Studying His Word and His Works

Listen to the study here: Romans 4:17-25

Read here: Romans 4

Review

• Calvin on the theme of Romans: “Man’s only righteousness is the mercy of God in Christ, when it is offered by the Gospel and received by faith.”
• Luther: Simul iustus et peccator = At the same time, righteous and a sinner! Romans 3:23-25, all have sinned AND are justified by His grace
• Really important to connect back to Romans 1:17, righteous shall live by faith, which is connected to Habbakuk 2:4. 
• In OT, the righteous looked forward to gospel, while Christians today look back to gospel. Paul uses Abraham as the example in v. 1-4 and continues here.(Galatians 3:8, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham).
• Paul uses Abraham and makes it clear that he had faith before any works (circumcision) were performed, and this was so all could be saved, not just Jews, and to show it is all God’s doing.
• Faith being “counted” or “credited to our account” as righteousness is mentioned 11 times in Chapter 4! If “none are righteous” as Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, then this saving faith must be a gift from God. But I don’t think it’s like a “faith download” that happens overnight while we are sleeping or something, it’s a relational and supernatural moment where we receive this gift. And the only way we receive it is because the Holy Spirit has first done a transforming work in us. Otherwise, this “receiving” would be a work.

Intro

• Mainly referencing Schreiner’s commentary. We will cover this passage in two main parts, v. 17-22, then v. 23-25.
• It almost seems excessive that Paul mentions righteousness through faith so much in Ch. 3 and 4, but as Sproul says, perhaps he didn’t mention this enough, because in every generation, there are those who stand against this. 
• One thing we see in these verses is Abraham does something with the gift of faith he received, and one of the biggest things is he gives glory to God (4:20). Another thing Abraham does, or really does not do, is doubt. He exercises faith in other words. This is the “works” part of the Christian life. Not working towards salvation, but being saved through faith and then working towards sanctification as we experience our new life in Christ. 
• Verse 17
  • Verses 16-17 make one long sentence. Verse 17 begins by referencing Genesis 17:5, about Abraham being the father of many nations.
    • Paul transitions in these verses from Abraham’s “founding father” status to the kind of faith he had, further emphasizing Abraham as our “Father in the Faith” as we discussed last week. Paul (and Moses) could have talked a bunch about all the laws that Abraham kept, describing him as our “Father of the Jews,” but the promise is not through works and law-keeping. That Paul and Moses (and others) show that it is faith, not works, is super important. It could have been different, it could have been through works, but it wasn’t, and it wasn’t for a reason. God wants the glory, he wants it to be all Him. 
    • Like many things in Scripture, we want to avoid reductionism here. Abraham primarily is our “Faith Father,” but what was he being faithful about? The promise that he would be the genetic father of many nations! Both genealogies of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-17, Luke 3:23-28) include Abraham. It’s fascinating that there is a very real, physical aspect of Abraham’s faith, connected to the real world, and even to logical reasons for doubt (such as how old he was when God promised this). That it is grounded in reality also puts the focus on God as a promise keeper.
    • The end of verse 17 is an amazing description of who God is.
      • God gives life to the dead, which he goes on to describe Abraham and Sarah as “good as dead” for their old age (verse 19), and later connects this to raising Jesus from the dead (vs 24-25).
      • God creates ex-nihilo, from nothing! It would be God who created these future offspring of Abraham’s, from a good as dead couple. What was nothing (a physical family of Abraham) would become a reality, and the only way it became a reality is through faith.
        • Pretty amazing how often Paul references Genesis, first in Romans 1:20, here again, and plus the whole story about Abraham is from Genesis. An incredible connection to Adam follows Ch. 4. As Paul talks here about Abraham’s unwavering faith, consider also Paul’s unwavering faith in God’s words, and that they are not just words, but words with action. Words connected to real historical events.
• Verse 18
  • There is always a future component to faith, here described as Abraham believing in a future promise not yet seen. Schriener says it “blurs the line” between faith and hope, where they are almost indistinguishable. Faith is about trusting God now and always, hope is more directed at future results. He believed against hope, meaning he trusted God’s promise, even though, because of he and Sarah’s physical condition, it seemed impossible that God would bring life from their old bodies.
    • So shall your offspring be references Genesis 15:5. Paul has been quoting Genesis 15:1-6 all through Ch. 4. We read this passage when we studied v. 1-8.
• Verse 19
  • Abraham’s old body would give anybody a reason to be hopeless. It’s like if God told me “you’re gonna win the Banzai Pipeline surf contest next year!” No way.
    • His body was “good as dead”, Sarah’s womb was “barren,” yet Abraham believed God could make something from out of this barrenness. Also, God was going to, in a way, “resurrect” Abraham’s body from the dead, an obvious connection to Christ’s resurrection.
    • Paul, in writing so powerfully about Abraham’s saving faith, again reveals his own unwavering trust that Genesis describes real history. Many people, both in and outside the Church, doubt Genesis describes real history. They say there’s no way Abraham could have lived 175 years (Genesis 25:7-8). They say there’s no way Abraham and Sarah could have been pushing 100 when they had their first child. And there’s no way God could have created in 6 days (Genesis 1), and no way there was a worldwide Flood (Genesis 6-8). And on and on. But here we see, again, Paul trusting not just the Word, but the history and the timing it describes.
      • And not that it is unnatural to doubt, because even Sarah, Abraham’s wife doubted. I mean, she laughed when she heard the claim she would have a baby the following year (Genesis 18:10-12). Imagine being Abraham and Sarah and hearing this. It would be HARD to believe it and not laugh! But see, here’s the thing, is anything too hard for the Lord? (Genesis 18:14). Like Abraham, like Paul, God wants us to do something with our gift of grace. It’s not something to be stagnant in, but to grow in.
• Verse 20
  • No unbelief. Abraham did not waver, but held firm in his faith in spite of the physical impossibility that also presented a logical barrier. To the world it looked really stupid for Abraham to trust this promise. And today, to the world it looks really stupid to believe things like Genesis 25:7-8, that Abraham was 175 when he died and close to 100 when he finally became a dad.
    • Note also how, simultaneously, Abraham grew strong in faith AS he gave God glory. Grew strong is important too, because it shows faith is not fixed, but is something we can develop, nurture, strengthen as we exercise it. It is something connected to reality, to the reality of both the physical and spiritual sides of things.
      • Schreiner says “The secret of Abraham’s faith is that he acknowledged God’s glory by trusting God’s ability to carry out his promises as the resurrecting and sovereign God”.
        • Paul is connecting back to Romans 1:21-23 here, reminding us of the fundamental sin of humans is the failure to give God the glory. 
        • Schreiner: “The supreme way to worship God is not to work for him (4:4-5) but to trust that he will fulfill his promises.”
        • All this connection Paul is making is why Luther said to memorize the whole book of Romans.  Memorizing bits and pieces is not wrong, but it’s a complex book that is easy to take out of context without having the whole thing in one place, stored in your brain.
        • Do you think Sarah was still laughing when she held baby Isaac in her arms? Joyous laughter perhaps! What about you, do you have “scoffing laughter” when you read this story and the ages of Abraham and Sarah, or other historical claims? What do you trust more, your finite brain’s reasoning ability, or God’s ability to do things that transcend your brain’s logic and reasoning ability?
• Verse 21
  • Nobody we can trust more than God. Schreiner says there is a connection here between 1:18-25 and 4:17-21 in terms of Abraham giving glory to God, believing in God’s creative power, and thus being declared righteous instead of being “handed over” to ungodly and unrighteous behavior.
    • Schreiner: “Paul did not believe in faith, he believed in God and emphasized faith-not because faith is powerful but because God is.”
      • I think this is really important and another reason to think of saving faith as a gift from God. If saving faith is from us and not from God, then we have reason to boast, which is the opposite of what God wants. We start thinking of it as “my faith” instead of His gift that I did not deserve. 
        • Also, I don’t want to make it sound like saying “my faith” is always wrong. I mean, these verses refer to “his faith” when describing Abraham’s faith. God does the saving, but after that, the sanctification road – this “growing strong” in faith – that’s a team effort. When you receive a gift, any gift, it’s yours now. You take ownership. And with God’s gift of saving faith, proper ownership means growing it.
          • The problem, the error, is if you only talk about “my faith,” without acknowledging the Source. Maybe you do this because of the people you are around, and you think that saying “Jesus saved me” will be too toxic. But this is right where Satan wants you. This is where the drift away from Jesus begins. Truly saved recover eventually. “CHINOS” (Christians-in-name-only) however, will slowly embrace “their faith,” making this the object of their worship instead of Christ.
• Verse 22
  • Schriener: “Genuine faith adheres to God’s very real promises, in spite of the also very real whirlwind of external circumstances that imperil our faith.”
    • For example, imagine being Abraham and Sarah, facing so many scoffers at this promise. Note also the focus in Genesis is on Abraham’s faith, not Sarah’s, who not only laughed at the thought of having a baby in her old age, but convinced Abraham to take her slave as a wife and they had Ishmael together. Ultimately this is Abraham’s fault, but in the end he continued to stay faithful, even showing so by offering his son for sacrifice before God stopped him.
      • While Abraham’s faith was amazing, the Bible reveals he was still just a man, susceptible to doubt and wavering and inconsistency, etc. 
  • Schreiner: “Abraham believed that God would fulfill his covenant promises, and He did. So too, Jews and Gentiles become part of Abraham’s family when they believe that God has fulfilled his saving promises in and through Jesus Christ.” 
• Verses 23-25
  • The suggestion here in v. 23-25 is that Jesus is the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham.
  • It’s as though God preserved this story of Abraham so that he could tell us about Himself through stories. 
  • When Christians believe God’s promises have been fulfilled in the death and resurrection of Jesus, they are exercising the same dynamic faith in God as Abraham. Not a perfect faith like Jesus had, but similar to Christ’s “not my will, but Yours be done” faith (Luke 22:42).
  • Paul focuses in v 24 on the continuity between the faith of Abraham and the faith of Christian believers. It is the same faith.
    • It is also good to go back and read Sarah and Abraham’s full story, as he maintained faithfulness until the end, in spite of doubting moments, sin, etc. 
      • Maybe you know someone who has many doubting moments, a believer who is not “growing strong” in their faith, or an unbeliever yet to receive God’s gift of saving faith. Or maybe it’s you? Doubting God is normal. Lots of doubt though is evidence of unchecked sin. Of an unrepentant heart. That’s where Satan wants you, doubting and unrepentant. Instead of being trapped by Satan’s lies, pray. Read the Bible. Spend less time with scoffers and more time with believers. Be patient, stay humble. If there is one thing to take away from this lesson, it’s that real saving faith is a growth process, from weak to strong. And that takes time.
    • Abraham believed in a resurrecting God (v. 17, 19), as do Christians, who believe God raised Jesus from the dead, which Paul has been describing since 1:4. Schreiner says Christ’s resurrection signaled the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises to his people, indicating the new age had commenced. The resurrection of Christ inaugurates the new world promised to Abraham. 
  • The discontinuity in this passage is that Paul never says Abraham believed in the resurrection of Jesus. But God gave Abraham a taste of what was to come. The continuity is in believing God can resurrect, and will fulfill His promises. Believers today look back to that moment. The continuity is not Abraham’s faith or “my faith,” the continuity is that Jesus saves believers.
• Coming soon: Romans 5:1-5.