Paul
the apostle told the Jews in Rome,“to
him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness, saying,
Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. ”,
and he added, “Blessed
is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.” In
chapter four and verse nine of Romans, Paul asked does, “this
blessedness then come upon the circumcision only, or upon the
uncircumcision also?”
where we read:
The
verse begins, “Comes
this blessedness then upon the circumcision only,
or upon the uncircumcision also?”
Paul began with the word, “comes
this”
which means “does this” “blessedness”
or “declaration of beatification and attribution of good fortune”
“then”
or “therefore, consequently and these things being so” “upon”
which means “on, at or toward” “the
circumcision only”
which refers to “those who have been separated from the unclean
multitude and truly consecrated to God such as the Jews alone”, “or
upon”
which means “or to, at and toward” “the
uncircumcision also”
or “those who have not been separated from the unclean multitude
and truly consecrated to God such as the Gentiles as well”. Paul
rhetorically questioned whether his readers thought God's “blessing”
of “grace” was to the Jews only or to the Gentiles as well.
The
verse goes on to say, “
for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.”
Paul
added the words, “for
we say”
which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, verily and therefore Paul
and his companions uttered, proclaimed and declared” “that
faith”
or “that the conviction that God exists and is the creator and
ruler of all things, the provider and bestower of eternal salvation
through Christ ” “was
reckoned”
which means “counted, calculated and accounted” “to
Abraham”
or “to the father of multitudes, the son of Terah and the founder
of the Jewish nation” “for
righteousness” which
means “the state of him who is as he ought to be and the condition
acceptable to God ”. Paul declared “faith”
to be the agent of “accounting and reckoning” for Abraham's
“right standing before God”.
When
we consider these words of Paul, we see his implication that all
people may be afforded the “blessedness” of God. Whether a
person is a Jew or a Gentile, they may receive the same “accounting”
of “righteousness” as Abraham when they believe in Jesus
Christ as their personal “Savior and Lord”. God declared Abraham
“righteous” because he believed Him, and those who
“believe” in Jesus Christ shall not only enjoy “right”
standing with God, but also live eternally with Him.
Next
time Paul asks the people in Rome, “how
was it then reckoned?”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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