"For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,
just as it is written:
The righteous will live by faith.'"
Paul talks about how we can attain true righteousness in the sight of God as talked about in the gospel. Absolute faith is what God counts as righteousness in us, not ritual obedience to all laws. Quite often, we may feel pressured to earn God's approval through our works, however, faith in God and the sacrifice of Christ is the root of our salvation and justification.
When we trust in Christ, we are seen through Him and are declared 'justified'. Paul again reinforces this revelation by referring to Habakkuk 2:4 which tells us that "The righteous shall live by his faith". It is by faith and not by works that we receive approval and acceptance from God.
The good news, therefore, is that all we need is to believe fully in Him and not lean on our effort. He has done the work for us, we only need to key into it.
