God desires simple trust; complete yieldness to His Word and He loves us, even when we don't deserve it.

When was Abram made righteous?  Why?

Two great themes of the Bible -- salvation made possible through righteousness.

The self-righteous don't know they are.

The legalists don't know they are.

If we rely on our right actions, we will fail.

Gen 12:1-4, 15:1-6  Abram was righteous because of faith/belief.

Gen 26:5 was a result of the faith that led to righteousness, not the cause.

Gen 17:9-11 external sign of the covenant.

God doesn't wait for us to change so He can love us, but wants to love us so He can change us.

When you don't feel someone's love, you try to please and accommodate, "if I just do this or that..." -- not so with God.  He loves us while we were stil sinners.

Rom 4:13 hupochesis - a promise based on conditions (like Deut 28)

Rom 4:13 epagellia - a promise made out of the goodness of one's heart - a diametric opposite to legalism.  ("If I do this, God will love me.")

Because we believe in the sacrificial blood of Jesus, we yield to the will of God.  Our right actions are not a cause of being saved, but a result of being in the process of salvation.