The Right Kind of Credit
In today's world most all of us use credit cards. We buy something on credit and then hopefully pay it back by the due date, or else we incur credit card charges. We pay interest for using someone else's money. Today in Romans, Paul is describing a different kind of credit. He says Abraham believed God and it was, "credited to him as righteousness." What does this mean?
In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations. Now since Abraham was old and didn't have any children, this would be hard for anyone to believe. But in 15:6 it says Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. Remember that in Rome Paul was trying to help the Jewish Christians understand how the Gentiles had come to faith in a religion that was called Judiasm.
And then Paul shows us that when someone works for something, wages are credited to him as payment for his work. But when we trust God for the promises Jesus has fulfilled, our faith credits us with righteousness. Righteousness is being made right with God. It is a gift from God as we trust in Jesus, His only Son, and what he did for us on the cross paying the debt we could never pay.
Then Paul turns to the matter of circumsion, and says circumcision doesn't save anyone, but was a sign of faith. But that was part of the Old Testament covenant God made with the Jews. But Abraham became right with God by faith. Therefore, Abraham was the father of both the Jews and the Gentiles, the common denominator being faith, or trusting in the promises of God.
What can this mean for us? Getting back to the credit card analogy. If we pay our debt we no longer owe anything. But the fact is we could never do enough good works to earn the type of righteousness God requires. But we are given righteousness because loves us and wants us to be made right with Him. Our righteousness comes from outside as a pure gift we could not earn. As the old hymn goes,
He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.
Thank you Jesus for paying a debt we could never pay, because you love us and want to spend eternity with us. Amen.
Romans 4:1-12
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[b]
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that he would be a father of many nations. Now since Abraham was old and didn't have any children, this would be hard for anyone to believe. But in 15:6 it says Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness. Remember that in Rome Paul was trying to help the Jewish Christians understand how the Gentiles had come to faith in a religion that was called Judiasm.
And then Paul shows us that when someone works for something, wages are credited to him as payment for his work. But when we trust God for the promises Jesus has fulfilled, our faith credits us with righteousness. Righteousness is being made right with God. It is a gift from God as we trust in Jesus, His only Son, and what he did for us on the cross paying the debt we could never pay.
Then Paul turns to the matter of circumsion, and says circumcision doesn't save anyone, but was a sign of faith. But that was part of the Old Testament covenant God made with the Jews. But Abraham became right with God by faith. Therefore, Abraham was the father of both the Jews and the Gentiles, the common denominator being faith, or trusting in the promises of God.
What can this mean for us? Getting back to the credit card analogy. If we pay our debt we no longer owe anything. But the fact is we could never do enough good works to earn the type of righteousness God requires. But we are given righteousness because loves us and wants us to be made right with Him. Our righteousness comes from outside as a pure gift we could not earn. As the old hymn goes,
He paid a debt He did not owe;
I owed a debt I could not pay;
I needed someone to wash my sins away.
And, now, I sing a brand new song,
“Amazing Grace.”
Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.
Thank you Jesus for paying a debt we could never pay, because you love us and want to spend eternity with us. Amen.
Romans 4:1-12
Abraham Justified by Faith
4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[b]
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
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