Counted for righteousness

Today’s readings:
Genesis 12-15; Psalm 148; Mark 5

Genesis 15:6
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

Aha! There you have it - righteousness comes about by believing.

What about the unclean spirits/demons that we read of? Didn’t they too believe in the Lord? Why was it not counted for righteousness?

And again, we cannot emphasize the importance of context. Paul alluded to this very statement about Abraham not once, but on two occasions (Gal 3; Rom 4) and both were used to explain and clarify misunderstandings the Jewish converts had about the Old Law.
The newly minted Christian converts were still trying to hold on to their Jewish heritage, priding themselves and even looking down on their Gentile brethren. It was a prejudice so serious and deep rooted that even the apostle Peter was caught up with (c.f. Gal 2:12-14).
The fact that Paul used this very quotation about Abraham was simply to highlight the reality that from very the beginning, righteousness was imputed by belief AND it was to be an active continuous act. Not some trophy, or as popularized by modern day gaming jargon - “achievement unlocked” that one can sit on and bask in!
Abraham continually DEMONSTRATED his belief by obedient action. He did not merely sit on the promises by God.
Works of the letter, I.e. ceremonial acts, could never save. Even under the Old Law, the concept that God perpetuated was obedience over sacrifice! (C.f. 1Sa 15:22)

But guess what? The same it is for us today. We too can allow ourselves to “rest on the laurels” by being indifferent and lukewarm Christians! We’ve read just last month about the churches who were rebuked by Christ in revelation 2,3. One thing that kept coming up was the emphasis on works! Again, not works of the letter but obedient works, of the same vein as what Abraham did, that James mentioned being the divide between us and demons, that we need to carry out for the rest of our lives to be pleasing to Him.

Let us not grow weary and prideful, but let us be diligent and zealous to allow God’s righteousness to be continually imputed upon us.