Everything Begins and Ends With Faith

God accepts a person’s faith in Jesus Christ as righteousness.

But Paul makes a critical point, not to be missed, and that is, a person must continue to believe. A person must continue to live by faith.

“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘The just shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17).

From the time we accepted Jesus Christ to the time we shed this mortal body, the whole of our life is to be lived by faith. Having begun in faith, we are to continue down this same path by faith until we meet the Lord, who will say, “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

The New International Version has this in mind in its translation. “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’” (Romans 1:17)

In this section of the letter Paul writes to the Roman church, he then quotes the prophet Habakkuk saying, “The just shall live by faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).

To live for God isn’t about the keeping rules or the keeping of the law, it is by faith. Paul brings this out so eloquently in Ephesians 2:8-9 saying, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.”

And it is this faith that God accounts or imputes to us as righteousness.

“This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22).

Faith is a humble steadfast trust in God despite the circumstances we face. The life of a believer is to be a life of faith, because “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6).

Therefore, everything begins and ends with faith.