Romans 4:16- 25
16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
What amazes me about the faith of Abraham is even when things were not looking possible for God's promises to come true, he still gave God the glory and grew strong in his faith. I hope that I have that same attitude in life... being fully convinced that God is able to carry through what he has promised!
I also am humbled by the last two verses. For us who believe in God, that belief is "counted to us as righteousness". No one is righteous, but our faith in God is counted to us as righteousness. God sacrificed His Son so that we might be right with Him. We are sinners and because of our sin, God's wrath has to be poured out to justify that sin. So He chose to pour out His wrath upon His Son so that the price for our sin could be justified. He doesn't just skip over our sin... our sin was payed for by Christ. So we are justified in Christ. May God receive the glory due to Him through the way we live an outward expression of that sacrificial love and grace to others!
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