There's Gotta be a Catch

Romans 4:1-15

Paul lays it out clearly in today's reading: righteousness comes by faith.

There's really no argument here. No waffling by Paul. No weasel words. No tricks. He presents this idea in language anyone can understand, concise and straightforward. It's not what we do; our righteousness comes from faith in God. It's a gift, not something we earn.

That should end all discussion, right? "God said it; I believe it; that settles it."

Yet over the millenia, much ink has been spilled -- and even more blood has been spilled -- over this concept.

The implications are enormous. The notion of human equality that we hold so dear in this country springs from this; for how else could all of humanity be considered as equals except in the sense that we are equal in the sight of God.

Why is this so difficult? Why are we hard-wired to believe that what we do carries any weight? It's true that we were created to do good works (Ephesians 2:10), but so often we rely on that as an indicator of our standing with God.

I believe in righteousness by faith. I believe it in my head. And on good days I think I believe it in my heart, too. And on not-so-good days, when I'm busy and cranky and overworked (there's that word -- work), I start to believe that faith isn't enough to cover me.

Granted, faith is not just a big, warm, fuzzy blanket we wrap up in to feel all cozy. Our salvation came at a cost.

Oh, yes. Our suspicions were right. There was a catch after all. But the cost was to God. God is the one who made it happen. God is the one who decided to bless the whole earth through Abraham, and God is the one who went to the cross to reconcile us all to himself.

There's nothing we can do to achieve it. God is the acting force who draws us all to himself, forgives our disobedience, and declares us righteous.

No waffling, no weasel words, . . . no catch.


--Drew Clausen