Justified by Faith

Recap Universal Cure

We continue in our series on the early church. We are currently looking at Paul’s letter to the church in Rome. This letter has a lot of deep theological truth to it. Paul has been answering some objections that he has made up to communicate what these folks need to know.

Last week we looked at confusion on the part of both groups. The Jews had the idea that they were in God’s good graces because of their genealogy. Because they were born Jewish, they were good to go and whatever mistakes they made, their good works would fill in the gaps and make them righteous. That was wrong.

Similarly, the Gentiles had the idea that they made sacrifice to appease the gods of the pagan pantheon. Those gods had the attributes of humans, so the people were worried that if they did not make sacrifice to them, they would be smote. The sacrifices were not given because they were celebrating the love that these gods supposedly had. Instead, they were made to assuage their wrath and keep them from being attacked. Back in those days, when things went bad, it was just assumed that the person had done something to make one of the gods mad. We even see that in the book of Job. Job loses everything. He is a holy man. He regularly makes offerings for his children in case they had sinned. Job is a good and stalwart man of faith. But then he loses it all. His kids are killed. Then his health takes a huge hit. His friend show up and Job is sitting around in the ashes of his former life. He is so destitute that he is using broken pottery to scratch at his wounds. His friends see him and then they go and sit with him for a while. After a while, though, they all go on the attack, saying he must have done something to make God mad in order for him to be suffering this way.

It doesn’t work like that. Sometimes bad stuff just happens. Sometimes it is of the devil. Sometimes things just go wrong. Sometimes we are being attacked by the enemy. Bad stuff happens to good people.

Paul has gone over the fact that everyone on earth is sinful and falls short of the glory of God. There is no one in the world that is righteous. The only human being to ever walk the earth without sin is Jesus. That is the universal problem of sin. The only cure to it is Jesus. Our bloodline doesn’t save us. Our sacrifices don’t save us. Only Jesus saves us. So if we are going to brag about anything, it should be in Jesus and His saving work!

Paul is doing what he can to address this misunderstanding between the converts from both faiths. It is not the works that justify anyone. It is not the works that justify people. It is Jesus that justifies them. It is not works, but faith that saves. Today we are going to look at what it means to be chosen. Paul invokes some of the Old Testament heroes to make his argument about what truly justifies people. If you have your Bibles, please turn them to Romans 4:1-12

Romans 4:1–12 CSB

What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness. Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin. Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

Abraham taking Isaac out to be sacrificed

A gift is a gift. It cannot be repaid. Payment is not expected. Otherwise, it’s not a gift.

David acknowledges blessing of sins being forgiven he should know because of Bathsheba and his indiscretion there.

Abraham called before he was circumcised. We don’t know why. That was God’s choice. Abraham answered the call. But it was God that called him before he was justified.

God does not expect us to come to Him clean. People think they need to clean up their act before coming to church, that’s not right. I’ve heard of some pastors that tell folks to get their act cleaned up and then come to church. That’s putting the cart before the horse. Trying to get our behavior in order before coming to church and knowing Jesus is like taking a bath before we take a shower. We don’t do that, right? I don’t get up and think, I need to take a shower, so let’s run a bath and get clean before I try to get clean. God doesn’t expect us to come to Him under our own power. He doesn’t expect us to get clean on our own. If that was the case, then when He called Abraham, He would have told him he need to fix himself first. It’s not like Abraham was some kind of righteous person. God calls him, though. When God calls Abraham, Abraham goes out on faith. Genesis 12:1–5 “The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. He took his wife, Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated, and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan,” Abraham goes out on faith. He is called from a life filled with most likely pagan roots. We don’t know exactly what Abraham did prior to being called by God, but we do know that he was not rooted in monotheism. We know this because of what we read in Joshua 24:2 “Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.” What’s more is that several scholars posit the theory that Abraham’s dad made idols for a living.

So what happened? It’s one of those “but God” moments. Abraham has been going down the wrong path for 75 years. 75 years is a long time. I would think that by the time we are 75 years old, we are probably all set in our ways. 75 years of living one way, but God comes along and calls Abraham out of that life. “Leave your family and go where I tell you to.” Abraham is willing to go. He has faith. God has Abraham set apart before Abraham has even shown that he is faithful. Abraham follows God and God establishes the covenant of circumcision with Abraham. What comes first in Abraham’s conversion? It’s not Abraham and his behavior, it’s God. God in His wisdom calls Abraham before Abraham has any level of faith.

Abraham does what God tells him to. He has a son by his wife’s concubine Hagar and he has a son later with his wife Sarah. Hagar has Ishmael and Sarah gives birth to Isaac. Ishmael is who the Muslims trace their lineage to. Isaac is the son that the Jews and Christians trace their lineage to. God delivers on His promise to Abraham that he will have many descendants.

Throughout his life, Abraham shows that he is faithful. He is faithful to the point that he will not put anything before God. Abraham is told to get up, take his son Isaac out to a place that He will show him. Then Abraham is to take Isaac, place him on the altar, and sacrifice him for God. Abraham is faithful and takes Isaac to sacrifice him. This was not a quick thing. It’ s not like Abraham could just run in to his tent and kill Isaac right then and there. Instead, God wants Abraham to go. They have to make a trip. They then have to build the altar. It’s not like Isaac didn’t know what was going on. He knows they are supposed to make sacrifice, so he asks where the lamb is for the offering. Abraham says that God will provide the sacrifice.

I wonder what was going through Abraham’s mind. God had already made the promise that Abraham was going to have countless offspring. As he is walking Isaac to his death, he had faith that God was still going to provide. It did not make sense at the time. Abraham builds the altar, lays Isaac down on it, raises the knife and is ready to plunge the knife into his son. Genesis 22:11–12 “But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” He replied, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.””

Now, here’s what boggles my mind. God is all knowing. He is omniscient. He knows everything. He also knows what is going to happen in the future. He is never caught off guard. Nothing takes Him by surprise because He has foreknowledge. So, who was the test really for? Did God really need Abraham to go through that process to prove his faith to God? I don’t think He did. God knew that Abraham was faithful to Him. In reality, this act shows Abraham just how faithful he is to God. Abraham passes the test with flying colors. Now Abraham knows that he won’t put anything before God. Sometimes we are hit with tests. How do we handle it when we go through these trials? Notice that Abraham doesn’t do the whole “woe is me” thing when he is told to kill his son. Instead, he follows through and does what God tells him to. James 1:2–3 “Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

God knew that Abraham would obey. Abraham didn’t. Abraham went out on faith. He passed the test. Would we?

Paul also mentions David here. David was an unlikely boy that became king. Saul loses his kingdom because he was not obedient to God’s command when it came to carrying out a holy war. Samuel confronts him to let him know that he has lost his kingdom and his son will not take over when he dies. His dynasty is gone, there is another that God has appointed. David wasn’t even anointed at this point, but God had already called him for service. What’s more is that God knew the kind of character David would have. 1 Samuel 13:14 “but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.””

Even before God called David, He knew that David would be loyal to Him. He also knew that David would commit his sin with Bathsheba, but He still called David loyal. David, even in his sin is described as being a man after God’s own heart. Samuel goes to Jesse, David’s dad, at God’s direction. Jesse presents all of his sons for inspection, except for David. David is not seen as viable for leadership. He is the youngest, he is ruddy, he is not ready. But he is still called. God develops David into a leader. He teaches David not to fear while he is acting as a shepherd. The time out in the field watching over sheep and protecting them from predators prepare him for one of the biggest battles of his life.

Even though Saul had lost his kingship, he was still king. Israel was engaged with the Philistines in battle. They had this giant called Goliath that would walk along with battle line and taunt the Israelite army. The giant proclaimed that if one of the Israelite men would come out and fight and be victorious, then the Philistines would quit and go home. They would give the victory to Israel. David runs some supplies out to his older brothers who are part of the army. He starts asking questions and they get frustrated with him because they think he is jus there for fun and excitement. After a while, David decides that he can kill this giant. No one takes him seriously. In their opinion, there is no way that he could 1 Samuel 17:34–37 “David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.””

So David goes out gathers five stones. The reason for the five stones was not that he doubted his abilities. Lore says that Goliath had four brothers, that’s why he took the other four stones, he was worried about whether he was going to have to deal with his brothers or not. He goes out and fights him. He uses his sling shot, hits Goliath right in the middle of his head, he falls down, David runs out and cuts his head off with Goliath’s sword. The Philistines are defeated and Israel has its victory.

It’s all based on faith.

God set David up from the beginning to be ready to fight Goliath. David did not go against the giant under his own power, he went out on God’s power. Abraham didn’t go out on his own power, he went out on God’s power. That’s why they are successful. They were called by God before they knew Him. God chose them.