Read Romans 4:1-5 and 13-17
4 What shall we say, then, of Abraham, the
father of our race? What was his experience? 2If he was put right
with God by the things he did, he would have something to boast about—but not
in God’s sight. 3The scripture says, “Abraham believed God, and because
of his faith God accepted him as righteous.” 4Those who work are
paid wages, but they are not regarded as a gift; they are something that has
been earned. 5But those who depend on faith, not on deeds, and who
believe in the God who declares the guilty to be innocent, it is this faith
that God takes into account in order to put them right with himself…
13 When
God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to him, he
did so, not because Abraham obeyed the Law, but because he believed and was
accepted as righteous by God. 14For if what God promises is
to be given to those who obey the Law, then faith means nothing and God’s
promise is worthless. 15The Law brings down God’s anger; but where
there is no law, there is no disobeying of the law. 16And so the promise was
based on faith, in order that the promise should be guaranteed as God’s free
gift to all of Abraham’s descendants—not just to those who obey the Law, but
also to those who believe as Abraham did. For Abraham is the spiritual father
of us all; 17as the scripture says, “I have made you father of many nations.”
So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed—the God
who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not
exist.
Think
Abraham’s faith was counted
as righteousness. Abraham trusted
God. He didn’t have laws to live by, he
had never heard of Jesus; but he trusted God who spoke to him in his
prayers.
Pray
Lord
you have gone to such great lengths to illustrate your love for us. Freed us from slavery in Egypt, returned us
from exile in Babylon, sent Jesus to break your love open for us and poured
your Spirit into our hearts.
Help
us to trust you more.
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