Righteouness vs. Unrighteousness

Paul, in Romans 1:16 - 19 says,



"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. 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." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them."



There are two groups of people described here - the RIGHTEOUS, who live by faith and the UNRIGHTEOUS, who suppress the truth of God. Ultimately, Paul is referring to the difference between believers and those who have rejected the gospel, but really it can be broken down in our own lives as Christians. How much of my life is lived by faith and how much of my life is lived by suppressing the truth that God has made available to me?



Once you give your life to Jesus, you are made a new person - born again - but the old sinful man still resides inside you. Now there is a battle - until you die and the sinful man is finally stripped from you once and for all (praise the Lord; I cannot wait to be done with this body of sin). So, the new man lives by faith - as we follow the "righteousness of God that is revealed from faith to faith." The amplified Bible says, "For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith..." That's where we want to live - in the midst of faith. Our 'righteousness' began with faith when we accepted Jesus' sacrifice for our sin and as we walk in that righteousness (through faith) we are lead into a life that brings more faith (as we draw near to God and He reveals Himself to us one step at a time).



The opposite of walking in this faith is to suppress the truth that God has revealed to us and pushing forward in our flesh. Romans 1 goes on to describe what happens to the person that suppresses the truth of God. Verse 23 says, "For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever." The result is that God gave the people over to a depraved mind, "to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, they are gossips, slanderers haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful, and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them."

In the context of Romans 1, these verses are (I believe) distinguishing between people who accept the truth of God that He has revealed to them and give their lives to Him and people who have rejected the truth of God that He has made available to them and turned their backs on him. However, I also believe that there are lessons here for the Christian - for me anyway - Am I seeking out truth from God or am I looking to suppress His truth and create my own? The result is either living from faith to faith, continually growing and drawing closer to God as you begin to know Him better, or going the other way and bringing carnal behaviors into your life (and often the church) like strife, gossip, deceit, malice, arrogance and being unmerciful.

The encouragement is then to seek out the truth of God - even when its hard, even when its uncomfortable. The price you pay for suppressing the truth of God is never worth it.