNT), 1:363-74.

[1:17]  ⁵ sn A quotation from Hab 2:4.

[10:6]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Deut 9:4.

[10:6]  ⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 30:12.

[10:7]  ⁸ sn A quotation from Deut 30:13.

[10:8]  ⁹ sn A quotation from Deut 30:14.

[10:9]  ¹⁰ tn Or “the Lord.” The Greek construction, along with the quotation from Joel 2:32 in v. 13 (in which the same “Lord” seems to be in view) suggests that κύριον (kurion) is to be taken as “the Lord,” that is, Yahweh. Cf. D. B. Wallace, “The Semantics and Exegetical Significance of the Object-Complement Construction in the New Testament,” GTJ 6 (1985): 91-112.

[10:10]  ¹¹ tn Grk “believes to righteousness.”

[10:10]  ¹² tn Grk “confesses to salvation.”