For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law. (Romans 3:28).
We are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.
Our reading today goes on to further amplify this point. Remember, one of the key points of the entire book of Romans is this matter of justification by faith.
Verse four is obviously a key verse in this passage:
Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. (Romans 4:4)
When you “work” at your job, your salary or wage is not a gift. It is something you have “earned”. Your employer is obligated by law to pay you for your time and energy expended in the task(s) for which you are responsible.
In contrast, our salvation, though costly beyond our human conception, is “free”. It is given to us as a free gift! We are saved by God’s grace through faith and it has nothing to do with anything we “do”! Salvation is a totally humbling gift. There is nothing we can “brag” about when it comes to being one who is right with God. It is completely His work, not ours! It is the fruit of His work given freely to those who trust in His work and in His promise.
And why does he give us salvation in this way? Because it is His nature! Listen to how God characterizes Himself in these words penned by the Apostle Paul:
But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness. (Romans 4:5 NIV)
How is God characterized by Paul in this chapter? He is one who “declares the ungodly righteous”! Isn’t it amazing that the only true and living God, our Creator, has this nature! Religious people usually think of God as the one who “rewards” righteous people with salvation. But this is a lie. Our God, the only true and living God is the one who deals with sin and judges it. And having dealt with our sin in the execution of Christ, he declares “ungodly” people like you and me as “righteous” because we are trusting in His promise to do so.
My wife and I presently live in Siberia. Most of the population here have no idea of what God is like. And they certainly don’t know that he is the God who “declares the ungodly righteous”. My responsibility is to make myself available to God to be used in two ways:
- To inform people here that they are ungodly, i.e., that they sin against their holy Creator. And once they have been convicted of this reality by the Holy Spirit (John 16:8),
- it is then my responsibility to inform them that their Creator, the very one against whom they have sinned, is also the one to whom they can turn for mercy and grace!
The heart of man is the same no matter where you live. The need of man is the same no matter where you live. Are you carrying out these two responsibilities in your part of the world? Are your friends and workmates aware that their Creator is one who “declares the ungodly righteous”? Are they aware that they are ungodly? Are they aware that they have no hope unless they receive mercy, grace, and forgiveness from their Creator? If not, you have some work to do!
hook's note: Ernie and Ricki Pruitt are BCC missionaries serving in Siberia.
