Romans Chapter 1 v16, 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. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

v17 is an amazing verse. There is so much in that, so much profundity. If you start thinking about that verse you will see that the Gospel is indeed the righteousness of God. We often say that the Gospel is "the good news", but there is more to it, even deeper than what we normally call it the Good news.

If I look at the verse more carefully and analyse what it really means then I would restructure the verse somewhat this way without changing the meaning of the verse, and it would be, "Faith reveals the righteousness of God which is in the Gospel for faith."

The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel indeed but what helps us to see the righteousness of God? But the sentence that I made of v17 you will see that it says that its faith. Well, if you think that way then you are right and we have agreed with each other. Faith indeed reveals us the righteousness of God which is in the Gospel. Another question will arise in our minds i.e. where is this Faith found? And the simple answer to that question would be that it is found in the Gospel. And we are right the second time, that this faith is found in the Gospel that reveals the righteousness of God. But how will someone receive this faith until someone hears the Gospel? I know we all have a verse in our mind and that will be "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) Yes indeed one will receive faith if he hears the Gospel. But, who will receive this Faith? Isn't it the one who believes? The point that I am making here is that believing precedes faith. The one whom God has chosen will come to hear the Gospel to receive faith because this is God's work. This knowledge motivates us to preach the Gospel even more as we don't know whom God has chosen and whom God has not chosen. To those whom God has called, those will surely receive our Gospel because God has worked in their hearts enabling them to hear the Gospel and receive the faith for faith.

Another thing I see in this verse is that the Gospel is all about the righteousness of God. I say this because we often tend to mistake the righteousness of God with our righteousness. We have to re-think and realize that the Gospel is all about the righteousness of God and not about our righteousness. God has revealed to us His righteousness and not ours. But to whom has it been revealed? Isn't it revealed for us? Yes indeed it has been revealed for us. The righteousness of God is for us. So if we are representatives of the Gospel then we are revealing God's righteousness in and through our lives. So let the righteousness of God shine forth in and though your lives before others that they may see and marvel. When this happens then to those whom God has called will surely come to inquire about your faith and there will be the chance to witness and share the Gospel and bring them to faith for faith. Don't miss out on such chances else God will just pass on you and not use you for even greater things.