Romans 4 What then shall we say that Abraham (And Christendom calls Abraham their father), our forefather, discovered in this matter? (What a good question. Just what did Abraham discover about this point of law vs. Law?) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. What does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Just what does it take to be righteous in God’s eyes? BELIEF!!! As someone has said: ‘One day we will learn to trust the Word of God in that it means just what it says.’ Mark 16:16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Yes, it is that simple and yet so hard. Simple because it is written plain enough for anyone to see, but hard because to believe has been interpreted by so many to mean everything from believing that the light will come on when you flip the light switch, to obeying church doctrine and the many laws of man even when it does not agree with what God has spoken. Belief is not just a simple little thing people do by going to church every week or what happens when you turn on the light switch in a dark room, instead it is a desire to do whatever it takes to follow God and to hear His voice in the clearest tones. This is a place where excuses, biases, opinions, hatreds and traditions, doctrines and culture no longer play a role in a person’s life. But this has proven to be virtually impossible for most. Satan has convinced almost all the world of a false way to God that allows the believer to feel comfortable while not being required to change their life from falling down/sinning to living in victory. A false picture has been painted of an easy salvation that does not come by faith but instead is dependent upon what a person does with hope that in the end (at the time of judgment) each one will have done enough good for God to look on them in love and forever wipe away any negatives that might be found. Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. God’s Love is a Gift, no-one can earn it by doing anything. Not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit and blessed is the one whose sins are covered by this Gift. But only through Faith is this possible. Many claim that their sins are covered but have no Faith, this is wrong. Only to the one who has Faith will have their faith credited as righteousness. Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abrahams faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, 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. And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Outward appearances are not enough, weekly visits to church or any visit at all are not enough, helping your neighbor is not enough and being kind to animals is not enough. No work is enough to cause God to look down and smile on any person. God is not looking for good works now any more than He did with Abraham; what He is looking for is the soul that is willing to be guided into His Love and Righteousness. Nothing else will do. All the carrying around of Bibles or witnessing or living by law or any other work called good by men cannot save anyone, anywhere. Only The Gift of Righteousness that comes from God can do that. Only His Promise is enough. It was not through 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 live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. What a wonderful thought. Where there is no law, (where there is no need for the law if God is already in the heart) there is no sin (for the law is not being broken.) In other words: The child of God has allowed God to fully control their life and the two have become One. This means that the person would not and could not break the law because there is nothing in them to make them want to show that they really do not love God with all their heart, mind, soul and body. Instead they love God so much and they know the pain that it caused Him to have to deal with the issue of sin that they could not ever again hurt the One they love. That person who realizes this has made a choice, an eternal choice, to walk with God and never walk outside of His will again and to live free from sins grasp both day and night! Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abrahams offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of 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 things that are not as though they were. 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. 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 Sarahs 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. Amen and Amen!!
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:28:40 +0000