“Yet he (Abraham) did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why ‘it was credited to him as righteousness’. The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised our Lord from the dead.” — ROMANS 4:20-24

Martin Luther had wrestled with the issue of salvation for years. He practiced everything from penance to self-inflicted suffering in the hope of making himself acceptable to God, but didn’t find true peace with God. It wasn’t until he was teaching his students the book of Romans that, “the just shall live by faith” jumped out at him with new meaning. He understood that our righteousness is not something to be earned, but is something to be received, a gift credited to us by God in response to faith in Him and His work.

The word ‘credit’ is used most often in reference to bank accounts. We have a debit and credit column. The debit column is money we paid out, and the credit column is for money paid in. Luther had depended on the effectiveness of his debit column – what he had paid out to receive salvation, hoping it might be enough, when he discovered his salvation was in his credit column – what Christ had paid into his account as a free gift. Paul uses Abraham as an example of justification by faith. Abram at first stood before God, and his account was all debit. The demands on him far exceeded his resources: “I am childless with no heir. How can I be the father of a nation, and my descendants possess a land? I am out of resources. I am out of cash.” To paraphrase God’s response, He says to him, “Abram, you don’t need any cash in your account, for you don’t have to pay anything out. I am going to credit you with this. I am going to be responsible for crediting your account with my righteousness and my purposes.” Because Abraham believed God, his faith was credited to him as righteousness, and he discovered his account was already full with everything God had promised. This was God’s business, and God would be the sole means by which His promises to Abraham would be fulfilled.

Many people make the big mistake of believing that if they can build up their own credit column to where they have been good enough, disciplined enough and obedient enough, they will tip the scales in their favour, and God will take notice. But that is not the gospel!

Luther discovered that justification before God does not come out of our account, but out of Christ’s account, where He credits to us what He, Himself, has earned through His death and resurrection. Our task is to believe it, accept it and rejoice in it. We are justified by faith, and our account is credited to the full amount.

PRAYER: Dear Father, Thank You that I stand justified before You, not because of anything I have done, but because of what You have done on my behalf. Thank You for sending your Son through whom I am reconciled to You.

TO REFLECT UPON: Are there times when I’m trying to tip the scales in my favour, hoping God will take notice?