Perspectives : Romans 3:27 - 4:25

The cell group I'm blessed with is an excellent mix of humour and debate, socialising and bible study. I come away with fresh insights that I may or may not have a chance to share with the group. I've decided that I'll add them here. My understanding of the world, in particular my faith and relationship with God, are deeply intertwined with the development of Eldawn. I will not be in the least surprised if many of the concepts ascertained from my fellowship with my cell group work their way into my fiction. After all, that is what happened with 'The Chronicles of Narnia'.

The passage we studied this week is Paul's reconciliation of apparently contradictory salvation plans; righteousness by faith and righteousness by the law. He shows how faith was the essence of man's favour and relationship with God all along, since Abraham. The biological father of the Jews, but the spiritual father of many nations, Abraham set an example of faith for the rest of his spiritual children to follow. That pattern of faith motivating works and a reliance on the promises of God.

Faith in God is the axiom on which the covenant of God and all His promises are built. Attempting to achieve righteousness and salvation by works denies that axiom, and so the covenant is rendered inapplicable to those who attempt to fulfill the law by works alone. In addition, the covenant can only be fully realised once it includes 'many nations'. Nations that have the revelation of the law and those who were not privy to the holy statutes. Only by faith is the covenant valid and fulfilled.

All these points were discussed in the study time, but another thought has occurred to me since then. I would like to tie in the idea of faith with this verse :

'The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.' - 1 Samuel 16:7b

Allow me to explain. To obtain the righteousness of God, we have to be justified in the eyes of God. For a long time, and even now, humanity has believed that by doing good deeds, by earning our way into heaven, we can achieve this devine righteousness. Why is this belief so prevalent? I submit that part of the reason is that we think God thinks in our terms.

We are restricted from understanding another person's true heart. No person can claim to understand the core, the soul, the true essence and motivations of another. Sometimes we cannot even comprehend our own heart. As a result, we look to actions, achievements, possessions, behaviour, appearance. Works. We judge and value each other based on the things we can evidence and deem as points of credibility. Sometimes this system works, sometimes it does not, as with when John Bates was incorrectly condemned for murder of Viera Bates, his wife. I'm sorry, I just watched Downton Abbey's Season 2 Christmas Special. Back to the point...

Erroneously, we extend such a limited perception to the omniscient God. We think that just because we judge others by their works, God will judge us by our works as well. From this misunderstanding stems the belief that we can obtain righteousness by works.

Thankfully, God is able to look into our hearts. And guess what - To have faith is a choice of the heart. It is an internal change, placing trust in the salvation plan of Jesus. It's something that God alone sees for certain, a quiet revolution that happens beneath the appearance. Based on this change of heart, God is able to justify us by His strategy for redemption, the Son's sacrifice. It is this faith that is counted unto us, and unto the paragons of the Old Testament, as the righteousness of God.