The Attitude of Genuine Faith

What is faith?

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Biblical faith is confidence in something we have not yet seen, but believe and hope we will see it as it has been promised.

It isn’t hope like “I sure hope we win today.” or “I sure hope he will ask me out.” It is “I have faith (sure confidence) that God will do what He promised He would do, even if I don’t see it.”

And our attitude has a lot to do with our faith.

Have you ever had a fun event ruined by someone with a bad attitude?

“It’s too hot, too cold. This is boring. I don’t want to play that...” A bad attitude can ruin a good thing can’t it?

Our spiritual attitude has a huge influence on the strength of our faith.

We talked last week about putting our faith in Jesus as our propitiation (the one who takes on the punishment for our sin).

When we have faith/trust in Jesus, we are saved and made right with God.

Paul is continuing his teaching on faith and it’s power to save us in chapter 4, specifically about Abraham.

Romans 4:1–8 CSB

1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 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 credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness. 6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.

Paul is asking a question here: Was Abraham in the OT justified (made right with/accepted by God) by how good he was?

If he was then God didn’t save Abraham, he saved himself by being good.

But Paul answers his own question

“No, Abraham was not accepted because he was such a good person. He believed in God, and God accepted him because of his faith, and forgave him of his sin.”

Just like Abraham, we are not saved by being good people, doing all the right things and not doing the wrong/bad things.

Ephesians 2:8–9 CSB

8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.

The Main Point

Here is the main point of this section (4:1-17): The attitude of faith is humbly believing in God and trusting His promises.

Paul is using Abraham as an example of this kind of attitude.

What do you guys know about Abraham?

Genesis 12:1–4 CSB

1 The Lord said to Abram: Go from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

Did Abraham do anything special there? (nothing at first)

What was the his attitude? (he trusted God, even though he didn’t know where he was going)

Genesis 15:1–6 CSB

1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great. 2 But Abram said, “Lord God, what can you give me, since I am childless and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 Abram continued, “Look, you have given me no offspring, so a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 Now the word of the Lord came to him: “This one will not be your heir; instead, one who comes from your own body will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look at the sky and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” Then he said to him, “Your offspring will be that numerous.” 6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Did Abraham do anything special here? (no, just believed God’s promise)

Genesis 17:15–18 CSB

15 God said to Abraham, “As for your wife Sarai, do not call her Sarai, for Sarah will be her name. 16 I will bless her; indeed, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she will produce nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown. Then he laughed and said to himself, “Can a child be born to a hundred-year-old man? Can Sarah, a ninety-year-old woman, give birth?” 18 So Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael were acceptable to you!”

What was Abraham’s attitude here? (doubt in God’s promise, almost 25 years had passed since the promise)

It is often hard to maintain faith in God, not because He isn’t faithful, but because we doubt.

Abraham didn’t do anything “good” to earn God’s favor. He actually struggled with doubt at times. (Gen 16 he and Sarah took matters in their own hands.)

Romans 4:13 CSB

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

God’s love for, acceptance of, and promises toward Abraham were not based on him doing everything right, being born in a certain family, or even based on his past failure or successes.

God accepted Abraham because Abraham had faith in God, even when it didn’t make sense to him.

Genesis 21:1–7 CSB

The Lord came to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised. 2 Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time God had told him. 3 Abraham named his son who was born to him—the one Sarah bore to him—Isaac. 4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears will laugh with me.”J, 7 She also said, “Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”

If you trust God, believe God, and seek after him, he’s going to bless your life with every blessing of Scripture, and even more than that.

More than you could imagine! All you have to do is come humbly and obey what he says, and come ready to receive whatever he brings in to your life (both the easy and the difficult).