Study Desk

Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past,

for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith.

So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is.

There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?

If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God's way.

For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."

But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.

Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith.

But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised!

Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith.

Clearly, God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God's law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.

That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, "I have made you the father of many nations." This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, "That's how many descendants you will have!"

Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.

And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him as righteous.