Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 Guaranteed
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 (Evangelical Heritage Version)
What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered according to the flesh? 2If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast—but not before God. 3For what does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. 5But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.
13Indeed, the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not given to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness that is by faith. 14To be sure, if people are heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 15For law brings wrath. (Where there is no law, there is no transgression.) 16For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” In the presence of God, Abraham believed him who makes the dead alive and calls non-existing things so that they exist.
Guaranteed
I.
“Lifetime warranty. Money-back guarantee. Full coverage.” Bold type, huge font, prominent positioning. Whether it’s written on a box of a product you buy, or at the top of the contract pushed in front of you to sign, we’ve all seen it.
But do you believe it? The large letters draw your eyes and give you confidence. But the longer a person lives, the more cautious we become about such guarantees and warranties. You shuffle the pages of the contract, looking for the fine print. It’s the fine print that contains all the legal disclaimers. You want to find the exclusions to the “lifetime warranty,” or how the company will get out of paying you back, even though there is a “money-back guarantee.” Something is virtually always hidden in the fine print. You want to see what’s hidden in there so you won’t be blind-sided later.
What about God’s promises? God’s “warranty” or “guarantee”? We find words and phrases in the Bible like “forgiveness” and “eternal life” and “I will be your God.” What we learn from the rest of life is that we have to look for the fine print.
In today’s First Reading, God made a promise to Abraham, to Abram, as he was known at that time. He said: “I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great. You will be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2, EHV). Abraham was, literally, the father of the People of Israel. God had promised it. So it was that the Jewish people revered Abraham; they put him on a pedestal in their history books.
Paul asks: “What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered according to the flesh?” (Romans 4:1, EHV). Religions invented by human beings, or twisted by human beings, always look to the flesh. What Paul is talking about is a person’s own efforts. Human religion always points to you. What have you done? Have you been pretty good? How much have you worked?
Paul goes on: “If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast—but not before God” (Romans 4:2, EHV). Abraham was an impressive figure in Jewish history. Paul had just called him the forefather of the Jewish people and, indeed, he was.
II.
Perhaps all Abraham’s flaws were forgotten when the Jewish people held him up as the one they looked to as the father of their nation. Abraham tried to pass his wife off as his sister—twice! (Genesis 12:10-20; Genesis 20:1-18). When the son God promised him was long in coming, Abraham thought Eliezer would have to be the heir of the promise. When that didn’t work out, he fathered a child through a concubine. Abraham couldn’t boast of his stellar record before God.
To the casual eye, perhaps Abraham was one who could have boasted of his godliness, but not when you take a closer look. The same goes for everyone else. Paul says: “To be sure, if people are heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 15For law brings wrath” (Romans 4:14-15, EHV).
If a person is trying to boast before God by obedience to the law, there’s a problem. You remember God’s law. It wasn’t written in fine print with all God’s expectations and exclusions hidden on the last page. What God expects and demands is in big, bold print, right up front.
It starts with the conscience—that little voice inside every human being that tells us that certain things are right, and other things are wrong. Human nature doesn’t find it difficult to suppress that inner voice. From a young age we learn the fine art of rationalization. We try to pass off the burden for doing things that are wrong to someone else, or to explain our words and actions away as “not really all that bad, in the great scheme of things.”
The conscience needs reinforcement, so God gave a list of demands to show what he meant—The Ten Commandments, they are called. They are not 10 suggestions, but 10 commandments.
He expected his people then to keep them—perfectly. He told Moses to tell the people: “You shall be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2, EHV).
Nothing has changed, even after Jesus has come. Jesus reiterated what God said through Moses: “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48, EHV). There is no beginning date, like: “once you understand God’s will, be perfect.” There isn’t a built-in training program: “start to become perfect.” There is also nothing like: “try really hard,” or “give it your best shot.” Absolute perfection is the standard; from birth to death; from conception to death.
“Law brings wrath” (Romans 4:15, EHV). When you fail to be perfect, as God demands in his law, nothing but God’s wrath and punishment can possibly come of it. Perfection is something sinners cannot supply.
III.
“For what does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3, EHV). Abraham wasn’t counted a child of God because of his works; he couldn’t boast of them before God. All his works—all his own efforts—were flawed.
“Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. 5But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:4-5, EHV).
Righteousness before God is simply impossible for those who are working toward it. No one can be perfect, as the Heavenly Father demands. But Paul has good news: true righteousness is not something a person earns, like a paycheck. Righteousness is credited to you. Righteousness is a gift.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus says: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15, EHV). The People of Israel had disobeyed God one too many times, failing to be perfect, as God demands (Numbers 21). They were discontent and were speaking against God and against Moses. God sent venomous snakes among the people; those who were bitten would die. When the people repented, God told Moses to make a bronze snake and hang it on a pole; if those who had been bitten would look at the snake hanging on the pole, God promised they would live—and they did.
The bronze snake was no magic talisman. When a person followed God’s direction and looked at the snake hanging on the pole, they demonstrated their faith in God. It was their faith that saved them, not anything they did.
“For what does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.’... 16For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all” (Romans 4:3, 16, EHV). Abraham believed God. He looked ahead. He looked even farther ahead than the snake on the pole in the wilderness. Though he didn’t know the exact details of how God would accomplish his salvation, he still looked to Jesus, lifted up on the tree of the cross.
Just as it made no sense for the People of Israel to look to a snake on a pole for relief from a snakebite, so also it makes no sense that we should look to a man hanging on a cross as a condemned criminal for relief from our sins. But that’s what God promises: look to Jesus, and live, just as Abraham did.
When you look to Jesus, there are no loopholes. There is no fine print to decipher whether the guarantee is real. Look to Jesus and live.
IV.
In the Psalm we sang: “The LORD will watch over your going and your coming from now to eternity” (Psalm 121:8, EHV). This is God’s guarantee to you. You have the righteousness by faith Paul spoke of, the same righteousness credited to you that was credited to Abraham. You are a child of God.
Your worst week does not void God’s guarantee. Your moments of weakness do not cancel his promises. When you fail to be holy, as the Lord your God is holy, he does not put his guarantee to you in the shredder.
The guarantee isn’t dependent on your works, but on Jesus. In his grace he did it all for you. The Holy Spirit gave you faith to look to Jesus and live. It is a free gift to you.
Abraham believed the promise, though he hadn’t seen it yet. You believe the fulfilled promise.
The God who kept his word to Abraham is the God who raised Jesus from the dead. He keeps his promises to you. No fine print; no hidden clauses. Guaranteed by grace. Amen.
