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Scripture Reading:
Romans 4:1-3 (New Living Translation – NLT)
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1 Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?
2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.
3 For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
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Thought for the day:
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Chapter 4 of Romans is the last of the chapters that relate directly to the subject of justification. Up until this point, we have covered many, many topics included within this subject including our need to be justified on account of the wrath of God. We have discovered that God’s wrath is poured out on all mankind and that being a Jew is of no advantage in regard to the righteousness of God. We also saw that God’s righteousness is demonstrated through the death of Jesus and without our acceptance of the shedding of His blood as the perfect sacrifice, we have no hope of being restored to a right relationship with a Holy God.
This chapter continues to elaborate on the subject of justification but particularly deals with God’s righteousness being illustrated through the life of Abraham.
I’m not going to comment on each verse in detail but rather will give an overview on main topics.
Up until this point, it may seem that Paul is preaching a new doctrine that is contrary to the Law. Now, he wants to prove that it isn’t heresy and that it is contained and demonstrated throughout the Old Testament scriptures. In order to do this, he chooses arguably the greatest figure in history – Abraham. Paul goes on to state that this man wasn’t just the father of the Jewish nation, but, through the Ishmaelites and Edomites is the father of the Gentiles also. Therefore, the example of Abraham is perhaps the best one to illustrate his point. Don’t forget that the whole purpose is to preach that we cannot earn a right relationship with God. It is entirely dependent on our faith in God. Jewish tradition stated that ‘Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord’ and many people considered him to be the only righteous man of his generation. If anyone had a cause to boast, it was him. However, the simple statement in Genesis 15:6 says ‘The Lord counted him righteous because of his faith’.
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Prayer and Application:
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As we’ve done so many times over the past few weeks, may our prayer be one of gratitude for God’s grace in our lives. Where would we be without it?
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