“For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Romans 1:17
In 1512, at the University of Wittenberg, Martin Luther began to wrestle with Paul’s letter to the Romans.[1] In the preface to his Latin writings Luther wrote, “I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans…but a single word in Chapter 1 [:17], ‘In it the righteousness of God is revealed,’ that stood in my way.”[2] At “the righteousness of God,”[3] Luther stumbled; all he could understand was that God’s righteousness was his revelation of his punitive justice by which the unrighteous were justly punished.[4] After days of meditation, the light bulb turned on for Luther. He realized that Paul’s phrase “the righteousness of God” was not intended to reveal God’s punishment for the unjust but it was intended to reveal God’s salvation for the unjust. Luther realized that “the righteousness of God” was a status given by God to the unjust.[5] This text in Romans became the heart of Luther’s theology and became the traditional Protestant interpretation.[6]
We will analyze Luther’s translation and interpretation of “the righteousness of God.” After this has been accomplished, the systematic framework used to support Luther’s interpretation will be analyzed. This will be accomplished by analyzing four passages of Scripture used by commentators that support Luther’s interpretation of “the righteousness of God.”
[1] Jacob W. Heikinnen, “XIII. Luther’s Lectures on the Romans,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology (April 1953): 179.
[2] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works: Career of the Reformer IV, Volume 34. (St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1955-1958). 336.
[3] Any time “the righteousness of God” is quotations, this is always referring to the words used in Romans 1:17 and how Luther understood the righteousness of God in the context of verse 17.
[4] Jacob W. Heikinnen, “XIII. Luther’s Lectures on the Romans,” Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology (April 1953): 178.
[5] Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, The New International Commentary on the New Testament. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1996). 71.
[6] Ibid.,
