Romans
4:3 What
does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.”
Abraham was not a Jew or
Israelite when he obeyed God’s call to leave his homeland of Ur. He was not a
man of great accomplishment, nothing in Scripture shows him having done
anything special prior to God’s call. He was a man like any other of his day but
with one exception. He was a man willing to believe God and obey His leading.
Abraham was accepted as
righteous by God because of his faith in God. His acceptance by God implied
that he was upright, good and clean in God’s eyes, despite the occasions in Scripture
where he is seen to have sinned. His life was not perfect in any way. He was
not a great moral or spiritual person. Only because he heard God and obeyed God
do we see that God credited to him as righteousness.
How often do we compete with
other Christians to be the most pious, orthodox or pastoral? These small
attempts are to create a righteousness that is not of God but of man. God sees
through these efforts and turns the other way. The righteousness that he
declares for us is based on the same standard that He used for Abraham. He sees
us as we really are and is not fooled by our performances.
As we submit ourselves to
God’s commandments we find our lives changing. Our spiritual development is not
something we create for ourselves but is something God works in us to conform
to His Son. The Holy Spirit, Christ in us, brings true change to our hearts and
minds. Already righteous by God’s decree in us, we should boast in God’s loving
goodness and glorify Him for what he has done in spite of us.
