Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Abraham's faith was "credited for righteousness." If we are to know what this means, a couple words have to be defined. The first is faith, which means trusting in God, putting His ways and, well, Him before everything else. Faith is not just blindly leaping off a cliff into the unknown, but is instead trusting a God who you believe is really able to hold you. That's what Abraham did when he first followed the Lord: he believed that God could really provide for him and lead him, so he followed. Faith is trust based on past experience, current belief, and future hope; the longer we believe in the Lord in our current situation, the more we will draw on past faithfulness He has shown us and the more we will be confident hoping in His future faithfulness.
Another term is important to know here: righteousness. We are all sinners (wrongdoers, rebels against God's commands). Therefore, we are all unrighteousness before God, and He will judge us at the end of days on our righteousness (or lack thereof). That's the truth the Bible makes clear. The only way to avoid that judgment is to be seen as righteous before God when that day comes, and that is exactly what this passage details out.
Abraham was no more righteous than you or me. He was a rebel against the Almighty, and therefore needed to be made righteous before God. These verses show that Abraham was made righteous not because of anything he did, but because of Who he trusted. He trusted, or put his faith in, God, and that trust in God throughout the rest of his life made him a righteous man in the eyes of God. And that is available to us, too.
If we believe in Jesus, our Lord and King, as raised from the dead to pay for our sins (delivered for trespasses) and defeat death once and for all (raised), we too can be righteous before God (for our justification). Again, it's trusting, it's putting faith in Jesus. Have you done that? Are you actively doing that with your life daily? Trusting in Jesus is the only path to true righteousness.
This is the entire message of every evangelist that ever was, from the apostle Paul to Billy Graham. This is the message that fulfills the Great Commission to go and make disciples, or followers of Jesus, of all nations. This is the message of trusting in the resurrection of Christ in order to be made righteous! This is the epitome of the power of God on display in the good news of Jesus: you can be saved! Trust it today.
Another term is important to know here: righteousness. We are all sinners (wrongdoers, rebels against God's commands). Therefore, we are all unrighteousness before God, and He will judge us at the end of days on our righteousness (or lack thereof). That's the truth the Bible makes clear. The only way to avoid that judgment is to be seen as righteous before God when that day comes, and that is exactly what this passage details out.
Abraham was no more righteous than you or me. He was a rebel against the Almighty, and therefore needed to be made righteous before God. These verses show that Abraham was made righteous not because of anything he did, but because of Who he trusted. He trusted, or put his faith in, God, and that trust in God throughout the rest of his life made him a righteous man in the eyes of God. And that is available to us, too.
If we believe in Jesus, our Lord and King, as raised from the dead to pay for our sins (delivered for trespasses) and defeat death once and for all (raised), we too can be righteous before God (for our justification). Again, it's trusting, it's putting faith in Jesus. Have you done that? Are you actively doing that with your life daily? Trusting in Jesus is the only path to true righteousness.
This is the entire message of every evangelist that ever was, from the apostle Paul to Billy Graham. This is the message that fulfills the Great Commission to go and make disciples, or followers of Jesus, of all nations. This is the message of trusting in the resurrection of Christ in order to be made righteous! This is the epitome of the power of God on display in the good news of Jesus: you can be saved! Trust it today.
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