"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 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, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'"
-- Romans 4:1-3 (NASB)
In all of the world's false religions, a man's salvation is believed to be acquired by his good deeds. His works. In all of the world's false religions, eternal salvation is a simple business transaction. This might sound attractive to many people, which explains paganism's wide following. It sounds great to say: What you have to do to get to heaven is pray 5 times a day, read this book for 20 minutes a day, and go to this sacred place at least once in your life. If you do that, you're in!... Too bad sin has a much higher price than that in the real world. A price so high that it can only be forgiven by the blood of a perfect and sinless sacrifice. Jesus Christ. So how do we achieve the righteousness that Father Abraham possessed? Sola Fide. Through Faith Alone. Abraham had faith, and God credited it to him as righteousness. Abraham wasn't right in God's eyes because of the good works he did in his life. Good works can't take away sin. But Jesus can and did. And through Abraham's faith in the promised Messiah, he achieved that righteousness we all desire. The world needs to shake the idea that salvation is like a mere business transaction, that if we give God something, we'll get it. Salvation is a free gift won for us by Christ's death and resurrection. That's the Story and I'm stickin' to it.
-- Jonathan
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