Our Faith Too

Readings:
Ezra 1
Romans 4:9-25

Focus:
Romans 4:23-24: "The words 'counted to him' were meant to apply not only to Abraham but to us; our faith too is to be 'counted', the faith in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead."

Workers earn their wage by performing work, but people who put their faith in Jesus Christ have that faith "counted" as righteousness and receive salvation as a free gift. Paul has been discussing this in the book of Romans.

And now, in these verses quoted above, it gets personal! Paul says that it applies to us! That's exciting to me. What he writes goes from a theological discussion to a direct personal application. It's written directly for you, and for me.

It's not just some dry old text. It's for us. When we--you and I--put our faith in the God who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, it is counted as righteousness; we can be with God forever.

Counted as Righteous

Readings:
II Chronicles 36
Romans 4:1-8

Focus:
Romans 4:5: "But if someone without any work to his credit simply puts his faith in him who acquits the wrongdoer, then his faith is indeed 'counted as righteousness'."

In these verses Paul first quotes an earlier part of Scripture where it says that Abraham's faith was "counted" as righteousness. He points out that if someone earns a wage, the wage isn't "counted" as something that the worker gets--the worker actually earned it.

By contrast, Abraham is "counted" as being righteous, instead of really being righteous, because of his faith.

That is how we get our righteousness--our salvation. It is "counted" as ours because we put our faith in God, in Christ. We don't earn it. We aren't actually righteous (we know ourselves!) But God counts us as righteous when we put our faith in him, and he sees us as righteous so that he can have us with him where only perfection is allowed.

It's a mystery how it works--but I'm glad for it.