ROMANS 4 PT 1 // BY FAITH
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
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LAST WEEK WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD
LAST WEEK WAS OUT OF THIS WORLD
I am so thankful for all that God did.
Thank you so much for sharing the event, and inviting people out.
It is such a blessing to see so many people here, and so many come back.
If you feel led, the sermon is available on iTunes, Youtube, and VCLB.org.
So feel free to share it with as many people as you want.
THIS WEEK
THIS WEEK
We are going to get back to the Letter to the Romans.
I have really been enjoying studying through this Letter, and taking in all that God has for us as a church.
We have learned so much about the Roman Church
We have also seen how relevant this Letter is to the Church today.
WHAT I WANT US TO ASK OURSELVES TODAY IS THIS:
WHAT I WANT US TO ASK OURSELVES TODAY IS THIS:
SLIDE: WHY IS HAVING FAITH HARD?
SLIDE: WHY IS HAVING FAITH HARD?
What hinders us from having faith?
WHERE THE MISTAKE YOU’VE MADE SEEMS LIKE IT CAN NEVER BE UNDONE?
SLIDE: For Me:
So many of us today deal with the repercussions of sinful decisions.
Losing Control
We deal with the consequences of our sin
Losing a Grip
Some of us have severed friendships
Letting go of the Known
Some of us are walking on eggshells
Not knowing what God wants to will and work in Me.
Some of us have given up on redemption because the hurt that we have caused seems irredeemable.
I do not know the desired result
Even though these are tough challenges to get over
HUMANITY IS TOUGH LIKE THAT
As a follower of Christ I have to balance these with the known
WE HOLD GRUDGES
God is Good
His desires for me are good
WE FORGIVE, BUT ONLY UNTIL WE GET HURT AGAIN
His plans for me are good
THE GOD OF THE BIBLE IS NOT LIKE US
All things work together for the good
The God of the Bible continues to love us
The God of the Bible continues to forgive us
FOR EVERY UNKNOWN, THEIR IS A BIBLICAL TRUTH TO CALM OUR SPIRIT AND GIVE US HOPE.
The God of the Bible continues to show us mercy
YOU MAY BE THINKING, IT CAN’T BE THAT EASY
We have to admit, it is a bit easy for us to say, this side of Easter
YOU ARE RIGHT
IN FACT THE GREATEST CHALLENGE OF FORGIVENESS IS OURSELVES.
I mean, we have
WHEN IT COMES TO OUR OWN PERSONAL SIN AGAINST GOD
It is getting over ourselves that is our biggest challenge
It is laying aside our pride and arrogance in order to cling to something foreign
So long as we confess
A God who came to save us
So long as we are real with Him
A God who did what we could not do
A God who proved everyone wrong
So long as we believe in what Jesus has done.
A God who defeated our greatest enemy.
He is Faithful and Just to forgive us of our sin
It kinda makes faith a little more attractive
When we repent, Peter declared that times or refreshing would come in the presence of the Lord.
This interaction between a repentant sinner and a forgiving God is common for the believer, but foreign to faithless.
BUT HOW WAS IT BEFORE JESUS CAME ON THE SCENE?
WAS FAITH EVEN A THING IN THE OT?
HOW DID PEOPLE HAVE CLOSURE ABOUT ETERNITY?
WE ARE BLESSED, BECAUSE WE HAVE MOST OF THE STORY.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SAINTS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT?
Having, only the Hope of the Messiah
Without
Having, only God’s Word as a plumline
What was the fiber of their spiritual identity?
1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
13 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; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
SLIDE: PRAY
Romans 4:1-
1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
SLIDE: WHO IS ABRAHAM?
ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE, HE IS THE FATHER OF FAITH . . .
So what did he do to earn that title?
What was different about Abraham?
What do his actions transfer to in God’s Economy?
SLIDE: PAUL BEGINS BY EXPLAINING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FLESH & FAITH
WHAT DID ABRAHAM FIND ACCORDING TO THE FLESH?
WHAT DID HE GAIN IN ALL THAT HE DID ACCORDING TO THE FLESH?
WAS HE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS?
If he was, he has something to boast about, but not before the Lord . . .
What does Paul mean by this?
CHURCH, JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS IS ONLY PROFITABLE IN MAN’S ECONOMY.
JUSTIFICATION BY WORKS WILL ONLY BRING MAN’S PRAISE
WHAT YOU DO FOR GOD, MAY WORK IN THE REALM OF HUMANITY’S VIEW OF WHO YOU ARE, BUT IT CAN NEVER JUSTIFY YOU COMPLETELY IN THE EYES OF GOD.
The reality was, that Abraham was not justified by works
So how did he earn his title?
How did this man become such a prominent figure in the OT?
Paul gives us clarity:
What does Scripture say?
SLIDE: Scripture tells us in
6 And he believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
HE BELIEVED: ALEF MEM NUN
TO BELIEVE TO BE TRUE
TO BE FIRM IN
TO FIND SOMETHING RELIABLE
TO FIND FAITHFUL
THIS BELIEF, IN GOD’S EYES SAH-SHAVV HIM AS RIGHTEOUS
Now this word accounted is a very particular word:
It means to deposit into one’s account
It means to impute
Impute what? Righteousness
Notice, that Abraham’s righteousness was not founded upon what He did for God, but what he believed about God
Many of us believe, that Faith is more external than internal.
Paul goes to the Bible itself to confirm his point of view
But for the Father of Faith, it began internally.
What God had spoken to Abraham internally, resulted in external behaviors.
What God had promised Abraham in the quiet space, manifested in the public space
Sometimes we lose faith, because we aren’t hearing from the Father
We lose faith, we stop going to church, we stop giving, we stop serving
Not because its not fun, but because internally, our motives have shifted
Internally, God’s voice is a faint whisper
Internally, the Truth’s about God aren’t the reason why we do
We have forgotten to balance the unknowns and the frustrations with the reality that God is still with us, and He is still working.
LET’S REVERSE ENGINEER IT
WHAT IF WE ONLY WORKED? BUT HAD NO FAITH?
WHAT IF I WAS A MERE HEIRLING?
WHERE I WAS A PROFESSIONAL PASTOR, BUT OUTSIDE OF MY SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, I WAS FAITHLESS?
Paul says
To him who only works
It’s valid, but doesn’t validate him
It’s just, but doesn’t justify him
Why?
Because that is not the message of the Good News
Because what God is trying to gift us cannot be earned
The Grace that God presents to us by Faith, cannot be purchased
It cannot be worked for
You cannot clock in and out to receive the gift of grace
Paul wants us to know one thing:
That we can work our entire lives to justify ourselves on our own terms
But because of our sinful nature
The wrath that we deserve shall never be appeased.
This is the Bad News
So what is the Good News?
SO HOW CAN WE BE MADE RIGHT?
5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
And whose sins are covered;
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
THE RULES OF JUSTIFICATION ACCORDING TO THE GOD OF THE BIBLE ARE SIMPLE
IT BEGINS WITH BELIEF
Belief that He is Just
Belief that He justifies the ungodly
BELIEF THEN BIRTHS FAITH
Faith in the substance of things hoped for
Faith in the evidence of things not yet seen
Faith based on the reliability of His Word
Many people call this blind faith
But this Letter spoke to us concerning Blind Faith in Chapter 1
20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,
Church, we can either look at Creation, and question its origins
Or we can allow our faith in God to calm our spirit when it comes to the questions we have.
It is ok to have questions regarding God’s word
It is ok to approach God being fully transparent
It is ok to ask God to meet you within those questions.
So many times we are told to
“Just believe”
“God said it, I believe it, that settles it”
Though this can be true
What’s going to happen when God rocks your world, and you begin to have questions?
What is going to happen when your fundamentalist view of Christianity is challenged?
What will happen when you don’t understand what God is doing?
I believe that there is a better way to approach God with our questions:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
THE REASON WHY JAMES HINGES HIS ARGUMENT ON FAITH, IS BECAUSE WE MUST HAVE FAITH THAT GOD WILL ANSWER US IN TIME OF NEED.
We must be ready to receive what God is going to tell us concerning our questions.
Sometimes, He doesn’t answer because He has already given us the answer, and we would not receive it.
TAKE SALVATION FOR INSTANCE:
The God of the Bible has made it clear
Salvation is through Faith alone through the Grace that was shown on our behalf on the Cross by Jesus the Christ.
That is intrinsically true
Because God is Unchanging
Because He is Faithful
That has been proclaimed from the rooftops
Because He is Steadfast
It is our herald
This truth does not change
It is our message
To ask God a question that He has already answered in a concrete manner, is to question his motives, it is to question without Faith.
It is to question the source of its character
Hoping He will change his mantra because it doesn’t fit your agenda.
NOW WHEN IT COMES TO IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS
David, the Adulterer, aka the Man after God’s own heart,
Before Jesus came on the scene
He speaks to the blessing that would one day come to all people
He says:
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS ARE FORGIVEN . . . HOW?
BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE SINS ARE COVERED . . . HOW?
BLESSED IS THE MAN TO WHOM THE LORD SHALL NOT IMPUTE SIN . . . HOW?
David is pointing to that One Man! Somebody say “One Man”
The One Man who would be our mediator
5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
NOW, WHO CAN PARTICIPATE IN THIS FAITH?
IS IT FOR A SPECIFIC PEOPLE? RACE? SOCIAL STATUS?
SLIDE:
9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
=12
THIS FAITH IS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES
THIS FAITH IS FOR EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES
NOT JUST THE CIRCUMCIZED . . . AKA THE JEW
NOT JUST THE UNCIRCUMCIZED . . . AKA THE GENTILE
WHY?
I LOVE PAUL’S POINT HERE:
SLIDE: 11-12
Faith came when circumcision wasn’t even a thing
Faith came before the law was given
Faith preceeded righteous works
Works, the Law, Circumcision, were all acts of the Faith that was already being lived out within.
Abraham, is the Father of Faith to the Circumcised and the Uncircumcised
He was the one that had Faith in something he had not worked for.
He was the one that was moved to action by Faith in what God had spoken.
MANY OF YOU ARE BEING MOVED TO FAITH BY HIS STILL SMALL VOICE
MANY OF YOU ARE JUST LIKE ABRAHAM
God has spoken to you.
You’ve prayed
You are moved to Faith
THIS IS HOW FAITH WAS LIVED OUT IN THE OT.
THIS IS WHAT ABRAHAM DID
THIS IS HOW GOD IMPUTED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT.
OBEDIENCE WAS THE FOUNDATION OF FAITH
BECAUSE IT WAS A FORESHADOW OF THE OBEDIENCE THAT JESUS WOULD LIVE OUT
THAT OBEDIENCE THAT WOULD APPEASE THE SINFUL RECORD OF MAN FOREVER.
HOWEVER, SOME OF US STILL THINK WE NOT ONLY HAVE TO BELIEVE, WE ALSO HAVE TO DO.
ROMANS 4:13-
13 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; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
THE PROMISE THAT WAS MADE TO ABRAHAM
THAT HE WOULD BE THE HEIR OF THE WORLD THROUGH HIS SEED
WAS NOT MADE ACCORDING TO THE WORKS OF THE FLESH.
It was made according to the righteousness found in having Faith.
If this were not the case
Then those who are of the law would also be heirs
Unneeding of the Promise made according to Faith
HERE IS THE PROBLEM,
We want to be justified by works because we control that
Not knowing that justification by works never brings the closure that Faith brings.
For justification by works, or through the law, only brings forth wrath
And where there is no law, there is no transgression
Remove the law, remove the definition of sin
Remove the definition of sin, remove the necessity of a Savior
BECAUSE GOD WANTS TO SAVE ALL PEOPLE
BOTH THOSE WHO UPHOLD THE LAW AND THOSE WHO HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF THE LAW
PAUL MAKES IT CLEAR:
We are justified by Faith, just like Abraham
Apart from works, according to the riches of His grace.
So that this gift would have no pre-requisites
When we realize what God is trying to do with this new venture of Faith
We realize that he wants to resurrect our thinking
He wants to bring to life those areas in our lives that are dead
To call those things which do not exist into existence
This Abraham, earned this title because of how he was moved to faith when everything else was pointing him to give up
Who Contrary to Hope, in Hope Believed
Earning him the title “Father of many nations” when he had no son!
When everything was pointing to defeat
He wasn’t weak in Faith
When his own wife laughed at him
His faith wasn’t weak
When his own body, was considered barren
His faith wasn’t weak
When his wife’s womb was as dry as a dessert
His faith was not weak
SO IF YOU ARE DEFEATED TODAY
IF PEOPLE ARE LAUGHING AT YOUR SITUATIONS
IF YOUR OWN BODY IS TESTIFYING AGAINST YOU
IF YOUR FAITH IS AS DRY AS A DESSERT
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
HOPE IN GOD
PREACH TO YOUR SOUL
TELL THEM THAT YOUR GOD LIVES
PREACH LIFE IN A BARREN PLACE
ASK THE SPIRIT THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD TO RAISE YOU UP
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.