Righteousness of Faith

Abraham lived by simply trusting God. He wasn't perfect and he made mistakes but God blessed him  and it carried through to his son Isaac. God said to Isaac in Genesis 25:

3 Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father; 4 And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; 5 Because that Abraham obeyed my voice (Romans 10:17), and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. Genesis 25:3-5

13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. Romans 4:13-15 

At first glance, comparing these two records, it appears that they contradict each other. The 'righteousness of faith' supercedes anything done 'through the law'.

3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:3

It's nice to have a friend that you don't have to worry about offending every time you get together. This usually happens when there is respect, trust and love involved. If you had to worry about rules of engagement all the time it just would not be a vibrant relationship. The trust and love for each other would be empty, hollow or even false. The benefits from such a relationship would be nullified or just 'of none effect'.

Where ever people get rule-orientated, guilt, anger and frustration play a big role. The law alone perpetuates acknowledgement of sin.

In the first part of the book of Joshua, Joshua, Caleb and Rahab are great examples of how God related to people trusting him. God was relational to them. They trusted and believed Him. God was able to do a lot for and through them. They obeyed, kept God's charge out of faith and love.

Righteousness comes from the heart (Romans 10:9-10), not self-discipline. Righteousness does not come from patting ourselves on the back and looking in the mirror and saying "ya done good". A truly righteous heart usually says "that's amazing!" to God. When we become intimately tied to the actions of God through a relationship with Him and recognizing His son Jesus Christ as the head of the church we are blessed.