Righteousness Put On Our Account: Romans 4:22-25
“22) Therefore ALSO IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23) Now not for his sake only was it written that it was reckoned to him, 24) but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25) He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” Romans 4:22-25
Some translations use a different word for “reckoned.” Another version of the New American Standard Version uses the word “credited.” The Revised Standard Version says “counted to him.” The idea is that the work of Jesus Christ is transferred to our account through faith in Christ. It is reckoned or credited to us by faith. He becomes both the payment of our sin debt and the basis of our righteousness standing before God. We no longer try to gain God’s acceptance by our own merit.
In this context, Paul is trying to illustrate that the gospel is received by the same kind of faith that Abraham had. We believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf. “23) He was delivered up because our our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” The moment we put our faith in Him, everything He accomplished is credited to us.
I recognize there is lot about Jesus Christ we need to accept by faith. Everything from His virgin birth, His being the sinless Son of God, and His being the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world are all part of the Gospel story. John 1:1-4 includes His true identity as the Creator, and 1 Corinthians 15:12-22 includes the fact of His Resurrection.
The truth is that Jesus Christ was God doing for humanity what we cannot do for ourselves. We are not saved by our self effort, good deeds, religious activities or family heritage. We are saved by personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The whole story of Abraham was recorded for our sake. His character flaws, his struggles, his fleshly efforts and finally his total surrender to faith in God embodied exactly how we are saved and justified by faith. In the same way he finally came to simple faith in God, we also need to come to the place of putting our faith in Jesus Christ.
The miracle that followed next for Abraham was that he was justified by his faith in God and Isaac was born. The miracle that follows for us is that we are justified by our faith in Jesus Christ and we are born-again. A new life begins for us and all the benefits of being justified by faith become ours. Stay tuned, Paul begins to describe those benefits in the next chapter.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
