One of the challenges of the early Church was that it consisted of both Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles were pagan and the Jews were well-versed in the Old Testament. They lived in two different cultures and occupied two different worlds. Into that mixture of world views, the Christian era was launched. When Jesus died and rose again the entire world was changed. The apostle Paul was commissioned by God to carry the Christian good news to the Gentile world. He was the perfect choice because he grasped the truth of the Old Testament and was able to bring a message consistent with its truth while introducing the Jewish Messiah to the Gentile world without weighing it down with the corruptions of its message in his present day.
To Paul, grace is the great leveler. From the Old Testament, he pointed to faith in God’s grace as the great truth that makes God’s promised Messiah, His Son Jesus, the key to the salvation of all of us whether Jew or Gentile. While we may have different heritages we share one common problem. We’re all sinners and we all can only be saved by God’s grace. That grace can only be accessed the same way Abraham accessed it in the Old Testament. That is by faith, not by our works and human effort. Here is Paul’s answer to the question of how Jews and Gentiles (and that means all of us) can access salvation.
“Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all” (Romans 4:16).
“All those who have the faith of Abraham” means every Jew and every Gentile can receive the gift of God’s grace that declares us to be righteous by faith. God’s promise comes by faith alone and that means it is a gift of grace. Even more, it is guaranteed to all who believe. We receive God’s promise the same way Abraham did because he is the father of us all who believe, both Gentiles and Jews. The only way any of us can receive salvation is by the gift of God’s grace. We can’t earn it by our performance. The promise of salvation is based on faith in God’s promise and not our efforts. That promise was made to Abraham before the law was even given.
“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6).
God didn’t declare Abraham to be righteous because of his perfect performance. He declared Abraham to be righteous because he believed God’s promise even though it seemed naturally impossible. That is a lesson for all of us as Paul points out. God makes a promise and we believe. He promised that He would send His Son to save us and we believe that He declares us righteous. That is a driving thought of Paul’s letter to the Roman Church. For those who think that keeping the law is the way to secure salvation, the message in Hebrews is clear. The law made nothing perfect. “
The former regulation is set aside because it weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God” (Hebrews 7:18-19).
The law was God’s way of showing us how much we need salvation. No one but Jesus has ever kept it completely. Salvation by grace and our faith in Jesus was always God’s plan to save us. Here is the good news for all of us. Salvation is a gift of God’s grace. We receive it by faith. We don’t earn it by our good works but we believe in what Jesus has done for us. It’s the best news any of us will ever hear.
