Romans 4:6-13
6So also David speaks of the blessedness of those to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7“Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8blessed is the one against whom the Lord will not reckon sin.” 9Is this blessedness, then, pronounced only on the circumcised, or also on the uncircumcised? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the ancestor of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them, 12and likewise the ancestor of the circumcised who are not only circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our ancestor Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
In the first part of this passage, Paul quotes David’s Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2. Then Paul asks the question, “Was Abraham blessed because he had demonstrated his faith by being circumcised?”. And Paul answers the question by saying that Abraham was blessed because of his faith alone, not because of anything that Abraham did. Paul goes on to say that God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations was simply and solely due to Abraham’s faith, and not in return for what Abraham had done in following the law.
Many of the men in our congregation are likely glad to hear that circumcision is not necessary to receive God’s blessing! But this passage raises at least two other questions: (1) In the course of our day-to-day lives, how are we attempting to demonstrate our faith? and (2) What positive actions are we undertaking in response to God’s blessing us?
Prayer: Dear God, we thank you for our many blessings! Please show us how we might live in gratitude for our blessings from you. We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.
—Gary Vig