The Old Testament patriarch, Abraham, received a promise from God that he would have a son, and through this son his descendants would become more plentiful than the number of stars in the sky (Genesis 15:4-5). Abraham believed God’s promise and this was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6). In other words, Abraham was acting in such a way that pleased God and this put him in right standing with God. Abraham was viewed as righteous in God’s eyes because he had faith that God would fulfill the promise that He had made to him. Abraham eventually received his promise from God when his son Isaac was born. Abraham received the promise not from anything he did, he didn’t earn it or achieve it, it came simply through the righteousness that comes by faith (Romans 4:13).
Abraham received his promise through the righteousness that comes by faith (Romans 4:13), and this applies to us as well. For us today, “this righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22). We are considered righteous (being in right standing with God) by simply believing upon Jesus Christ. In other words, when we believe on Christ and His atoning sacrifice, we are acting in a way that is pleasing to God and this is ascribed to us as righteousness. We receive all of our promises from God through this righteousness that comes by faith in Jesus Christ. We need to act on God’s promises in faith the same way that Abraham acted in faith – we believe them even if we don’t see them.
We have faith that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13) even though we can not see this salvation with our eyes. We believe in our salvation through our faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement. The same holds true for every promise God has made to us in His Word. We have to claim these promises in faith the same way we claimed our salvation by faith: we declare with our mouths and believe in our hearts (Romans 10:8) that we have what God has promised us through our belief in His Son. Don’t stop at salvation, God wants us to believe in all of His promises through our faith in Jesus.
The Truth in Action: What promise are you hoping that God will fulfill for you today? God’s definition of hope is a confident expectation. Receive your promise through the righteousness that comes by faith. Believe upon Christ and have faith that through His atonement we have already been given all of the promises God has for us. Have a confident expectation that you have what God has promised, even if you can’t see it
Meditate on Scripture: Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) – Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
Further Study – Read Romans 3-5. Gain a deeper understanding of God’s faithfulness and righteousness by studying these three chapters.