Preach Apr 6 2008
Enniscorthy Christian Fellowship – 6th April 2008
The sufficiency of Faith Romans 4:1-16
“Father Abraham had many sons,
Many sons had Father Abraham,
And I am one of them,
And so are you.
So let’s all praise the Lord.”
I always thought that this was just a crazy song – and one I never really saw the point of. And yet amazingly it contains truth. In Romans 4 Paul says that we who have trusted in Jesus are children of Abraham!
This is important because one of the reasons Paul wrote this letter was not only to explain the gospel that he preached, but also to address the division between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. Last week, Paul concluded with a revolutionary statement: “A man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” Romans 3:28 Disagreement over this, threatened to divide the church. Is faith in Jesus alone enough to make us right with God? Do we not need to also live a good life, follow religious rituals, keep God’s law?
Paul answered this in ch3 by explaining what Jesus did on the cross. He fully paid our redemption, he turned away God’s wrath, he took the just punishment of our sins. In the next chapter, Paul continued to answer this question by looking at the experience of Abraham. He probably chose Abraham because he was the most illustrious of the Jewish patriarchs. It was their connection with Abraham that set the Jews apart from the Gentile nations (John 8:39). But Paul is going to show that Abraham was made right with God not by his works, not by circumcision and not by law, but by faith alone! And so he makes the radical statement, “He is the father of us all.” Romans 4:16
This passage is still relevant for us today! People still struggle to accept that faith in Christ is enough to make us right with God. They teach that we need to add good works, or church rituals or the 10 commandments. But Paul says that faith in Christ alone is sufficient to make us right with God! Read Romans 4:1-8.
A. The Authority of Scripture v3
Paul wants to back up this teaching that he is giving, to encourage people to accept it. But the authority he turns to is not some other teacher, church tradition, or even his own authority as an apostle. Instead he wanted to show that his teaching was consistent with the Word of God. He says, “What does Scripture say?” v3
Paul always encouraged this. Luke commends the Bereans because they “received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 They didn’t just accept what Paul said, but they checked out his teaching against the word of God!
And we’re called to do the same. When we are faced with issues or questions we must
ask, “What does Scripture say?” The truths we accept and teach must be solidly based on an accurate and consistent understanding of the Bible because “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16 We don’t follow a church tradition, or any other teacher. Our only authority is God’s Word.
B. The Example of Abraham
So Paul is going to show that his teaching is consistent with the Bible and specifically with the life of Abraham: “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?” v1 We don’t have time to look at the whole life of Abraham this morning, but if you’re interested, have a look at Genesis 11 to 25. However there are 4 stages in Abraham’s life story that are summarised in the great chapter on faith Hebrews 11:8-19.
1) Call of Abraham
Firstly, God called Abraham out of Ur to go to another land and gave him the promise that through him all peoples on earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:1ff): “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” Hebrews 11:8
2) Covenant with Abraham
Secondly, God entered into a covenant with Abraham. He made his promise more specific to Canaan and promised that even although he was still childless his descendants would be as numerous as the dust of the earth and stars of the sky (Genesis 13:14f; 14:16; 15:5). “By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country...” Hebrews 11:9
3) Circumcision of Abraham
Thirdly, when he was 99 God confirmed his promise of a son, changed his name and gave him the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17:1ff). A year later Abraham had a son. “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father...” Hebrews 11:11
4) Challenge to Abraham
Lastly, God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice his son (Genesis 22:1ff).
“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice...” Hebrews 11:17
C. The Sufficiency of Faith
These events form the background to what Paul will say here in Romans 4. Through this Paul is going to show the sufficiency of faith. That we can be justified by faith alone – not works, not circumcision, not law!
1) Justified by Faith not Works v1-8
i) No Reason to Boast
Paul not only chose Abraham because he was seen as the father of the Jewish people, but
also because people taught that Abraham was righteous through his good works. They said that Abraham was faithful to God and his commands and so he achieved a righteousness with God. They even said, Abraham had a surplus of merit from his works and this spare righteousness was available to his descendants.
If that were true, Abraham could boast: “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about.” v2 – although Paul quickly adds “but not before God.” We might boast about how good we are before other people, but we’ve got nothing to boast before God!
ii) Righteousness as a Gift v3-5
But this is not what the Bible says. Abraham was an old man. He had responded to God’s call and left his home in Ur. God promised that Canaan would be his. But Abraham and his wife were childless. They had no heir. And so in Genesis 15 God makes a promise to Abraham: “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Genesis 15:5
Abraham’s response is the key verse in this chapter: “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” v3 He believed God’s promise. He said amen, yes Lord, so shall it be – in total dependence on God’s promise. And this faith was credited to him as righteousness.
“Credited” is an accounting term, from the world of finance. It means “to add to a persons account.” But there are 2 completely incompatible ways money may be added to our account – as wages we’ve earned, or a free gift.
These days, Lorna and I write a lot of thank you letters. That’s because the money that we live on comes to from individual Christians and churches as gifts. They don’t have to send us anything, but they choose to – and we’re very grateful to them. But when we worked in the bank and in a University, we didn’t write thank you letters to our employers. The money we received was our right. It was owed to us! Paul says in v4 “When a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.”
So what about Abraham’s right standing before God? Was it his wage or was it a gift? Well, clearly Abraham it was a gift. He simply “believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” He did not earn this, he did not achieve it through effort. Righteousness was put on his account by grace, through his faith! “If by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” Romans 11:6
iii) An Undeserved Blessing v6-8
Paul makes this clear in v5: “to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” Justification is to be declared right with God. And as we saw last week, amazingly, God justifies the wicked, those who are unrighteous and yet trust in Jesus and his death on the cross! They don’t deserve this. They’ve not worked for it. Salvation is an undeserved blessing, not an earned reward!
David experienced this. David did some terrible things in his life. He was guilty of adultery and murder! And yet look at v7-8 quoted from Psalm 32. “Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
David was all too aware of his transgressions – when he overstepped God’s commands, and his sins – when he fell short of God’s standard. But David was blessed. God forgave him. God covered his sin, and stated that he will never put his sin on his account. In place of a debt that David could never pay, God put “righteousness apart from works” v5 to his account. David didn’t deserve this.
In the World War II film “Saving Private Ryan.” Private James Ryan’s 3 older brothers were all killed in the war and to spare his mum’s anguish of losing all 4 sons, Captain John Miller and 8 of his men are ordered to find and rescue this solder.
Miller and his men struggle to understand why they should risk their lives to save his. “This Ryan better be worth it,” Miller says. “He better go home and cure some disease or invent a new longer-lasting light bulb.”
In fact several of these men are killed before they rescue the young soldier. In the final battle scene, Miller is fatally wounded, but before he dies, he whispers to Ryan, who is kneeling by his side, “Earn this,” he says, “Earn it.”
The movie ends with a scene set 50 years later, with the elderly James Ryan standing over Captain Miller’s grave. With a trembling voice, he says, “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I’ve tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough...I hope I earned what you did for me.”
Ryan then asks his wife, “Have I been a good man?” After 50 years, this man was still burdened with trying to earn what these men did for him.
But Jesus doesn’t say to us, “Earn this.” We could never earn God’s salvation. Never earn what Jesus did for us on the cross. It would destroy us to try! Jesus died for us because he loved us and offers salvation as a free gift to us. There is nothing for us to do apart from gratefully accept it! Being right with God is not a reward for our efforts to please God, but a gift of grace that we receive through faith!
2) Justified by Faith not Circumcision v9-12
But perhaps this gift is not for everyone. In Paul’s day people taught that only those who had been brought into God’s covenant with Abraham through circumcision could be declared right in God’s sight! Today, the ritual of water baptism for some people has that significance. They believe water baptism has replaced circumcision as the means of entry into the family of God. So do we need some religious rite to make us acceptable
with God? We need to look again at Abraham. Read Romans 4:9-12
i) Justification Came First!
This is a simple argument from history. Abraham was declared to be righteous in Genesis 15:6. His age at that time was not stated, but it was before he had a son to Hagar, his wife’s servant. Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16). But it wasn’t until Abraham was 99 that God told Abraham to be circumcised. So, Abraham was declared right with God at least 13 years before his circumcision. Some even said up to 29 years before.
So circumcision was given to Abraham, not to make him righteous, but as a “sign” and “seal of the righteousness that he had by faith” v11. It was evidence that Abraham belonged to God, it did not bring Abraham into relationship with God! Circumcision did not add to Abraham’s salvation, it just attested to it!
ii) Belief then Baptism
It is a similar case with baptism. Paul’s message was always: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31. After that, he baptised those who had believed. “Many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised.” Acts 18:8
Baptism has great value. It is commanded by Jesus. It is a public witness of our faith in Jesus and devotion to him, of the change he has made in our life and our connection with his people. And yet, it does not make us more right with God. It is by faith we are declared right with God, whether we are baptised or not! Baptism doesn’t add to our salvation, it only witnesses to it. No religious ceremony can make us right with God. It is faith in Jesus Christ alone that justifies!
iii) Unity of all Believers
So Paul concludes that Abraham is father of all Gentile believers – that’s v11 “the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.”. And Abraham is the father of all Jewish believers – v12: who “not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had.” He is the father of us all! Whether Jew or Gentile, Catholic or Protestant, Charismatic or Conservative, Traditional or Contemporary – we all need to come God in the exact same way – by faith, not by religious ritual. It is Christ not a certain church practice that saves!
Each of us who have true, saving faith in Christ are united in one body! “There is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.” Romans 3:30
3) Justified by Faith not Law v13-17a
A food processing firm tried to sell a cake mix which only required that water was added to produce a really nice cake. But very few sold. They couldn’t understand why, until some research showed that people felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. It seemed too simple. They felt they should have to do something to a cake mix. So the
company changed the formula so that you had to add an egg as well. Suddenly the cake mix became really popular.
With salvation, faith in Jesus seems too easy. And we want to add something to be saved. If it is not our works, or our religious ceremonies, it is our keeping of the law that we depend on to make us right with God! But, Paul says Abraham shows that it is faith not law that makes us right with God! Read Romans 4:13-16
Abraham received a wonderful promise that he would be blessed, “that he would be heir of the world” v13 – the father of God’s people, as numerous as the stars in the sky! And we as his children come into that promise too - Galatians 3:29: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”. But how do we receive the blessings of God? Through faith or through the law? There are 3 reasons why “it was not through law... but through the righteousness that comes by faith.” v13!
i) Justification came before Law
First of all, there is an historical reason. Abraham received the promise centuries before the law was given! Paul says in Galatians 3:17 that the law was: “introduced 430 years later.”
ii) Law Brings Wrath, Grace brings Blessing
Secondly Paul says in v14 that if this promise comes to those who live by the law, then “faith has no value and the promise is worthless” v14.
The promise is invalid because “no-one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law.” Romans 3:20 God’s law shows God’s perfect standard. It makes demands of us that we just can’t keep! Jesus said: “Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20 We can’t live up to the high standard of the law.
As so Paul says in v15: “because law brings wrath.” The law provokes God’s wrath because it shows that through our sin we break God’s law. Instead of blessing, the law brings a curse. Galatians 3:10: “All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.””
But, Paul says, “the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace.” v16 God did not say to Abraham, “Obey this law and I will bless you.” Instead God said to Abraham, “I will bless you, believe my promise.” “For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.” Galatians 3:18
Today God says the same to us. He doesn’t give us commands to follow in order to be right with him, just a promise to believe: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” Acts 16:31 “Faith’s exclusive function is to humbly receive what grace offers”
Grace gives and faith receives.
iii) So that the promise may be for all Abraham’s children
Lastly Paul says “the promise comes by faith, so that it... may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.” v16 If it was by the law, then all the Gentiles would be excluded. But that cannot be right because Abraham truly “is the father of us all.” v16 This is the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham in v17: “I have made you a father of many nations.”
The law divides between those who are under the law and those who are not. But God’s grace unties us all as the children of Abraham as it places us all on level ground at the foot of the cross and declares us right in God’s sight through faith in Jesus!
D. Conclusion
In 3 years Harry Ironside moved up the Salvation Army ranks from cadet to captain. But he was constantly tormented with the thought that he might lose his salvation. To stay saved, he thought, he must reach a place where he was beyond sin. And so Harry prayed for and pursued sinlessness. He worked harder. He deprived himself of even the simplest pleasures. All to try and make his place in heaven more secure. But the holiness he sought eluded him.
Eventually, under this strain, Harry collapsed in a physical and emotional breakdown. When he resigned from the Salvation Army and checked into a rest home, he was 19 years old.
It was only then that he realised that Jesus does the saving—not us. Once he accepted this, he restarted his ministry with a different motivation. He spent 50 years preaching, teaching, and writing over 34 books. Among those writings is this simple declaration of the truth that nearly cost him his life to discover—
“Christ and… is a perverted gospel, which is not the gospel. Christ without the and is the sinner's hope and the saint's confidence…Jesus is not only necessary, but also he is enough.”
The gospel stands unique in the world. Other religions tell us to do something and we’ll be saved, or be fulfilled, or be complete. But the gospel tells us to trust someone because Jesus has done it all.
It was through faith alone in God that Abraham was declared right with God. And if we simply have faith in Jesus Christ; if we trust in Jesus our Saviour, and his finished work on the cross alone; then we are also included in his community of God’s people. Then we are Abraham’s children, and God’s blessings are ours!
And so we need “a righteousness from God apart from law” Romans 3:21. This is the righteousness that comes from faith in Jesus.
That is God’s grace in action!
This blessing can be given to us by law or by promise, but not by both.
oues in
The gospel is not some new initiative by God. It is not a new innovation! It is the full revelation of how God in the past made men right in his sight and how this righteousness from God can
We can be sure that faith is enough. In order to be right with God, we don’t need to supplement our faith in Christ with anything else.
It is true that Father Abraham had many sons and I am one of them and so are you!!
, people hold onto today to make themselves right with God – their good works, their religious practices, their keeping of the commandments – none of that makes us right with God. Instead “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no-one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
How did Abraham receive those amazing promises? Was it as some Jewish teachers claimed because Abraham had obeyed the law?
“Abraham and his offspring received the promise “
In Genesis 12, God gave Abraham this wonderful promise:
“I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
And in Genesis 15:5 God promised Abraham: “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
And We have come into that promise.
don’t claim any authority other than the authority of God’s Word!
When Paul concluded about our need of salvation, he backed up his conclusion about the unrighteousness of the humanity by numerous Bible quotes (Romans 3:10-18). And he has claimed that this righteousness from God through faith (which we looked at last week) was testified to in “the Law and the Prophets” Romans 3:21.
Here he is showing evidence to prove this. The word of God shows that justification by faith alone is not a new idea, but was always God’s way of making people right with him! Of course in the gospel the truth and fuller understanding of it is brought out!
These men and women were commended for the fact that
however, later, when was . It is from a simple hostori Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteous, well “under what circumstances circumcision or any other religious ritual is required to be righteous in God’s sight, then Abraham, who was declared righteous with God would also have required it.
This is an argument from History – simply when was Abraham declared right in God’s sight and when was he circumcised!
The facts of Genesis shows that Abraham was declared right with God in Genesis ... and given the sign of circumcision in Genesis XXX years later.
And so Abraham was uncircumcised when he was justified by faith!
Abraham was uncircumcised when he was justified – so he is the father of the uncircumcised who are justified by faith
Abraham was given the sign of circumcision – so he is the father of all who are circumcised and yet have faith
through grace; it cannot be both.
is by faith noy will never sin “
justifies, he declare to be right with him, not the righteous, but the wicked if justification was by works?
That person is justified as a free gift, not as something they earned!
“Faith is not an alternative to righteousness but the means by which we are declared righteous.”
The money may be earned... And then this money is owed to us. We do not necessarily write a thank you note to our employer every time we receive a wage cheque because it is owed to us, it is giving not a s a gift but as an obligation.
But when we receive a gift, we do say thanks because it was not owed, but given out of generosity – out of grace.
The Jews thought that God justified religious people on the basis of their works; yet Paul has proved that “Father Abraham” was saved simply on the basis of faith.
Righteousness credited to Abraham - as a gift, not out of debt
Received through faith – not words
Boasting of national pride or personal piety – both expressions of self-righteousness!
Illustrations
When men see that a prairie fire is coming, what do they do? Not the fleetest horse can escape it. They just take a match and light the grass around them. They take their stand in the burnt district, and are safe. They hear the flames roar as they come along, but they do not fear. They do not even tremble as the ocean of flames surges around them, for over the place where they stand the fire has already passed and there is no danger. And there is one spot on earth that God has swept over. Nineteen hundred years ago the storm burst on Calvary, and the Son of God took it onto his open bosom; and now, if we take our stand by the open cross, we are safe for time and eternity.
5340 Westcott Refuses Fortune
Clint Westcott had been sought after for ten years when two California newspapermen succeeded in locating him. He was now a bearded, ragged old man, sleeping “out” with others like himself, existing on what they could “beg, borrow and steal.”
In Westcott’s early days he had worked hard. He built a garage, but later when things got tough, one day he walked off and had never been heard from.
A foreclosure on his property followed, and at a sale his assets brought over $15,000. This was banked to his credit and with interest it had grown to about $20,000.
A state-appointed attorney requested the newspapermen to deliver a copy of his bank credit and inform him of his fortune.
Off they went to the den where they talked with “One-eyed Jack,” “Big Swede,” “Lacey” and Westcott, known as “Whiskers.”
On hearing the news, poor Westcott tried to impress the newsmen that he was having a happy life. “Hah,” said he, “I’m rich” and to prove it he pulled out and counted 44 cents. “One of these days I’ll get out of the bottom, but I’m not ready now.”
“But, Clint,” said a newsman, “You’ve been resting for 15 years. Why not make the break now? Here’s your chance.”
“I know, I know,” Clint said nervously.
“Here, Clint, is the letter. Open it and read what you should do.” He continued to sternly refuse saying, “I don’t want any part of it, I can’t, I’m not ready for it.” Finally the newsmen left with the good news unaccepted and refused. The foregoing story is true.
5395 Everything For Nothing
An aged saint, on being asked to describe salvation, aptly replied, “Something for nothing.” Another aged saint, who had weathered the storms for many a long year and was nearing the Heavenly harbor, on hearing this story related, exclaimed, “Yes, it’s even better than that. It’s everything for nothing.
5397 Only Two Religions
While presenting the Gospel on the street of a California city, we were often interrupted about as follows: “Look here, sir! There are hundreds of religions in this country, and the followers of each sect think theirs the only right one. How can poor, plain men like us find out what really is the truth?” We generally replied something like this: “Hundreds of religions, you say? That’s strange; I’ve heard of only two.” “Oh, but you surely know there are more than that?”
“Not at all, sir, I find, I admit, many shades of difference in the opinions of those comprising the two great schools; but after all there are but two. The one covers all who expect salvation by doing; the other, all who have been saved by something done. So you see the whole question is very simple. Can you save yourself, or must you be saved by another? If you can be your own savior, you do not need my message. If you cannot, you may well listen to it.”
5399 Artist Only Needed A Beggar
I have read of an artist who wanted to paint a picture of the Prodigal Son. He searched through the madhouses, and the poorhouses, and the prisons, to find a man wretched enough to represent the prodigal, but he could not find one. One day he was walking down the streets and met a man whom he thought would do. He told the poor beggar he would pay him well if he came to his room and sat for his portrait. The beggar agreed, and the day was appointed for him to come.
The day came, and a man put in his appearance at the artist’s room. “You made an appointment with me,” he said, when he was shown into the studio. The artist looked at him. “I never saw you before,” he said, “you cannot have an appointment with me.” “Yes,” he said, “I agreed to meet you today at ten o’clock.” “You must be mistaken; it must have been some other artist; I was to see a beggar here at this hour.”
“Well,” says the beggar, “I am he,” “You?” “Yes,” “Why, what have you been doing?” “Well, I thought I would dress myself up a bit before I got painted.” “Then,” said the artist, “I do not want you; I wanted you as you were: now, you are no use to me.”
5406 Unnecessary Egg In Mix
A food processing firm marketed a cake mix which required that the housewife add only water to produce a creamy batter and fine cake. The company could not understand why the mix would not sell, until special research revealed the public felt uneasy about a mix that required only water. It seemed too simple. They felt they themselves had to do something to a cake mix. So the company changed the formula and required the housewife to add an egg. Immediately, the mix achieved great success.
· In three years Harry Ironside moved up the Salvation Army ranks from cadet to captain, but he was constantly tormented with the thought that he had backslidden and might lose his salvation. To stay saved, he thought, he must reach a place where he was beyond sin. He heard sensational stories from people who claimed that they had attained holiness, their lives totally free from sin. He wanted that holiness too.
Harry prayed for and pursued sinlessness, working ever harder, depriving himself of even the simplest pleasures, convinced that he was making his place in heaven more secure. But the holiness he sought eluded him. Under the strain of this unbearable pursuit of perfection, Harry collapsed in exhaustion. When he resigned from the Salvation Army and checked into a rest home, he was 19 years old.
H. A. Ironside learned the importance of being saved early. But it took a physical and emotional breakdown to make him realize that Jesus does the saving—not us. Only after he discovered this essential truth could his real ministry begin, resulting in 50 years of powerful preaching, teaching, and writing that included 34 expository books covering the entire Bible. Among those writings is this simple declaration of the truth that nearly cost him his life to discover—
Christ and… is a perverted gospel, which is not the gospel. Christ without the and is the sinner's hope and the saint's confidence…Jesus is not only necessary, but also he is enough.
· One of the most powerful films in recent history is Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. The film begins on D-Day, June 6, 1944, as the Nazis were advancing across Western Europe. Faced with the ugly possibility of defeat, the Allied powers staged on the beaches of Normandy the greatest military invasion in history. Their goal was to cripple the German army and ultimately force Hitler and his army into retreat.
Following the bloody battle, Captain John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) and his surviving company of soldiers receive very unusual orders from their commander. They must locate and rescue a solder, Private James Ryan (played by Matt Damon), who is fighting somewhere behind enemy lines. We are told that Ryan and his three older brothers enlisted in the Army. What Private Ryan doesn’t know is that all three of his brothers perished during the Normandy invasion. To spare Private Ryan’s mother the anguish of losing all four of her sons, Miller and his men must find James and bring him back alive.
As Miller and his eight men move deeper into enemy territory in search of Ryan, they engage in an intense debate about why one man’s life is so important that they should risk theirs. “This Ryan better be worth it,” Miller says. “He better go home and cure some disease or invent a new longer-lasting light bulb.”
Despite their misgivings, Captain Miller’s band of soldiers bravely carry out their orders, with several of them paying the ultimate price as they successfully locate and rescue the young soldier. In the final battle scene, Miller takes a bullet that will ultimately cost him his life. But before he dies, he whispers to Private Ryan, who is kneeling by his side, “Earn this...earn it.”
The movie ends with a scene set some fifty years after the war, with the elderly James Ryan standing over Captain Miller’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery. With a trembling voice, he says, “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I’ve tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough...I hope I earned what you did for me.”
· In the movie, Ryan then asks his wife, “Have I been a good man?” For 50 years, he was tormented by the realization that he could never do enough to earn what Captain Miller and his men did for him.
Contrast that with Jesus, who gave his life so that we could live. His dying words were not “Earn this.” Instead, he said, “It is finished!”
Had Jesus said, “Earn this,” you would have quickly come to realize that there’s no way to earn what it cost for Jesus to give his life for yours. To spend a lifetime trying to earn your salvation only leads to frustration and despair.
That’s why Jesus said, “It is finished!” He declared once and for all that nothing more needs to be done. You don’t have to earn it. The free gift of salvation is yours—no strings attached. Just believe and accept him as your savior and friend.
Enniscorthy Christian Fellowship – 6th April 2008 The sufficiency of Faith Romans 4:1-17a Exegetical Outline
Father of All
Galatians 3:6-9: “Consider Abraham: “He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 7 Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”
Galatians 3:29: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Law & Sin
Romans 5:13: “for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.”
Galatians 3:17-18: “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.”
Galatians 3:24: “So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”
Romans 11:6: “if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”
Credited
2 Corinthians 5:19: “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”
2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Genesis 15:6: “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
1 Corinthians 1:30: “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”
Sign & Seal
Ephesians 1:13-14: “Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”
Colossians 2:11-12: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.”
Heir of the world
1 Corinthians 3:21-22: “So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”
By Faith Not Works – because it is written that he believed God and was justified
v1 He referred to Abraham as our forefather. (“Forefather” is used only here in the NT.) Undoubtedly this was to distinguish Abraham’s physical ancestry from his spiritual fatherhood, mentioned later in 4:11-12, 16.
v2 The Rabbis taught that Abraham had a surplus of merit from his works that was available to his descendants. Paul built on that idea and agreed that, assuming that Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about (cf. boasting or bragging in 2:17, 23; 3:27). But, Paul insisted, his boasting could only be before other people, not before God. If a person could establish his finite righteousness by works—though that was impossible—he could never boast of it in God’s presence.
These extrabiblical Jewish traditions often declared that Abraham’s merit sustained or rescued Israel in subsequent generations.
v3 Jewish teachers often commented on Abraham’s faith as reflected in Genesis 15:6, which they read as “faithfulness,” one of his works. Paul reads it contextually as dependence on God’s promise and stresses the word “reckon” (NASB) or “credit” (NIV), a bookkeeping term used in ancient business document for crediting payment to one’s account.
The Hebrew word translated believed means “to say amen.” God gave a promise, and Abraham responded with “Amen!” It was this faith that was counted for righteousness.
(“credited,” elogistheµ, from logizomai, is an accounting term). “to put to a person’s account.” It is a banking term. This same word is used eleven times in this chapter, translated “reckoned” (Rom. 4:4, 9–10) and “imputed” (Rom. 4:6, 8, 11, 21–24), as well as “counted.”
Justification means righteousness imputed (put to our account) and gives us a right standing before God. Sanctification means righteousness imparted (made a part of our life) and gives us a right standing before men, so they believe we are Christians. Both are a part of salvation, as James 2:14–26 argues. What good is it to say that I’ve have faith in God if my life does not reveal faithfulness to God?
v4-5 a worker’s wages are what are owed him because he earned them, and are not graciously given to him as a gift. Conversely, a person who is not working but is believing on (these participles are in the pres. tense) God who justifies the wicked (asebeµ, “the ungodly, impious”; cf. 5:6), his faith is credited as righteousness (cf. 4:3).
Abraham was the latter kind of person as the Scripture stated. He was justified not because he worked for it but because he trusted God.
When a man works, he earns a salary and this money is put to his account. But Abraham did not work for his salvation; he simply trusted God’s Word. It was Jesus Christ who did the work on the cross, and His righteousness was put on Abraham’s account.
God justifies the ungodly! He put our sins on Christ’s account that He might put Christ’s righteousness on our account. 2 Corinthians 5:21
Constant trust or committal to God is the first and sole requirement of the man who is declared righteous.
v6-8 A person, like David, to whom God credits righteousness apart from works, is blessed. Such a person’s sins are forgiven and covered. And instead of his sin credited (logiseµtai) to his account, God credits (logizetai; cf. Rom. 4:3) righteousness to him.
Transgressions: lawlessness, refers to an overstepping, a violation of specifically stated commandment.
Sins: falling short, failures Forgiven, pardoned Covered; Will never count against him – not added to his account, but instead righteousness is credited to him
God refuses to credit to our account our sins, but pardons them and covers them instead – in their place he credits righteousness – and all through faith in Jesus Christ – and this is altogether apart from our works!
In the quotation from Ps 32:1, 2, it is clear that righteousness is credited to a man, is put to his account. This same individual is pictured as having his lawless deeds forgiven and his sins covered. The Lord does not put sin to his account. In place of a debt which he can never pay, he has righteousness put to his account which he did not earn. How can a man be righteous in God’s sight? God bestows His righteousness upon the one who trusts him (Phil 3:9). The OT asserts that God does this. The NT shows more clearly how he can.
David made two amazing statements: (1) God forgives sins and imputes righteousness apart from works; (2) God does not impute our sins.
God imputes righteousness – in that when he justifies sinners he does not make them righteous (that is the ongoing process of sanctification) but rather he pronounces them righteous or imputes righteousness, reckoning them to be, and treating them as legally righteous – to set righteousness to one’s account and to treat him accordingly.
By Faith Not Rites/ circumcision – because he was justified first and circumcised later
v9-10 Paul again raised the question of the Jews’ special position (cf. 2:17-21a; 3:1-2).
Abraham’s age when he was declared righteous (Gen. 15:6) is not stated. But later when Hagar bore him Ishmael, he was 86 (Gen. 16:16). After that, God instructed Abraham to perform the rite of circumcision on all his male descendants as a sign of God’s covenant with him; this was done when Abraham was 99 (Gen. 17:24). Therefore the circumcision of Abraham followed his justification by faith by more than 13 years. some Jewish interpreters made this even longer—29 years.
The conclusion is obvious: circumcision had nothing to do with his justification.
v11 Therefore, Paul argued, the sign of circumcision was a seal of Abraham’s being declared righteous because of his faith which he received while he was still uncircumcised (lit., “in uncircumcision”). Circumcision, as a “sign” or “seal,” was an outward token of the justification Abraham had already received.
As a sign, it was evidence that he belonged to God and believed His promise. As a seal, it was a reminder to him that God had given the promise and would keep it.
A sign to identify them, a seal to authenticate them as God’s people
“What answers well as a sign, is a miserable substitute for the thing signified.”
We are justified by faith and then we are baptised as a sign or seal of our justification!
circumcision is looked upon in the Scriptures as confirming the righteousness which belonged to the faith Abraham had while in uncircumcision
Therefore, Paul argued, the sign of circumcision was a seal of Abraham’s being declared righteous because of his faith which he received while he was still uncircumcised (lit., “in uncircumcision”). Circumcision, as a “sign” or “seal,” was an outward token of the justification Abraham had already received.
Believers today are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God (Eph. 1:13–14). They have also experienced a spiritual circumcision in the heart (Col. 2:10–12), not just a minor physical operation, but the putting off of the old nature through the death and resurrection of Christ. Circumcision did not add to Abraham’s salvation; it merely attested to it.
Abraham is the father of all Gentile believers (circumcision no more necessary to their justification as it was to his) and also the father of all Jewish believers!! V11-12
THE UNITY OF ALL BELIEVERS!! Abraham does not divide believers into two groups, rather he unites us all as he is seen the father of all who believe!
v12 Jews must do more than be circumcised to be right with God. They must also walk in the footsteps of . . . faith, like Abraham (cf. 2:28-29). Abraham is not the father (in a vital, spiritual sense) of those who have only the external sign; but rather he is the father of those who walk in the faith that he had before he had any external sign. The Jews were to walk in the foot-prints of Abraham, the man of faith, not in the footprints of one who legalistically carried out a rite that God demanded of him.
Obviously, then, the rite of circumcision, which many Jews rely on for salvation, contributes in no way to one’s status before God. It gives them no special standing before Him because they must be declared righteous on the basis of faith in God.
By Faith Not Law – as the law was give centuries after Abraham was justified, and Abraham was responding to a promise not a law
v13 The Jews also considered the Mosaic Law, a special revelation of God’s standards for human conduct, as the basis for their special standing before God.
1. Prophetically transcends the categories in which it was initially given
2. The subsidiary promise – all nations on earth will be blessed.
3. Messianic – the meek will inherit the earth – Matthew 5:5, in and through Christ all things are ours 1 Cor 3:21
Three reasons why this promise is received by faith not law
1. History – Abraham’s promise received 430 years before law received
2. Language – if those who live by the law are heirs then faith has no value (lit has been emptied of its validity) and the promise is worthless (lit has been destroyed or rendered ineffective).
Something can be given to us by law or by promise, but not by both! Galatians 3:18
God said to Abraham – not ‘obey this law, and I will bless you,’ but ‘I will bless you, believe my promise’
Law brings wrath – law turns sin into transgression (a deliberate trespass) and so provokes God’s wrath v15
But Promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace v16 – if Good’s gift comes by his grace, then it must only be received by faith - Grace gives and faith takes. “Faith’s exclusive function is to humbly receive what grace offers”
And 11:6.
V13-16 Summarised as follows – God’s law makes demands which we transgress, and so we incur wrath
God’s grace makes promises which we believe and so we receive blessing.
Law, obedience, transgression and wrath belong to one category - - Grace, promise, faith and blessing belong to another
3. Theology – so that “the promise ... may be guarranteed to all Abraham’s offspring” v16 The law divides, but God’s grace unites as it places us all on level ground at the foot of the cross.
Thus scripture is fulfilled which said “I have made you a father of many nations.” v17
God’s promise in Genesis 12:1-3 (or the one of Genesis 15:5) preceded the giving of the Law by several centuries (Gal. 3:17). Being “heir of the world” probably refers to “all peoples on earth” (Gen. 12:3), “all nations” (Gen. 18:18), and “all nations on earth” (Gen. 22:18), for through Abraham and his descendants all the world is blessed.
What promise does Paul have in mind? It is the promise that he (Abraham) should be the heir of the world. This exact language is not found in the OT, but certainly Paul is speaking here of Abraham’s being the father of a great posterity (Gen 15:5, 6; 22:15-18). The great number of his seed—as the stars of the heaven and as the sand along the seashore (Gen 22:17)—was understood by the Jews to refer solely to his physical descendants. But in Rom 4:11 Paul says that Abraham is the father of those who believe among the Gentiles—“those believing in a state of uncircumcision.” Hence Abraham is the heir of the world because he is the father of believers.
These promises of blessing are given to those to whom God has imputed righteousness, and this, Paul added once again, is by faith. Believers of all ages are “Abraham’s seed,” for they enjoy the same spiritual blessing (justification) which he enjoyed (Gal. 3:29). (However, God has not abrogated His promises to Abraham about his physical, believing descendants, the regenerate nation Israel, inheriting the land [Gen. 15:18-21; 22:17]. These promises still stand; they will be fulfilled in the Millennium.)
v14-15 As Paul explained, if Jews could become heirs by obeying the Law, then faith has no value (kekenoµtai, “it has been made empty”; cf. the noun kenos, “empty, without content,” in 1 Cor. 15:10, 58). Also the promise is worthless (kateµrgeµtai, “has been made invalid”).
Whenever the choice becomes either faith or law, then to choose law (legalism) as the basis of inheriting the world and pleasing God means the abandoning of faith and the promise based thereon.
The reason this would be true is that Law brings wrath (lit., “the Law keeps on producing wrath”) as a consequence of disobedience. No one can keep the Law fully; therefore God, in wrath against sin, judges those who disobey.
Paul then stated a related general principle: And where there is no law, there is no transgression. A person may still be sinning in his action, but if there is no command prohibiting it his action does not have the character of a transgression, an overstepping of a prohibition (cf. Rom. 5:13).
The word transgression (parabasis) refers to an overstepping, a violation of specifically stated commandment. The role of the Law, then, is to make clear what God demands of men.
Abraham was justified by believing God’s promise, not by obeying God’s Law; for God’s Law through Moses had not yet been given. The promise to Abraham was given purely through God’s grace. Abraham did not earn it or merit it. So today, God justifies the ungodly because they believe His gracious promise, not because they obey His Law. The Law was not given to save men, but to show men that they need to be saved (Rom. 4:15).
v16 Therefore (lit., “On account of this”) the promise comes by (ek, “out of”) faith so that it may be by (kata, “according to the standard of”) grace. Responding in faith to God’s promise is not meritorious, since the promise springs from His grace, His disposition of favor toward those who deserve His wrath. The human exercise of faith is simply the prerequisite response of trust in God and His promise. Since faith and grace go together, and since the promise is by grace, the promise can be received only by faith, not by the Law.
Another reason the promise is by faith is so that it may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring, not only the Jews (those . . . of the Law) but to all who exercise faith in God. If the promise were fulfilled for those who keep the Law, then no Gentiles (or Jews either) could be saved! But this cannot be, because Abraham . . . is the father of us all, that is, all who believe (cf. “our” in v. 1; also cf. Gal. 3:29).
Paul makes clear that the seed is not to be equated with those who lived under the Law. Rather, the seed refers to those who, like Abraham, believe God—to those who share Abraham’s faith. If this is the definition of the word seed, then Abraham is truly the father of us all.
The fact that Abraham was justified by grace and not Law proves that salvation is for all men. Abraham is the father of all believers, both Jews and Gentiles (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7, 29)
v17 Paul then supported his conclusion in v16 with scriptural authority, quoting God’s covenantal promise from Genesis 17:5.
The fact that believers in this Church Age are identified with Abraham and God’s covenant with him does not mean that the physical and temporal promises to Abraham and his physical descendants are either spiritualized or abrogated. It simply means that God’s covenant and Abraham’s response of faith to it have spiritual dimensions as well as physical and temporal aspects (cf. comments on Rom. 4:13).
v17b for next time/week
The quotation is in effect a parenthesis. Therefore the latter part of verse 17 connects with the close of verse 16: “He is the father of us all . . .” in the sight of God. (The words He is our father are not in the Gr., but are added in the niv for clarification.) God . . . gives life to the dead and calls things that are not (lit., “the nonexisting things”) as though they were (lit., “as existing”).
Identifying God in this way obviously refers to God’s promise in Genesis 17 following the statement quoted above that Abraham and Sarah would have a son of promise when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 (Gen. 17:17, 19; 18:10; 21:5; cf. Rom. 4:19). That he would be the ancestor of many nations seemed impossible in his and Sarah’s childless old age
Homiletical Purpose –!
Homiletical Proposition:
A. The Importance of Scripture
B. The Father of Us all
C. The Sufficiency of Faith
1) Faith Not Works
2) Faith Not Circumcision
3) Faith Not Law
Conclusion
“The promise is guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring!!!”
Thoughts
Illustrations
