Devotion #2: Boasting?

“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’” Romans 4:1-3 

One of the problems with boasting is that while you are bragging, you are using up time when I could be talking about myself. I jest, but boasting or bragging is very self-serving and selfish. We need to be careful about only focusing on ourselves. In processing this, my mind revisits Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” I think we summarize it by saying, “Pride goes before a fall.” 

The word “boast” is used about 80 times in the Bible. In Romans chapter 4, Paul explains that the father of the Jewish nation (Abraham) was not even good enough in his own works to be deemed faultless. He has no claim to “boast.” Abraham was only able to be found righteous through faith in the coming Messiah (who we now know is Jesus). 

In Ephesians 2:8-9, Paul makes it more personal for us today, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Our salvation is all about Jesus. It is not about us. It is only about Jesus. We have no claim for boasting. Boasting focuses on ourselves when we should fix our eyes on Jesus. 

Paul takes another angle on boasting. In Galatians 6:14, he says, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Instead of boasting about ourselves, we should be bragging about how amazing the Lord is. He died for us. He knew everything about us (even our future flaws), and He still died for us. Our salvation is a “gift.” It is the best “gift” ever. 

Finally, Paul makes our expected response very clear in 2 Corinthians 10:17, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”