Text: Romans 4:1-25
Title: Abraham as an Example of Salvation through Faith
Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 "BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. 8 "BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT." 9 Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." 10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. 16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, "A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU") in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, "SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE." 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
I. Abraham was not justified by works- 1-2
II. Abraham was justified by faith- 3-8
III. Abraham was justified prior to circumcision- 9-12
IV. Abraham had faith in God’s promises- 13-21
V. Abraham’s faith is an example for us- 22-25
Promises are very important things. How we deal with making and keeping promises says a lot bout our character and they reveal a lot about the kinds of things that we value. What are we willing to make promises about?
There is a bedtime story that I read to my girls that is all about a princes who makes a promise to a frog. The princess looses her beautiful golden ball in a pond and a frog offers to get it for her if she promises to be his friend. He wants to eat with her at the royal table, sleep on a silk cushion beside her bed, and for her to give him a kiss goodnight.
The princess quickly promises to grant the frogs requests, but as soon as she gets her ball back she takes off. Eventually the frog tracks her down and the princess’ father has a talk with her about the importance of keeping her promises.
She grudgingly agrees to keep her promises, and at the end when she gives him a kiss goodnight he turns into a handsome prince.
The moral of the story is all about the importance of honoring your word, keeping your promises, and being trustworthy.
The thing about promises is that they are only as good as the person making the promise. Sometimes people are like the princess; they will make any promise to get what they want, with no real intention of keeping that promise. With the current presidential race heating up we’re guaranteed to see plenty of examples of this.
Some people make promises that they don’t have the ability to keep even if they wanted to. I’m reminded of the example of Satan offering Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. How absurd that seems. Jesus Christ is the creator and sustainer of the universe. Satan offering the kingdoms of the earth to Jesus is like me offering to sell you your own car.
Some people make so many promises that they can’t possibly keep them all. There is a saying that those who are quick to make a vow will also be quick to break their vow.
A promise is only as good as the person making the promise. That’s the reason that as a society we have to hire lawyers. To help us keep our promises. We now have contracts, and legal documents to help ensure that people will keep their promises.
Every promise requires an act of faith. If I promise to pay you back next week if you lend me $100, you are placing your faith in me in a couple of ways. You are having faith in my trustworthiness. Do I seem like someone who will keep my word?
Second, you are putting your faith in my ability to pay you back. Will I have $100 next week? If I don’t have it this week what’s going to change next week?
We make promises to each other all the time. And usually we don’t have too much trouble trusting the person making the promise. In the passage we are reading today we will see that trusting in promises was the basis for salvation in the OT.
The passage we will read today is a case study in salvation by faith. In the last part of chapter 3 Paul has explained how salvation is not a result of keeping the law, but faith. Here in chapter 4 he continues that argument. He uses the story of Abraham to illustrate that salvation has always been about faith in God, not works.
God made some specific promises to Abraham; and Abraham believed God. That’s all God asked for. That’s all He asks from us. Abraham was not saved because of his service, or his circumcision, or some other work, Abraham was right with God because He was able to place his faith in the promises that God made to him.
There is a big chunk of text to get through today, so let’s dig in. Please look at the first two verses with me….
The first thing we learn from this passage is that Abraham was not justified by works. This is not a new idea. Paul has been teaching about justification by faith apart from the law for a couple of chapters now. This isn’t too earth shattering of a revelation for us.
However, for the Jewish people this would have been a very different idea. They believed that Abraham was chosen by God because of his obedience. In other words, God chose him because he did the right things. They believed that God blessed Abraham because he got circumcised, did the things that God told him to do, and kept the law.
A number of non-canonical Jewish writings claim that Abraham was justified by keeping the law. Paul refutes this idea by continuing the same line of argument that he started back in chapter 3.
Up in verse 27 Paul says, what do we have do brag about? Nothing. We did not save ourselves, God saved us. In the same way, Abraham didn’t have anything to brag about, he didn’t do anything, God did it all. All Abraham did was believe God’s promises. So in the next few verses we see that Abraham was justified by faith. Look at 3-8 with me…
First of all, verse 3 says, ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Abraham’s righteousness was not earned or worked for, but credited to his account. God said to Abraham, “I am God, this is what I am like, this is what I want to give you” and Abraham simply believed Him. He trusted God’s promises. His imperfect faith in God was all it took for God to consider Him righteous.
In the next verse Paul explains the difference between working for something and accepting a free gift.
The one who works doesn’t get grace, but a salary. What he earns isn’t a gift; it is something he worked for. It is not free. If you want to try and earn your righteousness by working for it, you might get some earthly reward from men for it, but you won’t receive God’s grace.
This is one of the biggest problems with cults of Christianity and Catholicism, and any other belief system that says that what you do can appease God’s wrath, or earn you His favor, or cause you to deserve a place in heaven. Any religious system that teaches that works are required for salvation is fatally flawed.
Paul is so completely clear here that salvation is not about us. It never was, and it never will be. Even Abraham, the Jewish model of obedience and good works, was not made right with God because of those good works. He was considered righteous because he believed God, nothing more.
In verses 6-8 Paul takes his argument a step further by explaining that even David understood that salvation was by grace through faith. Not only was Abraham, the patriarch of the entire nation of Israel saved by faith, so was their greatest king.
This quote is from King David in Psalm 32. David has been confronted about his infidelity with Bathsheba and his murder of her husband. He has realized his sin and his guilty standing before God. He realizes that God would be perfectly just in punishing him. David repents of his sin and cries out to God for mercy and grace, even though he knows he has done nothing to deserve God’s grace.
David says, blessed is the person whose lawless deeds are forgiven. Blessed is the person whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the person whose sin will not be taken into account. Only God’s grace can forgive sins, and only through Christ’s righteousness can our sins be covered over. Like I mentioned last week, God doesn’t ignore sin, He will judge it. But for those who have placed their faith in the work of Christ, rather than their own work, Christ’s righteousness covers us.
In the next few verses Paul argues that Abraham’s justification came prior to circumcision. Follow along as I read verses 9-12…
Here Paul just makes a simple case from the OT timeline of Abraham’s life. He makes a great point here that is devastating to those who think that salvation is tied to circumcision. Paul asks the question, “When the Bible says ‘faith was credited to him as righteousness’ was that before or after he was circumcised? That quote about Abraham’s faith being credited to him as righteousness is found in Genesis 15:6; the covenant of circumcision doesn’t take place until chapter 17.
So Abraham was right in the sight of God long before the sign of circumcision. Abraham was saved by faith. In the same way, anyone who has faith in God will receive the same blessing. Circumcision came as an act of obedience, after Abraham had believed God.
The central idea in this chapter is the fact that Abraham believed God. God made some promises to Abraham and Abraham believed God’s promises. Even though those promises might have been hard to believe, Abraham trusted God. He had faith in the one making the promises. He knew that God had the character and the ability to keep his promises. Look at 13-21 with me…
I want us to camp out here for a minute because this is just so completely amazing. What we learn about God’s plan of redemption from Abraham is significant. We’ve been peeling an onion here, and now we are getting down to the heart of the matter.
In the last part of chapter three we peeled away at these significant theological terms like justification and redemption, and propitiation. In chapter four Paul drills down to bedrock. I have to admit that as I was studying this I had a number of those great moments of understanding and realization. I saw deeper layers to my own salvation and it gave me a renewed sense of appreciation and gratitude for all that God has done for me.
What Paul is trying to communicate is that Abraham was saved in the same way that Christians are saved, by believing God’s promises. God spoke to Abraham and presented Him with an early for of the gospel Abraham had the option of believing God or rejecting Him. Each one of us has that some choice to make. God has made us a promise; we have the option of believing it, or rejecting it.
In order to understand what I mean a little better we need to look at the promises that God made to Abraham.
First, God promised Abraham land. In Genesis 15 God promised to give Abraham the fertile land of Canaan. That’s why it was called the promised land. His descendants finally took possession of the land five hundred years later.
Second, God promised Abraham many descendants. Abraham is the father of many nations.
Third, God promised to bless the whole world through Abraham. This promise was fulfilled with the coming of Christ.
Abraham’s faith in these promises of God are the basis for his salvation. It really isn’t about what he did, but what God promised to do. Paul explains this more over in Galatians 3…
Galatians 3:8-9 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "ALL THE NATIONS WILL BE BLESSED IN YOU." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
This seems so simple, so obvious, but it is still so amazing. All he did was believe God’s promises. Who wouldn’t? Who in there right mind would reject the promises that God makes? Why would anyone pass on a God who simply wants us to believe the promises He makes to us.
Verse 18 is interesting, It says Abraham hoped against hope. It seemed like too much. It didn’t seem real. Would God really do all that He said He would do? Abraham could have reasoned his way out of believing. He could have second guessed God. He could have outright rejected God. Instead Abraham said, “Ok God, if you promise to lead I promise to follow.
The last thing we see from this chapter is that Abraham’s faith is and example for us. The story of Abraham believing in God’s promises should help us have the confidence to also trust in God’s promises. Look at verses 22-25…
Just like God promised to bless Abraham, God has made a promise to each and every one of us. Most of you know all about it. Most of you have put your faith in that promise. But just in case you don’t think God has promised you anything, let me read a familiar passage from the book of John…
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
On Thursday I was working on my sermon and I stopped to take a break and happened to check my mailbox. In the mail was this little booklet. The title is “The 3:16 Promise”. It’s a condensed version of a book written by Max Lucado. He sees John 3:16 as the “hope diamond of the Bible”.
It’s a small book, and I read through it quickly. His premise is that God has made us a very simple promise. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ will not perish, but have eternal life. The promise is of life, all we have to do is say, “OK God, I trust you.”
It seems too easy or too simple. That’s why people prefer a method of salvation that says, “whoever works for Him will have eternal life”; or “whoever appeases His wrath will have eternal life” But the key word here isn’t work it’s believe.
Because God loves us He makes us that promise of eternal life. And He can make us that promise because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. God has both the desire and the ability to save us. Even though we are His enemies and weighed down by our own sin, God makes us this offer. He makes us a promise.
Have you trusted God to keep His promises? Have you truly put your trust in Him? It’s not hard to do, but there are plenty of people out there, and maybe even in here, who haven’t really trusted God. You say you trust God, but you have absolutely no desire to follow Him, to let Him lead your life, to allow Him to transform you. You say you believe His promises, but you are still looking for something else to make you happy or fulfill you.
If you are at a point in your life where you have heard the promises of God and you are ready to really put your faith in them then let God know. Cry out to Him and let Him know that you believe that what He has promised is true. Let God know that you are willing to follow wherever He leads.
If you still aren’t sure and would like some more information I would be happy to give you this book. I only have the one copy today, but I can easily get more. It will give you more information about the promise that God makes to us in John 3:16.
For those of us who have already accepted the promise, it’s time for us to share it with others. God didn’t just make that promise for you, it’s for everyone. And God wants you to share it with others. He wants you to pass it on. Make the most of every opportunity that God gives you to share this promise.
I love the book of Romans because it is such a great mix of deep theology and simple truth, all at the same time. We will learn all about the depths of our salvation, and also see just how easy it is to access it. It’s all about faith in a promise.
1 John 2:25 25 This is the promise which He Himself made to us: eternal life.
