Today’s reading is Romans 4: 13-25

Now Paul is stressing his next point.  He’s such a good lawyer; his training shows itself over and over in Romans.  We now all agree that what made Abraham righteous was not his religious actions or the sign of circumcision.  We see Paul make this point again, once more, in today’s reading. What makes Abraham righteous was his faith, and his faith came before circumcision or the law or any such thing.  Faith is righteousness.  We hear that over and over again through Paul.

Faith is what leads us into that righteousness of God.  Not the law or anything such as that.  So, here is the question.  Who are the true followers of Abraham?  Are they the ones that walk by the law?  Or are they those that walk by faith?  Paul is beginning to tell us that the true children and followers of Abraham are those that follow by faith.  In other words, so all of us that walk by faith, both Jews and Gentiles, we are the children of Abraham. For us today that are Gentiles, we are part of Abraham’s family.  Not by blood or by outward signs, but by faith.

It is faith that unites us and saves us and makes us one.  Paul wants the people to see that all who have faith, whether they be Jews or Gentiles are the children of Abraham. That is true for us today.  We are also the children of Abraham. His story is our story, as well.  His faith is our faith, as well.  We have the hope, that heritage, that story, that faith today.

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