For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rom. 4
How was Abraham the father of faith? How was he an example of righteousness by faith, not works? “Abraham believed God…against all hope” (Rom. 4:3b, 18a). That is faith. It was because of that faith that God considered him righteous. The phrase “it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom. 4:3b) is interesting to me. One way to read that is that the righteousness was something he received in advance. The Bible teaches us that it is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ – God’s promise – that wipes away our sin. So we are made righteous because we receive the promise. Abraham, on the other hand, received God’s promise because he was credited righteousness. God wiped away his sin long before even the first part of His promise had been fulfilled. This shows that we all receive the promise “through the righteousness that comes by faith.” (Rom. 4:13b).
Also, remember that Paul was addressing the problem of believing Jews who insisted that believing Gentiles needed to be circumcised. So it is important to note that Abraham was credited righteousness before he was circumcised and long before God gave His people the law. This shows that neither circumcision nor obedience to any other part of the law had anything to do with it. It is faith – the state of our heart, which only we and God can know – that allows us to be reconciled to Him.
Lev. 21-22
Why were the priests held to a different standard? What does it mean to you to be holy to the Lord? The priests stood between God and His people, so they were closer to His presence. They had been set aside for service to a holy God, and so they were held to a stricter standard. All of the laws God gave, as I have noted before, were provisions of mercy so that God could dwell with His unholy people without destroying them. Still, to me they often seem harsh and strict and merciless. So I concede that there is still so much I don’t understand about them. I believe there are layers of meaning in them beyond what I can see.
What I do know, though, is that reading through them really impresses on me just how holy God is. It opens my eyes to both the seriousness and the hopelessness of our human condition. Furthermore, it makes me appreciate just how great a barrier Jesus’ sacrifice overcame for us. Just as Abraham fully knew the hopelessness of Sarah’s chances for childbirth, so I fully know the hopelessness of my staying clean and holy before God. And so I believe against all hope in the promise that only God can fulfill. I rely on faith.