Unlimited: Written for Us
Aug 3, 2022 857
The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness (Romans 4:23–24a)
The Greek word here translated as “credited” is translated as “imputed” in older translations of the Bible. It means to count or to reckon something as such. It means to “count something as.” It works like this: we aren’t righteous, but God counts us as being righteous.
Here is an illustration of how “crediting” works.
Let’s say that one morning you wake up and check your bank account, and you see that a deposit of a million dollars has been deposited into your account. You ring the bank, and say, “There must have been some mistake.” But the bank says, “No, there hasn’t been a mistake. Someone wanted you to have this as a gift.” You never earned it, and you never did anything to deserve it. That’s what “credited” means.
The words “it was credited to him” were also written for us.
Having focused on the story of Abraham for a while, Paul pivots to us, who are reading Paul’s letter today. He now applies Abraham’s experience to our lives (1 Cor. 10:11.)
Paul is saying that just as righteousness was credit to Abraham, righteousness is also credited to us when we trust in Jesus. To make sure that we understand that we obtain righteousness only when it is credited to us, Paul repeats this idea several times in this chapter (vv.3,5–6,9–11, 23–24.).
Spiritual Application
Have you ever received a great gift that you never expected? How did it transform your life? How excited were you about it? How grateful are you for the righteousness that God has credited to you?
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