We all agree that God is perfectly holy. We know that we are sinners, and we are unclean and not worthy to stand before Holy God. We know all have sinned and are separated from God, but how do we become righteous?
The word for righteous used here in Romans chapter 4 is justified. It means to make righteous. How do we become justified to stand before Holy God?
First, it is certain that we will never be able to do enough good deeds to make ourselves righteous. We can fall into the trap of a works orientated religious system. That is the wrong way. We can never do enough good works to reach God. There is no religious system that can be followed to achieve salvation.
Our justification, our salvation is not a performance-based salvation. We are saved by faith. Abraham is the father of faith. He was saved through faith and that is the only way there is for us. There are two of the most well-known Old Testament heroes of the faith in this passage, Abraham and David. Their lives illustrate that we are not saved by our works, but by faith in Jesus Christ.
The Faith of Abraham
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.” (Romans 4:1-3)
When Abraham (still at that time called Abram) was called by God he responded in faith. He was called to leave his land his family and all that represented his security and follow God to a place that was unknown to him, but that God would show him.
To obey a call like that requires faith. Abraham trusted God to show him where he was to go. He set out by faith and God blessed him. His faith led him to this act of obedience to go where the Lord would lead him to.
We read about this call in Genesis chapter 12.
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)
Abraham was given some specifics to the promise God made to him. He would have descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth. He would be the father to an uncountable number of descendants.
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. (Genesis 13:16)
God had always been faithful to Abraham. Why would Abraham ever have reason to doubt God? Well, because he and his wife Sarah were old and past child-bearing years and they did not even have one descendant. The matter looked hopeless. Abraham expressed what he was feeling to God.
But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.” (Genesis 15:2-3)
The Lord answered Abraham with another incredible promise. Abraham will have an heir. Only believe. This may be impossible with man, but with God this is possible. To believe this will require faith in God.
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
(Genesis 15:4-6)
God responded and asked him to look into the sky and count the stars. There are such an uncountable number that God said, indeed if you can count them, so shall your offspring be. Abraham believed God. That is faith. That is how Abraham became righteous. Abraham was justified by his faith in God. That is what Paul is talking about in this passage. Justification by faith in God.
Faith verses Works
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. (Romans 4:4-5)
Abraham was the father of faith, but he was a sinner too. He could not earn his salvation. Here is Paul writing this as the Pharisee of Pharisees. He is one who, more than anyone, was a person who tried to follow a religious system to earn his salvation. In the end all his good works were only worthy of the garbage dump.
God is perfectly holy and pure. God is purer than the snow that falls on the top of the Himalayan mountains. Because of our sin we have become unclean like the mud in a puddle on the side of the road. You cannot mix the two, the pure and the unclean. We cannot do enough good works to become pure enough to have fellowship with God.
With our justification by faith in Jesus Christ we take on the righteousness of God. All our sins are forgiven, and we are righteous and are now worthy of fellowship with Almighty and Holy God. This is our salvation. This is our eternal life. We will dwell in heaven with God forever when we are justified by our faith in Christ.
If you work for something it is not a gift. When you work and then receive your wages, they are what is due you. Our righteousness is not like earning wages. It is a gift. None of us earned it. None of us could ever earn our salvation through works, but by our faith in Jesus Christ God gave us this gift.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Jesus died for us to bring us to God. Jesus paid the price for our justification, our righteousness, our salvation by his death on the cross. When Jesus was facing the cross, he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. Father is there any other way besides dying on the cross? If there is then take this away from me. Jesus should not die on the cross if we can do enough good works to become righteous. But no, it is only through faith in Jesus Christ.
There was no other way. Jesus death on the cross was the plan that was announced in advance to Abraham. This was the plan that the Old Testament prophets proclaimed. The Messiah would come to die for our justification.
King David on Faith
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.”
Paul is quoting King David from Psalm 32:1-2. David was the king of the golden era of Israel. Of course he was a sinner. David committed adultery and committed murder to cover his sin. But how did David become righteous. It was not through good works. It was through his broken spirit of repentance and faith in God.
David’s brokenness before God is recorded in Psalm 51. It is the same experience when Abraham believed God. All righteousness is apart from obeying the law. There is no amount of good works that will give us a justification before holy God.
That is how Abraham was justified. That is how King David was justified. That is how the Apostle Paul, the author of Romans was justified. That is the only way you will have justification. Your righteousness is made possible through our faith in Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
Your righteous is not performance based. It is faith based. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Without faith in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to have salvation.
Trust God for the impossible, first your salvation. Then live by faith. We are saved by faith, and we live by faith. We all must live by faith.
Ultimately Abraham had numerous descendants. But when God told Abraham to count the stars of the sky, he was counting us. He was counting all of us who by faith in Jesus Christ have been made righteous before God. We, through faith become children of Abraham.
So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. (Galatians 3:6-7)
There are many religious systems that are based on works. This passage teaches that we should not be caught in a trap of a works-oriented salvation. We are saved by faith. You can express your faith in Jesus Christ right now through prayer.
Prayer
Dear God, I thank you that you loved me and desire a relationship with me. I acknowledge that I have sinned and broken my relationship with you. I ask that Jesus Christ death on the cross count for my sins. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and make me a new person. I want to follow Jesus with my whole heart. I thank you God that our relationship is restored through Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Welcome to the family of God!
