He said that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, yet not for everyone without distinction, but only for the believer, whether Jew or Gentile. Now he confirms both points: that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and that it becomes such a power only through faith.
That it is power is confirmed by the words, "for the righteousness of God is revealed in it." That it is power through faith is confirmed by the words, "from faith to faith," and by the prophetic testimony that follows.
Yet the Apostle does not unfold either proposition in detail. He only states them. The explanation of them is appointed for the whole Epistle. Therefore this passage is rightly regarded as indicating the chief subject of the whole Epistle.
Still, we must define the content of this passage clearly, so that it may be seen what to expect from the discourse that follows.
"The righteousness of God is revealed." The righteousness of God may mean a property of God, namely, that God is righteous and always acts righteously in all things. It may also mean divine righteousness, full and perfect, communicated by God to man and making him righteous and holy.
Which meaning is intended here? According to the flow of the discourse, the latter is more direct. These words confirm what was said above, that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. Nothing confirms this so much as the fact that it makes those who receive it with faith righteous and holy.
Chrysostom finds this wondrous, renowned, and glorious in the gospel: through it an adulterer, a lover of pleasure, or a sorcerer is at once not only freed from punishment, but also becomes righteous.
Yet from this we cannot fail to pass also to the thought of righteousness as a property of God. For God has shown us such boundless mercy righteously. He was well pleased that the Only-begotten Son of God should become incarnate and die for us. By this He opened to us the way for the all-sanctifying action of the Holy Spirit.
Blessed Theodoret writes: "The righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, not only as given to us, but also as plainly shown in the very mystery of the divine economy. For God did not work our salvation by authority, nor did He crush the dominion of death by command or word. He mingled mercy with righteousness. The Only-begotten Word of God Himself clothed Himself in Adam's nature, preserved it pure from every sin, offered it for us, and, paying the debt of nature, discharged the common liability of all men. The divine Paul sets this forth more clearly later."
Thus, when the holy Apostle says that the gospel is the power of God because the righteousness of God is revealed in it, he makes us understand this. Through the evangelical divine economy, God by His grace makes us righteous and holy according to the immutable laws of His righteousness. Or, He righteously makes us righteous and holy.
"The righteousness of God is revealed," that is, it is made manifest to all. If by "the righteousness of God" we understand the righteousness and holiness communicated to believers, then "righteousness is revealed" means this. It is shown to all how the unrighteous become righteous as soon as they believe the Gospel and receive grace in the mysteries according to faith.
The angry man becomes meek. Anger falls away from his heart, and he becomes meek as a lamb, so that you cannot make him angry even if you try. The impure man becomes chaste. All lustfulness falls away, so that when his old companions again pull him toward impure deeds, he answers, "I am no longer that man."
So every other unrighteous disposition falls away, and righteous and holy dispositions take their place. In this the power of God is tangibly seen.
If by "the righteousness of God" we dwell on the thought of God's justice, or on the fact that in forgiving us sins and making us righteous through the divine economy of salvation He acts righteously, then "righteousness is revealed" means this. Through the gospel it is disclosed how, by the power of the divine economy of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God appears in all its power.
God has mercy righteously, for His righteousness has been satisfied by the death of the Only-begotten Son of God. This is the mystery hidden from ages and from generations. No one could have conceived it if the Gospel had not proclaimed it.
It was hidden in the prophetic Scriptures and in the figures under the Law. A veil lay over all this. The Prophets themselves were perplexed about much that the Spirit showed them. Yet before the Prophets, the Counsel concerning this was hidden in God.
By the coming of the Lord in the flesh, the veil of the Old Testament was removed. What was hidden there became manifest to all. The pre-eternal Counsel of God concerning our salvation also became manifest.
Blessed Theodoret writes: "Saint Paul teaches us that from ancient times God so ordered the divine economy concerning us and foretold it through the Prophets. Before the Prophets, the Counsel concerning this was hidden in Him Himself. For the Apostle says this elsewhere: the mystery hidden in God, who created all things (cf. Eph 3:9). Again he says: we speak wisdom hidden in a mystery, which God ordained before the ages for our glory (cf. 1 Cor 2:7). So also here the Apostle said, 'righteousness is revealed,' because what was formerly hidden becomes manifest."
Both kinds of righteousness appear together in those who receive the gospel and appropriate with it the whole power of the divine economy. Righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, effected in believers by the grace of God, become manifest not only to them, but also to all who see them. Therefore they may rightly be called a light shining before men.
But divine righteousness in the ordering of this wondrous benefaction for us becomes manifest only in the consciousness of believers. Having received the gospel by intellectual faith, they then partake of its blessings. Having become pure and holy, they enter into the faith of the senses, a faith that touches, though it does not comprehend with the mind what it touches. They are brought into contemplation of the hidden mysteries of God.
Yet in these wondrous actions and changes everything is conditioned by faith. By faith the gospel is received. By faith the power of the divine economy is appropriated. For the sake of faith, the nature of man is sanctified. By faith he is brought into contemplation of the mysteries of God.
The Apostle expresses this by the words, "from faith to faith," and by the prophetic saying that follows. It cannot fail to be seen that the Apostle's aim in this passage was to point to faith. For, leaving unconfirmed how the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, he confirms only that it is revealed under the condition of faith.
The Apostle did not simply say, "from faith," but "from faith to faith," to show that in the evangelical divine economy everything is from faith. It begins with faith, continues by faith, ends in faith, and, when the end has been attained, stands upon faith. The prophetic saying also confirms that the righteous man does not merely begin to live, but continuously lives and will live by faith.
One might limit oneself to this understanding of the expression "from faith to faith." Yet because it appears somewhat distinctive, and by this distinctiveness arrests attention, our interpreters considered it useful to clarify why it was said, "from faith to faith."
Their common thought is this. In the work of our salvation, ordered according to the Gospel, everything is conditioned by faith. Yet this is not faith standing on one level, but faith ascending ever higher and higher, according to each person's active deepening in the accomplishment of his salvation.
Blessed Theophylact expresses this common thought: "The Apostle speaks this way because faith must grow into greater and greater faith. It is not enough to believe at the beginning. We must ascend from initial faith into more perfect faith, that is, into an unshaken and firm state. Thus the Apostles said to the Lord, 'Increase our faith' (cf. Lk 17:5)."
What ascents by stages, or changes into what is higher and higher, must faith pass through? Oecumenius writes: "The righteousness of God, says the Apostle, is revealed in the gospel. That is, complete virtue comes to perfection through the Gospel, for virtue is often called righteousness. How is it revealed, and in whom? In those who approach the gospel with faith.
"The gospel preaches virtue to all and persuades all to take hold of it. Yet it reveals the beauty of virtue and makes lovers of it only those who approach it with faith.
"What then? Does faith cease when virtue is set right? By no means. It ascends to a more perfect and higher degree. The first faith was a kind of contrition and readiness of soul to cease from sin and approach virtue. But faith, increased by the practice of the virtues and perfected, is an unshaken and unchangeable conviction, a tasting of truth by the sense.
"The first is like sowing. The second, active in the practice of the virtues, is fruit-bearing. The faith that through them ascends to perfection is blessed rest and repose from labors. This is how the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith. The Apostle calls virtue the righteousness of God because it is something divine, and every good is from God."
"This may also be understood thus: the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel because God takes our initial faith as seed, makes it grow, roots it, and perfects us in this very faith. This truly will be the righteousness of God, when God, taking only the beginning and occasion in our free choice to believe, Himself accomplishes all the rest.
"Since Saint Paul said above that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, someone might object: how can this be believed when one hears of sufferings, the cross, and death? He therefore added, 'the righteousness of God is revealed in it,' as if saying: do not stop at such pretexts. As soon as you show the free choice to believe, you will marvel at God's care for you and at His good pleasure toward you.
"For taking your faith, which exists only in free choice, He will make it grow in you. He will transform it into faith rooted in the feeling of the heart, firm and unshaken.
"Then, so that you may not think something new and unheard of is being said, the Apostle brings forward the testimony of the Prophet. The ancient prophet Habakkuk, he says, affirms the same thing when he says that the life of the righteous man is embraced by faith. Beginning with faith that is born in free choice, it then ascends to faith by God's action upon the heart and by His hidden assurances" (Oecumenius).
Saint Isaac the Syrian in his writings indicates different degrees of faith in this way: "Faith in God is naturally planted in our spirit, as is the knowledge of good and evil in the conscience. When this faith awakens, it gives birth to fear. This fear enlivens the conscience and gives birth to repentance.
"All this together compels one to desire and seek the Savior and salvation in Him. Having heard the gospel, such a person willingly approaches it by faith. This initial faith is only faith from hearing.
"When he enters the sphere of the evangelical ordering of life, he then tastes the blessings of the Gospel by experience, and his faith is transformed into the faith of the sense. Yet even this faith is only faith in the mysteries of God, that is, in the dogmas.
"Final faith is confidence in God and repose in Him. Thus the ascent from faith to faith is inevitable. Yet it is also the manifestation of the righteousness of God, or of His power acting for our salvation in the evangelical order."
THEOSIS