The book of Romans. In it we find that sin is the great equalizer - we have all sinned and faith in Jesus is the great justifier. It does not justify what we have done but applies the righteousness of Christ to our lives and allows us to be made just.
SCRIPTURE:
Romans 4:1 - 8; 18 -23 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." [This is quoted from Psalm 32: 1 & 2] Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (NIV)
OBSERVATION:
It is faith that saves and faith that sustains us. But our faith cannot be in self or religion or in faith itself but in the one who is faithful - God Himself. Abraham had faith against the hope of the moment and against what he could see. As I read this my mind quickly went to the image of a man, weary and worn who was facing a mountain in his path. How could he go forward with a mountain so steep and his life so weary? How could he move forward knowing the requirement of his entire life and being would be to scale this mountain in order to be victorious. Victory at the top - but he was clearly at the bottom and toiling to move forward. Solomon shared that "in this life as I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 RSV) He is wealthy and denied himself no pleasure and yet he too cannot climb the mountain. He is toiling and his heart is weary for sure. Under the sun - in the place he is in...but he begins to look up and see what matters most is not what he can see and what matters most is not what he can obtain but like Abraham what can be embraced only by faith. God's heart is to help us climb our biggest mountain. The mountain of separation between us and God. His righteousness and purity and our sinfulness and humanity. His power and grace and our weakness and doubt. His heart is to help us scale that mountain and be right with Him. Psalm 135:6 (also from today's reading) declares; The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. (NIV) It really pleases God to set us free and have us living a "justified" life. What wall are you facing? What area do you need hope in right now? What have you lost in recent months due to your own sin, disobedience or the attitude and approach of others? Where has the lack of hope caused your life to drift? Abraham hoped and did not weaken in his faith even though he could see his body was old and his life was weakening. He saw the mountain for sure and yet held onto faith and grabbed hold of the promise God gave Him. The larger promise (greater than him having offspring) was that he too could be redeemed and saved - justified. Romans 5:1 will tell us that we are "Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; (ASV).
APPLICATION:
May we never believe that we can get to God on our own or due to our toil or works. May we never believe the mountain of sin or humanity can keep us from God - but rather, as we stand weary at the edge of the mountain, we can look up at God, in faith and know that He will declare that we are righteous by the work of Jesus. Faith in me? - not! Faith in my faith? - not! Faith in a system? - not! But faith in God - as Abraham believed God we too must believe Him.
PRAYER:
Lord, when we stand at the mountain of our own efforts, successes and failures we realize it is not enough to get us to you. When we look at your purity and life and see our pain and hurt and disobedience - we know we cannot get to where we need to go on our own. So, Lord, in faith, we run to you and rely on you for our hope, our strength, our righteousness and our justification. You are all that we need. Give us the wisdom to have faith in you no matter what we see, feel or sense. May we all trust in you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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