1 What then shall we say that aAbraham our bfather has found according to the flesh?
2 For if Abraham was ajustified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? a“Abraham believed God, and it was1 accounted to him for righteousness.”
4 Now ato him who works, the wages are not counted1 as grace but as debt.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
5 But to him who adoes not work but believes on Him who justifies bthe ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
6 just as David also adescribes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessedaarethose whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed isthe man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Abraham Justified Before Circumcision
9Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.
11 And ahe received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which hehadwhilestill uncircumcised, that bhe might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,
12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father aAbraham hadwhilestill uncircumcised.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
13 For the promise that he would be the aheir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For aif those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because athe law brings about wrath; for where there is no law thereis no transgression.
"What does scripture say? 'Abraham took God at his word, and that act of faith was accepted as putting him into a right relationship with God'" (The New Testament: A Translation by William Barclay).
Abraham's "act of faith" was to believe the words of God. Simply, faith is believing what God says. That belief, that faith, is what pleases God, putting us in a position to have a right relationship with Him. A right relationship, even on a human level, must have trust as its foundation.
Abraham's example also shows us that this belief, this faith, is not just intellectual agreement but rather a deep conviction that motivates our core and changes how we think. The evidence of this change is an action. True belief and faith must have action to complete it, or else it is dead and useless faith (James 2:20).
Justification is the imputing of righteousness. In this case, God accounts righteousness where it does not logically belong. We may describe justification as being aligned with a standard. It is also being legally declared free of guilt. Justification can probably be defined about a half a dozen ways, but in no case is justification salvation.
Salvation is deliverance. That is what the word means, to be delivered. Justification means to be made right. They are two different things altogether. In the biblical sense, salvation does not occur until a person is in his inheritance, in the Kingdom of God.
Even though justification does provide a measure of deliverance, it is only the first step towards a person's complete salvation or deliverance. We are still in the flesh. Even though there is no good reason why we should fail, we can still fail—despite being justified.
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