The Power of the Gospel of Christ revealed to The Apostle Paul

Since Adam, “… all have sinned, and come short of the Glory of God,” Romans 3:23; “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10, quoted from Old Testament (OT) passages, including: “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Ecclesiastes 7:20, Psalms 14:3. However, Paul’s epistle to the Romans teaches how anyone since Adam could/can be righteous. Two verses set the tone: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:16 – 17. (The Greek word translated “just” means “righteous”.) Note carefully, mankind’s part is just to believe, i.e., to live by faith.

“The Gospel of Christ” is also called “The Gospel of His Son … Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord” Romans 1:1 – 3; Romans 1:9 and the Apostle Paul calls it “My Gospel” and indeed it was, as it was first revealed to him, Romans 15:19, Romans 15:29, Romans 16:25 – 26. Consider the following recap or summary of Romans 1:16 – 17; the Gospel of Christ saved/saves those who believe; is the power of God and it reveals the righteousness of God to the Jew first and also to the Greek. The Lord informed Saul (later Paul) that he was “a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my (Jesus Christ’s) name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” Acts 9:15. But since Paul wrote the was the Apostle to the Gentiles, Romans 11:13, what does he mean “to the Jew first, and also to the Greek?” Romans 1:16. To answer this, we need to look back to the first Jew, Abraham.

God promised Abraham that his progeny would be a great nation and when Israel did become great, He informed them what was required to be righteous in the Law He gave Moses. From then forward, until God revealed The Gospel of Christ to the Apostle Paul, the only way a Jew or Gentile proselyte could be saved was to submit by faith to follow the Law. This remained true during the Jesus Christ’s earthly ministry; He said He was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel, Matthew 15:24 and He told His disciples not to go to the Gentiles but rather to the lost sheep of Israel, Matthew 10:5 – 6. After Israel’s rulers rejected Jesus as their Messiah at the stoning of His messenger Stephen, Acts 7, The Lord Jesus Christ revealed the “Gospel of Christ” to Paul and the most succinct description of which is that any Jew or Gentile who believes Christ died for their sins, was buried and rose again, 1 Corinthians 15:1 – 4, is saved to eternal life.

However, we find that the “Gospel of Christ” revealed to Paul also saved those who lived prior to Paul if they had faith in God’s Word. To begin to understand this we read: “Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision (Jews & Proselytes) by faith, and uncircumcision (Gentiles) through faith.” Romans 3:29 – 30. (Words in italics are not in the original, having been added by the translators.) Note the circumcision were justified “by faith” and the uncircumcision “through faith.” The preposition translated “by” reference the circumcision (Jews) is from the Greek “ek,” which governs only the genitive case and denotes motion from the interior. It is used of time, place and origin and means “out from; the immediate origin.” * Thus, God, justified the circumcision (Jews and proselytes) prior to Paul “by” or “out from their faith.” We will examine the preposition translated “through” later.

Old Testament and Gospel accounts reveal that most Jews followed the Law in self-righteousness like the Pharisees during Christ’s earthly ministry, they exalted themselves in the works of the law but not by faith. Paul demonstrated this in a sermon given in the synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia where he addressed the Men of Israel, and those that fear God, Acts 13:16; Acts 13:26, proclaiming: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man (Jesus Christ) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38 – 39. Those to whom Paul was preaching at that time had to believe the Gospel of Christ to be justified (rendered righteous); they could not be justified (rendered righteous) by the law of Moses. As to those who lived prior to Paul, I’ll use King David and Abraham as examples of how they were actually saved by the Gospel of Christ, even though they never heard of Paul or his Gospel.

King David lived under the Law and he violated at least 3 of the 10 commandments. He coveted Uriah the Hittite’s wife Bathsheba (10^th commandment); committed adultery with Bathsheba (7^th commandment) and caused Uriah’s death, which could be classified as murder (6^th commandment). David knew nothing about Jesus Christ dying for his sins, i.e., the Gospel of Christ revealed to the Apostle Paul, but he knew the righteousness of God and He truly repented of his sin/s, 2 Samuel 12:13. He acknowledged his sins against God; asked for God’s mercy according to His loving kindness and to be washed clean of his sins, Psalms 51:1 – 19. David had faith in God’s Word that “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, …” Psalms 51:17. David had no idea the Jehovah God he worshiped and to Whom he prayed would come as a Man and die for his sin/s; nor could he know The Lord Jesus Christ would subsequently reveal to the Apostle Paul the “Gospel of Christ,” which revealed how righteousness would be imputed to him.

God knew David’s heart and how He could/would count him righteous, as He later revealed to the Apostle Paul: “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Romans 3:21 – 26. The “forbearance” of God refers to God’s “toleration” of David’s sin until the time He Himself paid the price for the “remission” of David’s sin/s on the cross. Simply put, prior to when the Gospel of Christ was revealed to the Apostle Paul, Jews, and proselytes were saved by their faith in God’s Word that they should do the works for the law, which revealed their sin/s demonstrating they fell far short of God’s righteousness.

Abraham lived before God gave the Law, but the Gospel of Christ also saved him. Paul writes how God imputed righteousness to Abraham even though he didn’t know about the Gospel of Christ: “He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Romans 4:20 – 25.

Whereas it was “by” or “out of” faith, Romans 3:30, in God’s Word that Abraham and David looked forward to their redemption being accomplished, believers during the past almost 2000 years have been saved “through” faith, Romans 3:30, i.e., have looked back on its accomplishment as revealed to the Apostle Paul. Thus, Paul wrote “Even the righteousness of God which is “by” (the Greek here is “dia,” so should be “through”) faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” Romans 3:22 – 24. Amazingly, all that is required for us today is to believe (have faith in) the Gospel, 1 Corinthians 15:1 – 4 and the righteousness of God is imputed to us through faith of Jesus Christ, see also Galatians 2:16; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 3:22; Ephesians 3:12; Philippians 3:9 etc.

* Appendix 104 of the Companion Bible.