Before studying any portion of Scripture, it is always necessary to examine it in context, to see how we got to this point. In Chapter Four, Paul wants us to understand the significance of faith in the life of Abraham, as well as in our life. Almost immediately in Chapter One, he reveals the thesis of this letter: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:16-17) You may be thinking to yourself, Will we never stop referring to these two verses? Probably not. These two verses summarize the whole of Scripture!

Following these two verses, and through the end of Chapter Three, Paul contrasts God’s righteousness and man’s unrighteousness. In Romans 1:18-32 he describes the downward spiral in the life of unrighteous mankind. The logical, natural consequence of an unrighteous life is the outpouring of God’s wrath but – somehow, God has withheld it. In Chapter Five, Paul shifts his contrast from death in sin to life in Christ. In Chapter Seven, he begins to describe what it means to have life in Christ. Chapter Four sits in the middle of these two contrasts: unrighteousness vs. righteousness and death vs. life.

The question is: How do we avoid the wrath that God so graciously withholds? This is the meat of Chapter Four.  Abraham’s faith is a model for us.

I. The Object of our Faith

God

We would all agree that God is the obvious answer to the question of the object of our faith. We know this intellectually, but we need to seriously examine ourselves to see if we live this way, and if we truly understand how faith moves us from meriting God’s wrath to having life in Christ.

Why is it so important to understand that God is the object of our faith? Paul wrote this letter to the Christian church in Rome. They wouldn’t call themselves a Christian church because this terminology didn’t exist at the time, but they were a group of people who believed that Jesus was the Son of God who had been crucified and had risen from the dead. Paul knows that there are some Jews in the church, so he brings his discussion to Abraham, their exalted father in the faith. God does not change (Malachi 3:6) and neither does faith. Faith works the same way for New Testament believers as it did for Old Testament believers. Old Testament saints had faith in a coming Messiah and New Testament saints have faith in an already come Messiah.

Scripture doesn’t tell us when Abram was converted from being a worshipper of many gods to becoming a worshipper of the One True God. Even after he was converted, he did not fully understand the concept of Jesus Christ (Yeshua HaMashiach in Hebrew), yet he had a faith that God accounted as righteous. Though the Scripture that Moses penned didn’t exist in written form in Abraham’s day, he probably knew through oral tradition the promise of a Messiah given in Genesis 3:15. And Genesis 15:6 declares that Abraham “believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

Faith in God is important because it underscores the source of our righteousness. Seven times in this chapter, Paul lists reasons why God is to be the object of our faith:

Verse 2 -- Abraham had nothing to boast about before God

Verse 3 -- Abraham believed God

Verses 6 & 8 – God forgives sin

Verse 17 – Abraham believed God

Verse 20 – God made a promise

Verse 21 – Abraham believed that God is able to do what He promised

Verse 24 – God raised Jesus from the dead

Trinitarian God

Paul begins this letter in Romans 1:1 by declaring himself, “a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God.” This gospel concerns His Son, descended from David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Holy Spirit. God, the Father, sent God, the Son, in the power of God, the Holy Spirit to redeem a people for Himself.

In our passage today, verse 24 tells us that the faith that justified Abraham “will be counted to us who believe in HIM who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord. The HIM is God, the Father. In Chapter Three, Verse 22 Paul says the righteousness of God is credited to all who have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son. Again, in Romans 4:24, Paul further characterizes this faith as believing that God raised this Jesus “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” Back in Chapter Two, Verse 29, Paul explains that faith comes from the Holy Spirit working in our hearts. He says, “But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter.” 

The object of our faith must be a Trinitarian God. If Jesus is not God, then at His death, all we have is the martyrdom of a great inspirational teacher. If there is no Holy Spirit, then we are left to our own realm, to achieve our own righteousness. 

Without identifying either the author or the reputable seminary from which he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree, there is a former pastor who voiced a new perspective on Jesus. He compiled a list of statements that he thinks Jesus would rebuke if He were to return today. There are quite a number of heresies on the list, including the following:

Jesus would rebuke that His vision for a transformed society got twisted into an afterlife fantasy about heaven.

That a religion was formed to worship His name, instead of a movement to advance His message.

That the gospel says His death solved the problem of humankind’s separation from God instead of accepting that His life revealed the truth that there is no separation from God.

Jesus would refute that it was said that He is exclusively God in the flesh, putting His example out of reach, rather than teaching that we all share in the same spirit that empowered His character in life.

That the religion that claims His name teaches that His wisdom and teaching are the only legitimate ways to know the truth from God.

The idea that humankind stands condemned before God, deserving of divine wrath and eternal constant judgment requiring the death of Jesus is sickening.

This man, who pastored for a number of years, said he left religion in his search for God. Many people today claim to be spiritual, but not religious. As this man left religion he has gone on to become a humanist chaplain. Anyone who has heard and believes God’s word can easily refute the list that this learned pastor compiled. Obviously, this man does not have a high view of Scripture.

As we consider this list, there are a couple of questions that should come to mind:

Where did this man get these ideas? And

Are we certain that we would never believe these ideas?

Even though we may say that we are saved by grace through faith, it is not of ourselves, it is a gift from God, is this what we really believe? Do you deep-down believe that you can stand before God in your own merit someday? Do you live your life trying to be the best person you can be? Do you really know that you can do nothing good without the power of the Holy Spirit working in your life? Do you come to the Trinitarian God daily with thanksgiving for His grace that gives you the faith to believe that He will save you? Do you repent of your sin, and seek to do His will in all your life? From time to time, we all fall prey to the notion that we are always in God’s will. We may not recognize we are not in His will until we look back and see the consequences of decisions or conversations that we have had. Maybe we have a guilty conscience because we have neglected to do something that God called us to do. Or maybe we slide back into a sin habit that we can’t seem to break, a sin that just keeps winning. It is only faith in a Trinitarian God that can resolve these dilemmas and any others that come along.

Perfectly Faithful God

Abraham believed that God would do what He promised, not just that he could. Romans 4:20 tells us that “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” Obviously, according to the flesh, this promise could not be fulfilled, but Abraham believed in a perfectly faithful God and worshipped Him. The author of Hebrews admonishes us, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23) The unconditional promises of God depend on Him alone.

We are not told in Scripture how God motivated Terah to leave Ur of the Chaldeans (modern day Iraq), intending to move to Canaan, but settling in Haran (modern day Syria) where Terah died. (Genesis 11:31) However, in Genesis 12:1, God told Abraham to leave Haran and go to Canaan, where He would make him into a great nation with vast territories, and that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him. This is important for us today, in that it is the descendants of Abraham that gave us Jesus. It is not said until Genesis 15:6 that Abraham believed, but obviously Abraham believed God when God told him to leave Haran and go to the land He would show him.

In Genesis 15:7-21, God instituted a covenant with Abraham. A covenant is similar to a modern contract, where parties obligate themselves to perform specific actions. Old Testament covenants were ratified by the parties walking between pieces of slain animals, with the symbolism being that if either party breaks the covenant he will be slain just like these animals. However, in the case of the Abrahamic Covenant, it was only God who obligated Himself to perform specific acts; this is the case with all the unconditional promises of God. God knows that we are weak, and He alone is the only one able to keep His unconditional promises. Abraham could not have kept any part of the covenant, and so it was only God who walked between the slain animal halves. We may say that we can’t live the Christian life in our own strength, but do our actions prove otherwise?

Perfectly Good God

Paul ends Chapter 4, Verses 23-25 with, “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.” In Psalm 8, David declares the majesty of God and asks who are we, that God should have any regard for us. Paul answers that question in Verse 5 when he says God justifies the ungodly. Who are the ungodly? That is us! We are the ungodly. Some translations use the word wicked, and this may drive home the point even better. We are the wicked. God is so good that, in spite of His perfect holiness and our wickedness, He would deliver His Son so that we might be justified. He is so good that He delays His wrath, so that we might have the opportunity to repent. (See 2 Peter 3:9) Also Romans 2:4, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” Paul continues describing the goodness of God in Romans 5:6-8, where he says that while we were weak and sinful, Christ died for us, the ungodly. Only a perfectly good God would love sinners in these ways.

A God with the Power to Give Life to the Dead

We believe in a God who has the power to bring the dead back to life. The gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes, be filled by faith for faith because the righteous shall live by faith. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not one of multiple options to receive God’s favor. It is the only way (John 14:6), otherwise we are the walking dead. 

As pointed out earlier, Romans 4 is the pivot point between unrighteousness and righteousness and between death and life. Faith is the only way we can move from death to life. How does faith affect our life? Does it have any influence on the things we do or the things we say? In just a few verses, Paul gives us multiple examples of the death versus life scenario.

V. 17 – God calls into existence things that did not exist before

V. 17 – God gives life to the dead

V. 19 – Abraham’s body was a good as dead

V. 20 – Sarah’s womb was dead. She had not borne any children, and humanly speaking, she probably never would. However, God promised Abraham an heir through Sarah.

V. 24 – God raised Jesus from the dead and, as verse 25 says, it was for our justification

Paul would later write to the Corinthian church where he made clear the importance of Jesus having been raised, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) Some false teachers have claimed that the essence of Jesus’s life was to show us how to treat one another (The Golden Rule, Luke 6:31) and that the resurrection was of no real significance. In 1 Peter 1:3-6, he echoes Paul when he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 

The significance of the resurrection of Jesus cannot be over emphasized. In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter emphasized the resurrection at every opportunity. Even when threatened and jailed, he refused to stop testifying to the resurrection. To help clarify the promise made to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through him, he states that all of history points to the resurrection of Christ. Toward the end of Acts (Acts 20:20), Paul states that they went from house to house, declaring everything that was profitable. As the resurrection of Jesus was essential to Paul’s faith, the things declared house to house certainly included the resurrection. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, the cross is nothing more than a monument to a fallen Jew, no more important than the Washington Monument. 

In the Garden of Eden, death came to creation. (Genesis 2:17) Adam’s sin brought physical and spiritual death to all mankind. We are all born dead because Adam is our Federal Head; that is, he is our representative. In order to give us a new Federal Head, God sacrificed His Son to pay our sin debt and He raised Him from the dead for our justification (Verse 25). Only God has the power to bring life to a dead person; you cannot do it on your own.

This section of the sermon began by asking, What is the Object of our Faith? The obvious answer is God, but it is not a frivolous nod to the name of Jesus; it is not putting Jesus on your list of inspirational speakers to admire; it is not giving lip service to your inability to live perfectly, thereby giving us an excuse to continue in our sin; it is not ceremony; it is not self-actualization so that we can become a better person. Abraham was not counted righteous because he believed that he was going to have a child, or grandchildren or lands, etc. Abraham was counted righteous by the same faith that saves us (Verse 16); that is faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus tells us this in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad." Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith in Jesus.

I. The Outcome of Our Faith

Our Justification

Justification is a legal term. Whether in the civil court or the court of public opinion, to be justified means that the facts of the case and the actions of the accused have been thoroughly examined, and if all the claims of the law have been satisfied, then the accused will be declared justified. Matthew George Easton expressed it this way: “The law is not relaxed or set aside, but is declared to be fulfilled in the strictest sense; and so the person justified is declared to be entitled to all the advantages and rewards arising from perfect obedience to the law.” The advantages and rewards of perfect obedience to the law is eternal life. 

Imputed Righteousness

Because we are sinners, we are not entitled to all the advantages and rewards of perfect obedience to the law – but Christ is! By grace, through faith, the perfect obedience of Christ is imputed to us; God declares us righteous. Paul’s whole thesis is based on Habakkuk 2:4, “…the righteous shall live by his faith.” We may think to ourselves that, since I am a righteous person, I should live by faith. We may even try to convince others, through our interactions with them, that we are walking by faith. This is not the message of Romans! A better translation is, The righteous BY FAITH, shall live. We are spiritually alive and are righteous only because we have been justified through the righteousness of Christ imputed to us by faith.

Union with Christ

Similar to the concept of the hypostatic union of Christ (divinity and humanity existing in one Person) the concept of our union with Christ is difficult to understand, how sinful man can be unified with the Holy God of creation is beyond our comprehension. Yet somehow, Jesus takes our sin and gives us His righteousness and glory; what’s mine is His and what’s His is mine. Since we can’t keep the law, He did it for us. This is what it means to be in union with Christ.

So, the questions remain: What is the object of your faith? What is the outcome of your faith?

Selah:

Jesus told a parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector (Luke 18:10-14) who prayed in the temple. The Pharisee paraded his self righteousness thanking God that he was not a sinner like other men, while the tax collector only asked God to be merciful to him, a sinner. The tax collector was the one who left justified. Without giving it much thought, do we trivialize sin by praying, God, be merciful to me a sinner? Sin is a big deal to God, and the cost He paid to redeem us was far beyond what we can imagine. Is sin a big deal to us? It is easy to gloss over our sin by asking God to forgive our sins without being specific. James 1:23-24 suggests this is like the man who looks at his face in a mirror, then forgets what he is like. When we confess sins to God, we must be specific; this will help us remember them and, with God’s help, not repeat them.

What is the real object of your faith?

What is the outcome of your faith?

If you don’t feel like you are in union with Christ, what needs to change?