Enjoy Life, Enjoy God

CREDIT

January 5, 2010

I'm no accountant. But a credit, simply put, is something that is on account, in other words, owed to you.

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Abraham believed the Lord, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
- Genesis 15:6 TNIV
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This Old Testament patriarch, Abraham, teaches us about New Testament faith in Christ. It's not our merit, our works, that put us right with God, but trusting, believing God's promise--that puts a credit of righteousness on our account. Yet this fantastic, but strange story in Genesis 15 has Abraham questioning God: "How do I know you will keep your promise?" To which God asks Abraham to offer a sacrifice--he chops in two a cow, a goat, a sheep, a dove and a pigeon, and Abraham arranges the two pieces of each dead animal opposite one another with a path in between. That night a fiery torch passes down that path, and Abraham witnesses it all. God says in that torch, "If I do not keep my promise, may I be like these dead animals, chopped in two.

In doing so, God covenanted with Abraham, and Abraham believed God--and it was credited to him as righteousness--he was right with his God. God has made that same covenant with all who put their faith in him.
Joyfully,

Dale Patterson