Daily Devotional for Sunday, August 7

Righteousness by Faith

There are only two faith systems in existence in the world. The predominant faith system is that of works of righteousness, which teaches that one must earn his way to God’s favor. There is a much smaller number that believe in the complete work of Jesus Christ as the means of becoming right with God. This is the belief that Jesus Christ paid your way to Heaven because you can never earn it on your own. 

By grace, you are saved, through faith. The grace is one hundred percent the gift of God, available to all mankind. Even the ability to have faith is a gift from God, but He thankfully gives you the ability to exercise that faith. Conversely, you have the ability to fail to exercise it as well. Faith is so important, and so pleasing to God, that He has made this the sole prerequisite to salvation and entrance into God’s Heaven. 

Are you to work, then? Of course, you are! As was covered in an earlier devotion, faith without your works is not real faith at all; it is dead. It may even be nonexistent. How do you balance these issues? How do you understand what role your works play in your relationship with God? 

The answer lies in your motivation for working. Abraham believed God, and his reward was the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ; specifically, he believed the promise of the Christ to come.

JUST A THOUGHT: You certainly owe a debt to the Lord, but Jesus paid it already.

Wally Fry