Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.
I am a hard worker. You tell me what needs doing—give me the parameters, the rules—and get out of the way, because I’ve got this. Tell me what an A looks like, and I can give you A-level work, no problem. That ability, those traits have served me well academically.
Romans 4:5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
But Paul’s point is that faith isn’t a problem to be solved, it isn’t a report to be written or a set of rules to be followed. Faith must involve the heart. It is a gift, one that can never be earned, one that can never be deserved. Rule-following won’t get you there. Sunday school attendance won’t do it. Faith in God alone, faith in His gift of grace and His right to bestow it to whom He sees fit, is the only way.
Romans 4:14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless….
Lord, I’ve struggled for years with the term “human being” because I feel the need to do, to perform, to prove instead of just to be. Thank You for the gift of Your grace, that I can’t earn it, that I can’t justify my receiving of it. Help me just to be thankful for it and to tell others of Your glory. Amen.
Romans 4:16 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.
Have a blessed day.