Life Group - Romans 4

Welcome to Life Group. We invite you to join

us in this verse -by -verse study through the

Word of God. In this study, we're going to be

looking at Romans chapter 4, starting with verse

Romans 4 · chapter mention

1. Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder

of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about

being made right with God? If his good deeds

made him acceptable to God. He would have had

something to boast about. But that was not God's

way. For the scriptures tell us Abraham believed

God and God counted him as righteous because

of his faith. Now let's take a look at these

three verses and get it back into the foundation

of history. Jewish rabbis during this time taught

that Abraham was righteous. because he kept the

law before the law was even given. Now, this

verse tells us that Abraham did not become righteous

by his good deeds. I mean, that would be considered

works righteousness, and righteousness is unattainable

by good deeds. We just can't be good enough to

be righteous. But this says that Abraham received.

righteousness the gift of righteousness from

god because of his faith now when it says that

his righteousness was counted to him or other

english versions say accounted to him the greek

word there is actually like an accounting term

see he was counted or accounted righteousness

because of his faith We can look at it this way.

Righteousness was put onto his account beforehand.

It was supplied or posted in advance to his account.

See, God put to Abraham's account, placed on

deposit for him, credited to him righteousness

because of his faith. Now, when we talk about

righteousness, we... Need to understand that

it's more than the absence of evil in someone's

life or the absence of guilt in someone's life.

It's actually a positive good, meaning that God

does not just declare us innocent. He also declares

us righteous. Let's pick back up with verse four.

When people work, their wages are not a gift.

but something they have earned. But people are

counted as righteous, not because of their work,

but because of their faith in God who forgives

sinners. See, the idea of grace is opposite to

the principle of works. Grace has to do with

receiving a free gift from God. And works has

to do with earning our merit before God. I mean,

when we work for a paycheck at the end of the

week, after we put in the work, we feel that

our employer owes us the paycheck. In the same

way as the text tells us, if we think that we're

righteous because of our good works, all of a

sudden we can come to the point where we feel

like, God owes us because of our good works.

Grace is a favor done out of the spontaneous

generosity of the heart without any expectation

or return. And my definition of grace is this,

is God's actions of kindness and favor towards

us, towards you, towards me, that we don't deserve.

We haven't earned it. And we don't deserve it.

Like I said, a system of works seeks to put God

in debt to us. And it makes God owe us his favor

because of our supposedly good behavior. In works

thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing because

of our good works. We need to understand that

there are not two ways. to salvation some people

think there is and like one way is being saved

by works through keeping the law described in

the old testament and then there's another way

to be saved is by grace through faith that's

revealed in the new testament but the fact is

everyone who has ever been saved old our new

testament has been saved by grace through faith

God. There are not two ways of salvation. Let's

pick up with verse 6. David also spoke of this

when he described the happiness of those who

are declared righteous without working for it.

Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is

forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes,

what joy for those. whose record the Lord has

cleared of sin. Now this is quoting King David

from the Old Testament. See, David knew what

it was like to be guilty of adultery and murder.

He knew the seriousness of sin. If David were

judged on works alone, a righteous and holy and

just God, would definitely condemn him. But David

came to understand through experience how wonderful

it was to be forgiven. When our text read, oh,

what joy, when we look at the Greek word coming

out of Romans, it's the same word that we use

for blessed in most occasions in the New Testament.

And that word blessed, to remind us of the definition,

means supremely blessed. Not just regularly blessed,

but supremely blessed. It means fortunate. It

means well off. And it does mean happy. And this

is a result of God extending his benefits, his

grace to us, puts us in the position. of being

supremely blessed, fortunate, well -off, and

happy. Also, in other translations, it uses the

word impute. And in our translation that we're

looking at today, it's like declared righteous

or record cleared. This same Greek word that

is translated often as imputed righteousness.

It actually appears, this Greek word does, 10

times just in chapter 4. And it's where we get

our words logic or logical. To compute, to take

account, to reckon, to come to a bottom line,

to reason to a logical conclusion or a decision.

And like I said, the Holy Spirit through Paul

uses this concept. 10 times just in chapter 4,

talking about righteousness being imputed. Now,

just last week on social media, I saw a post

by someone that I don't know. It just came up

because I look at a lot of scriptural things,

biblical things, I guess. It came up and someone

was saying that imputed righteousness is false

doctrine. If I could get in touch with that person

or anyone else who believes that, I would tell

them to read Romans chapter 4. It's hard to understand

Romans 4 · chapter mention

why so many religious people speak out against

imputed righteousness. That Christ replaces our

unrighteousness with his perfect righteousness

at salvation. As a matter of fact, without imputed

righteousness, no one would be born again because

imputed righteousness is actually the only way

to salvation because we've all sinned and fallen

short. Verse 9. Now, is this blessing only for

the Jews or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles?

Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted

as righteous by God because of his faith. But

how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous

only after he was circumcised? Or was it before

he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham

before he was circumcised. Circumcision was a

sign that Abraham had already had faith and that

God had already accepted and declared him to

be righteous, even before he was circumcised.

So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who

have faith but have not been circumcised. They

are counted as righteous because of their faith,

and Abraham is also the spiritual father of those

who have been circumcised. but only if they have

the same kind of faith Abraham had before he

was circumcised. You see, for the Jewish people

of Paul's day, the significance of circumcision

was more than just social. It was the entry point

for a life lived under the law of Moses. And

most Jews believed that Gentiles had to convert

to Judaism to be Christians, since God's plan

of salvation came through to the descendants

of Abraham. But Paul here, he's refuting that

idea, since Abraham was declared righteous at

least 14 years before the mark of circumcision

began. The term Our Father Abraham was a cherished

saying of the Jews, and Gentiles converting to

Judaism, though, were not allowed to say it.

They could only say Your Father Abraham in the

synagogue. But here, Paul calls Abraham the spiritual

father of not just the Jews, but the Gentiles

also. And this opened up the door for the blessings

and all the blessings of Abraham are now not

just for the Jews, but they're for the Gentiles

too, meaning that Abraham's blessing was that

God blesses us and God blesses others through

us. God protects us. God rewards us and he increases

us. That was not just a promise then for the

Jews by saying that the Gentiles now can experience

this, the blessing of Abraham too. So picking

up in verse 13, clearly God's promise to give

the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants

was not based on his obedience to God's law,

but on a right relationship with God that comes

by faith. If God's promise is only for those

who obey the law, then faith is not necessary

and the promise is pointless. For the law always

brings punishment on those who try to obey it.

The only way to avoid breaking the law is to

have no law to break. So the promise is received

by faith. It is given as a free gift, and we

are all certain to receive it, whether or not

we live according to the law of Moses, if we

have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the

father of all who believe. That is what the scriptures

mean when God told him, I have made you the father

of many nations. This happened because Abraham

believed in the God who brings the dead back

to life and who creates new things out of nothing.

So what this is saying is since all God's dealings

with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob happened before

the giving of the Mosaic law, we can't say that

they were based on the law. Instead, they are

based on God's declaration of Abraham's righteousness,

that imputed righteousness we were talking about,

through faith. And faith is the link to Abraham

and God's promised blessings to his spiritual

descendants, whether you're Jew or Gentile. There

are sins that do not cross the line of the law

of Moses. The root of sin isn't in breaking the

law, but in breaking trust with God. with denying

his loving, caring purpose in every command he

gives. Before Adam sinned, he broke trust with

God. And God's plan of redemption is centered

on the relationship of trusting. It's centered

on the relationship of love and faith instead

of just law keeping. Picking back up with verse

17. This happened. Because Abraham believed in

the God who brings the dead back to life and

who creates new things out of nothing. Now, this

is a powerful verse when it comes to faith. And

we know from previous study that without faith,

it's impossible to please God. And we talk about

faith a lot at Eglation Church. In other translations,

it says he believed in the God who calls those

things which do not exist as if they did. Now,

this is telling us that God calls things that

are not. He calls for things that don't exist

yet. See, God is a faith God. This word calls

comes from this idea. This is the Greek word.

Translated, it means to call forth or to invite.

It means instructing someone or something to

step forward. It means to cause something to

come into action or existence. That's the meaning

behind the words that are translated here. And

this is a key principle of faith that Abraham

believed in the God who causes something to come

into action or existence that does not exist

at that point. And the Bible encourages us to

have the God kind of faith. I mean, looking through

scripture, we see even more than this, but just

for example, God called light out of darkness.

God called forth order out of chaos and creation.

In Gideon's example, God called out a hero from

a coward. Jesus, at the storm, when he's on the

boat with his disciples, God called out peace

out of a storm. Jesus called out healing out

of... sickness. He called out by faith. And words

are an important part to us living our lives

as faith. We talk about that. Yeah, we have to

hear the Word of God. We have to wholeheartedly

believe it. We have to... put our words in agreement

with it, and then we have to act on it. Those

are the steps of faith, of taking hold of all

of God's grace gifts. I want you to think about

a thermostat on the wall. If your house is 80

degrees and you would like for it to be 72, You

can't just say, well, I'm going to set it for

80 degrees. I'm going to call for 80 degrees

because that's what it is. That's what I see.

That's what I feel. No, you have to call for

what you want. So you set the thermostat to 72

degrees if that's your preferred temperature

because you're calling for something that is

not. You're calling it to come into existence.

This verse is teaching us and it's showing us

that Abraham believed in that concept. And then

we can see in Abraham's life that he lived by

that concept when he began agreeing with God

and calling himself the father of many nations.

Even before he had a son, God led him to call

forth, call things that are not as though. They

will be speaking God's truth before he saw it.

Like I said, that's an important concept of faith

that we need to put our words in agreement with

God's promises. See, in context of what we're

talking about now, God speaks about you and me

as this is what God says about us, that we're

righteous. When we're in Christ, we're righteous.

We're justified. We're glorified. We're holy.

We're pure. We're saintly. God speaks those things

through his word about us. And to be honest,

if we look in the mirror, we don't always see

those things in our actions. But that's what

God has called us. God talks about such things

before they exist because he calls them into

existence. Let's pick up with verse 18. Even

when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept

hoping, believing that he would become the father

of many nations. For God had said to him, that's

how many descendants you will have. And Abraham's

faith did not weaken, even though at about 100

years of age, he figured his body was as good

as dead. And so was Sarah's womb. Abraham never

wavered in believing God's promise. In fact,

his faith grew stronger. And in this, he brought

glory to God. He was fully convinced. that God

is able to do whatever he promises. Wow, what

a statement concerning Abraham's faith. And he

is our example. He helps us to understand the

nature of faith that pleases God. Common sense

says that it will not happen. Human reasoning

says it cannot happen. And faith says it can

happen and it will be because I have a promise

from God. Hebrews 11 .1, this verse that we just

read was talking about him having hope. Well,

faith is a substance of things hoped for, Hebrews

11 .1. The evidence of things not seen. Just

like Abraham. There was no wavering, no doubting,

no... putting human reasoning above God's promises,

not walking by sight, but walking by faith. Hope

is seeing it with your imagination before you

see it. And in hope, we hold on to the promises

of God, just like Abraham did. Even though he

was 100 years old, his wife was 90 years old,

he didn't waver, he didn't doubt, he didn't laugh.

allow his human reasoning to go above God's promises.

He wasn't walking by sight. He saw it with his

imagination that he would become the father of

nations. He focused on the promise and faithfulness

of God instead of the circumstances and seeming

impossibilities that he was facing. Verse 22.

And because of Abraham's faith, God counted him

as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous,

it wasn't just for Abraham's benefit. It was

recorded for our benefit too, assuring us that

God will also count us as righteous if we believe

in him, the one who raised Jesus, our Lord, from

the dead. He was handed over to die because of

our sins, and he was raised to life. to make

us right with god you see it wasn't only for

abraham's benefit that god declared him righteous

through faith he is an example that we are invited

to follow it is for us only faith in what jesus

accomplished on the cross and through the empty

tomb can save us and in this chapter paul clearly

demonstrated that the old testament does not

contradict the New Testament gospel of salvation

by grace through faith. Instead, the gospel is

the fulfillment of the Old Testament. And Abraham

being justified through faith is our pattern.

Thank you for joining us for Life Group. Allow

God's Word to build your faith and transform

your life.