Justification By Faith

I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanidng Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was...a single word in Chapter 1 (:17), "In it the righteousness of God is revealed," that had stood in my way. For I hated that word "righteousness of God," which according to the use and custom of all the teachers, I had been taought to understand philosophically regarding the formal or active righteousness, as they called it, with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner,

Though I lived as a monk without reproach, I felt that I was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. I could not believe that he was placated by my satisfaction. I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blashemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God, and said, "As if, indeed, it is not enough, that miserable sinners, eternally lost through original sin, are crushed by every kind of calamity by the law of the decalogue, without having God add pain to pain by the gospel and also by the gospel threatening us with his righteous wrath!" Thus I raged with a fierce and troubled conscience. Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St.Paul wanted.

At last, by the mercy of God, meditating day and night, I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, "In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, 'He who throughfaith is righteous shall live.'" There I began to understand (that) the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift fof God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: the righteousness of God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which (the) merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, "He who through faith is righteous shall live." Here I felt that I was altoghether born again and had entered paradise itself through open gates. Here a totally other face of the entire Scripture showed itself to me... And I extolled my sweetest word with a love as great as the hatred with which I had before hated the word "righteousness of God." Thus that place in Paul was for me truly the gate to paradise.

John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals, pg. 20-21