Hoping in the Promises of God

The Promises of God are activated in the life of believers through faith, not works (Romans 4:13-17a)

Explanation: Paul continues to use the life of Abraham as a model for those who are in Christ. In the previous section (Rom 4:1-12) Paul demonstrated that Abraham’s righteousness was imputed or reckoned to him through his faith, not his works. Paul builds on his argument, but now moves to the Promises of God instead of the sign of circumcision.

God made unconditional promises to Abraham (Gen 12:1-8; 15:1-7). God promises to Abraham included the land, countless descendants, and a blessing to the nations through his seed. God made the promises, not Abraham, and in that sense they exist apart from any effort made by Abraham.

Argument: Paul argument to his readers is that these promises of God to Abraham were not realized through the law. Instead, Abraham simply believed God by trusting in His promises, even when he could not personally witness them in his life. Faith is the key that unlocks the blessings of God in the believer’s life. The message of the Bible is consistent in both the OT and the NT and in God’s economy, our faith, not our actions makes the difference.

Application: One would think that Paul’s readers would get the idea. You could even think Paul was just wasting his time - like, “hey, Paul we get it, it’s about faith, not works.” Why is it then, that we keep getting it wrong? We read the words, we hear the words, and then keep on trying to earn God’s favor through our efforts.

Jesus has already provided for our salvation. He is the promised Seed of Abraham through which the world was, and continues to be blessed. Jesus is the Gospel, and placing your faith in Him alone brings righteousness with God.

NOTE: At first glance, verse 15 can seem to indicate the sins of people before the law did not produce wrath. This is not the case. The word Paul uses at the end of verse 15 is transgression, which means to go beyond that which is stated or limited. It means to go out of bounds. As one commentator states, “While every ‘transgression’ is also a ‘sin,’ not every ‘sin’ is a ‘transgression.’” (Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans)

Paul already covered the issue of the sinfulness of every category of persons and for every individual in Romans 1:18-3:20. What verse 15 means is that the law makes transgressions possible. When the law states ‘don’t do this’ and then someone does that, it is a transgression. Because it is a clear expectation, the breaking of it carries a greater penalty. We will be judged by the light we have received.

The Promises of God can be trusted, even when we cannot see the way forward (Romans 4:17b-20)

Explanation: Paul tells his reader that Abraham is indeed the father of all of those who believe (v. 17a), and then he gives an account of Abraham’s faith in the promises of God. Paul uses descriptive language filled with action verbs to convey a sense of the difficulties Abraham faced in trusting God.

v. 17b: whom He believed, even God who quickens the , dead

v. 18: who against hope believed in hope

v. 19 and being not weak in faith, considered not his own body to be dead

v. 20: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief

Illustration: Let me tell you about a 10 year old named Reynaldo. He was born without a pancreas and has a learning disability. The defects are the results of his prostitute mother trying to abort him by drinking large amounts of alcohol and having people hit her in the stomach. Reynaldo has also been sexually abused and has a terrible stutter and his classmates make fun of him. At 10 years old he is suicidal.

What odds would you place on this 10 year living to see 20 or to even amount to anything worthwhile? Maybe you would give him slightly better odds than you would have given Abraham and Sarah to have a baby at 100 years and 90 years respectively.

Argument: It is always easier to look back at past accomplishments and see how things worked out. It is much more difficult to face the challenges in the future and trust God with what you cannot yet see.

We can read the story of Abraham in about 15 to 20 minutes. We read of God’s promises to this childless father and barren mother, and in the next few chapters we read that Isaac, the Son of the promise has been born. And we zoom over 25 long years of waiting and hoping and trusting in the promises of God.

Make no mistake, we CAN trust the promises of God. The length of time between the promise and the fulfillment is not a problem for God. Peter reminds us to “be not ignorant of this one thing, that one is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3:8).

The time in between can be difficult for us, however, and we often struggle with being able to trust when it doesn’t seem like things are working out. I think this is EXACTLY what it was like for Abraham and Sarah. We look back at how he believed and trusted and think, “well, it must have been easy for him,” but I don’t think it was. The text tells us that “against hope he believed in hope” (v. 18). That doesn’t sound easy to me! But just as Abraham trusted, we can as well.

By the way, Reynaldo is a year older than me and was born in 1963 in Cleveland, OH and is now a pastor. Dr. Ron Archer is a minister who shares the hope of Jesus for those who have no hope and God has given him a global platform to tell his story of God’s Amazing Love.

The Promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus (Romans 4:24-25)

Explanation: Paul concludes this section by telling his readers that Abraham’s story of imputed righteousness through trusting God wasn’t just written for his own benefit, but for future believers, and that includes us in the present day.

The important thing to remember is the focus is Jesus, not Abraham. While Abraham was not weak in his faith (v. 19), his faith in and of itself was not a perfect faith. The OBJECT of his faith, however, was and is perfect: God Himself. The lesson for us is that faith in Christ is to be our goal. Our faith may not be as strong as Abraham’s, but if our faith is in the same God the end result will be the same. Being in Christ is sufficient for whatever comes our way in this world.

Argument: Paul tells his readers that they too can have the EXACT SAME RIGHTEOUSNESS applied to their accounts as was placed on Abraham’s ledger. Scripture declares that “for us also it shall be imputed” (v. 24). But notice the next several words - “if we believe.” Yes, God has made promises, and He will fulfill His promises. His promises, however, are for His children, those who are trusting in the Only One “who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Rom 4:25)

When we are in Christ we become recipients of the Promises of God, “for all the promises of God in him [Christ] are yes” (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Application: The Bible contains many Promises from God to His children, and I am going to simply give you 10 of them. Write down these Scripture references and allow God to minister to you through His promises.

Jesus tells us not to worry because He has promised to meet our physical needs (Matthew 6:25-33)

In Christ we are Eternally Secure. (John 10:28-30)

In Christ we have a home in Glory with Him (John 14:1-3)

God promised that He would comfort us in our trials (2 Cor 1:3-4)

God promises that He will make us new creations (2 Cor 5:17)

God has already blessed us with spiritual blessings in Christ (Ephesians 1:3)

God promises to finish what He starts (Philippians 1:6)

God promises to cleanse us even when we sin as believers (1 John 1:9)

God promised to never leave us (Hebrews 13:5)

God promised that whatever we go through as His children will work out for our good (Romans 8:28)