Title: The Righteousness of Abraham
Content: Everyone, I knew the saying, “The righteous will live by faith.” The most precious thing to us is righteousness. Because only the righteous deserve God's blessing. Because only the righteous can have fellowship with God. Because only the righteous can enter the eternal kingdom of heaven.
But we also learned that the way to become righteous is not in our works, but only in our faith. It is the truth of the justification of the new God. This is the most basic doctrine in Christianity.
Ladies and gentlemen, you must be well acquainted with the doctrine of justification by faith, the most basic doctrine in Christianity. And there is evidence that you truly understand the doctrine of justification by faith. What is? That we have nothing to be proud of. Look at Romans 3:27-28. “Where, then, is there to boast? there can't be Not by what law or by works, but by the law of faith. Therefore we acknowledge that it is not by works of the law that a person is justified, but by faith.” Therefore, those who boast and boast about themselves still do not fully understand the doctrine of justification by faith. Those who want to brag about something still do not know the essence of justification.
Today's text proves through Abraham and David that we are justified by faith alone, and therefore we can never boast. Famous people in the Old Testament are thought to be Abraham and David. In the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1, Jesus is introduced as a descendant of David and a descendant of Abraham. Famous people will have a lot to brag about. When we think of Abraham, we think of him as a man of obedience in our hearts. I think you are a great person.
1. Even Abraham had nothing to boast about before God. Verses 1-2
Abraham was also a weak and insignificant sinner. He was a sinner who fell short of the glory of God by committing a sin. Abraham was also a sinner who was the object of God's wrath and judgment. So Abraham can never boast.
Brothers and sisters, you and I are people who cannot boast like Abraham. Even if we do some good deeds that are slightly better than others, we cannot boast. There are people who are really proud of it. It's a pride of saying, "A person like me is worthwhile." But even our best goodness before God is polluted with sin. We cannot boast even with our religious rites. You can't even do it with the amount of the offering. We cannot boast of our service. I hope that those who believe in Jesus know that they cannot boast of anything before God. Those who want to brag about themselves are those who do not understand the doctrine of justification by faith.
2. Abraham was justified by faith. Verses 3-5
Gentlemen, if there is anything we can learn from Abraham, it is that he has nothing but his faith. I hope that we too, like Abraham, have been justified by faith. Like Abraham, we want you to believe that we can receive God's blessings through faith.
3. David was also justified by faith. Verses 6-8
Dear saints, who is this person in verse 6? David. David is confessing his experience. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah. It was a sin that was difficult to forgive in terms of character and content. As king, David practiced lawlessness. As a leader, he has sinned. But when David repented after hearing the rebuke of the prophet Nathan, God immediately forgave David. He covered David's sins. He did not admit his sin. God clothed David with clothes of righteousness. continued to bless him. From that descendant, the Messiah was born.
Brothers and sisters, what did David do to be forgiven? What did David do to be justified? What did David do to receive God's blessing? The Bible says in verse 6. David was “accounted to God as righteousness without any work.” Like Abraham, David was justified only through faith in God, who is rich in mercy. David believed in God's mercy despite his iniquity and iniquity. He believed in a good, good, and gracious God.
Brothers and sisters, we also have nothing to boast about to God. Please don't brag about anything. This is because the moment we boast of ourselves, we rely on ourselves rather than God's grace. You and I really have nothing to boast about, but rather shameful sinners. But we do have hope. Because we have a God who justifies sinners by faith. Because the righteousness of God to be given to us through faith is revealed in the gospel.
I hope that you will be justified by faith like Abraham. Like David, I hope that you will receive and enjoy the happiness of God's righteousness through faith. I pray in the name of the Lord that you may become righteous only by faith and receive all the blessings that God gives you through faith as a righteous person.