The Gospel in Romans, part 11

Romans 4:16-25

Text:
Romans 4:16-25 ESV:
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring - not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" - in the presence of of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Intro:

Paul showed us in Romans 1-3 why the gospel is good news. He began by showing how the Law condemns us, since we all fall short of the righteous standard of it. He also proved that Jews, as well as Gentiles, will be condemned for their own disobedience. He went on to show how no one does right at all, but everyone is so depraved that we cannot make ourselves righteous before God by any works we perform. The last half of chapter three demonstrated how God gives people the gift of righteousness by faith apart from works of the law. God is able to be both a Just God who shows no mercy toward sin, and yet justify all who have faith in Christ Jesus, His Son. He did this by propitiation. What does propitiation mean? Propitiation is a wrath-appeasing sacrifice. It is a sacrifice offered for sin that satisfies God's holy anger and justice, and also pleases Him so that He accepts those for whom the propitiation was made for. Jesus is that propitiation. Romans 3:23-26 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." So God is righteous, and upholds His righteousness by condemning His Son instead of those who believe in Jesus. Paul also said this eliminates all boasting in what we do to try to be justified, since righteousness comes only as a gift through faith apart from our works.

Now, in chapter four, we learned that Abraham was also justified by faith, since God justifies those who are ungodly when they repent and believe. Do you remember what David said about this blessing? "Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin." (Rom. 4:8). That is complete and total forgiveness! The Jews understood that Abraham had been given the covenant of circumcision, so Paul discussed how it was not his obedience in circumcision that justified him, but it was by faith before he was circumcised, so that Abraham would be the father of all who believe whether or not they have the outward sign of the covenant.

Now in verses 13-15 (which we looked at last week), we learned that God promised Abraham a seed [an offspring]. We also looked at Genesis 3:15, and saw that He spoke of the "seed of the woman," which is Christ. Abraham and his spiritual offspring (all who believe like he did), are heirs of the world through Christ, who is the promised Seed. What world are they heirs of? This one, or another world promised to come? Since this world will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:10), then they are heirs of a new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). Paul's case is that salvation comes by a promise and not by Law, "For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression." Now we move on to verse 16, which shows that this is why it depends on faith through grace...

Study Notes:

Verse 16
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring - not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
What depends on faith? The answer is in verse 13-14, the promise of receiving an eternal inheritance depends on faith not law. Those who are just [righteous] are the heirs, and they get that way by faith [trusting] in God through Jesus. What does the promise rest on? The promise rests on grace - grace is the free, undeserved favor and gift of God. Why does it rest on grace? So that it would be "guaranteed to all his offspring," and not only to believing Jews, but to Gentiles also who share Abraham's faith. So if eternal life depended on law, it would not be guaranteed, but since it rests on grace (the free, unmerited favor of God), then it is guaranteed to all who have faith like Abraham. What a promise!
Paul said Abraham is "the father of us all," because God chose him to be the one through whom the promise of Christ would come. Remember, "Christ" means "Messiah," which means "Anointed." Christ is the one whom God has anointed with His Holy Spirit to be the crusher of Satan's head, and the Ruler of the world to come forever and ever. He is the Prophet, the Priest, and the King. He is God come down to humans, to be their Savior.

Verse 17
as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" - in the presence of of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Where is it written? It is written in the book of the LORD... the holy Scriptures... the Bible... in the Old Testament... back in Genesis 17:5. What did God say he made Abraham the father of? Do you know what the name Abraham means? Abraham actually means "father of a multitude." Many of the Middle East people groups can trace their roots back to Abraham. But he is more than a father of racial peoples, he is also the father, in a spiritual sense, of a multitude of those who are saved from "every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages" (Revelation 7:9). This was written in the presence of the God in whom he believed. What kinds of things does it say God does? He gives life to the dead, and He calls things into existence that do not exist. In other words, God does the impossible! Abraham believed God would do as He had promised, even that He would raise the dead and bring about what did not yet exist. If God can make a universe out of nothing, and set it in order so that not one star is out of place, and not one planet is off course, and everything is held together by the command of His word, then is it hard for Him to make the dead come back to life?

Verse 18
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be."
Abraham was a "hopeless case," nevertheless, in hope he believed against all hope. What was it that he believed? That he would be the father of many nations, just as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." In other words, Abraham believed the word of God, against all apparent hopelessness. God said it, just as it is written in the Bible, and Abraham believed exactly what God said. Many people think faith is believing that God is going to get them out of a bad situation, or that He will give them what they ask for if they believe hard enough, or that faith is believing a dream or a vision, seeing miracles happen, or getting some outward sign from God and believing on that. But you know what Abraham's faith was like? Abraham believed the Word of God. And that is why he was justified. He trusted God's faithfulness to do exactly as He had promised.

Verse 19
He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb.
Abraham considered his own body to be as good as dead, but he believed in God who gives life to the dead (both spiritual life and physical life). How old was Abraham? Sarah was only about ten years younger than he was. Neither of them could produce children. Abraham's body could not produce seed and Sarah's womb was dead and barren. But did he weaken in faith because of that? Did he doubt God's promise because of those circumstances? No, he did not weaken in faith or waver...

Verses 20-21
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.
Did Abraham doubt God? How did he "grow strong" in his faith? It says his faith was strengthened "as he gave glory to God." And how did he give glory to God? He gave glory to God by being "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." Abraham did mess up a lot. He wasn't a perfect man, and he didn't have perfect faith, but he did trust God to be faithful to His promises. That is what we are called to do, to trust the faithfulness of God who promised eternal life to all who come to Jesus for it. God is faithful. He will surely do just as He says, and when we believe that, He is glorified through our trust in Him (as John Piper says, "The giver gets the glory").

Verse 22
That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."
Abraham was not righteous. There were times where he acted like a coward, he lied, he even tried to make God's purposes happen in the flesh by sleeping with his wife's slave girl (it was actually Sarah's idea). I do not doubt at all that Abraham felt horrible remorse for his sins, that he was turned from them by the grace of God, and that he hated them. However, God did not count his sin against him (Rom. 4:8). What was counted to Abraham as righteousness? Why was his faith counted as righteousness? Verse 21 tells us it was because he was "fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised." Are you fully convinced of God's faithfulness to do exactly what the Bible says He will do? Abraham was.

Verses 23-25
But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Was it written for Abraham's sake alone that his faith was counted to him as righteousness? Who else was it written for? How do we know if righteousness will be counted to us also? "It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord..." (we must believe God who raised Christ from the dead, and us with Christ when He raised us from spiritual death, and in the future from physical death and eternal death). What makes it possible for God to count us righteous by faith? It is because Jesus "was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

Conclusion:

Since God delivered Jesus over to death on the cross and raised Him from the dead with great power and glory on the third day, then all who trust in Him are forgiven of all sin, and through Him are counted to be righteous forever. Does this free gift come by the works you perform (good deeds, obedience to the law, religious efforts)? Or does it come by faith (trusting in Christ) apart from any works you do? Why? Because Christ performed all the work by living in absolute obedience to the will of His Father on our behalf, and died on our behalf, and was raised back to life on our behalf, so that in Him, we have eternal life. John 5:21-24 says, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life." Amazing! Do you hear and understand God's Word? Are you believing Him who sent Jesus into the word? Then this promise is for you... you have eternal life, you will not come into judgment, but you have already passed from death unto life! You have life by the Spirit of God in you, you have the right to eternal life, and you will be raised to new physical life when Christ returns. This is all God's word and God's promise. Do you believe it?

Examine yourselves, whether you are truly believing. If you are, then knowing these things should be causing you to be filled with joy and peace. Chapter five will teach us more about why and how we are saved by Christ, then in chapter 6, we will learn how this grace works in our lives to change us so that we live for God and not for our old life of sin.