Rom 4:4-5 (NIV) Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Now when a man works: Before you came to God, your whole life was dependent on you working. If anything was going to get done, you were going to have to make it happen. But, do to the fact that Jesus is alive, you aren’t involved in a self-help religion. It isn’t what you can do for Jesus, it is what Jesus can do for you; you are involved in a relationship. Plus, you are involved in a relationship that requires supernatural help. Natural human effort isn’t going to bring the results you need for yourself, other people, or God’s plan; it is going to take supernatural power.

Now when a man works, his wages are NOT credited to him as a gift: We are used to earning a living, establishing a source of income, earning our keep, and establishing our worth. We don’t like handouts, charity, or welfare; we typically get our worth and see our value in what we can produce for ourselves. Gifts can be offensive to us; we can feel like a charity case. But, this isn’t how our heavenly Father looks at us. Just like we support our family, so does God. When we have members in our family who are too young to make a contribution to the family, we don’t mind supporting them for free. We will do for our children things we won’t do for anyone else. That’s the way God is.

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation: God is never going to get into a place where He owes us something. He will never be obliged to do what we demand of Him. Our knowledge, understanding, and wisdom are far below the intelligence of God. If He ever got into an obligated relationship with us, we would make foolish, infantile, and inferior demands on Him. Our relationship with Him must be on the basis of gifts; or, we will try to gain the upper hand. Plus, we would never be able to work hard enough to afford the things of God.

However, to the man who does not work: If we have children in our home, we may require that they clean their room. We may give them an allowance “because” they did some chores around the house. But, their “work” would be nothing in comparison to the rewards. All their clothing, food, housing, transportation, utilities, insurance, education, entertainment, and care would me MUCH MORE than the “work” they did. There are some things your heavenly Father requires that you do; but, they are NOTHING in comparison to your rewards and His provisions.

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked: This is when we finally end up in the prison of spiritual disease, habits, a bad lifestyle, and addictions. We have problems we have gotten ourselves into that we cannot solve. It is like we are arrested and are given “one phone call.” So, we cry out to Jesus and He rescues us from all the penalties of sin. We are set free, brought home, given a new life, and empowered to live as a child of God. We go from wickedness to a life of only doing good to ourselves, other people, and God’s plan.

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness: When we do spiritual work trying to get into a right relationship with God, our faith is in our own efforts. But, when we look to God for His power and provisions to BRING us into a right relationship with Him, our faith is in God. If our faith is invested in anything other than God, it is unacceptable to God. BUT, if we DO place our faith in God, our faith is credited as righteousness.

Righteousness is only doing right and good things to ourselves, other people, and God’s plan. It is also NOT doing ANYTHING that is wrong, bad, or evil to ourselves, other people, or God’s plan. If our faith is credited as righteousness, then all we had to do was believe that God and the Bible were telling us the truth. AND, when we prayed all the parts of Matthew 6:9-13 and obeyed Romans 10:8-10, we BELIEVED we were saved and justified; that made us a born again child of God. But, it was vital that we believed that was true of us. When we did, it was credited to us as righteousness.