For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 4:2-3)
Let’s be real. If we were to rely on our own works to be justified, we would be so far from it. And to make matters worse, Paul is suggesting that we would boast about our own works for our own justification! How arrogant can we be! Paul brings up a case study of Abraham, a man who we learned a lot about in our recent posts (hint: he was just as flawed as any of us, and God knew that!), as to how we are justified by faith, not works. We know that Abraham’s works alone would be far from enough to obtain his salvation, and the same goes for us. It is simple: there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation, and that is such a gift. It really is.
What this gift allows us to do is to fully live out our faith without concern of if we were doing “enough.” Despite Abraham’s failures, he had a living faith, not just an empty profession of faith. His faith was made apparent through his works by his trust in God. Even in the unthinkable and unimaginable, he trusted God even with his own son, Isaac, as he brought him to the mountain to sacrifice him. Our works should emerge from our faith, our trust in God as the one who provides for us, the one who guides our steps, and the one who is the final judge.
Thanks be to God that there is simply no work you and I can do to earn our salvation or to add to it. When Jesus was on the cross, he said, “It is finished!” It was Christ’s work, not ours that we can boast in. Because of His work, we can run to Jesus in faith when we fail and we can rejoice even more so when the wondrous works God is doing in our lives is revealed.
Remind yourself that it was Christ’s work, not yours that paid for your salvation, and that it is a gift that frees you to display a living faith. Allow this truth to sink deeply into your heart and mind so that you can go boldly to God for guidance and walk with God in the big and small things of your life. Seek His wisdom in faith through prayer and the confidence to walk in it.