Romans 4:1-2 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about– but not before God.

Have you ever tried to do something in your own strength? But you know that you needed more help. Say forinstance, you are trying to lift a heavy rock. It would be the wise thing to ask for help. But if you are a typical man reading this, the last thing you want to do is ask for help. So you try and try and try again but it just doesn’t go where yo want it, does it? Sure it may move a few inches here and there but you can never pick it up to really get rid of it. Have you ever run into this in your daily life? I have. There is one sin that always seems to get in my way and no matter how much I try to move that sin out of my life, I can never quite get rid of it. Take this passage for instance. If, in fact, Justin was justifed by works, he had something to boast about. If my righteousness came as a result of my works, attempts, tries, then of course I would have something to boast about. It was me who did it. It was me who not only moved the rock but moved it forever out of my way. But have you ever worked out so much that for days later you are hurting. This is what we do to ourselves when we try to do things in our own power. See our power=no power. We can’t live our life on our own. It brings pain and hurt. It brings it to the point that we dont’ want to go back to living under any other power, especially God’s power. Jesus says , “Without me, you can do nothing.” I want to believe that as not being true. I can do everything without him. But the pain…

I want to come back. I want to say that God can brag about what He has done in me and through me. I want to boast in Jesus Christ and no one else.