(Verse 2) "Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted Him? If so, he would have had something to boast about. ..." This means that Abraham did not have any good deeds to make God accept him, nor do we. Abraham lived in Chaldaea, a pagan land. And he knew nothing of living by the law. So the law could not have been the standard by which he was declared righteous. His faith was!
It is the same for us today. Yes, we know of the law, and we can read it anytime we want to. But the truth is, the law was not given to the Gentiles, only to the Jews. That is, when Paul went to the Gentiles, their background was paganism, not the Law of Moses. That's why James, in Acts 15, did not try to impose the law upon them as a condition for salvation. They were saved by faith, or their belief in Jesus.
Faith implies friendship. That's why God said of Abraham in Isaiah 41:8:"But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham." And so it is with God's people today. We believe God, as all good friends of God do. This is a new and different way to relate to God.
"But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. ..."
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It is the same for us today. Yes, we know of the law, and we can read it anytime we want to. But the truth is, the law was not given to the Gentiles, only to the Jews. That is, when Paul went to the Gentiles, their background was paganism, not the Law of Moses. That's why James, in Acts 15, did not try to impose the law upon them as a condition for salvation. They were saved by faith, or their belief in Jesus.
Faith implies friendship. That's why God said of Abraham in Isaiah 41:8:"But as for you, Israel my servant, Jacob my chosen one, descended from my friend Abraham." And so it is with God's people today. We believe God, as all good friends of God do. This is a new and different way to relate to God.
"But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. ..."
God bless you!
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