Last week we were able to piece together part of God's glorious plan to save you and I from our sins and to fill our hearts with His wonderful goodness and righteousness!

Now, let's just briefly take a look at God's word and see just how we can make this truth a reality in our life. It's okay to talk about it, and marvel at the wisdom, power and love of God, but we need to be able to directly relate to and apply, what we learn.

What is our part in the great plan of salvation?
Again, let's read these powerful words from Romans:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. - Romans 1:16-17

Who could be ashamed of the gospel of Christ? Words cannot describe the gratefulness we ought to feel towards Jesus who has done all that can possibly be done to save us and who will reveal His righteousness in the life of all who believe!

We've already seen that the power of God unto salvation is "to every one that believes". So therefore the conditions to receiving the goodness and righteousness of God into our hearts is what??? Yes, to believe in God.

But what does it mean to believe in God?

As we seek to discover these answers, let's focus our attention on the last couple phrases of the verse we just read. Keep in mind that when this verse says "faith" it also means "to believe".
"For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith"

Where and how is the righteousness of God revealed? Remember we read last week from second Corinthians chapter four that the glorious light of God, His goodness and righteousness is given to every person who believes in Him. This righteousness does nothing other than empower us to live a life full of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness, temperance, gentleness etc...

Now what does the Bible mean when it says the righteousness of God is revealed from "faith to faith"? Let's read another Bible passage for the answer:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. - 1 John 1:9

What two parts do you notice in this verse? Once we confess our sins, what two things does our faithful and just saviour do?
1. He forgives our sins
2. He cleanses us from all unrighteousness

You see, God's great purpose is to restore us back to a perfect and beautiful state of righteousness, just as God had first created us. But something must first be dealt with. That 'something' is the awful presence of unrighteousness or sin in our life. Before we can ever enjoy the bliss of heaven, we must ask and allow God to do two things in our life. That is:

1. To forgive us for our past sins, which means to no longer hold us as guilty. The only way this is possible is through what Jesus has done! Jesus died, paying the penalty of sin, and now through faith in Him we are forgiven and the righteousness of Christ imputed to us (or charged to our life account). This is essential because we know that no guilty man or woman can ever enter the pure city of God.

2. To cleanse us from all our unrighteousness, this work of cleansing is a day by day, moment by moment experience. As we continue to have faith in Jesus and believe the promises of His word, He reveals more and more unrighteous things in our life, things that we may never have been aware of before. As we see our great need we again confess and forsake the thing that has been revealed to us. Our faith is then strengthened, Christ imparts more of His righteousness and goodness to us and we continue to press forward ever growing closer and closer to our loving saviour.

This is what it means to grow from "faith to faith"! Our faith is daily increased and strengthened as we remain surrendered to Christ and we literally go from one height of faith to the next!

In fact, this daily experience of faith is the only way we can live a righteous life. Because the last part of the verse in Romans 1:17 says:

"The just shall live by faith"

"The just" simply means "the righteous". The righteous shall live by faith!

What wonderful love Jesus has for us! He lovingly desires that we come to Him to receive power and His righteousness. He promises to give us everything we need to live a righteous life, and to finally spend eternity with Him!

Next week we will look more closely at Faith. What is it? How do we exercise it?

"Says the prophet, "The just shall live by faith," and this truth, woven into the religious experience of every Christian, should be that by which the righteous shall live. True faith grows to a greater faith, increasing in strength." - Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, August 5, 1889