We talked last week about how God credits Christ’s
righteousness to those who believe. We don’t earn it. The same was true for
Abraham. He wasn’t righteous, but God credited him with Christ’s righteousness.
Paul goes on to explain this further.
Romans 4:9-12 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.
Abraham was credited with righteousness not because
of who he was or what he did, but because of his faith in who God is and what
God would do! (As Kent talked about yesterday, God is faithful and can be
trusted to do what He says He will do.)
Most
of us are not Jews. However, as Paul says, Abraham is the father of all who
believe (remember the children’s song “Father Abraham”??).
My
chiropractor is a Jew, but I don’t think he is a true son of Abraham, yet. However, yesterday, he was the one
who brought up Jesus in our conversation! I continue to pray for God to use me
(and now my kids, too) as witnesses for Him.
Do
you view God’s promises as gifts or as standards to attain?
Are
you a son of Abraham?
Those
who place their faith and trust in what God has done and what He’s promised to
do in the future are true sons of Abraham!
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