The Effects of the Gospel

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:17

In the Gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. When you believe with your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sin, and you ask Him to forgive your sin and believe in your heart He has, then the righteousness of God is revealed to you. The righteousness of God is revealed and it becomes yours.

Faith activates the revelation of His righteousness. That’s why it says in 2 Cor. 5:21, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

God’s righteousness becomes activated in you because of your faith in Him. Because Christ died and we put our faith in Him - God gives us His righteousness! God’s standard is Himself, and yet in myself I can never meet His standard.

Someone says, “Well, that’s not fair!” Think how unjust it would be if God set a condition for entrance into Heaven that could be met by only a small portion of the human race. If God demanded a certain degree of intelligence, it would be unjust to morons. If He demanded wealth, it would be unjust to paupers. If He demanded moral righteousness, it would be unjust to those born with a nature whose moral fiber has been weakened by the depravity of a long line of sinning ancestors. But His standard is His holiness, of which only Christ has met.

So God says to you - If you will believe, I will give you my righteousness. How can God do that? Because Christ has paid the price. My response should be humble gratitude and thanksgiving to a God who saves me by grace.