Rom 4:4 and 5 are often viewed separately as many Bible versions split these verses with a new section title masking the beauty of the comparison that is breathtaking to me.
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness...
Work produces a debt, like the payday loan that is almost impossible to get rid of, whereas only basking in what HE has done for me demonstrates my righteousness.
No more debt for me. No more work. No more consideration of how I am doing. Isaiah 30:15 says, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Do you see it? I must stop the work, return to the truth of His death, burial, resurrection and bask in what that means. It's in my refraining from effort and focus on His FINISHED work that I may find strength....to do! Not as a requirement, not as a must, ought or should (don't should on me) but rather, I GET TO walk in every truth, I chose to LET His life be manifest in my daily walk. Some say it's semantics. YES! It is semantics and words DO matter.
Oswald Chambers says, "Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when it pleased God, who separated me…” (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. “Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3)." (My Utmost for His Highest, January 31).
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness...
Work produces a debt, like the payday loan that is almost impossible to get rid of, whereas only basking in what HE has done for me demonstrates my righteousness.
No more debt for me. No more work. No more consideration of how I am doing. Isaiah 30:15 says, "In returning and rest you shall be saved; In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” Do you see it? I must stop the work, return to the truth of His death, burial, resurrection and bask in what that means. It's in my refraining from effort and focus on His FINISHED work that I may find strength....to do! Not as a requirement, not as a must, ought or should (don't should on me) but rather, I GET TO walk in every truth, I chose to LET His life be manifest in my daily walk. Some say it's semantics. YES! It is semantics and words DO matter.
Oswald Chambers says, "Paul did not say that he separated himself, but “when it pleased God, who separated me…” (Galatians 1:15). Paul was not overly interested in his own character. And as long as our eyes are focused on our own personal holiness, we will never even get close to the full reality of redemption. Christian workers fail because they place their desire for their own holiness above their desire to know God. “Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” To talk that way is a sign that the reality of the gospel of God has not begun to touch me. There is no reckless abandon to God in that. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose— to proclaim the gospel of God (see Romans 9:3)." (My Utmost for His Highest, January 31).
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