Scripture Reading(s)
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
4:1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh?
4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
4:3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
4:4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due.
4:5 But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
4:13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
4:14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
4:15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
4:16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,
4:17 as 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.
Reflections
The author of Hebrews states that it is impossible to please God without faith (Hebrews 11:6). While Abraham might not have had all the advantages that we have today, he did have faith in the God who called him out of the land of Ur. It was this faith that was the base of our faith today. Even before Jesus walked the earth Abraham was justified through faith. This is why Paul and the author of Hebrews points out that the sanctification of Abraham by faith preceded the law of Moses. It existed before the law was given even though they only had the promise of what was yet to come.
Anyone who says that we must obey the law to be saved or to be good Christians is just flat wrong. Do not let yourself be burdened by issues that have nothing to do with your faith in the Lord. The disciples and Paul all agreed that the law was temporary measure until Jesus came. Moreover, the new covenant of Christ is greater than the old.
6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.
(Hebrews 8:6-7)
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