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#13.
Counted, and counted for (Rom. 4: 3-8).
pp. 79, 80
In answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?"
the apostle says,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ".
FAITH, OR BELIEVING.--Go through the Gospels and Epistles noting the many
references which link salvation, eternal life, justification, etc., with faith or believing.
Keep a note of all the passages. Now go through these references again, this time to see
who or what is believed. Faith will be found to rest usually in God, His Word, the Person
and redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn now to Rom. 4: 3-8, "Abraham
believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness". Here the faith of
Abraham was "counted for". Verse 5 uses the term again in connection with faith.
In verses 4, 6 and 8 the words "reckoned" (4), "imputed" (6), and "impute" (8), are
all the same as "counted", but observe the essential difference--there is no word "for".
Faith is "counted" FOR something else, but faith is not reckoned AS righteousness, for it
is not. Reward (4), Righteousness (6), Sin (8), are not "counted FOR" something else,
but are "counted" themselves, but faith is only of value when it rests in Christ.
To illustrate this important difference consider a £1 Treasury Note, a 20/- Postal
Order, and a Sovereign. The Treasury Note, or the Postal Order, we say are worth £1.
But are they worth £1 in the same way that a Sovereign is? Should the Treasury Note be
put upon the fire it would ceases, but should a Sovereign be placed in the fire it would
still present £1 worth of gold. The Sovereign, then, can be "counted" a pound, whereas
the paper money can only be "counted for" a pound. While the Government pledges
itself to honour the Note it is of value, but its value is not intrinsic, its value is relative.
Faith itself is of no more value than making vows, praying prayers, or attempting good
works. Faith is only of value because it is connected with the finished work of Christ.
That is the bullion in the Bank of God which alone makes faith what it is. Should God at
any time link salvation with anything else, faith would contain no saving power of itself.
To carry out thoroughly the earlier suggestion of this paper it is necessary to use a
Concordance, and the child should be made familiar with one as soon as it has the
necessary ability to read and understand. Later on we hope to give some assistance to
parents in guiding and encouraging the child to use and appreciate a concordance.