(Rom) 1:16-17 CJB “For I am not ashamed of the Good News, since it is God’s powerful means of bringing salvation to everyone who keeps on trusting, to the Jew especially, but equally to the Gentile. For in it is revealed how God makes people righteous in his sight; and from beginning to end it is through trust — as the Tanakh puts it, “But the person who is righteous will live his life by trust.”
Paul’s words in Romans 1 are familiar—but the translation I’m reading this year exposes something many men miss.
Where most English translations say faith, the CJB repeatedly uses the word trust.
That matters.
Because belief can stay theoretical.
Trust never does.
Most men say they believe in Jesus.
Far fewer actually depend on Him.
Paul says the righteousness God reveals does not come through a momentary belief, but through continuous trust—from beginning to end. Not a starting line, but a way of life.
“The person who is righteous will live his life by trust.”
That means our relationship with God through Jesus is not built on intellectual agreement alone, but on an ongoing, obedient reliance on Him.
Many of us were taught that faith means agreeing that something is true.
Trust goes further—it means staking your life on it.
You don’t just believe the chair can hold you.
You sit down.
Biblical trust shows up in decisions, habits, obedience, and endurance—especially when obedience costs something.
Paul is clear: righteousness is revealed through trust—not just at conversion, but through the entire Christian life. From the moment a man first believes until the day he stands before God, he is meant to relate to God by trusting Him more deeply and obeying Him more fully.
This trust expresses itself in action:
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Persistent obedience
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Willing service
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Costly faithfulness
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Kingdom-focused work
Trust is not passive. It is active dependence that reshapes how a man works, leads, loves, speaks, and sacrifices.
Paul says God makes people righteous in His sight.
That making is not instant maturity.
It is transformation.
God forms righteousness in us through continual trust that results in obedience. As we obey Jesus—often imperfectly, sometimes painfully—we are shaped into His image.
This is not salvation by works.
It is salvation that works.
A man who truly trusts Jesus will increasingly submit his life to Jesus’ commands. Over time, his priorities shift. His ambitions refine. His obedience deepens.
Trust produces perseverance.
Paul’s vision of trust is not private or detached. Trust grows through:
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The Word — knowing Jesus as He reveals Himself
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Prayer — learning dependence instead of control
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Fellowship — walking with others who also trust Him
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Testimony and good works — putting faith into motion
This is how trust matures: knowing Christ, walking with Christ, and representing Christ.
And this leads directly to gospel witness.
Paul says he is not ashamed of the Good News—because it is God’s power for salvation.
If trust is real, testimony follows.
Men are not called merely to believe privately, but to live visibly. Our lives must align with our message—or our witness collapses under hypocrisy.
We don’t share the gospel because we’re perfect.
We share it because we’re trusting Jesus in real time.
A life of trust gives credibility to a message of salvation.
When men live for Jesus and speak of Jesus, they remain faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to them. And Scripture is clear: faithfulness will be rewarded.
One day, every man will stand face to face with God.
On that day, what will matter is not how loudly we claimed faith—but how faithfully we lived in trust.
Men who trust Jesus obey Him.
Men who obey Him honor Him.
Men who honor Him receive His approval.
That is the life Paul calls us to.
That is the righteousness revealed through trust.
Run Today’s Play: Ask yourself honestly:
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Where am I believing Jesus—but not depending on Him?
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Where have I replaced trust with control, comfort, or delay?
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What obedience have I postponed while calling it “faith”?
Today’s play is simple but costly:
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Identify one area where Jesus has already spoken clearly.
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Act on it immediately, without negotiating the outcome.
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Pray for endurance, not ease.
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Tell one other man what you are trusting God for—and invite accountability.
Trust is built by use.
Obedience strengthens faith.
And righteousness grows as you walk it out.
Don’t settle for belief without backbone.
Live by trust.
