ABRAHAM’S FAITH, OUR MODEL
INTRODUCTION
A. (Rom.4:1-3) Paul is discussing “the righteousness of God apart from works” of which “the Law & the Prophets” had told about. David, one of those prophets, spoke about it when he wrote Psalm 32:1,2.
B. (Rom.4:9-12) Paul used Abraham as an example of one who had enjoyed the blessedness of forgiveness & the continual non-imputation of his sins being charged against him.
a. this blessedness/righteousness had nothing to do with Abraham’s works, it was “accounted” to him
b. circumcision came after he had already been declared righteous
c. the offering of Isaac showed/proved that Abraham was already righteous because he was trusting in God’s mercy (Jas.2:21-24)
d. imputation of righteousness comes to people who, like Abraham, trust in God’s mercy
C. (Rom.4:16-25) In these verses Paul presents us with an example of Abraham’s faith, which resulted in God counting him righteous. Since this is the kind of faith we are to have if we want to be right with God, let’s consider Abraham’s faith.
I. IT WAS RELIANCE UPON SOMETHING GOD PROMISED
A. What had God promised to Abraham? Paul identifies that promise in v17, which is a quote of Gen.17:5 – “Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”
B. When God made this promise to Abraham, his body was about good as dead, he was fatherless and his wife was physically not capable of conceiving, but Abraham believed God’s promise anyway. So Paul describes God as the One, “who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did” (v17).
C. Our faith, like Abraham’s, must be a reliance upon God’s promise (Joh.3:16; Mr.16:16; 1Jn.5:12).
II. ABRAHAM’S RESPONSE OF FAITH TO GOD’S PROMISE
A. Abraham’s response of faith is presented both negatively & positively (Rom.4:19-21).
a. negatively – “did not waver at the promise of God” - idea of setting yourself opposite to something so as to oppose
b. positively – “being fully convinced” - completely assured that God’s promise would be entirely accomplished
B. Since we are to “walk in the steps of the faith” of Abraham, then let’s consider our faith’s response.
a. negatively – we must “not waver at the promise of God” – must not doubt what God has promised
b. positively – “being fully convinced” – assured that God has forgiven you & that He will bring you safely to His eternal home
III. ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD
A. This is the key issue. Did Abraham place his confidence in how well he obeyed or did he place his confidence in someone else? The answer is found in the words – “that what He [God] had promised He [God] was also able to perform” (v21).
a. a worn-out body & a barren wife gave him no basis to put his confidence in himself
b. he put his confidence in Another’s performance
B. Like Abraham, our confidence must be in someone else.
a. past failures & present failures give us no basis to be confident that we can conquer sin
b. our confidence must be in the Son of God (Rom.8:1-4; 1Cor.1:29-31; Col.1:27)
IV. ABRAHAM’S FAITH RESULTED IN HIS BEING DECLARED RIGHTEOUS
A. (Rom.4:22) Earlier Paul had shown that Abraham was declared righteous without works – before circumcision or other works. It was his faith that caused him to be counted right with God. Faith & works are not the same.
a. “accounted” – “a thing is reckoned as or to be something, i.e. as availing for or equivalent to something, as having the like force & weight”
b. his faith was accepted in the place of his flawed performance
B. Why was the story of Abraham written? It was not written just so we would know about the great ancestor of the Jews & his faith, but to help us see that there is a “righteousness of God apart from law;” a righteousness “imputed” to us (Rom.4:23-24).
CONCLUSION
Are you walking in “the steps of the faith” of Abraham?