Romans 4.19-Abraham's Faith in the Promise Did Not Waver Even Though He and Sarah Were Sexually Dead
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday February 26, 2008
Romans: Romans 4:19-Abraham’s Faith in the Promise Did Not Waver Even Though He and Sarah Were Sexually Dead
Lesson # 134
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:13.
This evening we will study Romans 4:19, in which Paul says that Abraham’s faith in the Lord’s promise to give him and his wife Sarah a child did not waver even though he and Sarah were sexually dead.
Romans 4:13, “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
Romans 4:14, “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified.”
Romans 4:15, “for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.”
Romans 4:16, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, 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.”
Romans 4:17, “(as it is written, ‘A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.”
Romans 4:18, “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.’”
Romans 4:19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
Romans 4:20, “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God.”
Romans 4:21, “and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.”
Romans 4:22, “Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Let’s look at Romans 4:19 in detail.
Romans 4:19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
Corrected translation of Romans 4:19:
Romans 4:19, “In fact, without becoming weak with respect to his faith, after careful consideration and observation he was thoroughly aware of his own physical body as now being sexually impotent while already being approximately a hundred years of age as well as the impotence of Sarah’s womb.”
“And” is the “intensifying” or “emphatic” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which introduces a statement that is not new in relation to the previous statement in Romans 4:18 but rather is connected to it and in fact explains further this statement and completes the idea.
Romans 4:18, “Who had absolute confidence upon the object of confident expectation contrary to human expectation with the result that he himself became the father over many nations according to that which is solemnly declared, ‘In this way, your descendants will be.’”
Therefore, the conjunction kai introduces a statement that is connected to Paul’s statement in Romans 4:18 and further explains this statement and completes Paul’s thought.
“Without becoming weak” is the verb astheneo (a)sqenevw) (as-then-eh-o), “becoming weak” whose meaning is negated by the negative particle me (mhv) (may), “without.”
In Romans 4:19, the verb astheneo is employed with the articular dative feminine singular form of the noun pistis, “faith” and is used in a figurative sense and means, “to be weak.”
Therefore, the verb astheneo means that Abraham did not become weak with respect to his faith in the Lord’s promise to give him and Sarah a child.
“He contemplated” is the verb katanoeo (katanoevw) (kat-an-o-eh-o), which is a compound word that is composed of the preposition kata, “down” and the verb noeo, “to think, perceive.”
The preposition kata intensifies the meaning of the verb noeo, thus the word literally means, “to put the mind down on something, thus to observe or consider carefully and attentively.”
In Romans 4:19, the verb katanoeo means that Abraham “had come to a clear understanding of” and was “thoroughly aware of after careful consideration and observation” of the inability of his physical body to have sex and thus procreate.
The idea behind the word is that Abraham stared this obstacle of his inability to copulate and procreate right in the face.
It means that he was not blind to the facts of his situation but rather he faced up to his adversity and was not in denial.
Katanoeo means that Abraham “carefully considered and observed” the fact that he was unable to copulate and procreate and yet did not concentrate on his adversity but rather confronted his situation head on.
He met his situation head on with the promise that the Lord made to him and chose to concentrate upon the character and nature of the Lord and His faithfulness to His promises rather than upon the fact that he was advanced in age and could not have sex and procreate anymore with Sarah his wife.
The verb means that Abraham was “thoroughly aware after careful consideration and observation” that it was impossible for him to have sex and to procreate with his wife Sarah due to his advanced age at ninety-nine years of age.
From the human standpoint, there was not the slightest possibility that Abraham could ever father a child and yet his faith in the Lord’s promise to give him a child never wavered.
Faith in the Lord permits the Lord to due what is humanly impossible.
Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Jeremiah 32:27, “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
Human viewpoint would say that there was no chance whatsoever of this promise being fulfilled.
However, Abraham knew that since God is omnipotent, all things are possible.
Therefore, he had absolute confidence that the Lord could fulfill the promise even though it was physically impossible for him to have sex and procreate.
The principle of faith operates quite simply: (1) God speaks and we hear His Word. (2) We trust His Word and act on it no matter what the circumstances are or what the consequences may be.
The circumstances may be impossible, and the consequences frightening and unknown but we trust and obey God’s Word just the same and believe Him to do what is right and what is best.
Hebrews 11:1-3 gives a definition of faith and also a description of the nature of faith or in other words, what faith does and how it works.
Hebrews 11:1-3, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”
True faith regards what has been requested as one’s own possession even though the request has not been received.
Faith here is an attitude toward God, in which the believer considers God to be faithful who will perform all that which He is promised in His Word.
This was the attitude of Abraham.
Philippians 1:6, “I am confident of this very same thing, namely that, the One (God the Holy Spirit) who began in all of you a good work that is divine in character, will completely finish it up to the day of Christ who is Jesus.”
Faith in the Word of God appropriates the omnipotence of God, which is what Abraham and Sarah did.
Matthew 17:20, “If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.’”
The Lord will test the believer’s faith after salvation in order to produce endurance in them like he did with Abraham.
James 1:2-4, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
The Lord rewards the believer after his faith has been tested like he did with Abraham.
Hebrews 11:6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”
James 1:12, “Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
Romans 4:19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
“His own” is the reflexive personal pronoun heautou (e(autou) (heh-ow-too), which emphasizes Abraham acting upon his own body and denotes possession of his own body.
In Romans 4:19, the word indicates that Abraham as the agent is acting upon himself by carefully considering and observing the fact that he was sexually impotent.
It expresses the idea of Abraham carefully considering and observing “his own” body in that he was sexually impotent.
“Body” is the noun soma (swma) (so-mah), which refers to Abraham’s physical body.
“Now” is the adverb of time ede (h&dh) (ay-day), which is employed with the intensive perfect tense of the verb nekroo and denotes a point of time in the past when Abraham was thoroughly aware of the fact that he was sexually impotent after careful consideration and observation of his physical body.
“As good as dead” is the verb nekroo (nekrovw) (nek-ro-o), which is used in the context of Abraham’s inability to have sex and procreate and thus means, “to be sexually impotent.”
The word denotes the fact that with regards to Abraham’s ability to copulate and procreate, he was sexually dead or impotent.
“Since he was” is the verb huparcho (u(pavrxw) (hoop-ar-kho), which means, “to be already in existence.”
In Romans 4:19, the verb huparcho is used in relation to Abraham’s age and literally means, “to be already living or existing” since the word involves an existence or condition both previous to the circumstances mentioned (Abraham was sexually dead) and continuing after it (Abraham continued to live on after he became sexually dead).
“About” is the adverb pou (pou) (poo), which when used with numbers as it is here in Romans 4:19 means, “approximately.”
Romans 4:19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb.”
“The deadness” is the noun nekrosis (nevkrwsi$) (nek-ro-sis), which refers to the state of not being able to bear children as the result of having passed through menopause.
Therefore, the word refers to the state of Sarah’s womb not being able to bear children as the result of having passed through menopause.
“Sarah’s” is the proper name Sarrha (Savr)r(a) (sar-hrah), which refers to Abraham’s wife and Isaac’s mother and is commended by God for her faith.
Like Abraham, Sarah is mentioned as a hero of faith in Hebrews 11 since she trusts in the Lord to give her a child even though she was past the age of childbearing.
Hebrews 11:11, “By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.”