Wed.’s Devo - Faith Equals Righteousness

Read Romans 4 Paul tries over and over again to explain to us that our righteousness doesn’t have to do with our good works, but our faith. Our faith is what makes us righteous. This faith is a blanket over our sins. If we are trying to be righteous by our works we begin to work out of a sense of debt, not sincerity. Our faith erases sin. The truth is that our faith in God will produce good works. Abraham was considered righteous before the law of circumcision was given. Circumcision was a seal over his righteousness like baptism is a seal of our salvation. Abraham is our father even though we no longer circumcise for religious reasons. God’s promise to Abraham was not his if he kept the law, but if he continued to have faith in God. The law causes us to be sinners because we can’t keep it. If there is no law then no one sins. So it is by grace, not law, that the promises of God are made effective. God told Abraham he would be a father of many nations before he had a son so it would require faith for it to come to pass. He had to have faith to believe what he could not see or understand. Abraham chose to believe that he could produce offspring from a very old body whose wife was 100 years old and barren. Instead of stumbling over the obvious, he chose to believe what was obvious to God alone. He chose to believe that God could do what he said he would do however he chose. His faith made him righteous before God. Abraham was our example of what God can do through us if we only believe. Lord, may we put our trust in you and believe the impossible.