One of the most theologically dense and frequently misunderstood phrases in the Epistle to the Romans appears at the very outset of Paul’s argument:

“For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:17).

Because Romans will later speak explicitly of righteousness being reckoned or imputed to the believer (Rom. 4:3–6), many readers instinctively assume that “the righteousness of God” in Romans 1 must already refer to that imputed righteousness. While understandable, that assumption collapses the careful architecture of Paul’s argument and obscures the force of the gospel he proclaims.

This appendix exists to clarify what Paul means—and does not mean—by “the righteousness of God” in Romans 1, and to explain why recognizing this distinction strengthens rather than weakens the doctrine of justification by faith.

1. Revelation Precedes Application

Paul’s language in Romans 1 is unmistakably declarative:

“The righteousness of God is revealed…”

The verb is passive and revelatory, not transactional. Paul does not say that righteousness is given, credited, or imputed in this verse. He says it is revealed—unveiled, displayed, made known.

This matters because revelation answers a different question than imputation.

Imputation asks: How can sinners be counted righteous?

Revelation asks: What kind of God is acting in the gospel?

Romans 1 answers the second question first. Before Paul explains how righteousness is accounted to believers, he establishes that the God revealed in the gospel is Himself righteous—faithful to His character, just in His judgments, and consistent in His saving work.

2. God’s Righteousness as His Moral Consistency

In Scripture, the “righteousness of God” often refers not to something God gives, but to something God is. It describes His unwavering commitment to what is right, His fidelity to His own holiness, and His justice in both judgment and salvation.

In Romans 1, this righteousness is revealed precisely because the gospel addresses a real problem: human unrighteousness under divine wrath (Rom. 1:18). The gospel does not deny God’s justice; it displays it. It does not suspend righteousness for the sake of mercy; it satisfies righteousness through Christ.

If God were to justify sinners without first demonstrating His own righteousness, the gospel would appear arbitrary—merciful, perhaps, but unjust. Paul will later insist that God set forth Christ as a propitiation:

“To declare his righteousness… that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25–26).

That declaration presupposes that God’s righteous-ness has already been established as the moral foundation of the gospel itself.

3. Why Imputation Cannot Come First

If Romans 1 were read primarily as a statement about imputed righteousness, Paul’s argument would unravel.

Imputation answers how sinners are justified—but justification itself requires a prior demonstration that God is righteous in justifying them. Otherwise, forgiveness would appear to be divine leniency rather than divine justice fulfilled.

Paul’s progression is deliberate:

God is righteous (revealed in the gospel)
Humanity is unrighteous (exposed under wrath)
Christ satisfies divine righteousness (through the cross)
Righteousness is credited to believers (by faith)

To reverse that order is not merely a theological preference; it is an exegetical mistake.

4. Faith Does Not Create Righteousness—It Receives It

When Paul says that God’s righteousness is revealed “from faith to faith,” he is not describing faith as the source of righteousness, but as the means by which it is perceived, embraced, and trusted.

Faith does not manufacture righteousness.

Faith does not redefine righteousness.

Faith receives what God has already revealed Himself to be.

This preserves the objectivity of the gospel. The good news does not depend on the intensity of human belief but on the unchanging righteousness of God, demonstrated decisively in Jesus Christ.

5. This Reading Does Not Deny Imputation—It Grounds It

Nothing in this reading undermines the later doctrine of imputed righteousness. On the contrary, it protects it.

Romans 4 will speak explicitly of righteousness being “counted” apart from works. Romans 5 will describe believers as being constituted righteous through Christ. Those truths remain untouched and unthreatened.

But they rest on a prior truth: God does not impute righteousness by suspending justice, but by fulfilling it.

The gospel is not merely that sinners are declared righteous, but that God remains righteous while doing so.

Conclusion

Romans does not begin with the gift of righteousness, but with the revelation of a righteous God. Only once that foundation is laid can Paul unfold the miracle of justification by faith.

To read Romans 1 this way is not to diminish the gospel—it is to preserve its integrity. The fortress stands because its foundation is firm. The good news saves because it reveals a God who is righteous in judgment, faithful to His promises, and just in justifying the ungodly through Christ.