THURSDAY February 11, 2021

Accounted Righteous

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
Galatians 3:5-6

Once again, Paul pinpoints for the Galatians the surety of salvation through faith. Salvation was not accomplished by the law. To give them more than just a verbal account, Paul took the Galatians to the Old Testament, to the life of Abraham, so they could easily understand the walk of faith.

In Genesis 15:4-5, Abraham was given promises by God. Abraham was old and childless, but the Lord said:

...the word of the LORD came to him [Abraham], saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

What was Abraham’s reaction to the promises of God? It is written:… he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness (Genesis 15:6). Abraham lived before the Law was given, but he believed in God’s promises through the hearing of faith…. Abraham became righteous because of his faith and obedience.

As we progress in our Christian walk, we understand our righteousness can only come by faith in Jesus Christ––period. God has given us His Spirit. It is God who performs miracles among His people! Our own righteousness is of no value. Isaiah the prophet said it so perfectly:

But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6).

There is nothing anyone can do in their human flesh to be made righteousness before God.

We shall never be clothed with the righteousness of Christ except we first know assuredly that we have no righteousness of our own.
~John Calvin~

For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!