Sermon: "Salvation by Faith Alone: Romans Part 14" - Pastor Brian Fuller

Hi, and welcome to the Sermon Podcast of First Baptist

Church Woodlawn in Woodlawn, Illinois. I'm Senior Pastor Brian Fuller,

and it is our desire to impact the world with

the Gospel of Jesus. We do so through small group ministry,

personal testimony, as well as corporate gatherings. You can find

us on Facebook, YouTube, and our website FBC Woodlawn dot org.

Join us now as we hear from God's word. Abraham,

as you know or I hope you know, was the

father of the Jewish or the Hebrew nation, and at

ninety nine years old, he was called by God to

lead the familiarity of his country and his family to

a land that was unknown to him. Wow, that's powerful,

just in itself, says, go to a land I will

show you. For most of us that wouldn't fly, maybe

all of us that wouldn't fly, I need to know

where I'm going. And at the time of his calling,

his name was Abram, and as God had yacht not

yet established his covenant with him, and changed his name

to Abraham. Go to Genesis twelve, verses one through four.

Now the Lord said to Abram, go from your country

and your kindred and your father's house, to the land

that I will show you, and I will make you

a great nation, and I will bless you and make

your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you, and he who

dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the

families of.

The earth shall be blessed.

So Abram went as the.

Lord had told him.

Abram, he was a faithful man, hit his issues, you know.

I mean, time after time throughout scripture we see the

people that God God used the head of the problems.

You and I we have our problems. God's gonna use us, right,

He's gonna use us. He has called us.

And he'd left Abraham with with great wealth, and he

had to work through some things in his life.

And last week, as I encourage you to read the

rest of the story of Gideon in Judges six, seven

and eight, I know some of you did because somebody

you told me so, good work, good work, all right,

So I have some I have some more homework for

you this week so you can get the full picture

of Abraham. I want you to read this week on

your own time and your own study times.

It's bigger.

Genesis chapter twelve through twenty five. That's thirteen chapters.

Can you do it?

Fourteen chapters?

I guess really, So read those chapters and get the full,

the full scope of the story of Abraham, because it's

important for us to have knowledge of the historical aspect

of the Jewish nation it really is, and how strongly

God still feels about the nation of Israel, and still

to this day, if we side with the enemies of Israel,

there's a curse upon us to this day. So when

we see signs and flags that say we stand with Israel,

this is where it.

Started, right here, Genesis twelve.

So the covenant of circumcision that God makes with Abram

occurs in Genesis chapter seventeen. And this is actually when

Abram was ninety nineteen years old, and this is the

covenant that Paul speaks of in our text in Romans chapter.

But let's go again back to Genesis, Genesis chapter seventeen.

I'm going to read fourteen verses that I want us

to get the backstory, the context.

Of what Paul is talking about.

Genesis seventeen, verse one, when Abram was ninety nine years old,

the Lord appeared to him and said.

To him, I am God Almighty.

Walk before me and be blameless, that I may make

my covenant between you and me and may multiply you greatly.

Then Abram fell on his face, and God said to him, behold,

my covenance is with you, and you shall be the

father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your

name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham.

For I have made you the father of.

A multitude of nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make

you into nations, and kings.

Shall come from you.

And I will establish my covenant between me and you

and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an

everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your

offspring after you. And I will give to you and

your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all

the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And I

will be their God. And God said to Abraham, as

for you, you shall keep my covenant you and your

offspring after you and throughout their generations. And this is

my covenant which you shall keep between me and you

and your offspring after you, every male among you shall

be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of

your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the

covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days

old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations,

whether born in your house or bought with your money

from any foreigner who is not of your offspring. Both

he who was born in your house and he who

is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. So

shall my covenant be in your flesh and ever lasting covenant.

And any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the

flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people.

He has broken my covenants.

But that's it. Had to read all of it.

The physical sign of God's covenant with Abraham and future

generations of Hebrews was circumcision. Every Hebrew born male must

be circumcised at eight days old.

And I'm sorry that I have to keep saying that word.

You're uncomfortable.

It was a physical sign.

God's chosen race was identified by a physical characteristic circumcision.

And if you if you did not observe the ritual.

The scripture says they were they were, they were cut off,

and they were considered.

Separate from God.

So what do we know as as now as New

Testament followers of Jesus? What do we know? I remember being.

In seventh grade, the Awkward years.

Seventh grade.

I was doing a science project and I actually, I actually.

Wanted to display my seventh grade school picture this morning.

You would see the Awkward Years.

I had a power blue pseudom. Yeah we're talking the

mid seventies. Okay, Yeah, I had hair down on my shoulders.

Couldn't find that though, So.

You might be thinking you might be thanking God for that.

But I remember doing a science project and I had

a question.

For my teacher.

There was something that I did not understand about the

Earth's rotation around the Sun.

And what I look back and.

Really appreciate is that she just didn't give me the answer.

And you teachers, I know, can appreciate that. You don't

just give your students the answer.

You make them think and to work things out. Right. Well,

she didn't just.

Give me the answer, but she told me, she said,

use what you already know. I'm like wow, And that

helped me and it was at that moment I realized

that the earth was flat.

Wow, So I thank God for my oh, my goodness. Ah.

Actually it was her advice.

To use the knowledge that I already had about the

sun and the earth that helped me answer my own question.

And as born again believers in Jesus, we know, we

should know.

You should know that as one who is saved and

born again and follows Jesus, that rituals and physical signs

such as circumcision and other things, they have no eternal value, right,

They count for for nothing as it pertains to our salvation.

Amen, It's true. And if that's something that you're not

really clear on, then you need to be.

Salvation in Jesus Christ alone is not based on rituals

to observe or good works to be performed.

That might earn a salvation, but it is his free gift.

Salvation is God's a free gift based on way what

Jesus did on the cross, and it's ours.

To receive by faith in Jesus, not based on our works.

And the New Testament covenant with God.

Comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

And the Old.

Testament to be in right standing with God.

There were rituals to observe, there were laws to obey,

and a New Testament right standing with God comes only

through a relationship with Jesus through faith. Jesus said in

John fourteen six, he says, I am the Way and

the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the

through me. And as you know, people trying to do

a lot of things to get to God. So Paul

poses this question in Romans.

Four one through three.

What then shall we say it was gained by Abraham,

our forefather, according to the flesh. For if Abraham was

justified by works, he has something to boast about, but

not before God.

For what does the scripture say Abraham.

Believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

So could Abraham have boasted in his works before God? Well,

sure he could have. Anybody can can boast about about

their works. But we don't have any record in scripture.

That that he boasted.

But it.

Would not have benefited him at all to boast into

the presence of the God.

You know, the scripture says we all fall short.

Nobody can boast before God based on our good worse.

And if he was in if Abraham was in a

position to the boast pat himself on the back. We

don't have a record of that.

So the verse three once and again for what does

the scripture say?

Scripture says that Abraham believed God, and it was counted

to him as righteousness. So it wasn't the works of

Abraham that put him in the right standing with God.

He was his belief and trust in God that God

credited righteousness to his accounts. And simply put, Abraham was

justified by his faith in God.

And if his works had had nothing to do with it.

But Brian didn't. Didn't Abraham didn't he act in obedience

by works to sacrifice his son Isaac is the bird offering. Yes,

he was obedient.

His act of obedience proved the reality of his faith.

He was a demonstration of faith in action, not works.

And that's the same for us today as followers of Jesus.

God will call us to obedience because we are His children.

As his child, we we obey his commands.

That's what we do, even great commissions as that to

go and and and make disciples of all all people

in and teach them the things that I have commanded you.

And so we obey the teachings of God, and we

encourage we teach others to do the same thing. We

obey his commands not to earn, not to earn salvation

or favor, but to.

Show relationship.

Right and in his obedience to God. Because of his faith,

Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, and in faith

he knew that God would provide the sacrifice. That's such

a powerful moment. Yeah, I'll obey.

I'll do the hardest thing that I could ever do

in my life.

I can't imagine being in Abraham's shoes, hearing the command

of God.

Go and sacrifice your son as a bird, offering.

I have an only son.

There are many others in this room that have only sons.

Show the hands, now hands who would do that. Look

at Genesis twenty two.

Nine through thirteen.

When they came to the place of which God had

told him. Abraham built the altar there and laid the

wood in order, and bound Isaac, his son, and laid

him on the altar on top of the wood. Then

Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to

slaughter his son. When the Angel of the Lord called

to him from heaven and said Abraham, Abraham, and he said,

here I am.

And he said, do not your hand on the boy,

or do any harm, do.

Anything to him. For now I know that you fear God,

seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son,

from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked

at behold behind him with a ram.

Caught in a thicket by his horns.

And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it

up as a bird offering instead of his son. Because

of his love and dedication to God, he was obedience.

He was an obedient above all. But it was his

faith in God that surpassed it all. His faith, Abraham's

faith on full display before God, to the fullest extent

of radical obedience. Isaac was his only son, He's only heir.

And God promised Abraham.

That he would be the father of a nation.

So how could Abraham be the.

Father of a nation without one single air? But Abraham

believed God, and he believed that the promised nation would

come through Isaac.

And so was there any gain? Was there anything that

he gained by the works of the flesh. Was it

his works that satisfied God? No, his works.

Of obedience proved his faith in God. So what does

that say to us today? It says the same thing,

and it speaks the very same message to you and

me today.

Are works important? Yes, of course works.

Are very important.

Do they save us?

Do they put us in rights ending with God?

No? Then if they.

Don't save us, Brian, what do they do?

Why do good works?

God called Abraham to radical obedience. God called Abraham to works,

to do something, to sacrifice his son, to prove his

faith and to put it on display.

And God calls us to do no less.

We do good wors, not to get saved, but as

evidence that we are saved.

This is a message.

It still has to be clear to because there are

so many people. Maybe something sending in an abeused today

that it thinks there's salvation is based on the good things.

That they do.

But your salvation is not based on the good things

or the bad things that you do. We do good works.

Not to get saved, but they are the evidence that.

We are saved.

We don't do it for show. We do it for

the glory of God and to the point of others.

To Christ, James two fourteen says, what good is that,

my brothers? If someone says he has faith, but it

does not have work?

Can that faith save him? The good works that we do, it.

Proves our faith. So what if Abraham had refused to

obey God, he refused to sacrifice Isaac.

He'd be a pretty good company.

I would think, right, Lord, I have faith in you,

But come on, we need to sacrifice my only son.

I don't think so.

And there's no faith on display there all.

If we turn God down.

There's no faith. There's no faith to display.

That. It was because Abraham had faith in God to

provide the sacrifice that he went through all the steps

of preparation to kill his son, up to the very moment.

With the knife in his hand, he thrust it through

his heart. What was Abraham's expectation hearing God say, take

your son up to the mountain and sacrifice him as

a burnt offering to me, what do you think he expected?

Genesis twenty two says that after he heard the command

of God, Scripture says, actually this on the third day,

Abraham lifted up his eyes and he saw the place

from Afar.

And then Abraham said to his.

Young man, stay here with the donkey, and I and

the boy will go over there and worship and come

again to you. So Abraham committed. He was committed, I believe,

fully committed in his mind, in his heart to do

what God said, to sacrifice his son.

In faith.

He says to the men that we were there with him.

He says, you guys, stay here, We're gonna go up

there for a while, and we we the boy and

I we will come to you again.

I got chilled all over again.

The full expectation that he was going to sacrifice his son,

but also knowing in faith that God was going to

provide the sacrifice, that he and Isaac would indeed worship

together and they would return to the man. I can't

I can't put that in the words of the world.

What scripture says.

I can't wrap my mind around it.

But it goes back to Abraham believed God. That's obedience.

He also he fully expected God to provide the sacrifice.

That's faith. Abraham believed God, and it was counted.

To him as righteousness. It wasn't his works.

The works that he performed out of obedience proved his faith.

His faith made him in right standing with God. And

it's a wonderful picture for us to see. In the

Old Testament.

It points us to the finishing work of Jesus on

the cross. The ultimate act of obedience for everyone, For everyone,

the ultimate act of obedience is to repent of sin.

If you read the account of the Apostles in the

Book of Acts, you know they what did they proclaim?

They proclaim to repent, to do the right thing. That

now God commands everyone everywhere to repent. That was their message.

They didn't go up to de people.

And I'm not saying they didn't say this, but they

didn't go up to say God has God loves.

You and has a wonderful plan for your life. You

read it, do we know God is love?

Of course, the whole book is about the love of

God for all people.

And we know that for God's so loved.

The world that he gave his only son because of

the great love with which He loved us. So we

know that that our thief is always the love of

God right. And the love of God is evidence through

us for others to see. But the greatest command to

obey in all the scripture is to repent, for the

Kingdom of God is at hand. So with your message

of love. Because God does God loves the.

Whole world, all who call upon the name of the

Lord will be saved. But we have to remember.

That part of the Gospel and that there's a command

to repent.

We have failed God. There's no one who is righteous.

That all have fallen short of the glory of God.

This sudden. So not only does.

God love you, and yes he has a wonderful plan

for your life as an alliance with his word, but

he also commands us to repent. That's obedience to the

word of God, and it's also a great expression of faith.

Faith is also trusting in God to provide.

The perfect and only sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins,

and that is faith in Jesus.

We confess Jesus as the.

Son of God.

We call on his name to save and forgive.

From the moment of salvation, our life becomes seasons. Right.

We enter into seasons, seasons of faith and obedience, seasons

glory to glory, seasons of struggle and challenge, but also

seasons of growth and spiritual prosperity. And our works of

OBEI don't save us, but our works serve as.

Evidence of our salvation.

Our obedience and our works it points others to Christ.

Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Our righteousness, our right standing with God, also comes from

belief in God that he send his son, that Jesus

paid the full and complete Christ of sin on the cross,

and salvation comes not from our works but by faith

alone in Jesus Christ.

Let's pray, Head of my Father.

We thank you again, as we do each and every

time we come into your presence. Lord, we thank you

that you have given us breath in our lungs. Lord,

that your mercy is fresh every day. Lord, your great

love for us, it sustains us. Your word, Lord, it

changes us, it aligns us. And Lord, I.

Pray that we would we would intentionally.

Align ourselves with your word, because as the days get darker.

Or we need to know your word.

We need to know the.

Promises of God.

Thank you, Lord, So what I asked is you have

your way during this time.

I am pray to Jesus name.

Thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. We hope

you are encouraged and challenged by the preaching of God's Word.

You can reach us by phone at six one eight three,

nine zero ten forty six, contact us via Facebook or

our website FBC woodlawn dot org. It's our prayer that

you answer the call of God on your life to

follow him and share your faith story with others. Goodbye

for now and God bless you.