The Epistle to the Romans stands as the Apostle Paul’s magnum opus, a systematic and legal masterpiece detailing the doctrine of justification. While other biblical books touch upon the theme of salvation, Romans provides the exhaustive spiritual framework for how a guilty sinner is declared righteous before a holy God. The central heartbeat of this letter is the revolutionary truth that righteousness is not a wage earned through the deeds of the law or human merit, but a free gift received exclusively through the finished work of Jesus Christ.
To truly grasp Paul’s argument, one must understand a vital linguistic connection that is often obscured in the English language. In the original Greek of the New Testament, the words for “faith” and “believe” come from the exact same root (pistis for the noun and pisteuo for the verb). In English, we use two different words, but in the mind of the Apostle, they are inseparable. Faith is the noun—the substance of what we hold—while believe is the verb—the active trust and reliance upon that substance. They are two sides of the same golden coin; to have faith is to believe, and to believe is to exercise faith.
This linguistic unity is critical because it prevents us from viewing faith as a mere intellectual concept or a static work. Instead, it reveals a dynamic relationship of total dependence on Christ. Throughout Romans, Paul relentlessly hammers this point home to ensure that no reader can find a loophole for human boasting. By alternating between the noun and the verb, he creates a comprehensive witness that salvation is entirely “of faith” so that it might be “by grace.”
To demonstrate the absolute centrality of this truth, we have compiled what we call the “60-Fold Witness” of Romans. In this single letter, Paul uses the noun faith approximately 40 times and the verb believe (including its variants like believeth, believed, and believing) 21 times. This repetitive emphasis serves as a divine instrument, crushing the pride of human effort and establishing the Lord Jesus Christ as the sole object of our eternal trust. Below, we have listed these instances to show the overwhelming weight of God’s testimony on this matter.
The Witness of “Believe” (21 Instances)
1. Romans 1:16 – 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.
2. Romans 3:22 – Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
3. Romans 3:26 – To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
4. Romans 4:3 – For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
5. Romans 4:5 – But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6. Romans 4:11 – And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
7. Romans 4:17 – (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
8. Romans 4:18 – Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
9. Romans 4:24 – But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
10. Romans 6:8 – Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
11. Romans 9:33 – As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
12. Romans 10:4 – For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
13. Romans 10:9 – That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
14. Romans 10:10 – For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
15. Romans 10:11 – For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
16. Romans 10:14 – How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
17. Romans 10:16 – But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
18. Romans 13:11 – And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
19. Romans 14:2 – For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs.
20. Romans 15:13 – Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
21. Romans 3:3 – For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
The Witness of “Faith” (40 Instances)
1. Romans 1:5 – By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
2. Romans 1:8 – First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
3. Romans 1:12 – That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
4. Romans 1:17 – For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
5. Romans 3:3 – For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?
6. Romans 3:22 – Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:
7. Romans 3:25 – Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
8. Romans 3:27 – Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
9. Romans 3:28 – Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
10. Romans 3:30 – Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.
11. Romans 3:31 – Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.
12. Romans 4:5 – But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
13. Romans 4:9 – Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
14. Romans 4:11 – And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
15. Romans 4:12 – And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
16. Romans 4:13 – For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
17. Romans 4:14 – For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
18. Romans 4:16 – Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
19. Romans 4:19 – And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:
20. Romans 4:20 – He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21. Romans 5:1 – Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
22. Romans 5:2 – By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Related Posts:
Faith Not Works: The 98-Fold Witness of John
Faith Not Works: Salvation in Acts
Faith Not Works: Reconciling Paul’s Gospel & James’s Discipleship
Faith Not Works: 6 Times Paul Rebukes the Law in Galatians