First of all, a couple of personal things. I got a great six month report at Emory this week. No sign of cancer! Susan overheard my doctor (behind me as I walked down the hall): “There’s my star patient.” If he only knew how many people prayed for me, he’d know the reason! So we praise God for his faithfulness and thank you again for your love and prayers. Because someone dropped out of one of our school mission trips, I am heading to Ecuador Saturday. True missionary heroes died in Ecuador in the 1950′s. The tribe that killed them found Christ because courageous women continued to share the Gospel despite incredible loss. (Read “End of the Spear” or “Through Gates of Splendor” for the whole story.) Karlyn is going to Brazil with another school group and a third group is going to Honduras. I won’t write next week… Once again, we would cherish your prayers.
Here’s an important verse from the Old Testament regarding the Gospel: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6) We know this is an important verse because Paul quotes it in Romans and Galatians and James quotes it in his letter. The reason the Gospel is such good news is that it is full of grace and mercy and love. There is nothing ‘cheap’ about God’s grace for it cost him the life of his most precious Son, but the Father’s will is that no man boast before him. He knows us well.
If I had circumcised myself as an adult, I’d tell everyone I deserved to go to Heaven! But when was Abraham declared righteous? Before circumcision or after? Paul makes it plain: “It was not after, but before!” (Rom 4:10) “Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.” (4:9) So God asks, “Do you believe I exist? Do you believe I reward those who earnestly seek me? Do you believe I have accomplished everything for you in my Son, Jesus? You can bring nothing of worth to me… I have done it all. Do you believe this? Do you believe in my Son?”
“The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him (Abraham) alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness – for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” (4:23-25) “Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.” (Gal 3:6-7)
Don’t you love good news?
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:9-10