Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

                                                                                                                     Romans 4:4-5 

Today’s passage is a nice companion to what we have already seen. In addition to our justification coming by faith in Jesus, our righteousness is also credited to us through our faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

For many, righteousness has to do with how we live our lives and the good things that we do. It is also thought of as the avoidance of things considered evil. While the Christian life should be marked by desire to pursue godliness and Christ-likeness, while avoiding habitual sinful behavior, the righteousness of which Paul speaks in this passage has to do with being in right standing with God. This position of being right with God, like justification, is given to us as a gift through our faith in Christ. Paul contrasts the idea of “working” for our righteousness with that of simply receiving it. Consider Paul’s first statement:

Now to the one who works (for his salvation), his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.  

Two things that we need to consider from this passage. First, anything that we claim to have done as a “work” for God are things that we should have already been doing in the first place. For example, we could brag that we have been faithful to our spouse but the truth is that fidelity is something already expected in marital vows. We could talk of loving others around us but that is something that God already expects of us when we claim the name of Jesus. There is nothing that we can do as a “work” that is not already something expected.

Secondly, and this seems to be Paul’s main point, receiving a “wage” for work completed makes the wage something owed to the “worker” and strips away any possibility of it being considered a favor. In other words, this mindset would suggest that righteousness is something that can be earned rather than receiving it from God as a favor. Contrast that philosophy with Paul’s statement on how righteousness is actually achieved:

But to the one who does not work (for his salvation), but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. 

Notice that it is believing in Jesus’ finished work on the cross as a means of gaining right standing with God that brings about righteousness. It is our faith in Him alone that allows God to credit righteousness to our spiritual account. And all of this is done completely apart form works done by us. That is because this righteousness (right standing with God) is accomplished by Christ for us.

That leaves us with a choice. We can either approach life with the idea that we must perform to be considered righteous (a common message within religious systems) or we can simply receive righteousness by faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

The reason why getting this right is so important is that we have a spiritual enemy who loves to see if he can derail our lives by reminding us of our failures and sin. But when we understand that we have been justified by our faith in Christ and when we declare that we are righteous because of Jesus, completely apart from our performance, we have what is necessary to do spiritual battle against our enemy. This is, in part, what it means to use the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16). So it is our faith in Christ that makes us righteous and this is the spiritual reality for us even when we feel anything but righteous.

Have you been declared righteous by God?