Romans 3:22-25 (NIV)
22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--

Romans 1:17 (NIV)
17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

How can a sinner become righteous? How can a sinner really have life? How can a sinner come to know in a personal way the righteous God? If you have read Stott's discourse on Romans chapter one verse seventeen you will recall that this statement, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed..." is not as easy to understand as it first appears. Basically he asks is it a quality of God, or is it an activity of God, or is it a gift from God? This discussion begins in his commentary on page 61. His conclusion is that this verse covers all three. The righteousness from God has to first be something that God is or it could not be from God. When God acts He has to stay true to who He is and therefore acts in a righteous way. Finally, for us it is a gift because we on our own could never achieve righteousness on our own or through the law, therefore it has to be given to us by a righteous God in Christ. In verse 22 of chapter three the argument is picked up again as Paul is driving the point home that we have to believe in order to become righteous and therefore that will give us life. In Paul's mind to become righteous in God's eyes is life. As he quotes, "The righteous will live by faith." We have been given a choice to continue to live in our sins and die for we are already dead. The other choice is to believe in Christ and enjoy life here and forever for those who believe have now come alive. Remember life begets life and if you have it you get it.



God does not justify us because we are worthy, but by justifying us makes us worthy.

Thomas Watson (c. 1557–1592)