WE ARE MADE RIGHTEOUS BY FAITH
Text: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Romans 4:1-5 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? (2) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. (3) What does Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (4) Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. (5) However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
Romans 4:13 - 17 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed 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 made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, 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, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed-God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
How would you like to take a test that had a different rule for success? Instead of so many points for an “A”, so many for a “B” and so on, the success of the test would be based on an “all or nothing rule”. So you would have to get a 100% to pass on every test every single day. That would mean that there was no margin for error. How would you like to go to a school where it would have to be all or nothing for the whole duration of the school until you had completed your schooling? Can you imagine how many would flunk out in a K - 12 School system with that grading style?
The truth is you would not have a graduating class. You probably would not have a class at all by the time the first report card came out! Now take it a step further. How would you like to live life with an “all or nothing” mandate in front of you day after day every day for a lifetime?
Now think about what an “all or nothing” rule would mean for us to be acceptable to God, based upon our absolute obedience to His law. This would mean that we would not be allowed to make one single mistake or we would fail.
Today we will talk about lawbreakers, promises and righteousness.
LAWBREAKERS
Is there such a thing as being faultless?
1) Before the fall: Before the Garden of Eden we could answer yes. After the fall, the answer from them on is “no”! They broke the perfect bond that we would have had with God in that garden. The fall brought mortality where death did not exist! Would there be any hope at all if the story stopped there?
2) God’s provision: “God’s plan all along was to bring this message of salvation to the nations through the revelation of faith. Long ago God prophesied over Abraham, as the Holy Scriptures say: “Through your example of faith all the nations will be blessed!” “ (Galatians 3: 8 TPT).
3) Sinners: and justification: Romans 3:23 - 24: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”, (ESV).
4) Pardoned and justified: There is a difference between a pardon and justification. A pardon releases us from the penalties---absolution that comes from breaking the law whereas justification means that we are free from from the blame of sin because Jesus took our place. Jesus became our spanking boy as He took both our place and punishment!
When and why was the law given to our ancestors?
1) The law: The law was given to God’s chosen people after 430 years of Egyptian bondage (Galatians 3:17).
2) Law breakers: The promise---covenant that God made with Abraham did not expire. There was nothing wrong with the first covenant. The fault was with the God’s chosen people who could not keep their end of the covenant (Hebrews 8:7).
3) Schoolmaster: Galatians 3:24-26 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [disciplinarian NRSV; tutor NKJV] to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (25) But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. (26) For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (KJV).
PROMISES
How does God keep His promises? Let’s look at twelve of God’s promises…
Promises From God
A promise from God is a statement we can depend on with absolute confidence. Here are 12 promises for the Christian to claim.
1) God’s presence— “I will never leave thee” (Heb. 13:5)
2) God’s protection—”I am thy shield” (Gen. 15:1)
3) God’s power—”I will strengthen thee” (Isa. 41:10)
4) God’s provision—”I will help thee” (Isa. 41:10)
5) God’s leading—”And when He putteth forth His own sheep, He goeth before them” (John 10:4)
6) God’s purposes— “I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jer. 20:11)
7) God’s rest—”Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28)
8) God’s cleansing— “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9)
9) God’s goodness— “No good thing will He withhold from them that work uprightly” (Psalm 84:11)
10) God’s faithfulness—”The Lord will not forsake His people for His great name’s sake” (1 Sam. 12:22)
11) God’s guidance—”The meek will He guide” (Psalm 25:9)
12) God’s wise plan—”All things work together for good to them that love God” (Rom. 8:28)
Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. [Original source: Our Daily Bread, January 1, 1985].
How good at we at keeping promises?
Unkept Promises
We live in an era of unkept promises. Nations sign important treaties and then break them at will. And many couples show little regard for their wedding vows. In this kind of society, we who are God’s people should be known for keeping our promises.
The brilliant Christian scholar and writer C. S. Lewis took that truth seriously. He was determined to pay what he had vowed. His biography tells of the suffering he endured because he kept a promise he had made to a buddy during World War I. This friend was worried about the care of his wife and small daughter if he should be killed in battle, so Lewis assured him that if that were to happen he would look after them. As the war dragged on, the man was killed. True to his word, Lewis took care of his friend’s family. Yet no matter how helpful he tried to be, the woman was ungrateful, rude, arrogant, and domineering. Through it all, Lewis kept forgiving her. He refused to let her actions become an excuse to renege on his promise. -H.V.L. Galaxie Software. (2002). 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press. Source Unknown
RIGHTEOUSNESS
Can you ever do anything to earn God’s righteousness?
Wherever there is a law, it will be broken and the consequences (wrath) will follow. Romans 4:15 says, “… because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression” (NIV).
1) All or nothing: There is nothing that anyone can do to earn or merit their salvation. Even obeying the law would not be enough because you would have to do everything in the law, “the all or nothing point of view.” Paul tells us that we are cursed if we cannot do all that the law requires (Galatians 3:10). John Wesley called the impossible fulfillment of the law “perfect, uninterrupted, and perpetual obedience’. (John Wesley’s Notes on the BIble).
2) Law fulfilled by Christ: Jesus said that He came not to abolish but to fulfill the law, every jot and tittle Mat_5:17 -18)
3) Redeemed: Christ redeemed us for the curse by becoming a curse for us when He was crucified (Galatians 5:10 -13).
4) Righteousness: “For God made the only one who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we who did not know righteousness might become the righteousness of God through our union with him (2 Corinthians 5:21 TPT).
Why did God make a new covenant with His people?
1) Irredeemable without a new covenant: Consider Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (NIV). Abraham was made righteous on the account of his faith in God. Consider what Paul said in Romans 4:5: “… to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness” (NIV). God made a new covenant with His people because we cannot redeem ourselves!
2) New Covenant: 1 Corinthians 11:25 ""This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."
3) The gift of faith: Ephesians 2:8-9 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— (9) not by works, so that no one can boast (NIV).
Faith is a matter of taking God at His word. Abraham took God at His word. Do we take God at His word? It takes faith to take God at His word. Consider the how the faith of the actor, the late Steve McQueen made him righteous before God. “Steve McQueen was a top-billing actor who led a life as tough as the ones he portrayed on the screen. Success filled his life until alcohol and a failed marriage left him empty. In his despair he attended a crusade led by one of Billy Graham's associates. McQueen made a profession of faith and requested an opportunity to speak with Billy Graham. A connecting flight in Los Angeles allowed Dr. Graham to spend a couple of hours with Mr. McQueen in the actor's limousine. The great evangelist shared numerous scriptures in his quest to give spiritual hope and confidence. Steve McQueen struggled with the thought of God giving eternal life to a man who had such a checkered past. In Titus 1:2, Steve McQueen found his hope: "the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago." He requested something to write down the verse, but Billy Graham gave McQueen his Bible instead. Later, Steve McQueen died in Mexico while seeking experimental treatment for his terminal cancer. He passed into eternal life with his Bible opened to Titus 1 and his finger resting on verse 2. Regardless of our past, we have the hope of God's eternal promise. (Raymond McHenry. ed. McHenry’s Quips, Quotes And Other Notes. [Ike Reighard, 1993 SBC Pastor's Conference]. Third Printing. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 2004, p 80). Like Abraham, Steve McQueen took God at His word, do we?
