“The righteous shall live by faith” and “justification by faith” (Rom. 1:17; 5:1) were key texts used during the protestant reformation. Martin Luther, the protestant reformer, championed these verses as being key in resisting the Roman Catholic Church. The RCC was/is largely into worship of the saints, relics, papal infallibility, indulgences (money given to the RCC to secure salvation), etc. In short, the RCC was teaching that the Christian’s salvation was largely based on works. When Luther read the above texts, it largely influenced him to begin protesting against the RCC. Although Luther was correct in his application of Romans 1:17; 5:1, I believe we lose much of its historical meaning while reading it through the lens of the reformer and not through the lens of the Apostle Paul.
The first time Paul wrote, “The righteous shall live by faith and justification by faith” is when he was writing to the Galatian church (Gal. 2:15-16; 3:11). The epistle to the Galatians was written between 48-52 A.D, while Romans was written around 57 A.D. In the letter written to the Galatians, Paul was addressing an error that slipped into the Galatian church, that is, salvation was through Christ AND the works of the law (Acts 15:1; Gal. 3:2). The works of the law is a combination of behavioral practices, such as the ten commandments (Rom. 2:20-21) and sacrificial rituals (Heb.10:1-4).
When Paul quotes the prophet Habakkuk, “The righteous shall live by faith (proper translation, “The righteous shall live by his faithfulness, Hab. 2:4), he is essentially saying, “The righteous shall live by his faithfulness to Jesus Christ.” In fact, Paul writes, “The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom. 3:21-22).
Paul, emphatically, was proclaiming to the Jewish world that neither the law, nor the temple and its sacrifices have any value when it comes to being “righteous.” Therefore, the true community of God would be the ones who place their faith in Jesus. Moreover, not only was Paul making this revolutionary statement to Jews, he was making it to Gentiles! That is, Gentiles can be considered of the community of God by just placing their faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:11-16). They no longer had to be circumcised, nor did they have to participate in any of the Jewish rituals (Ex. 12:48; Num. 9:14). Therefore, the implications of the person and nature of Jesus Christ were massive.
Paul, being a Jew, was declaring that Jesus was superior to the law, any sacrifice, and even the temple itself (since now the believer would be considered a temple of God (1 Cor 6:19-20). Indeed, he declared Jesus to be God in the flesh (Rom. 9:5). Therefore, He, Jesus, was the only One who had authority to declare one righteous by sealing them with His Spirit into the community of God (Eph. 1:13).
So, “The righteous shall live by faith” or “justification by faith” should not be merely used as proof texts to argue against a “works based salvation” or “heaven or hell” implications. Although the above texts have those implications, I believe what was central in Paul’s mind was declaring that righteousness was found in a Person, not in a system. As a result of those placing faith in the Person who is righteous, they become a part of the “righteous” community of God, namely, the Church of God (Rom.5:19; Isa. 53:11).
