Romans 1:17
For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”
Saul was a Pharisee and widely regarded as a righteous man. Trained by the finest teachers and commissioned by the high priests to oppose the followers of Jesus, he pursued what he believed was holy zeal. He moved from city to city, determined to destroy what the religious establishment called a heresy.
On the road to Damascus, everything changed. The Lord of lords revealed Himself to Saul. In that encounter, his eyes were opened, literally and spiritually, to the righteousness of God. That revelation turned a persecutor into an apostle. A man who had once pursued a false righteousness now received true righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). The road to divine righteousness is through our faith in Christ. What Saul counted as righteousness before his conversion was like filthy rags in God’s sight (Isaiah 64:6). But when he trusted Christ, God transformed and perfected him. Paul became a living testimony of divine righteousness that no human effort could produce.
Jesus’ teaching in the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:9–14) presents this truth. The Pharisee trusted in his own righteousness; the tax collector trusted in God’s mercy. In the end, the humble and dependent tax collector went home justified before God.
So, let our faith rise as we walk in the righteousness God has graciously given us through Christ. May our lives reflect the same transformation that changed Paul. Let others see the righteousness of Christ working in us and not our self‑righteousness.
