Today's Passage Romans 4

Abraham is arguably the most righteous man to have ever lived.  What made him so righteous?  His obedience and trust in the Lord of course.  So what did his actions gain him?  Here is the confusing part, many of us without thinking equate righteous actions with salvation.  In most cases we can make the observation that someone who is obeying God's commands is a believer and has salvation, but their actions are not what gained them their gift of salvation.

Paul makes a very strong point in this chapter regarding the source of our blessings, including our salvation.  Abraham was almost perfect in his track record of obeying God, but not even he measured up to the expectation that God has laid out for us in the laws of scripture.  The simple truth is God's expectations for mankind are out of our reach.  That does not mean that we give up trying but it does indicate that there is something else that God desires from us.  Faith!

We are made perfect by our faith in God.  Our actions may not always communicate our faith to others but it is still their.  Our faith compels us to obey God's commands and to share the truth of His son with others. Just as it is said in James 2:26 "Faith without works is dead" the same can be said for the reverse, Works without faith is dead.