Trusting His Promise
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In our past couple of lessons of our study of Romans, Paul has been using the Old Testament to explain how we are saved by faith, not just by following rules.
Paul wants to ensure that we understand there is no alternative route to salvation.
He focuses on the Old Testament to demonstrate that God's plan has always been for salvation to come through faith.
Today, we are returning to Abraham to examine God's promise, which belonged not only to Abraham but also belongs to us.
Let us see what Paul has to share with us starting in verse 13.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
This verse takes us back to the promise God made Abraham in Genesis Chapter 15 , which we covered 2 lessons ago.
Let ‘s recall what God told Abraham, to remind ourselves of this promise.
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.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
The promise goes further than God providing Abraham a son, God’s promise was much more profound, He was promising Abraham descendants more numerous than he could count.
However, this promise was never to be realized through works or good deeds, but through faith.
What does this mean for us???
It reveals to us what faith is.
Faith is trusting God’s promise to save us.
Faith is trusting God’s promise to save us.
Faith is not:
Bargaining with God with our good deeds or actions, it is trusting that the work of Jesus is sufficient.
Clinging to what we can see; rather, it is trusting in what we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
On the other hand, faith is not jumping into the dark, it is based upon trusting the evidence that God has always kept His promises.
Furthermore, faith is not idling—meaning it does not stand still or do nothing. Instead, it is always active, changing us and molding us to become more like Christ.
Yet, at its core, faith is simple: it begins and ends with simply trusting in God’s promise to save us.
Let’s see what else Paul has to tell us about faith, picking up in verse 14.
For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That 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 but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as 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 and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
God's promise belongs to all peoples.
God's promise belongs to all peoples.
When God promised Abraham descendants more numerous than the stars, He was not referring only to Abraham’s biological offspring, the Jewish people, but to all who would come to faith in Christ.
God was foretelling that He would not only be the God of Israel but the God of all peoples across the world.
Those here today who have trusted in Christ are a fulfillment of God’s promise, dating back to Genesis 15, nearly 4000 years ago.
The fact that people have found faith in Christ in remote locations around the world, such as the Amazon Rainforest and Siberia, demonstrates the lengths to which God will go to uphold His promise to Abraham:
In the Amazon Rainforest, not only has the challenging environment made it difficult and dangerous for missionaries to reach the indigenous peoples, but some missionaries who have succeeded in this in reaching these people have been met with death.
Yet, God has been faithful to bring the good news of Christ to the Amazon Rainforest.
In Siberia, the extreme cold and remote populations have made it not only challenging for missionaries to reach people but also exceedingly difficult to sustain a missionary presence to continue spreading the Gospel.
Yet, God has sustained faithful missionaries, ensuring that the Gospel continues to be shared so that more may become children of God.
The presence of Christians in Siberia, the Amazon Rainforest, and right here in Hickman, Kentucky, should assure us of the trustworthiness of God's promise to save us.
We see our final truth from the last section of scripture.
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He 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. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Faith in God's promise saves us through Christ's death and resurrection.
Faith in God's promise saves us through Christ's death and resurrection.
When I say that salvation doesn’t come through works, that is not fully true.
We are saved by one work, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
The promise that God made to Abraham, that also belongs to us, was answered through the Gospel.
It is because of Christ’s perfect life that we don’t have to be perfect.
It is because of Christ’s death that we don’t have to suffer the eternal wrath of God.
It is because of Christ’s resurrection that we may have eternal life.
We can rest in the promise of God’s salvation to us because Christ has already fulfilled it.
So, what now?
So, what now?
If you are a Christian, you can have assurance of your salvation.
You will grow from reading the Bible because you want to meet with God, not to make your conscience feel better
You will find peace in God from prayer because you won’t be worried about how He feels about you.
Your assurance will allow you to have a joyful Christian life.
If you are not a Christian, trusting in God’s promise to save you will be the greatest thing to ever happen to you.
You can begin a relationship with Jesus today, He has already done the work, you must simply repent of your sins and turn to Jesus in faith.