Week 9 - Wednesday

God Justifies the Ungodly

Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, (Romans 4:4-5)

The Jew’s believed a person was made right with God by obeying the Law. They also believed that the reason God chose Abraham to be their forefather, was because he was the most righteous person alive then. In chapter 4 of Romans Paul uses Abraham as the supreme human example, to prove to the Jews that salvation is not by works but by faith alone. Paul hopes they will see that if Abraham was justified by faith, then every person must be. God did not choose Abraham, as the Jews believed, because he was more righteous than anyone else. In fact he was probably worshiping false gods at the time. When God called Abraham, he was living in the city of Ur in Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have estimated that Ur had a population of about 300,000 then. It's people were highly educated and accomplished in math, agriculture and astronomy. Their primary religion was polytheistic, meaning they had a multitude of gods. Abraham's own father Terah worshiped false gods, so most likely Abraham did too (Josh. 24:2). Even after he was called by God, Abraham didn't obey him perfectly. There were times when Abraham exhibited tremendous faith by his obedience, but there were also times when he failed miserably.

No one will ever be justified by God because of their good works. It just isn't possible for several reasons. First of all, no matter how good a person might be, they have still sinned. Once a person has sinned, they can never meet God’s standard of perfect righteousness. A second reason is that anyone who has sinned is under the penalty of death for their sins. All of their good works will never pay the penalty for their sins. You just can't be saved by keeping a Law you haven't completely obeyed. In a court of law you wouldn't expect to be excused for stealing, just because you had obeyed other parts of the Law. God's judgment doesn't work like that either. If you are guilty of sin, then the penalty must be paid. Third, if it were possible to be justified by works, Christ would have died on the cross for nothing (Gal. 2:21). God would not have had His Son suffer such a painfull death if he didn't feel it was absolutely necessary. Abraham lived about 2,000 years before Christ died, but he was still saved through Christ's death. Before the cross God justified those who put their faith in Him because of what Christ would do for them in the future. Now He justifies believers because of what Christ has done for them in the past. A fourth reason why no one can be justified by their works is because it would take the glory away from God. The main reason for all of creation is to bring glory to God. The primary purpose in salvation too, is to glorify God. Jesus Christ died on the cross so that those who would be saved through Him would glorify God for His mercy (Rom. 15:9).

Every person has sinned and the wages of sin is death. That's why we don't want God to give us what we are are due. What we want from God is mercy. Fortunately, God justifies the ungodly. Someone who thinks they are good enough the way they are, is not in a position to be saved. Jesus said, "I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). Until a person admits that they are ungodly, and comes to Christ seeking forgiveness, they cannot be saved because they are still depending on their own works.

Readings for today: Luke 18:10-14; Luke 19:1-10; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:8-9; 1 Tim. 1:15