Romans #20 Counted Righteous Because of Jesus

In Romans chapter 4 Paul holds up the Old Testament Patriarch, Abraham, as an example of a man who was accepted by God. In 4:3 Paul writes that "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness," quoting Genesis 15:6. In other words, Abraham was justified before God by faith.

Paul goes on in the rest of the chapter to show that it wasn't Abraham's compliance with the ritual of circumcision that made him right with God, nor was it any of his other efforts to comply with God's commandments. Rather, God counted Abraham as righteous—He justified him—out of sheer grace that Abraham received by sheer faith.

God accepted Abraham because Abraham believed God. He took God at His word when God spoke promises to him. Abraham simply believed what God said to him. If we want to be accepted by God, then we, too, must believe what He says to us.