Today's passage
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested... Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and...
21But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22Even the righteousness of God by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25Whom God hath set forth a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26To declare, , at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
Luther called this 'the chief point and the very central place of the Epistle to the Romans, and of the whole Bible.' It articulates Christianity's core claim about salvation.
The key term is 'righteousness of God.' This can mean God's own righteousness, or the righteousness God gives to humans, or both. Paul seems to intend both: God's righteous character is revealed in the way he makes sinners righteous.
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