When I was in seminary, one of my professors said that Romans 4:5 was, in his estimation, the most important verse in the whole Bible. That’s a bold claim, but I’m inclined to agree with him. Because if you get Romans 4:5, you get the gospel. But if you don’t grasp what Paul is saying, chances are you’ve wrapped Christian language around a system of works. It all hinges on one word: credited.
“To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”
Romans 4:5
The Greek word for “credited” is logizomai. We translate it “credited,” “counted,” or (for the old school among us) “reckoned.” It’s an accounting term, and literally means that we treat something as existing, even though it technically doesn’t. It’s a little confusing, so it’s probably best to first show what “credited” doesn’t mean.
1. “Credited” doesn’t mean that faith MAKES people righteous.
Paul is talking about Abraham in Romans 4, and all you have to do is look at Abraham’s life to see that his faith didn’t automatically make him a righteous man. Even after his moment of faith, he would be plagued with all kinds of inconsistency and compromise. He doubted God’s word and slept with his servant (instead of his wife) to try to produce an heir. And on at least two occasions, he abandoned his wife to powerful kings to do with her whatever they pleased. By God’s grace, those kings never did take advantage of her…but Abraham is still a dirt bag for creating the opportunity.
All of this happens after Abraham’s declaration of faith in Genesis 15:6. So Abraham’s faith being credited to him as righteousness doesn’t mean he starts acting righteously.
2. “Credited” doesn’t mean that faith IS righteousness.
Some people treat faith as the chief of all virtues, the one thing that matters to God. For these folks, as long as you have faith, nothing else really matters. Sure, God wants us to pursue justice, to give generously, to be kind, and to tell the truth…but what he really wants to see us do is exercise faith. Faith, in this view, becomes the gold standard of obedience.
But think about it: if we’re ranking virtues, which one should be on top? Not faith. As Paul said, the chief of all virtues is love. In fact, he said that faith without love was literally worthless (1 Cor 13). Jesus, too, summarized the entirety of the law by saying, “Love the Lord your God.”
Faith is important—crucially, centrally, eternally important. But let’s not make the mistake of assuming that faith is some impressive work that God just likes better than the other virtues.
So what does “credited” mean?
3. “Credited” means that God COUNTS our faith as righteousness, even though it is not.
Both of the previous views are essentially some form of works. Either faith produces righteousness or faith is righteousness—but either way, we think God will be pleased with us because we’re doing good things. He won’t.
Righteousness isn’t something we achieve. It’s something we receive. It’s a gift that God gives us on the basis of faith, and not something we earn.
The best analogy I’ve heard for this is the wild card. When you’re playing a card game, you can decide to treat a certain card (Deuces, Jokers, etc.) as wild, meaning that whenever that card comes up, it counts as something else. You credit it with the value of an 8 or a King or whatever.
Don’t be deceived, though. Our faith in Christ isn’t an arbitrary rubric that God simply “made up” as the way of salvation. There’s a logic to it, because true faith is a declaration of our bankruptcy. It’s us saying to God, “I have to trust you because I know I have nothing else to offer.” When we see faith like this, we realize that faith isn’t exactly a virtue; it’s actually a declaration that we have no virtue.
When we trust in Jesus’ finished work for our salvation, God counts that as righteousness. It’s not an inherently righteous act. But God looks at it and says, “Now I can credit you with Christ’s righteousness. Now that you come to me with empty hands, I can finally fill them.” God doesn’t look at our lives and see the number of prayers we’ve prayed, the amount of money we’ve given, or the depth of our devotion to him. When we exercise faith, God sees Jesus’ perfect record.
This is the gift righteousness of God, the endless wonder that separates the gospel from every other path of salvation. Other religions say, “Do this and you’ll earn your way to heaven.” But only the gospel says, “It’s already done. Come broken, come sinful, come empty … and receive life eternal.”
For more, be sure to listen to the entire message here.
