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Meditating in the field
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Be Continuously Credited Righteous By Faith
How can we be continuously credited righteous by faith? Not only at the beginning, but also throughout, our life of faith?
In Romans 4, Paul introduces the idea of being “credited as righteousness by faith” (4: 3). This idea is probably the most obvious when we first come to Christ. Before we have any good deeds, Jesus has already died for us. Salvation is gifted to us. By believing in God and in His power to save, we are deemed righteous before Him. Certainly, as Elder James has explained, a body without the spirit is dead, so is faith without deeds (James 2:26). To declare our faith, we must therefore receive water baptism, pray for the promised Holy Spirit, and study and practice God’s words in our everyday life.
Does that mean being ‘credited righteous by faith’ stops here?
I want to further understand how this idea continues to work in our life of faith after coming to Christ. Here, I try to think through three case studies: Moses, David, and Job.
Moses was deemed the most humble man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:3). He was a friend of God (Exodus 33: 11). God chose him to lead an estimated 2 million people out of Egypt. Through his many supplications on behalf of the Israelites, we see him as a spiritual man of great compassion. Yet, for two strikes of his rod on the rock, he was disqualified from entering into the land of Canaan (Numbers 20:11). God only allowed Moses to take in a full view of Canaan from Pisgah before God personally buried him (Deut 34: 4). Perhaps we may wonder why such harshness towards Moses? After all, Mose’s impatience and frustration was completely understandable and human. Yet for that incident, God did not let Moses pass.
David committed double transgressions: murder and adultery (2 Sam 11). He later suffered the consequence of his own action: the death of his son (2 Sam 11: 15), familial disorder, and a mourning nation (2 Sam 24:15). Yet he was forgiven of his sins (Psalms 32 and 51) and remained a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). Perhaps we may marvel at God’s leniency towards David and wonder about God’s bottom line?
The very first introduction of Job summed it all. He was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1). God was even able to boast about Job before Satan (Job 1:8). Yet God allowed him to lose his entire wealth, children, health, and ultimately the trust of his close allies. He was laid bare, gasping for life on the threshold of death. In his great suffering, Job asked God many questions. Yet none of his questions were answered. Instead, God asked him many more questions in return. He eventually felt silent and reaffirmed God’s absolute sovereignty.
What if God allowed Moses to enter the land of Canaan? After all, Moses’ merit in life far exceeded that one single venting. What if God did not spare David for his transgressions? Because they were notoriously outrageous. What if Job did get all the answers to why he suffered? After all, he was indeed just.
If all these ‘what ifs’ were true, we may forever believe that the goodness of one’s life, such as health, prosperity, and companionship, is a result of us ‘being good’. We may also believe that people suffer or ‘fail’ in life because they are ‘being bad’ or inadequate before God. Subsequently, when we encounter hardship and suffering ourselves, we question God’s faithfulness. If Christians have done their best in all things that are required of them, why do they still suffer like anyone else?
Sufferings are God’s constant reminder that we need to be credited righteous by faith everyday throughout our entire life. In sufferings, we want to continue to believe:
God is good. He plans to prosper us and does not harm. He wants to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).
Everything works together for the good of those who love God (Romans 8:28).
Good has already shown us what is good. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8).
God can transform nothing into something, from hopelessness to hope (Romans 4:18).
Even when our good deeds are at their best, they are only relatively good. We still fall short by God’s absolute standard (like Moses and Job). We therefore need His grace to live (like David).
By continuing to believe and to hold fast to God even in the face of trials and tribulations, we are credited righteous by faith in God’s eyes.
