²²Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.

Theological debate storms around this verse, residing at the center of the Protestant divide from Rome. The question is this: What does it mean to be “credited” as righteous? No small matter, as we pointed earlier (Romans 4:3), the original proclamation of God to Abraham (Genesis 15:6) is quoted in the New Testament four times. In addition to quoting it twice in this chapter of Romans, Paul also refers to it in Galatians 3:6, and James joins in to quote it as well (James 2:23). Some in Christendom assert that man is absolutely unable to do anything to merit righteousness in the least, for he is fallen and incapable of any deeds of merit. Others counter that many must prove themselves worthy by attaining a certain level of righteousness on their own.

Luther, the celebrated reformer, took our verse today to mean that righteousness is not something a human can obtain on his own. We are fallen and incapable of being righteous, and no amount of good deeds could possibly compensate for the unrighteousness in us, which any honest soul would acknowledge. Luther himself, a devout Catholic monk, struggled with this dilemma, subjecting himself to extreme acts of penances in an effort to find the inner peace of being right with a perfectly holy and righteous God. As a result he concluded that with man this is impossible, but with God it is possible. He came to understand that “the righteous man shall live by faith,” or as in KJV, “the just shall live by faith” (Rom 1:17).

God credited it to Abraham’s spiritual account; he became righteous at the moment he believed. Righteousness was not a gradual accumulation of good efforts of life. Those who don’t understand this are consigned to endless religious rituals and laws to provide some means of hope of salvation. But fear remains of falling short—“Have I done enough?”—or else blind arrogance—“I have done enough.” The former is a pitiable way to live, as it assumes God can only motivate humans by fear. The latter is equally pitiable in the idea that a human can achieve an acceptable level of relative holiness in the presence of absolute, unequivocal righteousness of a perfectly holy God.

Even James, who some claim to teach that works add merit for salvation, conclusively asserts: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all” (James 2:10). Therefore, he agrees with Paul, that righteousness must come from some other means than human effort. Ergo, righteousness is credited based on faith, not on a person’s works.

Lord, I can never remind myself enough of this great truth. My righteousness is not something I deserve, but You have given it to me through faith.