Romans 4:1-8
THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
Intro: Paul has just finished nailing shut the lid on the
coffin of the Law. He has told us in no uncertain terms
that the Law cannot save, and that salvation comes
only through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You and I believe this truth and we rejoice in it.
In fact, I still haven't fully recovered from the message
last Sunday evening. What a blessing it is to be able to
deal with concepts like justification, redemption,
propitiation, remission of sins, forgiveness of sins and
the grace of God.
Unfortunately, not every one believes the cardinal
doctrines of the faith. Many of the people who would
read Paul's letter to the Romans would not accept these
things as fact. Therefore, Paul calls a witness to the
stand as he continues to defend his message of
salvation by grace through faith.
Paul's witness is none other than Abraham, v. 1.
This man is revered by over one-half the world's
population. In our day, Abraham is held in high esteem
by Jews, Muslims and Christians. In Paul's day, many
people, but especially the Jews, considered Abraham
almost worthy of their worship. So, if Paul were going
to appeal to anyone person to support his case, it would
be Abraham.
Since Paul felt lead to use Abraham as an example
of a one who lived by faith, it is only appropriate that we
take the time to consider this fact as well. Therefore, as
we have the opportunity this evening, let's look into
these eight verses and witness firsthand The Faith Of
Abraham. As we do, check up on your own faith! Be
sure that your's is a salvation that is based entirely in
faith, because anything less is not salvation at all, but is
at best deception and at worse damnation. Let's notice
the Faith Of Abraham.
I. V. 2 THE RUMOR OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH
A. Note: The Jews Held Abraham up as the premier
example of a man who had been saved by his
works. They believed that he was the epitome of
a life lived right. They believed that God
accepted and justified Abraham because He had
earned it.
B. Paul tells us here that if this is true, that is, if there
is a note of truth to the rumor that Abraham had
been made right by his works, then Abraham has
the right to crow. He can stick his chest out just
a little and say, "Look at me, look at what I have
accomplished." And, if this were true, then we
would have to respect that and hold Abraham up
as the perfect example of righteousness. In other
words, he would deserve all the acclaim that we
could give him.
(Ill. The same is true in our day. There are
denominations all around us this evening who, in
one way or another, claim to be saved by their
works. Be it the Catholic who thinks he has to go
to Mass, or the Seventh Day Adventist who things
he has to refrain from eating certain foods, or the
person in the Church of Christ who thinks that
salvation is a requirement for salvation, or maybe
it's that person who believes that he is saved by
faith, but that he has to keep himself saved by his
good works. All of these people have the right to
brag about their righteousness if they have
earned it for themselves. Sadly, however, all of
these people are wrong! When we come to faith
God's way, there will be no boasting in the flesh
and what we have done, there will only be
boasting in Jesus and what He did for us, Eph.
2:8-9)
C. Notice the last phrase of this verse, "but not
before God." What Paul is saying is that even if
this were true and Abraham were somehow
justified by his works, God is unimpressed! You
see, we are conditioned to perform from the time
we are small children. We learn that good deeds
and good performance provides rewards and they
give us a sense of accomplishment and self-assurance. While the good things we do may
prosper us in the flesh and in the eyes of men, it
will do nothing for us with the Lord. Why?
Because God does not look on the outside,
God looks at your heart, 1 Sam. 16:7.
(Ill. No matter what we do in this world, we are
always judged by what we did last. Ask any
football coach and he will tell you that no player is
any better than his last game! That is why works
won't work. Works won't work because works
won't last! You have to do more and more and
more and eventually you come to then end of
what you can do. Then when you can't do
anymore, what then? If I am saved by my good
works, then I have got to keep doing good works
and even better works every single minute of my
life. If I don't then I am doomed. That, my
friends, is a pressure that no human has to live
under!)
(Ill. Think for a moment about Mohammed Ali. He
is considered by many to be the greatest boxer
who ever went into the ring. He will always be
remembered for his great victories. However, he
cannot do those things tonight! He lives in a body
that is ravaged by the effects of Parkinson's
disease and he simply cannot do the things he
used to do. Does that change the fact that he
was a great boxer? No! The reality of who Ali is
does not hinge on what he is today. His worth
has nothing to do with the fact that he "could
float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.", but
that tonight he shakes like a leaf on a tree and
even has trouble speaking a coherent sentence.
People will always remember him as a great
fighter. However, if he crawled back into the ring
tonight and tried to fight, he would be easily
defeated and the world would remember his as a
sad, old washed up has been. Ali doesn't have a
thing to prove to humanity tonight. His fame
doesn't depend on what he can do, it is all about
who he is. That is a lesson that the church needs
to learn tonight!)
(Ill. The bottom line is this: God is not impressed
with your works or with mine. All that touches
God is our faith. Faith is the only thing that will
save the human soul!)
I. The Rumor Of Abraham's Faith
II. V. 3-5 THE REALITY OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH
A. Now, Paul tells us the real basis of Abraham's
salvation. Simply stated, Abraham believed God
and God saved Abraham. When Abraham was
an 85 year old man, a childless man by the way,
the Lord came to him and told him that he would
have children. In fact, God told him that his
descendants would eventually outnumber the
stars that Abraham could see over head, Gen.
15:1-6. If that sounds crazy to you, here is
something even crazier - Abraham believed God!
The Bible tells us that this faith in the word of God
was consider the basis for Abraham's
righteousness. In other words, because Abraham
believed God, God saved his soul!
(Ill. Note the word "counted". This word means
to "credit one's account and to treat them
accordingly." Let me illustrate. If you went to
the bank and tried to write a check on an
overdrawn account they would treat you
accordingly. However, if you went to the bank
and deposited a million dollars in your account
and them wrote a check, they would credit your
account and treat you like a millionaire. Do you
see the spiritual side of this truth? When we
place our faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, God
credits our accounts in the bank of Heaven with
the righteousness of Christ and then He treats us
just like He would treat Jesus. However, if we do
not open our account in Heaven with the deposit
of faith and we try to secure God's favor by
substituting our own righteousness, then we will
be treated just like we deserve to be treated and
we will sent away to Hell.)
B. The whole point Paul is trying to make is summed
up in verse 4-5. He tells us that is we are saved
by good works, then God is just paying off His
debt to man when He saves a sinners. (Ill.
Imagine going to work one week and on pay day
the boss comes by and hands you your check
and says, "Here's your gift." Why, you would
say, "Gift nothing! I earned that check by my
work!" The same is true of salvation. If I am
saved because I have earned it, then I can brag
about my goodness.) If that is the case, then you
are not saved by grace, but because God owes it
to you for what you have done. This is a false
view of salvation! You can count on the fact that
God will never be indebted to anyone of us!
(Ill. Verse 5 goes on to tell us that even the
ungodly person, who believes God by faith will be
saved! Can you see it yet? It never has been nor
will it ever be about works. It is all about faith.
Folk, if there is anything attached to your
salvation besides Jesus Christ, then you need to
be saved, because your brand of salvation will not
get you to Heaven. It is all about faith! (Ill. John
3:16; Acts 16:31; Acts 8:37. Faith is all that will
save the soul of the sinner.)
(Ill. What blesses me as I read this is the fact that
I don't have to get good before I can come to
God. Notice the word "ungodly". God isn't sitting
in Heaven saying, "I wish that boy would get his
life on track and start living for me. I sure would
like to save him." No! If that were the case, then
we would all go to Hell. I am glad that Jesus told
us how to come to Him when He called us to
come just like we are, Matt. 11:28; Matt. 9:13.)
(Ill. The handkerchief. My right hand, under the
cloth represents Jesus in His righteousness. My
left hand is uncovered. It represents me in all my
sins. That is how God sees me before I am
saved. However, when I place my faith in Jesus,
I am placed into Christ (move left hand under the
handkerchief) and I am no longer seen. All that
is seen is the righteousness of Jesus! )
(Ill. Many people are so close, but still so far away
from understanding the truth of this matter.
Notice this little story that I came across On page 5 of the Catholic Twin Circle dated
Sunday, January 5, 1992, there is a fascinating
interview entitled "A Century With God." Here are
a few excerpts from that article:
At 108 years of age, Charlie Shebanek of
Richmond, Calif., may be the oldest Catholic in
the United States. But he has a busier prayer life
that most Catholics half his age. . . . During the
day . . . he says the rosaries on an ancient set of
beads. He likes Our Lady. He also likes St.
David and prays to him. . . . But when asked who
St. David was, he said, "Gee, I'm darned if I
know! But I've been praying to him for years."
Charlie's theology is simple and to the point.
"The Catholic religion is the only religion worth a
hill of beans."
(I am not offended in the least by that
statement. In fact, I rather like it because I tend
to like people who know what they believe. I
think Charlie and I would get along just fine!)
He is trying to get in shape for that final
meeting with his Creator. "It's taken me 106
years," he states, "but I've finally stopped using
profanities. And I've never been drunk in my
life--not once." . . .
"We are all born under the curse that Adam
and Eve brought on us, so we have to work hard
to go to heaven. That's the only purpose of our
lives--not fame or fortune. I'm living in hope that
when I die, I'll go to heaven, according to the
laws of God." (p. 5)
As I read that story, I began to like Charlie
Shebanek. He's obviously a crusty old bird--you
have to be to live to be 108 years old. But he
clearly has a sense of humor, he knows that he
won't live forever, and he's getting ready to meet
the Lord.
Why mention him in this context? Because
he represents so many people in the world
today. Did you notice what he said? "We are all
born under the curse that Adam and Eve brought
on us." That's true, and all Christians would
agree with him. But next to that excellent
statement is one that is tragically wrong: "We
have to work hard to go to heaven." No, no, a
thousand times no!
That's what Romans 4 is arguing against.
You don't have to work hard to go to heaven.
Charlie's theology is so close . . . and yet so
far from the truth. He's obviously sincere, but
when it comes to salvation, sincerity isn't
enough. I pray that before he dies, God will open
his eyes to see that it's not how hard you work,
but whether or not you trust Jesus Christ alone
for your salvation.
I. The Rumor Of Abraham's Faith
II. The Reality Of Abraham's Faith
III. V. 6-8 THE RESULTS OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH
A. Because Abraham reacted in faith to the promises of God, there were certain results in his life that
are worthy of our notice. Paul is going to illustrate
the principles he has just mentioned regarding
Abraham's faith, but he is going to use David to
illustrate his point. He quotes David in his prayer
from Psalm 32:2.
B. In these verses, Paul reveals three great results
that become ours when we trust Jesus for
salvation. These are definitely worth noticing.
1. Sins Are Forgiven - This word means "sent
away". In a very real sense, when we receive
Christ as our Savior, our sins are forever
physically removed from our lives. (Ill. Psa.
103:12; Isa. 38:17; 43:25; Jer. 50:20; Micah
7:19; Col. 2:13-14; i John 1:7)
2. Sins Are Covered - This word means
"covered so completely that they can never
be uncovered." The blood of Jesus is so
powerful that it covers ALL sins! Past present
and future have all been covered if your faith is
in Jesus Christ. By the way, that is why I
believe I am saved forever. If my future sins
can send me to Hell, them I am not really
saved. It is either all or none and all means all!
3. Sins Are Not Counted Against You - The
word "imputed" means "to credit to one's
account and to treat accordingly." It is the
same word that is used in verse 5. It means
that once you trust Christ for salvation, your
sins will never be credited to your account,
because they have already been credited to
His account, 2 Cor. 5:21.
C. In the final analysis, we have been forgiven, we
have been covered and our sins are no longer
charged to our account! That is a tremendous
blessing! That is enough to make a Baptist want
to shout!
Conc: As we think about what we have learned this
evening about salvation, we need to try and bring it all
together. So, just for a moment, think about it this way.
Imagine that you owed a bank 1 million dollars and that
you had agreed to repay this debt at the rate of 10
dollars per week. Then one week when you went to the
bank and handed over you 10 dollars, the teller
checked your account and informed you that Bill Gates
had been there and had paid your account in full and
had deposited 1 million dollars in your account. Not
only are you not in debt any longer, but now you also
have riches that you could not before have imagined.
I know this is a far-fetched illustration. However,
that is exactly what Jesus did in salvation. He paid our
debt and then He credited our account with His
righteousness so that now we are the Sons of God and
are right in the eyes of the Father in Heaven. What a
standing is ours!
Now, let me make one final statement before we
close. The emphasis of these verses is this: Faith and
works are mutually exclusive. Works are fine, but they
will never save your soul. It is faith and faith alone that
makes us right with God. Anytime we try to mingle to
two together, we create an abomination and our works
always negates our faith. So, as we reach the end of
these thoughts, which is it for you, faith or works? Let
me remind you again of the words of Paul in Ephesians
2:8-9. Salvation is purely a work of faith. So, where is
yours?
