Given, Not Earned

And he [God] brought him [Abraham] outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:5–6

Most of us, at some point in our lives, spent an enormous amount of time buying the lie that we can earn our way into heaven. For me, that trek lasted about 35 years. “I behave.” “I am kind.” “I give to charities.” “I volunteer at the soup kitchen.” “I’ve never been arrested. Well, never convicted.” Your list may be longer . . .  or shorter, but you have a list, and I imagine you have reminded God about it several times.

We live in a world of reaping and sowing, a world of cause and effect. We get what we deserve, and we don’t get what we don’t deserve, right? Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? I lived most of my life believing that if heaven existed, and I “acted right,” I would make it in. No one ever asked me how “right” is “right.” I spent very little time thinking about what happened after physical death. 

Having understood everything in life as being based on works, it shocked me to read that Abraham “got right” with God by believing (Genesis 15:5-6). Does that really mean that we don’t have to do anything to sway God over to our side? As I look back, through the lens of the Cross, I understand that is precisely what it means. And Abraham WAS obedient to the Lord, but that is not what got him a seat at the table as a hero of the faith (see Hebrews 11).

There always has been, is now, and always will be one, and only one, way of salvation: by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8). It is by God’s merciful grace that Abraham, through his faith, was saved. Did Abraham believe that Jesus Christ died an atoning death on the Cross to pay for His sins and then walked out of a grave alive three days later? Of course not. How could He? It would not happen for nearly 2,000 years. But is Abraham saved? Absolutely! How? By grace through faith.

He believed in Yahweh. He believed in the promises of Yahweh. The object of Abraham’s faith was a promise-keeping God whose love and grace are boundless and unfailing. The object of my faith, and your faith (if you are a Christian), is also a promise-keeping God who, in the fullness of time, became a man, died on a Cross, and rose three days later, fully solving our sin problem. The Bible says Abraham “believed” and was “credited” with righteousness. It doesn’t say he was credited with righteousness by the works of the Law.

If you have been slaving for years to earn God’s love . . . to earn His salvation, don’t let another second tick off the clock “working” to be good enough to be saved. There is no “good enough.” You can never be righteous enough. Your social status can’t help you obtain it. Morality does not get you in either. You may have even said to yourself, “As soon as I clean myself up good, I’ll listen to what they have to say about this Jesus guy.” By His grace and your faith, He accepts you as righteous because righteousness has been placed in your account by Jesus, just like Abraham.

I praise Him today that my salvation does not depend on me. I am so thankful that my salvation rests in the arms of a faithful, promise-keeping God who loves me and offers me grace. I thank Him every day that He saved me and changed my #want-to-er. Now, I want to be obedient. I want to please Him. I don’t want to be greedy. I don’t want to be selfish.

Thank You, Lord, for giving me a #want-to-er transplant. In the heart-changing name of Jesus, Amen.