Is faith in God important? Does our faith in Jesus Christ matter?
Paul has been stressing to his readers that we are all justified by faith in Jesus Christ, our only way of salvation.
• This was not a new, novel idea that he came up with. It was God’s plan for all men.
• Paul highlighted in Romans 4 two respected patriarchs of the Jews, Abraham and David, to prove the point that we are all justified by faith and not works.
4:3 “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”, which is a quotation from Gen 15 when God repeated His pledge to bless Abraham.
• David too was forgiven and justified because he believed God.
• He quoted David’s psalm (4:6): “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, sins are covered, against whom the Lord will not count his sin. (Psa 32:1-2)
Abraham was declared righteous by his faith (Gen 15) BEFORE he was circumcised (Gen 17), the sign of the covenant that God instituted.
• And it was also BEFORE the introduction of the Law (Exo 20), so clearly it was not obedience to the Law that makes Abraham righteous.
• David, on the other hand, has the LAW but could not keep it. He transgressed the Law many times but repented and God forgave him.
They were both justified by faith, not works; they were justified by grace, not Law.
• Both believed God and were justified by faith.
• God justifies them, with a view of the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.
From Abraham to David and to us today, God’s way of salvation for man has not changed. We are justified by faith in God’s provision of a sacrifice for our sin.
• We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
Faith in God is critical for our salvation and for our walk with God today.
• Paul continues to talk about Abraham’s faith in our text today. Let’s learn from him.
Rom 4:16-25 ESV Let’s read from verse 16 onwards.
16That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law [Jews] but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham [Gentiles], who is the father of us all, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead [power of resurrection] and calls into existence the things that do not exist [power of creation].
18In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” [Gen 15:6] 23But the words “it was counted to him” [NIV credited to him] were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Let us take a glance at Abraham’s life to appreciate his faith in God.
• It started with God giving him a promise in Gen 12:1-3.
• The Lord initiated a relationship with him asking Abram to leave his country Ur and go to the land that the Lord will show him (the promised land Canaan).
• God promised to bless him and make a great nation and all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
He travelled to the land of Palestine, then to Egypt and back to Hebron.
• Gen 15 the Lord visited him in a vision and repeated His covenant.
• Gen 15:5-6 “And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6“And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (quoted here Rom 4:3)
Then we have this unfortunate incident in Gen 16 when Abram and Sarai were getting too old and Sarai decided that Abram should have a child with her maidservant Hagar.
• Ishmael was born as a result but this was not God’s will.
• Abram was then 86 years old (Gen 16:16).
Gen 17 God visited Abram again and repeated the same promise. He was 99 years old.
• Gen 17:5 “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”
• And the Lord introduced the SIGN of the covenant. Gen 17:10-11 “10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”
The Lord says He will bless Abraham with a child through Sarah. Abraham laughed at the thought (Gen 17:17) and countered, “Why don’t you just take Ishmael instead.”
• Gen 17:19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac [he laughs]. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him.”
• Isaac has to be a miraculous gift of God, not through human efforts; it is the promise of God.
• Taking Ishmael will mean Abraham can claim that his descendants came through his own effort, his good family planning.
God has His time. Gen 17:21 “But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
That’s not the end. God reminded him again through three angelic visitors in Gen 18.
• Gen 18:10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
• Sarah overheard this and laughed. Both the future father and mother laughed, so their son will be named “he laughs” (Isaac). That’s God’s humour.
• Gen 18:14 “Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
• Notice the emphasis – “at this time next year” three times, it’s very clear.
Finally, Isaac was born in Gen 21. Gen 21:1-2 1The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
• The Lord visited Sarah AS HE HAD SAID and did to her AS HE HAD PROMISED and gave Abraham a son at a time WHICH GOD HAD SPOKEN.
• It was fulfilled according to God’s Word and in God’s time.
FAITH ANCHORS IN GOD’S WORD
Abraham believed! He grew into such a faith. His faith wasn’t automatic or easy; he learnt to trust God over time. He had his moments of doubt just as the rest of us do.
• The long delay was trying for Abraham and Sarah because they were getting old. The wait was difficult. It would be difficult for us too.
• Abraham was in Canaan for 10 years (Gen 16:3) when Ishmael was born, when he was 86 years old (Gen 16:16). Isaac came when he was 100 years old.
• In order words, from the time God first gave His promise to Abraham to the time Isaac was born, it was a lapse of 25 years.
Abraham waited and laughed when God told him he would have a child with Sarah.
• God repeated His unchanging pledge a few times and delivered Isaac at a time He had said. Abraham believed.
• His faith was proven when God tested him later on in Gen 22 and asked him to sacrifice his son to Him. No more laughing then. No rationalizing.
• Abraham has learnt to rest in God’s wisdom. God must have His reason.
FAITH RESTS IN GOD’S WISDOM
Heb 11:17-19 17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.
• No wonder Paul says here that Abraham believed “the God who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.” (4:17)
Faith in God is not ignoring the facts. Abraham CONSIDERED his own body and Sarah’s womb (4:19).
• NIV “He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead and Sarah’s womb was also dead.” (4:19)
• Abraham was led to consider the INABILITY of his aged body and the BARRENNESS of Sarah’s womb and yet trust God to do His will.
FAITH FACES THE FACTS
To put it in another way, God waited until it was physically impossible for them to have children, then He acted. It’s going to be a divine act and not the work of man.
• Faith faces the reality and yet trust that “God was able to do what He had promised.” (4:21). For Abraham, it was divine intervention.
• Out of the double death – Abraham’s body and Sarah’s womb - God can bring forth a new life, at the right time and as He has promised.
Look at the words Paul used to describe Abraham’s faith.
• “In hope he believed” (4:18), “he did not weaken in faith” (4:19), “no unbelief made him waver” (4:20), “he grew strong in his faith” (4:20), “fully convinced that God was able” (4:21).
• These are the descriptions of someone who has experienced God’s faithfulness.
• They tell the same thing basically but Paul wants us to see that Abraham’s faith matters.
Faith is not closing our eyes to reality, pretending that the problems are not there or that they will go away.
• Faith is facing the fact and yet seeing the promises of God at the same time.
• Faith is looking at the world in the light of His revealed Word about this world.
With all that is happening in our world in recent times – the natural calamities, pandemics, conflicts and corruption - I went back to re-read again what the Lord said about the signs of the end times in passages like Matt 24, Mark 13, Luke 21.
• Imagine Jesus talking about persecutions and wars, about famines, earthquakes and pestilence some 2000 years ago, and we are seeing them in the greater measure now.
• Jesus foretold them knowing that they would come, not to scare but to prepare us. He wants us to trust Him and be watchful and vigilant.
• These signs point to His impending return.
Can I have the glorious end without some of these pains?
• Jesus illustrated it as the beginning of birth pains (Matt 24:8, Mark 13:8); in order words, it has to come before the birth but it will pass.
• The night is darkest just before the dawn, but the dawn will surely come.
• When the child is born, everybody will be happy. Everyone celebrates and rejoices and no one remembers the pain.
Do not lose heart, Paul says in 2 Cor 4:17-18 “17For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Abraham had nothing going for him except the promise of God.
• He has to learn and he has learnt that ‘that alone is enough’.
• God acts according to what He says. What God promises, He fulfils.
• Each time we doubt or is anxious about life, we need to go back to God and hear from Him again. Our assurance comes from His unchanging Word.
In the midst of all these talks about the last days, Jesus added this line: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Mt 24:35, Mk 13:31, Lk 21:33).
FAITH GLORIFIES GOD
• Rom 4:20-21 “20No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”
• Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6).
CONCLUSION
Abraham was justified by his faith and so are we, Paul says.
• 4:23-25 “23But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”
We are in a more privileged position today. Abraham has to believe God BEFORE he sees a miracle.
• We are on this side of the resurrection. We have seen the miracles of Jesus and His resurrection.
• Abraham believed that God can raise the dead; for us, we have seen that God can raise the dead. There is little excuse for unbelief.
Today we have the inspired Bible that records the creation of the world and the resurrection of Jesus. It is more reasonable for us to believe God than for Abraham.
• Yet Abraham believed. He has only God’s Word to rely on in the heathen world around him, and he believed, and so must we.
Are we willing to believe God?
• Let us build our faith in what God has said and what He has done for us in Christ.
• For some of us, we have to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is no other way we can be saved from our sin and be reconciled to God.
• Our relationship with God is what truly matters in this life.
Abraham was not without God and therefore he was not without hope.
“In hope he believed against all hope”, so can we.
• The difficulties we see around us today can scare us a little but cannot shake our faith in God.
• Covid will not have the last word; God has the last word.
PRAYER:
May the faith of Abraham be our inspiration today. In hope he believed against all hope. Our hope is in you Lord. Let nothing rattles us, more than the concern that we are losing faith in you and in your Word.
We believe you Lord. We believe in your love for us and your goodness to us.
May your will be done in our lives. This we pray in Jesus’ Name, AMEN.
[You can view the sermon with slides at https://tinyurl.com/KTCC-EnglishService.]
