Unlimited: Faith Credited as Righteousness
Jul 7, 2022 1300
However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness (Romans 1:5).
Paul exhausts the possibilities of his language to emphasise again and again that salvation is obtained solely through faith. Here, he strikingly says that the one who is justified is specifically “the one who does not work”. Let those words sink in and let yourself be shocked by them. Such is the grace of God.
The apostle has already strongly made the point that there is no one who is righteous. That is why saving righteousness cannot be worked out in our lives. It can only be credited to sinners when they believe. That is precisely the meaning of justification through faith.
The only righteousness that you will ever be able to present before God in order to be accepted by him will be the righteousness of Jesus that has been credited to your account.
Salvation is obtained solely through faith.
Does God justify the godly? The Jews of Paul’s day would have answered with a resounding “Yes!” Yet it is vitally important to see that Paul says the opposite. He tells us that God does not justify the godly, but the ungodly. That is precisely the reason why Jesus said to the Pharisees,
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:17).
Heaven will be full of sinners: forgiven sinners.
Spiritual Application
Think of someone whom you consider ungodly and whom you think probably won’t make it to heaven. Now think of heaven, just full of people like him or her… and people just like you. How does that change how you see others? How does it change how you see yourself?
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