1 After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
2 And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
4 And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
The righteousness of God is of faith; it is not of the works of the law or works of self-righteousness. God doesn’t count works of self-righteousness as righteousness; He only counts faith in Him as righteousness, just as He counted Abraham’s faith as righteousness, as seen in the opening verse. God justified Abraham by faith and God’s imputing of faith as righteousness for Abraham first happened in Genesis 15:5-6. Verse 6 says, “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it unto him for righteousness.” As believers, the first imputing of righteousness is the righteousness that comes to us at new birth (when we first believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the risen Lord), after which we are to walk by faith, stay in faith and live by faith. Faith, here, simply means living by the Word of God, not our feelings or the dictate of our circumstances. You stay in faith every step of the way, no matter what! In Genesis 22, God tested Abraham and asked him to give up something very dear to his heart. God told him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, on one of the mountains of Moriah. Early the next morning, Abraham set out in absolute obedience to God’s Word. Having received the righteousness of God by faith, Abraham lived the life of obedience to God; which further substantiated his faith and the righteousness that he had received from God.
As a believer, you ought to walk like Abraham walked, substantiating the justification or righteousness which you received at new birth. You ought not to walk in disobedience to God’s Word. You ought to walk in the steps of Abraham. When Abraham believed God and submitted to God, he became the father of many nations. Understand that becoming anything in God’s kingdom is by faith. Abraham believed in hope, against hope, that he might become the father of many nations; as it was said to him by the Word of the Lord, “So shall thy seed be.” Beloved, understand that the righteousness of faith always seeks to do things God’s way, trusting Him absolutely. That’s the revelation of the righteousness of faith. It is the righteousness that culminates in the obedience of faith. As children of Abraham, we do the works of Abraham; we are doers of the Word of God. Hallelujah!!!
My Solid Front (Confession):
Heavenly Father, I thank You for conferring on me Your very own righteousness. I declare that I am the seed of Abraham and I do the works of Abraham; I walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith in absolute obedience of faith in Jesus’ Name.
Further Meditation:
James 2:20-23, Genesis 22:1-18.