Let's think for a moment about Abraham.

What if Abraham had declared that he believed God wanted him to conduct himself in a blameless manner, but he was righteous already because previously he had believed the promise of God and had been declared righteous; therefore he was not obligated to obey God's commandment? Would God still regard him as righteous? I think not! Yet, this is the pattern in too many instances in our day. We do not have to keep God's commandments because we already have been declared righteous because of our belief in Christ, and the next stop is Heaven.

How totally, absurdly unscriptural!

But let's proceed.

The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me." (Genesis 22:15-18—NIV)

Abraham received the blessing, not because he believed but because he obeyed.

Abraham received fruitfulness, not because he believed but because he obeyed.

Abraham received dominion over his enemies, not because he believed but because he obeyed.

Abraham received the ability to minister the blessing of the Spirit of God to other people, not because he believed but because he obeyed.

Blessing, fruitfulness, dominion, and the ability to communicate the Spirit of God were the result of obedience, not of belief, just as is true today.

Why, then, did the Apostle Paul single out one aspect of the Kingdom of God—righteousness, and the role of belief in the Divine promise as the means of obtaining righteousness, and then ignore all the other aspects of the Kingdom of God that Abraham obtained by obedience?

The reason is, Paul was addressing Jews. They were gaining righteousness by obeying the Law of Moses. In order to start them on the program of salvation they had to be persuaded they could be righteous apart from keeping the Law of Moses—a tremendous issue with them.

However, when considering Paul's teaching concerning obtaining righteousness by belief we are speaking only of three chapters of the Book of Romans. The rest of Paul's writings contain numerous commandments—none of which can be ignored without affecting our salvation. We simply have to obey Christ and His Apostles if we expect to enter the Kingdom of God.

Belief has its role. So does obedience to the commandments. We cannot emphasize the one and ignore the other and expect God to be pleased with us. This should be clear to anyone who has studied the New Testament.

Now, we know righteousness can come by believing the promises of God. But righteousness can come also by obeying the commandments of God.

You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend. (James 2:22,23—NIV)

To be continued.