General News
14 June, 2026
In good faith
IN GOOD FAITH: Romans 4:13-24 - How are we saved? This is a simple question, but the answer given is often wrong.
But first, why is being saved even necessary? If we can’t agree that we need saving, then any discussion about it is doomed to failure.
Even those who do not share the Christian faith must agree that there is something wrong with the world.
Why are there natural disasters, sickness, pain, old age, even death? These aren’t part of God’s plan. As much as people sometimes blame God for them, He is not responsible for them, He is not the worker of evil – but He does save us from evil.
But how does that happen for us?
Abraham is the ancestor of the Israelis and Arabs of today. You may think that because he obeyed God so well, followed all the precepts and directions, all the laws of God, he must have gained God’s favour, surely! The answer is a resounding No! For ‘If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about - but not before God’ (Rom. 4:2).
Anyone who thinks that they can keep God’s laws and get into heaven is mistaken. Not you or me, not even the great patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac or Jacob can keep God’s laws perfectly enough.
Have you never spoken ill of another person? Have you feared, loved and trusted God above everything else, faultlessly? No, Then you are guilty of breaking God’s law – and so am I.
So how are we saved? Not because of what we do, but because of what Jesus does for us.
Jesus was perfect God and perfect man. He lived a life of perfect obedience to God’s commands and laws in a way that is impossible for us.
He gave up His life to satisfy God’s righteous demand that sinners die – even though He was not a sinner – and God credits us with Jesus’ righteousness through faith.
Think of Abraham again: ‘It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith’ (Rom. 4:13).
Abraham trusted in God’s promises. He took God at His word. He trusted that God would keep His promise regarding the descendant he would have in whom the whole earth would be blessed – his grandson 42 times over, Jesus Christ.
Being saved depends from first to last not on what we do for God, but on what God does for us! It is through faith in Jesus Christ as our Saviour from sin and death by which God counts us as right in His sight!
In the face of the temptation to work our way into God’s favour, remember that we are saved by God’s grace through faith. Remember that faith is a gift, freely granted by God’s love.
This is the foundation of the Christian faith, the centre of everything we believe. Jesus Christ died to satisfy God’s requirement for obedience. And by faith in what Jesus did, God looks on us as righteous also.
Treasure the faith you have been given, because it is the gateway into God’s presence!
Contributed by Lucas Matuschka.