We are made Righteous through our Faith

Paul continues to make the argument that 'justification' is by faith and not by works. We are not justified by the work or type of work we do. We are justified by God and God alone.

Paul uses Abraham as an example of faith and obedience because the Jewish community understands and believes the Old Testament scripture proclaiming that Abraham is righteous. God chose Abraham because of his faith and obedience. Scripture tells us that he is the only righteous one of his generation. Because of Abraham's righteousness he has nothing to boast about to God. Abraham knows that it is through God's grace that He is blessed and through His grace that Abraham will glorify God. Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed in God and that is why God accounted to him to be righteous.

Paul in His message to the Romans is that through our obedience in God, our faith will grow in Jesus. Paul stresses that it is through our faith that our relationship with Christ will grow. A major tenant in Paul's argument is one of obedience and faith as our path to God's blessings. He knows that faith and obedience is one of the pillars of our relationship with God. The argument continues from Paul using another analogy and it goes like this, when someone works for a wage and delivers on his commitment, that person earns a wage or salary, it is not a gift. God owes us nothing and we cannot earn our salvation.

If you put your trust in God, it is through God's grace and our faith that we become righteous. In other words our faith and obedience in God makes us more righteous to live in the presence of the Lord. It is the foundation for which we will start to live the life that God has for each one of us. It is also the path to the kingdom of heaven. It is through our faith and our obedience that we are justified by God and that faith will become visible to others. It is not our works that make us righteous, it is our obedience, faith and trust in the Lord that we become righteous. Both Paul and James see it in the same way.

Our works will only strengthen our relationship with God after we have been justified and our salvation secured. These works are to be performed in the form of doing God's will to help the elderly, to feed the poor, to assist the widow, but most importantly, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through sharing with others that God can continue to work in our lives. God is an equal opportunity provider. What I mean is that He will take the opportunity to grow our relationship with Him through our obedience in sharing the good news of God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and heaven to everyone that God puts in our path. God has an abundance of blessings that He is ready to give to each one of His true believers. God will bless those who seek Him and repent the sins that hinder or debilitate our growth in Him (Psalm 32:1-2). As a Christian you know where your blessings come from and they are not self-generated as they come from God and God alone. Every Christian has the opportunity to receive the blessings from the Lord.

If we continue down the path of self-reliance, that path will surely lead us off a cliff and to our eternal destruction. In Luke 18:9-14 Jesus tells of a Pharisee and a tax collector. One will find that God has favor and he has been justified through his humility and repentant heart. Knowing that He is not worthy to even look up to the heaven at God. The other, exalts himself before God praying in such a way that makes himself better than others in the eyes of the Lord. Well guess who gets the true blessings of the Lord? It is the one who shows humility in the sight of the Lord. The one who exalts himself will be humbled.

God wants every soul to be saved and every soul to live in the kingdom of heaven. God also knows that humility will not come to all until it is too late. In our time of judgment I believe that everyone will be humbled in the presence of the Lord. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is the Son of God. The ones who live a life of humility believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and living the life that God has given to each one of us will be in heaven for eternity. All others who refuse to be humbled and live for the Lord will find themselves in a place of damnation for eternity separated from the God.

My prayer is that we all heed the warnings and follow the principles that are taught in the word of God. That we would humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and receive the unlimited blessings He has for each one of us that truly believe Jesus is the king and Lord of Lords preparing our mansion in heaven where we will spend eternity in the presence of the Triune God. In Jesus Mighty Name I pray this Amen! Amen!