Romans 4:3
What does the Scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
God hitched Abraham's wagon ot the stars He had created, by His word.
In our personal lives the great solution is always found in the words of our Lord when we have His Spirit.
Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and He makes His words spirit and life to us.
Our little human wagons are hitched to the stars of God's sacramental purpose by the words of Jesus and in no other way.
Whenever we induldge in hurry or in the dumps and refuse to pay attention to His words,
we smash the connecting line and go off on our own.
"And Abraham believed in the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness".
This is the act by which Abraham goes out of himself and relies upon God for righteousness and grace.
Abraham had manifested many noble qualities of heart and many virtues in his walk of faith,
but these did not make him righteous before God.
That was accomplished through his living confidence in God.
This verse is the first gem of the great doctrine of the Lord our Righteousness.
Righteousness must never be made to mean less than a guiltless position in the presence of justice and right.
The justification of every sinner is by faith, and by faith alone.
But it is our just walk that proves Him just in saving us.
If we do not walk in the life of faith, we are a slander to God.