Faithful God

Romans 3:21-22a “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

The little study of “justification” that I have been sharing took a side study on the doctrine of faith (though faith has been parallel to us the entire way). The Christian faith is not a leap into the dark or a decision to trust God based on no evidence at all. The study points out that Christian faith is trust in the Lord for whom there are many evidences. Skeptics find that, after looking honestly and openly into the evidences, they see the fingerprints of Creator Father God everywhere and that it takes great denial of the facts present and false faith to believe in Atheism. When you truly look at the irreducible complexity within the Cosmos and the astronomically rare ecological ingredients required for life on Earth alone, one cannot help but see evidence of Designer and Creator God. Almighty God created everything with a plan and a purpose.

Romans 1:16-25 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness o God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’.   For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lust of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

But the study points out that we also have the evidence from redemptive history that shows us that the Lord is merciful and (though all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God) has not left humanity without a way of understanding how they can find salvation. God has created one people and one plan of salvation. God has been faithful to preserve this people from the first act of atonement He made for them in the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 3:21) until the present, and He will be faithful to us forevermore.

Proof of God’s faithfulness to His people is seen in the topic of the righteousness of God manifested in our justification. This righteousness is manifested apart from our doing of His law, but ‘the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it’. God was faithful to speak to His people and tell them of the Savior, and then He was faithful to accomplish what HE revealed. The Lord is faithful to keep His promises and give His people sure hope for their redemption. We can trust that He has not made it too difficult to know Him or His purposes. His testimony to Himself means we can know Him truly and can trust Him completely to fulfill His promises.

Blessed in God