For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,

....  for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed out of faith into faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16, 17).  Most English translations   of verse 17 (as with the NKJV above),  are unintelligible.  A more literal translation would read “For in it the righteousness of God by faith is revealed to faith; as it is written “The one who through faith is righteous, shall live.”   Translating the quotation from Habakkuk in this way reveals it to be a major theme of the whole epistle, indeed in all of Paul's writings. This verse which,  we are told,  was so instrumental in Luther's conversion, was certainly understood by him in this way. In fact, the words “just” and “justified” that occur in many English translations  (i.e. 1:17; 3:20, 24, 26; 4:2;  5:1 etc.),  all have the same Greek word “dikaios” (righteous) as their root. They can thus be literally translated as “righteous,” and “made righteous” respectively.

That we are justified (made righteous) by faith is made clear in the Epistle (and elsewhere i.e. Philippians 3:9). For example “therefore we conclude that a man is made righteous by faith,” and “the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe” ( Romans 3:28, 22). The phrase “the  righteousness of God” can have two meaning of course, the first as an adjective meaning God is righteous, which of course He is. The second, and this is the meaning here,  is the righteousness of God that He imputes to believers (that is He credits to our account). This too is made clear in the Epistle. In 4:5 we read “to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.” 

The “For” in the first part of verse 17,  explains the connection with the previous verse. Paul is not ashamed of the gospel, because in it the fact that we are made righteousness by faith is revealed.  And it is the power of God unto salvation. If we are ashamed of the gospel, we will not share its good news, and the power of God will not be in operation to save. We are not being encouraged here, to ram the gospel down people's throat.  In many ways in our culture,  we need to earn the right to be heard. And that starts with a life that is in the ongoing process of being transformed from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18).  But we also need to sanctify the Lord in our hearts, and to be alert and ready and to prayerfully ask the Lord for opportunities to give an answer of the hope that is within us   (1 Peter 3:15).

Father,  thank You that this living by faith really is life, life in all it's fullness. We do confess Lord that it's hard in this culture to find opportunities to share the gospel. Help us to remember that it is the power of God unto salvation. Thank You Lord,  for the divine exchange, that You have taken our sin on Yourself,  and credited us with Your righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Your gave Your life for ours, help us to live our life for You,  no matter  the cost,  in Jesus Name Amen