The Promise

DEVOTION

ROMANS

THE PROMISE

Rom 4:9-17

9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed — the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

NIV

Paul sure uses a lot of words to say one thing. Faith is the only way to salvation. We cannot be saved through any other means. Because we believe we are the offspring of Abraham. It does not matter whether we are physically circumcised or not. Our cultural for the most part circumcise most boys before they leave the hospital, at birth, rather than on the eight day. So we do not practice Judaism, or abide by what was told to Abraham. It is also true that in that day women did not have an individual identity as they do today. It only matter about the males having faith with or without circumcision. But in the grand scheme of things, the whole plan of God, it is about everyone, male and female alike being able to have salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. We all we dead in our sins, but God gives us life because of faith, not works, not anything we can do other than to have faith, to believe Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to be the sacrifice for our sin. We live because of the promise of God. There are no rules and regulations which can make us holy or righteous enough to live. Sure we say that we live by all these rules and regulations because we love God. But it might just be that we look to our abiding to our rules as a means of proving we are holy and righteous, at least to every around us. We want to be seen as a Christian and people expect a Christian to act in a certain manner, especially other Christians. So we try our best to look holy and righteous, especially in Church. But if we were to throw out all the rules and just had faith in Jesus Christ we would still be saved. We live because of the promise of God.