October 11, 2023 | Be On Mission
The Righteousness Credit
Scripture: Romans 4(NIV)
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
18 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.” 19 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. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Devotional
In Romans 3:28, Paul wrote, “For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.” And in the last verse of chapter four, he said, “[Jesus] was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
The word justification means, “the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God” (Oxford Dictionary). In yesterday’s reading, we saw that all have sinned and stand in need of Jesus’ sacrifice to take away our sins. Here we see that extended to actually make us righteous before God. How does this happen?
It happens by God crediting our account. When I was in my final semester at Purdue, I had by then received my call to ministry. I was taking an accounting class, when two weeks into the course I thought, “I’m going to be a pastor. I’ll never need accounting.” So I dropped it. Now I’m the senior pastor of a church with a million dollar budget. Oops.
One thing I remember from my two-week education in accounting is the difference between a debit and a credit. A debit is money going out of the account, while a credit is money coming in. Please don’t confuse me with all that double-entry jargon.
So, when I buy something with a debit card, the money comes out of my account right away. But when I buy something with a credit card, I’m buying it with somebody else’s money. The same is true with Jesus, except I don’t have to pay Him back!
Romans 4:5 says, “However, to the one who… trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Because of unrighteousness in our lives, our spiritual account was bankrupt. But when we put our faith in Jesus, who was crucified and raised from the dead, God credits our spiritual account with His righteousness!
Not only do we not have to pay back this free gift, but because of it we actually become heirs – “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17). Now that’s an offer you’ll never receive in your mailbox or inbox from a credit card company!
[No accountants were harmed in the writing of this devotion]
Poem
Credit Card
I have a piece of plastic
Deep snuggled in my purse
Yet when a trinket my eye sees
My earnings will disperse
This tricky little credit card
Full debt it can coerce
And though within the moment
A satisfaction burst
Despite my mindless buying
One day dawns, reimburse
The moment, happy spending
In long run, pain adverse
The trinket, fleeting pleasure
Becomes an awful curse
The same in life’s bank balance
I spend and spend and spend
While carelessly I’m living
Like credit has no end
Withdrawing from God’s grace store
Without full comprehend
Of sin’s great price plus interest--
How often I offend--
But if I trust in Jesus
His righteousness extends
Transforming foolish living
His credit comprehend
Moves me to full repentance
Upon God’s grace depend
