Counted As Righteous

For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. Romans 4:3-5

AT SOME POINT we begin to teach our children how a bank account works. There are deposits and withdrawals, debits and credits. Banking also provides an illustration to help our children understand what it means to be a Christian.

Paul uses an accounting analogy when he says that Abraham was counted as righteous. In other words, when Abraham believed God, a credit was made to his spiritual account. God didn’t merely pretend that there was some righteousness in Abraham’s account; he made an actual deposit. Long before Jesus came and lived a righteous life —but in anticipation of that righteous life —God credited the righteousness of Christ to Abraham’s account. He didn’t pay Abraham for something he had earned. The righteousness of Christ was placed in his account as a gift.

This is the deposit we long to see made to our child’s account. We know what our child has earned —the same thing we’ve earned, the same thing every person has earned: “For the wages of sin is death.” So we’re asking for a gift —a gift that can only come from God, a transfer that can only be made by his hands. We’re asking for “the free gift of God . . . eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

Lord, I can never earn enough or save enough to make the kind of credit to ________’s account that must be made for ________ to be counted as righteous before you. I am bankrupt when it comes to the kind of righteousness that is needed. So I come to you asking that you would make a deposit of the perfect righteousness of Jesus to ________’s account. Make ________ rich with all the goodness of Jesus.