… because of faith

Romans 4:1–12

¹ Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? ² If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. ³ For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”

⁴ When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. ⁵ But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. ⁶ David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it:

⁷ “Oh, what joy for those
whose disobedience is forgiven,
whose sins are put out of sight.
⁸ Yes, what joy for those
whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.”

⁹ Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. ¹⁰ But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!

¹¹ Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. ¹² And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

“Blessed are those whose sin the Lord will never count against them” That means all of us! There are 3 important points in this passage.

1. It is only by faith that we are saved. Our good works can add nothing at all to our salvation – it is God who saves us, not our deeds.
2. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness BEFORE he received the sign of circumcision. It is not obeying the law which saves us, and never was! God’s plan all along was salvation by faith. He gave the law to show us the need for that salvation and the need for that faith.
3. That means that anyone who believes God is a child of Abraham. Boundaries are broken down by this realisation. We need to remember it today too. It doesn’t matter what people’s backgrounds are – if they have faith in Jesus as their Lord and saviour they will be saved.

It is so easy to fall into trying to do things to ‘help God’ with our salvation. We need to remember that absolutely nothing can add to God’s love and grace for us. Remember to thank him for the free gift of salvation today!

Written by Megan Cornell