“Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” – Romans 4:3
Throughout history, we’ve seen revolutionaries rise up to challenge the status quo—pilgrims seeking religious freedom, patriots fighting tyranny, and leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. calling for justice. These movements brought change by rejecting old systems. In a similar way, many view Jesus as a revolutionary. And in one sense, He was. His death and resurrection brought a dramatic shift in how we relate to God. But unlike earthly revolutionaries who discard the past, Jesus didn’t abolish the Law—He fulfilled it. What He introduced wasn’t a new way of salvation, but the unveiling of the way that had always been: salvation by grace through faith. The Cross didn’t replace the old plan—it revealed it.
Jesus made it clear that grace couldn’t be poured into the brittle wineskins of religious law-keeping. “The life and liberty of the Gospel ruins the wineskins of ritualism,” wrote William MacDonald. The Old Testament said, “Messiah will come.” The New Testament declares, “Messiah has come.” But the way of salvation never changed. Paul, like a skilled interrogator, shines the spotlight on the Cross and then flips the switch to illuminate the whole room. He shows that this one way of salvation—through faith in Christ—is not just for Jews or Gentiles, but for all people, for all time. To prove it, he goes back before the Law, before circumcision, before Israel—to Abraham.
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6: “And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Abraham didn’t earn salvation through obedience or ritual—he received it by faith. He believed God’s promise, and that promise pointed to Christ. Galatians 3:8 says, “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand.” Even Jesus said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). Abraham may not have seen the full picture, but he trusted the plan. His faith wasn’t in a vague hope—it was in the coming Messiah. And that faith was counted as righteousness.
This truth shatters the pride of those who thought Abraham was chosen because of his piety. He wasn’t a religious man when God called him—he was a pagan. There was no Law to keep, no rituals to perform. All he had was a promise. And he believed it. That belief led to obedience, not the other way around. His faith gave birth to action, not merit. This is the same way we are saved today. There is one God who made all people, and there is one way to be reconciled to Him—through the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the Cross. This way has never changed. It is for anyone who believes. So today, stop striving to earn what Christ has already accomplished. Believe, and let that faith transform your life.
“Faith is the attitude of the soul which, turning from all self-merit, and all self-help, lies helpless, trustful, at the feet of God, looking up into His face with a gaze of worship and confidence.” – G. Campbell Morgan
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