Perfect Faith

Introduction

@ Have you ever wondered whether you had enough faith? Maybe you’ve wondered whether God would actually come through for you. Perhaps you have some nagging questions or doubts that unsettle you.

Maybe you’ve wondered whether your doubts or lack of faith might cause you to miss out on eternal life. Today we’re going to look at a passage in the book of Romans that may surprise you, and its implications are far-reaching. And we’re going to look at someone who had perfect faith, even though we can find plenty of imperfections.

Overview

Background: Paul begins Romans by explaining that everyone—those who have the law as well as those who don’t—has sinned. Sin brings death. Then, he begins to talk about the solution.

Main Message

Relevant context (briefly)

1. @ Romans 3:21-31
   1. God’s righteousness is greater than the law. This is why Jesus’ death makes us righteous (vv. 23, 24).
   2. Because of God’s work, we have no reason to boast (v. 27). Salvation was never about keeping the law and it was never something that we could earn. We can only accept it by the law of faith (v. 28).
2. @ Romans 4:1-8
   1. If we work for salvation, it becomes a debt God owes us instead of a gift He gives us.
   2. Instead, when we accept God’s gift by faith, that is what is counted as righteousness.
3. @ Romans 4:9-12
   1. What’s all this about circumcision? Let’s make a different analogy: Instead of circumcision, let’s read baptism.
      1. Remember, circumcision was the sign of the covenant. In Paul’s day it marked someone as a Jew. In the church today, baptism is the sign of conversion. It marks someone as a member of the body of Christ. So even though Abraham wasn’t baptized, we can think of the two—circumcision and baptism—as equivalent.
   2. Now, we can think of Paul asking whether righteousness comes before or after baptism.
   3. Righteousness comes before baptism, and it comes by faith. Being baptized, being a church member, or living the right way doesn’t make you righteous.

Main focus

1. @ Romans 4:13-17: God’s promise depended on faith, not on the law.
2. @ Romans 4:18-25: The contradiction?
   1. @ Notice what the text says about Abraham: “He did not weaken in faith.” “No unbelief made him waver.” He was “fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.”
   2. Does that match what you remember about the story of Abraham? Let’s review:
      1. @ Genesis 15:1-6: God makes Abraham a surprising promise, but Abraham believes and is counted righteous—the same sentence Paul uses repeatedly.
      2. @ Genesis 15:9-11, 17, 18: This covenant imagery is far removed from us, so it requires some explanation.
         1. @ In Hebrew, you don’t say “sign a covenant” or “ratify a covenant.” Instead, you say כָּרַת בְּרִית (kāraṯ bᵊrîṯ), literally “cut a covenant.”
         2. @ Jeremiah 34:18, 19 carries more details of the custom. The parties to a covenant would cut sacrificial animals in two, arrange them in two rows, then walk between them as a way of signing the covenant. The meaning was along the lines of “May I become like these animals if I violate this oath.”¹
         3. @ Back to Abraham. Notice what passed between the animals. It wasn’t God and Abraham. Abraham was a witness to the covenant, but he wasn’t a party to it. Instead, two objects that could symbolize God (think pillar of fire/cloud) passed between the animals.
         4. Thus, @ the covenant was between God and God. This covenant, which Abraham believed and was counted righteous for believing, was God’s covenant with Himself. Abraham’s job was to believe God, not to perform the covenant.
      3. So, Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness. So far, so good. But what about his behavior?
         1. In the very next chapter of Genesis, right after Abraham believes God’s promise to make a nation of his descendants, @ we find the story of Hagar and Ishmael.
            1. Abraham, at Sarah’s instigation, doubts God’s promise and tries to have a child through illicit means, trying to fulfill God’s promise on his own.
         2. @ Years pass and God once again renews His covenant (Genesis 17:1-10). This time He does place a requirement on Abraham: circumcision.
            1. How does Abraham respond? @ Genesis 17:17-19: Abraham has been waiting so long (Ishmael is 13 years old at this time) that he’s having a hard time believing God.
   3. So we’ve seen that Abraham certainly had some trouble trusting God’s promise.
3. @ Back to Romans 4:19-21. How can we reconcile what Paul says about Abraham with what we just read in Genesis?
   1. Remember two things:
      1. @ The covenant was between God and God. It wasn’t a matter of Abraham’s performance.
      2. @ When Abraham believed God, that was counted as righteousness. That means that his slip-ups didn’t change where his righteousness came from.
         1. Paul can say Abraham never wavered—not because that was literally true, but because God declared it to be true. It was a verdict on Abraham’s faith as a whole.
         2. @ Zechariah 3:3-5 (cf. Isaiah 64:6): God takes our sin and filth, and He is the one who cleans us and declares us to be righteous.
         3. @ Thus, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3).
         4. By the way, believing God doesn’t mean you never have any questions. But you can choose to take God at His word even if you don’t understand it and still have doubts and questions.
4. So what does this all mean for us? @ Romans 4:23-5:2
   1. If you have accepted God’s offer of salvation by faith, then you are righteous. Not because you feel righteous, not because you meet God’s performance targets.
   2. So many people say that they believe that we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, yet their spiritual focus doesn’t show it.
      1. We sometimes judge our standing before God based on how the day went. Or the week. Or the month, etc.
   3. The question is, will you believe God?
   4. We do need to address sin briefly, even though that isn’t our topic for today.
      1. Paul spends the next three chapters explaining that God’s grace doesn’t make sin OK (e.g., Romans 6:1, 2).
      2. But the point that Paul makes repeatedly is that God’s grace is what is truly transformational in our lives. In other words, believing God is far more powerful than shunning sin.
   5. @ Romans 5:6-11: When we believe God, we are reconciled to God, and that’s the source of power.

Appendix: Romans 4 and Genesis²

Notes

1. Timing (4:10): Genesis 15 comes before Hagar and Ishmael (16:3, 16), when Abram was about 85 (12:4 + 16:3). He was circumcised at 99 (17:24). So righteousness was credited at least 13–14 years before circumcision.
2. “Did not waver” (4:20) is Paul’s verdict on Abraham’s faith as a whole, not a claim that Genesis shows no doubt. Genesis records Abraham asking “How am I to know?” (15:8), taking Hagar (16:1–4), and laughing at the promise of a son while pleading for Ishmael (17:17–18). Sarah laughs too (18:12), and God answers, “Is anything too hard for the LORD?” (18:14).
3. Some manuscripts of 4:19 read “he did not consider his own body” (KJV). Most modern translations follow the reading without “not” (ESV “he considered”): Abraham faced the facts and believed anyway.
4. The quotations in 4:3, 17, and 18 match the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) of Genesis 15:6, 17:5, and 15:5 almost word for word.
5. “Heir of the world” (4:13) is not a phrase Genesis uses. Paul is combining the land promise (13:14–17; 15:18–21) with the promise that all nations would be blessed through Abraham (12:3; 22:18).