What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” – Romans 4:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (January 1, 2015): Romans 4

I want perfection. I want to strive for it; hopefully continually getting better. I don’t expect that I will ever be perfect, but I know I can be just a little better tomorrow than I am today. I know I can be a better husband, father, grandfather, a better son, pastor and a better writer than I have been in the past. And personally I don’t want to rest on just being good enough. If I can be better, than I want to be better. In fact, I would go even further and say that God wants – expects even – me to do the best that I can do, be the best that I can be. And part of what that means is that I need to deal with the sin in my life.

I know that some around me are very uncomfortable with this concept. Increasingly it seems that what they want is for me to play the part of the Pied Piper of Hamlin – they want me to play my pretty tune and, if I play well enough, then they will follow. But I am just not built that way. I want to strive to be the best – at least the best that I can be - and I want those gathered around me to be the best that we can be - together. To be honest, this world needs a church that is always striving to move forward – always hoping to be better – always working to make this world a better place.

But, having said that, I also recognize that my performance has absolutely nothing to do with my righteousness. My righteousness is totally dependent on God, and my willingness to place my faith in him. And this is exactly Paul’s point. It is not that Paul wasn’t striving to be better himself, or that he didn’t want the Romans to be better. But perfection of performance was never the benchmark for righteousness in the Christian faith. It has always been belief and faith.

Paul uses Abraham as an example. Abraham was righteous, but not because he was perfect or because he had kept the law. At the time that Abraham lived, the Mosaic Law was still hundreds of years in the future. Because the law had not yet been given to Moses, Abraham couldn’t keep the law. And yet he was righteous – and his righteousness was based on the reality that he believed in God, and was willing to follow him by faith. When God asked Abraham to move from his family home in Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, Abraham didn’t seem to question why – he simply was willing to have faith that if God wanted him to move, then there must be a reason. Abraham moved. He believed in his God, and God blessed him. Abraham was never perfect, but because he believed and had faith, he was righteous.

As we move into 2015, my prayer is that you will believe, and have faith, in God – and because of that I know you will be righteous. But I also hope that you will work to get better at what you do in the next year. That has nothing to do with your righteousness and none of us will ever be perfect, but I believe that it will make your corner of the world a much better place.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Romans 5