2021-04-07 Romans 4

Romans 4:1–12 ESV

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather 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 counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

I. It has always been faith.

Romans 4:1–3 ESV

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather 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 counted to him as righteousness.”

A. From the very beginning God saved men through faith.

Illus: In the years before Jesus came those who claimed the name of God lost what it meant to be the people of God. Where God’s intention from the beginning was that any person by faith would become his child, the people of God had begun to define themselves by their race, their works, and their circumcision. In this they abandoned God and became a people who did not know God.

Let me see if I can illustrate this. About 7 years ago I decided that I wanted to complete an Ironman. The Ironman is 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of swimming.

I was a runner, but had never done distance swimming or biking.

Once I got started in my pursuit of this goal I decided to enter an Olympic distance triathlon. This would help me see how well I was training. The swim portion of the triathlon about 3/4 of a mile.

I remember the starting gun going off and getting my groove. Stroke after stroke I moved through the water. At first It was wrestling in a sea of bodies. I was genuinly surprised by how beat up you got wrestling in the water in the midst of all of the athletes.

Over time, I began to swim more and more on my own. Truth be told I thought I was just finding my space in the swim. After what seemed like forever I stopped swimming to tread water and see my progress. The reason I was swimming more and more on my own was that I had swum a diagonal line away from the course. I was literally in the weeds on the side of the lake.

This is exactly what happened to Israel. Slowly over time they lost their identity as the people of faith whose call was to be a light to the nations, but instead one stroke at a time they moved away from God taking on an identity rooted in their nationality, morality, circumcision, and any number of other things.

By the time Jesus came, they had embraced a works based religion that saw no need for a messiah. They saw no need for God. They were in the weeds and off God’s course.

Paul is showing God’s intent. He is showing what God intended before Israel got off course believing what made them God’s people was their works, circumcision, or nationality.

Paul is showing that God’s foundation that he gave to Abraham before the law, before the nation, and before circumcision was faith.

He is showing the Jewish believers where they got of course and calling them to return.

Hebrews 11:1–3 ESV

1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Hebrews 11:8–13 ESV

8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. 11 By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised. 12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore. 13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

B. Can you really boast about your works to God?

When I was in seminary I got to travel back to my Alma-mater with a retired pastor/ church planter that I had the privilege of pastoring. He was being invited to speak at a doctoral lecture and as his pastor I was invited as well.

I thought I was big stuff. Look at me first time pastor being invited to speak at a doctoral seminar. For some reason I had not connected the dots that I was simply a chauffeur for this wise and experienced pastor. This pastor was one of the first baptist pastors to plant a church in the north west. He had written a good bit of the organization materials that Southern Baptists still use for this day.

They peppered him with questions and then as a hat tip asked me a few. In my pride and arrogance out of the depth of my whopping 2 years of experience.

Looking back I made a fool of myself. My own pride and ego led me to believe that I had something to say. They led me to a point where I believed I was some sort of an expert after 2 measly years in ministry.

This is how we look when we go to God seeking to justify ourselves by our own works. We go to the God of the universe thinking we have something to boost about only to realize the foolishness of our pride.

Let’s be clear about what Paul is saying: Abrahams’s salvation was about trusting that God would take care of him. His goodness was about what God would give him. His identity is in who God said he was.

Abraham THE PATRIARCH of the Jewish nation could only stand by faith in God, and if it depended on faith for him, it depends on faith for you.

Not only are you saved by faith, but even your good is nothing to boast about. Your goodness is from God as well.

Ephesians 2:8–10 ESV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

II. Why faith and not works?

Romans 4:4–8 ESV

4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

A. When you depend on your works, you will be judged by your works.

Illus: God will allow you to choose how you will be judged eternally. Follow me here.

You can choose for your good works to be the standard by which God will judge you.

I know. Generally we all will say that we are sinners because we do bad things. But there is a part of us which wants to fight back: “BUT deep down I’m a good person”.

In this view we define being Christian by the fact that are members of a church, attend fairly regularly. Like the Israelites we think that our birth to a Christian family or into a somewhat Christian nation makes us a special people.

We even hold to the fact that if we do enough good things we can make up for the bad things in our lives.

You get to pick whether you get judged by your goodness. Hear me out... do you really have the boldness to come before the holy, righteous and perfect God to tell him that you have lived a good enough live, be born to good enough stock to be declared up to his righteous standard?

The Bible gives a clear picture of all the people who will come to God boldly thinking their goodness, works, birth or whatever is enough to enter heaven with him.

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

B. When you depend on Jesus’ works, you will be judged by Jesus’ works.

Ok, I hope I have convinced you that you really don’t want to trust your works, your life, your birth, your church membership, or anything else like it for your eternity.

I am regularly shocked by how few Christians know about what Jesus offers in faith.

There are two sided to the cross. There is the side of what Christ takes when you trust him by faith, and the side of what Christ gives when you trust him by faith.

We generally know what he takes. When you trust Christ, he takes your sins, the punishment due them, and your death. That was the Easter story, how God took all the punishment we deserve.

I want you to see what he gives as well. He gives you his righteousness. As Jesus lived the perfect life on this earth, that life is give to you when you place your faith in God.

That is how faith is counted as righteousness. We trust in Christ and Jesus imputes his goodness onto us.

Our place then is to realize our own brokenness and in humility come to Christ by faith knowing that he alone can forgive us and make us righteous.

The only way to know God and live eternally with him is through trusting that he provided it completely on the cross.

Philippians 3:7–11 ESV

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

III. The law, circumcision, nationality, or whatever was never meant to save.

Romans 4:9–12 ESV

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

A. God’s people are the people of faith.

Illus: Paul is stating that circumcision, obedience to the law, being born to a family in the nation of Israel were never what made you apart of God’s people. How could they if Abraham himself was made righteous before his circumcision, before Moses was given the law, and before Father Abraham had many sons.

How was Abraham made righteous? He believed God. He believed in the promise God made to him— that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed.

Because Abraham believed in the future promise of Christ, his sins were placed on the cross and the righteousness of Christ was placed on him.

That is the same hope, life, and righteousness we have today. When we place our faith in Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we are given his goodness.

Faith is not just that one time decision, but daily walking with that singular trust in the living God.

Genesis 12:1–3 ESV

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.