Counted As Righteous Through Faith
We are sometimes the beneficiaries of the reputation (whether accolades or derision) of those relatives that came before us. When I was in day camp, my older cousins had a reputation for being willing to fight. Their reputation benefited me because of my familial connection to them and it kept me safe from the other campers who might have picked on me and hurt me. I got the benefit of protection and safety because I was related to my cousins. In Romans 4:13-25, Paul said that God made a promise to Abraham that was based on Abraham’s faith, not his works or obedience to the law. Because of our faith and belief in Jesus, Paul said that we are Abraham’s offspring and we are therefore heirs to the promise God made to Abraham. May you be blessed because of your faith and your inheritance of the promise of Abraham! Amen
Click the link to Listen to Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers’ “The Blessing of Abraham”
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. (Romans 4:13-15) Paul made the case that Abraham was not deemed righteous by God because of obedience to the law. In fact, God’s promise to Abraham preceded the law of Moses. Paul therefore made the case that Abraham received God’s promise that he would be the father of many nations based on his faith in God (not based on obedience to the law or because of Abraham’s works). Paul went further to say that the inability to keep the law brings Gods wrath upon us. But, if we are heirs of Abraham’s promise through faith, we are not disqualified to receive the promise even though we do not keep the law perfectly.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Romans 4:16-18) Paul made the point that the promise that God made to Abraham was a result of Abraham’s faith, not his ability to obey the law. And Paul further asserted that Abraham’s blessing and the righteousness that God credited to him is available to all of us who demonstrate faith in God. With respect to righteousness that comes through faith, Paul said that Abraham is the father of all who have faith in God (i.e. we are Abraham’s offspring and heirs). Note: God credits those who believe in Jesus with righteousness and thus declares that all believers have perfectly satisfied the law.
Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead —since he was about a hundred years old —and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Romans 4:19-25) Paul said that even though Abraham’s body was old and weak (“his body was as good as dead”), his faith in God was not weakened by that fact. Abraham believed that in spite of his physical condition, God had the power to do what He promised (to give Abraham and Sarah a child and make him the father of many nations). God thus credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness. And, Paul said, the righteousness that comes by faith is not just applicable to Abraham, it also applies to all of us who have faith in Jesus.
Do you have faith that God can and will do what He has promised in your life? Does He have a track record of keeping His word and fulfilling His promises to you? Even if you are a new believer and don’t have a long history of walking with the Lord and relying on the promises of God, you have His written word (the Bible) that records person after person trusting in God’s promises and being blessed. Abraham was not perfect and he had the same shortfalls of meeting God’s requirements in his life that you and I have. But it was his faith in God to do what He promised that God loved. And God credited Abraham as righteous because of his faith. You and I are credited with that same righteousness in God’s eyes when we declare our faith in Jesus. By God’s grace, we are credited with righteousness forever because of our faith, we are saved from God’s wrath and we receive eternal life to live with Him forever. Just like Abraham. You are an heir, through faith… to the blessing of Abraham!
Blessings, Rev. Glenn
