righteous by faith

Good morning friends,
I'd like to remind you that we'll be diving into the book The Shack this evening at the Boulevard. Everyone is welcome to take part; we should be in for some good discussion. Feel free to come even if you haven't read any of the book yet. For those with non-traditional schedules, I'll be leading worship today at St. Mark's and St. John's Episcopal Church on Culver Road at 12:10pm. The service includes prayer, communion, scripture and anointing for healing. It looks like a neat service and I'm excited to be part of it.

Today's reading gets deeper into how Abraham was justified by faith. He was justified because God "reckoned" or counted or credited Abraham as righteous. God reckoned Abraham righteous not because of Abraham's actions or for following the law (especially since the law wasn't given for hundreds more years). Instead, Abraham became righteous by trusting God's promise even in the face of hardship and challenges to that promise. In the same way we get right with God by putting our trust in him that he will save us from our sins through Christ's ministry. Christ died and rose again for us; with love like that, nothing can keep us away from God. God's promise often takes a twisting road, but it never fails.

God bless,
Sam

Romans 4:16-25

16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us,

17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) —in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18Hoping against hope, he believed that he would become “the father of many nations,” according to what was said, “So numerous shall your descendants be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was already as good as dead (for he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22Therefore his faith “was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
23Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.