FAITH IS CREDITED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS

1/12/2022

JANUARY 12 - START YOUR DAY RIGHT DEVOTION

Romans 4:5 However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

It was Abraham’s faith, not simply his actions, that made him right with God and gave him the power to do what was right by God’s standard. God recognizes saving faith – the kind that enables a person to receive forgiveness and enter a personal relationship with God – on an equal level with righteousness in its effect in the believer’s life. That is to say, when someone is spiritually saved, God “credits” him or her as righteous (right with God). When God calls someone “righteous,” He is saying that he or she is spiritually saved and in a right relationship with Him.

Paul speaks of “crediting as righteousness” or “crediting righteousness” six times in chapter 4. In all cases, Paul associate’s faith or belief with this situation: it is the believer’s “faith” that is credited as “righteousness” (Verse 3, 5-6, 9, 11, 22, 24; Genesis 15:6). See John 1:12; 5:24, about what it means to truly “believe” in God.
The opportunity and ability to have a right relationship with God is not solely the result of our faith or commitment to Christ. Above all, it is an act of God’s grace and mercy (Romans 4:16). Even our ability to exercise faith is a gift from God (Verse 16). Because God provided the way to be reconciled (restored to a right relationship) to Him, a believer becomes a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
When God sees the hearts of people who turn toward Christ in faith, He freely forgives their sins, credits their faith as righteousness and accepts them as His children (Verse 5-8). Along with restoring people to a right relationship with Himself, God also gives them His power and ability to continue to grow and develop spiritually and to fulfill His purposes for their lives (Verse 16; 5:2; Philippians 3:9; Titus 3:5-7).
The kind of faith that is credited to a person as righteousness if faith in Christ and His death that paid the full penalty for our offenses against God (Romans 3:24-26). Absolutely nothing else but Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross is the basis for a restored and renewed relationship with God (Romans 5:10).

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