Romans 4 Devotional

Credited to the Ungodly

“However, to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”Romans 4:5 (BSB)

Paul now calls a witness every Jewish reader respected: Abraham. If Abraham had been made right with God by what he did, he would have grounds to boast, but Scripture says his trust in God was counted to him as righteousness (4:2-3; Genesis 15:6). Wages are owed. A gift is not. God counts righteousness to the one who trusts him, the God who declares the ungodly righteous (4:4-5).

Abraham's faith was not confidence in himself. He faced the facts, a body about a hundred years old and Sarah unable to bear children, and still trusted that God could do what he had promised (4:19-21). His faith rested on the God who brings the dead to life and speaks into existence things that are not yet (4:17). Paul says the words about crediting were written for us too, who trust the God who raised Jesus, handed over for our sins and raised for our justification (4:23-25). Faith is not a work that earns. It is empty hands held out to a God who gives.

To think about: What in your life feels too far gone to hope for, and how would it change things to trust the God who brings the dead to life?