Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,
Abraham was saved by faith! The same as you and me. Abraham was declared righteous when he simply believed God would do what He said He would do when He told Abraham He would make his descendants more numerable than the sand on the seashore. He believed God and it was accounted or imputed to Him as righteousness. Romans 4:3 through verse 12 is below:
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised."
These words from Romans are so worth reading. God is so merciful and kind. When I was young and not saved I thought that the people in the Old Testament couldn't be saved because they lived before the cross and because of this, at times, I thought God ever so unfair. When I came to the Lord I realized that my good and gracious God had provided for them the same way He provided for us. They were saved by faith...Follow Paul's reasoning with me.
Abraham believed God and it was accounted to Him for righteousness is one of the clearest statements in Scripture about justification. The word justification means to be declared righteous. It includes pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin and also the imputation of Christ's righteousness. Jesus' perfect obedience then is accounted to us who believe, and our sin to the account of Christ, who bore our sin and the punishment for them on the cross.
Abraham received this gift through faith...which is a gift from God also. Faith is the conduit through which God's grace flows. The word accounted or imputed are financial terms...they mean to take something that belongs to someone else and credit it to another's account. These transactions are one sided. Abraham did nothing for this credit to come to his account. God credited his own righteousness to Abraham because Abraham believed.
Romans 4:4 goes on to say that to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. If salvation were on the basis of works than God would owe us it...it would no longer be a gift, it would be wages. Faith is trusting that God has done the work...there is nothing for you to do but believe. It must mean the end of any attempt to earn God's favor by works. Jesus did it all. There is nothing for you to do but believe and accept His free gift. In thinking you must do more you are saying, in effect, that Jesus' sacrificial death on the cross was not enough...that you in your arrogance can somehow make it enough through your additional works. Only those who relinquish all claims to goodness, who know they can do nothing to earn God's favor, and who know they are ungodly, can be justified.
Read Romans 4:6-8...the verses Paul is referring to were penned by David after his adultery with Bathsheba and the subsequent murder of her husband, Uriah the Hittite. It is clear from the reading that David understood that his sin...which was pretty big as far as sins go...was forgiven...it is clear he understood God's imputed righteousness. What a blessing that is for us...what good news!
Read on and see that Abraham was justified by His faith before he was circumcised. Paul anticipates the argument of the Jewish readers thinking that if Abraham was justified by faith why the need for circumcision by asking the question himself in verse 9 of Romans 4:
Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
Paul explains that circumcision was an outward sign...a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, whether circumcised or uncircumcised...Jew or Gentile. Paul is saying that Abraham is the father not only of the circumcised Jew, but of the uncircumcised Gentile because Abraham was pronounced righteous before he was circumcised. Circumcision did not confer righteousness. It confirmed righteousness. Think on baptism...you could be baptized ten times but it won't save you if you don't believe in your heart that it has all been accomplished in Jesus. Baptism is just the outward sign..it is not what saves you...heart belief is what saves. Racially, Abraham is the father of all the Jews (circumcised) and spiritually, he is the father of both believing Jews and uncircumcised believing Gentiles. Circumcision is an outward demonstration of an inward belief unto righteousness. Abraham was not justified by his circumcision or his obedience to the law...he was justified by his belief.
You may be able to pretend righteousness before men and accumulate all the right signs of your righteousness outwardly, but our God sees your heart...it is there where true righteousness is accounted.
Love
Mom ...the rest of Romans 4 is below:
