“Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. (Romans 4:9-10)
We’ve all had teachers that repeat the same concept over and over again to their students, presenting the same topic in slightly different ways. Why do they do this? Because the issue is important, and students are prone to forgetting and not understanding.
Paul does the same thing throughout the beginning of Romans 4 because we are so prone to forget and misunderstand! He proclaims, again and again, this powerful Gospel truth that faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness, by faith alone. God does not declare us as righteous in his sight because of our works, but because of faith in Christ and his perfect righteousness.
You may be thinking, “Do I have to be baptized or continue doing good works to be viewed as righteous by God”? Paul clearly answers this question with a resounding “no!” by pointing to Abraham. His faith was credited to him as righteousness while he was uncircumcised. Fourteen years before he was circumcised, as a pagan idolater with nothing to show for himself, God saw Abraham’s faith, and credited it to him as righteousness. How comforting is this—that regardless of how broken and sinful we are, regardless of how often we fall short of God’s perfect standard, by faith in Christ, we are credited Christ’s perfect righteousness that is not our own!
Is it good to be baptized and obey Christ? Of course, we are commanded to do those things. But we can take comfort in the fact that our righteousness is not caught up in our ability to obey—it is in faith, apart from works.
This is so counter-cultural—our acceptance by God is not dependent on our futile works, but in the perfect work of God incarnate, Jesus Christ! Christians, rejoice in this and the faith you’ve been given. And if you desire this acceptance by God, it does not matter what you’ve done thus far. Simply come to Christ, by faith!