Right standing before God is faith
resting in God’s promise rather than human effort.
Good morning. Today’s Bible verse is Romans 4:21–22: “…and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
What was the key to Abraham’s righteous standing before God?
What prompted Paul to write that righteousness was “accounted to Abraham”
Take a few minutes and read Romans 4:9–25.
Abraham did not perform any work.
He did not offer any sacrifices.
No merit was found in him.
It was faith—and faith alone.
Taking God at His word.
Being fully convinced that God was absolutely able to keep His promises.
In every dispensation, righteousness has always been granted on the basis of believing in God and taking Him at His word, according to the revelation He has given.
Abraham believed what God had spoken to him.
Today, in this dispensation of grace, we believe the gospel of grace: Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as revealed through Paul.
The sacrificial work of God the Son is the only basis for the forgiveness of sin.
His bodily resurrection is God’s testimony that the sacrifice was accepted as full payment for sin.
Yet righteousness has always been granted through faith in God’s revealed word.
Abraham believed God would provide a son—
a son through whom God would fulfill the Abrahamic covenant,
a son through whom the promised Seed would ultimately come.
Abraham believed God would keep His promise,
even though the full fulfillment would unfold over thousands of years
and lead directly to Jesus Christ and His work on the cross.
Therefore, it was accounted to Abraham as righteousness—
a right standing before God.
Dear brothers and sisters, in this present dispensation of grace, God’s revealed word is the gospel of grace committed to Paul and delivered to us:
Christ died for our sins,
was buried,
and rose bodily from the third day.
By faith and faith alone in the gospel of grace your sins are forgiven.
By faith and faith alone in the gospel of grace you are sealed with the Holy Spirit.
By faith and faith alone in the gospel of grace, you are granted a right standing before God
Faith has and always will be the key to a right standing before God.
Reject it, and you will suffer an eternity away from the presence of God.
Faith is the key.
It always has been.
It always will be.
The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Ro 4:21–22.
Meditation:
Lord, strengthen my heart to rest fully in Your promise of grace, trusting that what You have spoken through the gospel of Christ, You are able also to perform.
Reflection Question:
Where do you need to rest more fully in God’s promise of righteousness by faith, trusting that He is able to do what He has spoken?