History of Righteousness

I started doing park run last year.

It was a regular gathering on Saturday.

I said in the morning to run, or in my case, to walk,

5K around Ataman and Willoughby,

with a big group of people.

And at the end of the run,

we scanned a barcode that records our time of the day.

Apart from the exercise,

I enjoyed being a walker in a lap-around course.

I got to say hello to the same group of people,

people that I actually know,

two to three times as they passed me in a different direction.

I often finish the top five longest time,

in real time, which means the last five.

And I try not to be the last one to finish.

As I walk the course slowly,

it was most encouraging

when someone joined to finish a course together

at the same pace as me.

When we're working on something hard or require endurance,

having a pace setter or companion

can make the journey more doable and enjoyable.

Sometimes that may be the key to a breakthrough

in our quest or journeys.

Paul provides the best companion

or a pace setter for us

to follow in the passage we are looking at today.

Abraham, a great figure in the Old Testament,

is well-known by the original audience,

also become well-known by three of the major religions

in our modern days.

Judaism, Christianity, and Muslim.

He had the right relationship with God

based on faith alone.

He is someone from way past

to show us how God has always been

crediting righteousness by faith.

Abraham was a man, a human being,

just like any one of us when God called him.

Let me explain.

Abraham was a child to his parents,

a husband to his spouse,

and a parent to his children.

He cared for his deceased brother's children

and earned a living as a migrant in a foreign land.

He was well-to-do,

but at the same time,

he cared a lot about his close relatives.

He knew what to do to protect them

if they get into trouble,

willing to take a fight when needed.

He was generous

and valued relationship above other things.

He was also a man of principles,

giving honors where honors are due,

and not taking advantage of any situation

to profit for himself.

However, driven by fear,

he also did some not very honorable things.

He told only a half-truth about his marital status

on a few occasions

and almost caused irreparable consequences.

He took things into his own hands

to ensure there was someone

to look after his family

and his wealth when he died.

If you do not know much about Abraham,

let me encourage you to read

the Old Testament book of Genesis,

starting from chapter 12.

But from what I just described,

what do you think of him?

He sounded like all kinds of guys,

just a normal human being,

isn't he?

He sounds all right, isn't he?

Paul states in our chapter today,

in verse 1 to 2,

what then shall we say about Abraham,

our forefather according to the flesh,

discovered in this matter?

If in fact Abraham was justified by works,

he has something to boast about,

but not before God.

Even Paul says,

looking at what Abraham did,

based on his works,

he has something to boast about,

but not before God.

Why is it not before God?

Because the scripture said,

Abraham believed God

and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Abraham's right standing with God

does not come from his obedience or works.

It was credited to him.

The word credited appears 10 times

in this passage,

with the word Kant in verse 8,

which both come from

the same original language of the New Testament.

They are all accounting terms,

meaning to Kant as.

So far in our journey in Romans,

one observation I have is that

Paul tends to repeat the same phrase or word

to highlight his points.

In Steve's introduction,

a few weeks back on chapter 1,

he pointed out that the word gospel

shows up more in the first 17 verses

than anywhere else in Romans.

The word gospel appears more per face

in these verses than anywhere else in the Bible.

In the second half of chapter 1,

Paul shows us a long and devastating

critics of human nature

and how we deserve only God's wrath

and his righteous anger.

And in chapter 2,

the theme judgment shows how

our religiosity and hypocrisy

further inflame God's wrath

and justify God's righteous judgment against us.

And last week,

in chapter 3,

the word righteousness

took a podium position

after leaving all the other runners behind.

In our chapter today,

in chapter 4,

Paul shows us that

the righteousness

that was leading the pack of runners

has a special name.

It was credited righteousness.

To credit something

is to confer a status

that was not there before.

It would be like

end of the pack run,

a person who ran first

waited for me at the finish line

and handed me his barcode

to scan as my record.

And not just that,

the person finished first,

not just him,

but everyone else

finished before or after me

was congratulating me,

celebrating and cheering

that I'm the first

with the shortest time.

Ridiculous sounds to be.

But faith counted as righteousness

means that God treated Abraham

as though he lived a righteous life.

His faith was not righteous,

but God counted it

as if it were.

Now, to the one who works,

wages are not credited

as a gift,

but as an obligation.

However,

to the one who does not work,

but trusts God,

who justifies ungodly,

their faith is credited

as righteousness.

Faith credited as righteousness

is a profound concept.

I believe it's much easier

for us humans

to understand the system

of obligation

that we live in

than to understand

what it means

to have faith credited

as righteousness.

People living

in a democratic country

often highlight

the freedom

and the right they enjoy

and decry

the lack of freedom

of those living in others.

But are you really

or truly free?

Are you truly?

Can you truly be

whoever

and whatever

you want to be?

Can anyone truly

disregard the law?

Relationally,

when someone is nice to me,

I feel obliged

to return the favor

or I feel indebted

to that person.

But on the other hand,

if someone harms me

or my family,

I feel I have the right

to harm them back.

I'm glad

I'm refrained

from doing so overly

due to our legal system.

A few weeks ago,

in my personal Bible reading

and reflection time,

I read about

a conversation

a father had

with him

when he was

in his last year

in high school.

And he said,

son,

you know,

as soon as you finish school,

you have to look

for a job

every day

until you find one.

Your success

or failure

will mean

a good

or bad repetition

for our family.

We are obliged

to do right

by our family

or our society.

By human standards,

we are considered

right

and good

if we abide

by the law

of our society.

Live within our means,

treat others nicely,

and be generous

and charitable.

We should

pack ourselves

on the back

and say,

well done, mate.

And it is so easy

for us

to misunderstand

God requires

the same thing

from us.

That we need

to earn

favor from God.

That we need

to work

for our righteousness.

But on the fifth side,

we can also

fall into thinking

that we deserve

God's grace.

As soon as we think

that we can earn

God's favor

and be righteous

in His sight

by our effort,

we cheapen

the grace

that God has shown

through His Son,

Jesus.

We steal

God's glory

and do not know

what saving faith

is about.

I'm glad

Abraham

has been highlighted

as our case study

of faith,

showing us

what saving faith

is about.

from verse 9

to 12,

it says this,

Abraham's faith

was credited

to him

as righteousness.

He received

a seal

of the righteousness

that he had

by faith,

so that he is

a father

of all who believe,

in order that righteousness

may be credited

to them,

who also follow

the footsteps

of the faith

that our father

Abraham had.

Abraham

is not just

our pay setter.

he is also

our guarantee

because Paul says

he is a father

of all

who believes,

of all

who follow

in the footsteps

of his faith.

We,

as we follow him,

we experience

the reality

of being loved

and accepted

by God

while we are

sinful

and imperfect.

Abraham

was not

himself

righteous,

perfect,

or blameless,

but God

treated him

as though

he were.

God shows us

through Abraham

that our justification

or credited

righteousness

is by faith

in him alone.

So,

what does it mean

to follow

in faith?

What is the faith

that saved Abraham

and which will

save us also?

first five

tell us

that faith

equals

trust God

who justifies

the ungodly.

It does not

merely believe

God exists,

but believes

and trust

in what God

has

and will do

for us.

Verse 17

to 25

shows us

that

believe God

or trust God

has these

three things.

Firstly,

verse 18

to 19

against all hope

Abraham in hope

believed

and so become

the father

of many nations.

Just as it had

been said to him,

so shall your

offspring be.

Without

weakening

in his faith,

he faced

the fact that

his body

was as good

as dead

since he was

about a hundred

years old

and that

Sarah's room

was also dead.

God promised

Abraham

that his

offspring

would be

as numerous

as the stars

in the sky,

but he was

still

childless

when he was

about a hundred

years old.

Abraham's body

appeased

hopeless,

but he does

not go on

appearance.

Faith is

not opposed

to reason,

but it's

sometimes opposed

to feelings

and appearance.

it's not

simply

an optimism

about life

in general,

not going

on about

saying

always look

on the bright

side of life,

nor faith

in oneself.

It does not

keep saying,

I think I can

as we come

at the mountain.

Abraham

shows that

saving faith

is kind of

a death

to self-trust.

It's going

on something

despite our

weakness,

feeling,

and perceptions.

He goes

on God's

promise.

So first

things,

not go on

appearance,

but goes

on God's

promise.

Secondly,

verse 20

to 21,

yet he did

not wafer

to unbelief

regarding the

promise of

God,

but was

strengthened

in his

faith

and gave

glory to

God,

being fully

persuaded

things that

were not.

So he

insisted

on this

measured

reflection

about God.

Abraham

shows us

that

saving faith

and believing

in God

is not

the absence

of thinking,

but rather

a profound

insistence

on acting

out of our

focus on

the facts

about God.

Saving faith

is thinking

about who

God is

and his

power

and focusing

about the

facts of

him.

Abraham

did not

have much

to go on

except God's

word of

promise.

We have

far more

facts about

God to

focus on,

a far

greater

demonstration

of his

love and

power,

because we

know that

God raised

his own

son,

Jesus,

to life

as we

just

celebrated

Easter

only a

month ago.

So secondly,

he insists

on focusing

on facts

about God.

Thirdly,

which is

developed

from what

I just

said,

believe God

means to

trust the

bare words

of God.

Abraham

believed

that God

had the

power to

do what

he has

promised.

He

trusts in

his word.

Verse 21,

being fully

persuaded,

that God

had power

to do

what he

had promised

it.

Are you

willing to

take God

at his

word when

feeling

popular

opinion

and common

sense

contradict

God's

promise?

Are you

going to

look at

what he

has said

and let

that define

reality for

you?

So there

are three

things.

Go on

God's

promise,

insist on

focus on

the facts

about God

and trust

the bare

words of

God.

You can

have lots

and lots

of strong

faith that

God exists,

that he

is loving,

that he

is holy.

You can

believe that

the Bible

is of

God's

holy word.

You can

show great

reference

for God.

Yet,

seek to

be your

own

savior

and

justify

by trusting

your

performance

in religion,

moral

character,

job,

or parenting.

You can

let those

things define

reality for

you or

have saving

faith and

transfer your

trust to

God and

his word.

And when

you do,

you will

enjoy your

faith journey

with Abraham

and many

others who

have gone

before you

and after

you to

treasure Jesus

together.

So,

how are

we saved?

Paul says

in verse

23 to

25,

the word

it was

credited to

him were

written not

for him

alone,

but also

for us,

to whom

God will

credit

righteousness

for us,

who believe

in him,

who raised

Jesus our

Lord from

the dead.

He was

delivered over

to death

for our

sins and

was raised

to life

for our

justification.

God's

promise of

credited

righteousness

is for

us,

who believe

in God,

who raised

his son

Jesus for

our sins

and justification.

Tim Keller

sums it up

this way,

Abraham's

faith was

in the

promise of

a descendant.

Our

faith is

in what

God says

one of

his

descendants

has

achieved.

This is

a promise

which is

to define

our reality

and shape

our lives.

As I

illustrated

before,

being credited

or counted

as righteousness

is like

the runner

that finished

first in

a 5k

pack run

did under

20 minutes

and wait

at the

finish line

for another

30 or

40 minutes

to give

me his

barcode

to record

as my

time.

But not

just that,

he grabbed

my barcode

as his

record.

And so

I can

count

with his

best

record

and he

took my

bad

record

onto

himself.

The

person

who

come

out

victorious

and

waiting

and

trade

places

with

us

is

not

Abraham

but

our

savior

Jesus.

The

descendant

of

Abraham

that we

are

looking

to

is

an

author

and

perfecter

of

faith

who

endures a

cross for

the joy

set

before him.

Our

salvation

is

nothing

to do

with

what

is

in

us

or

what

we

achieve

but

has

everything

to do

with

God's

work

of

grace

in

his

son

Jesus.

Abraham

is

one of

many

witnesses

that

point

us

to

Jesus

the

pioneer

and

perfecter

of

faith.

You

can

see

the

whole

list

of

examples

in

the

New

Testament

book

of

Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

chapter

11.

12.

And in

chapter

12.

Verse 2-3

it says

this.

For the

joy set

before him

which

Jesus

he

endured

the

cross

scorning

his

shame

and sat

down

at the

right

hand

of the

throne

of

God

consider

him

who

endured

such

opposition

from

sinners

so that

you

will not

grow

weary

or lose

heart.

Jesus

endured

the cross

for God

to

credit

his

righteousness

to

us.

As

we

receive

our

righteousness

we

also

join

in

the

joy

that

was

before

Jesus

and

give

glory

to

God

and

have

a

hopeful

humility

about

ourselves.

Crucifixion

is the

most

shameful

way

to be

punished.

Jesus

scorned

shame

and

credited

us

righteous

so that

we

do not

need to

be

ashamed

of

our

sins

or

ourselves.

Instead

we

can

be

honest

about

our

weakness

and

bring

them

out

into

the

open

for

God

to

deal

with

them.

Jesus

sat

down

at

the

right

hand

of

the

throne

of

God

to

rule

the

world

and

through

faith

we

also

rule

with

him.

our

life

is

never

out

of

control

under

the

kingship

of

Jesus.

Our

purpose

and

identity

in the

world

are

to

live

as

children

of

Jesus

credited

righteousness

and

rule

with

him.

When

we

consider

Jesus

who

induced

such

opposition

from

sinners

we

can

live

without

fear

of

the

future

and

despair

at

our

failing.

The

power

that

raised

Jesus

to

life

is

our

justification

and

assurance

that

we

will

be

raised

to

enjoy

eternal

life

in a

renewed

world.

Therefore

let us

fix our

eyes on

Jesus

the

pioneer

and

perfecter

of

faith

as we

continue

our

journey

of being

transformed

by the

gospel

through

Romans.