Counted Righteous

“Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Galatians 3:6-9

Abraham was not perfect. There were many times that his faith was weak, and there were times that he did things that he should not have done, but Abraham is definitely revered in the Bible as a righteous person. He has been called the friend of God, the father of the faithful, and the father of the nation of Israel. Generation after generation has looked to him as the ultimate example of faith, but he definitely was not without fault. In the passage above, we see that he was counted righteous because of his faith. Perhaps the greatest example of faith in Abraham’s life was when he took his son Isaac up the mountain to sacrifice him on the altar as God had instructed. Abraham and Sarah had waited for so many years to have the son that God had promised to them, and now God had commanded Abraham to sacrifice him. Abraham’s faith had faltered at times in the past, but that day he demonstrated that he believed that God would keep His promise. We need the same kind of faith. God has promised us salvation through the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ. Our faith must rest upon God’s promise in order for us to be counted righteous.