Paul turns his attention to Faith. If I was to sum up, all the good stuff we do and the evil we don’t do simply does not get credited toward our righteousness account. Paul looks at the life of Abraham—great picture. He did some amazing things. He left a very comfortable and cushy life in Haran to set out and follow God. He took the higher mountain lands and gave the posh lowlands to Lot. He chased down Lot’s captors and destroyed them returning the captives of the 5 kings back to the Jordan valley. He waited until he was 100 years old to receive his heir. He then walked Isaac up a mountain and laid him on an alter, at God’s command.
While all those things were amazing, God and Paul stressed that was not what made Abraham righteous. It was a life of simply trusting and following the Lord that was counted to Abraham as righteousness. Those acts he completed and the other thousands of time Abraham did things right were a product of His faith and not vice versa. If we believe, we will respond in a Godly way—that is following. If we do not trust God, we will rely on others or other things to achieve what we want. Sometimes that looks good on the outside; but, without love, as Paul reminds us in I Corinthians 13:1-3, it is noise, worthlessness, and emptiness.
We, like Abraham, need to simply trust and follow God. Wherever He leads us it will be the right direction. Walking in faith sometimes will stretch our patience (Isaac at age 100) other times He may call us to do the unbelievable (Laying our most precious things on the altar). No matter the circumstance or time; trusting God is a way of life, not a physical act. Still, as with Abraham and the others listed in the Hebrews 11 hall of faith; God will notice our faith and count it as righteousness. Please, Father, help me to walk by faith and then by that, be faithful!!!
God Bless You
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”[a]
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”[b]
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”[d] 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Walking With God 