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Promise fulfilled.
God's Promise Realised through Faith
Rev. Dr. John F. Cheriavely V.C.
The
mercies that God gives the faithful, can not be reckoned as the
wages that the workers receive from their employers. Wages are the
dues that the workers receive from their employers. (Rom 4:4). But
the blessing God gives the believer is a free gift. St. Paul takes
great pains to explain this concept in his letter to the Romans.
St. Paul wrote : "What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our
ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by
works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what
does the scripture say? Abraham believed God it was reckoned to him
as righteousness." (Rom. 4:1-3)
St. Paul uses, in his letter, the example of Abraham to explain the
forgiveness that God , through Jesus Christ, gave the faithful. If
Abraham had solely depended on his body or his actions, he would not
have believed that he would become a father or get the fulfillment
of the promise made. "Hoping against hope. He believed that he would
become "the father of many nations", according to what was said, 'So
numerous shall your descendants be! He 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 even he considered the
barrenness of Sarah's womb. ...his faith was reckoned to him as
~righteousness" (Rom 4:18-12).
Abraham firmly believed in the promise of God that he would be given
a child, although he knew that if he depended on his body and his
actions, he would never get a child That faith gave him a child That
means he was reckoned righteous, he became a claimant for
righteousness, not because of his actions, but because of his faith
in Cod.
This kind of reckoning is true in our case also, and not just in the
case of Abraham (Rom 4:23). The faithful get forgiveness of their
sins, not because of their actions but through their belief that
Jesus was crucified because of their sins and he resurrected from
the dead for the sake of their righteousness. Rom 4:24, 25).
It is seen that many of the believers try to get the right to be
forgiven by their work, fasting and other deeds of love and
sacrifice. In fact forgiveness comes through our belief in the great
sacrifice of love that Jesus made.
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