Revering the Word
Romans 4 The critical historic understanding of being made right by faith.
Good morning everyone this morning. We are in Romans chapter 4, and it's really an important chapter and understanding the gospel and understanding the historical context of the Bible Although you don't have to become a Jew to become a Christian in order to rightly understand the Bible you really need to have a Jewish lens and This is again another reason why we have revered the word and one of the reasons we talked so much about having a whole Bible Theology because until you really understand a person understands the Old Testament and how it points to Jesus and how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament law One won't properly really understand the gospel or Jesus until this is understood in the past three chapters The Apostle Paul has been making a case that whether you are a Jew or Gentile we're all under sin all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and What is earth shattering in this day and age of not meaning not our day and age, but the age that Paul is writing This is that the Jews felt like man because the God had God had given them the law And they were the family of God that they were Special and indeed they are special, but they almost looked at it as an exclusive thing that you know God was for them and not for others Well when Jesus Christ came to die the distinction between Jew and Gentile Jew and everyone else got changed and now under the new paradigm the new covenant that Jesus brought in Anyone who believes in Jesus is part of the family of God and that happens through faith and we ended chapter 3 it Wrestling with these questions a little bit or is God verse 29 or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles also and the answer is yes? And again, you're either Jew or Gentile everyone else who was not part of Israel is considered a Gentile Yes of Gentiles also that is God is for Gentiles also since God Since indeed God who will justify the circumcise now the Jews is again They circumcise their men to to be a part of God's family because he asked them to do that in Genesis 17 But he's saying that they're not justified by circumcision, but by faith Now we're justified were made right by faith because Jesus Fulfilled the law went to the cross took our sin anyone who believes in him Their sin gets put on Christ instead of separating them cells from God the sin that would separate us gets put on Christ So we're justified by faith and it's the same for everyone God will justify the circumcised the Jew by faith and Uncircumcised through faith All of us now get right with God through faith in Jesus because he took our sin So then the question becomes at the end of chapter 3 Do we then nullify the law through faith meaning is the Old Testament and the law and all that we don't even it doesn't even matter because now it's just through faith and in Some ways that is the case that we don't have to be under the law anymore But Paul's trying to say that may it never be on the contrary. We established the law So the law is what taught us that we were sinners taught us that we had a need and it's also the history and foundation of our faith the Old Testament And what he's gonna do now when he says that we established the law or uphold the law What he's gonna do to it to indicate that is he's gonna say, you know, really it was by faith the whole time Really in Israelite, although they would be circumcised, you know, although they would follow the law of the Old Testament Really, it should have all stemmed from faith and in fact even does stem from faith from the beginning and Paul's gonna illustrate that now by The main person who started the family of God Abraham Remember Abraham had Isaac Isaac had Jacob Jacob's name got changed to Israel and that's how we got the Israel lights It all began with Abraham back in Genesis chapter 12 when God said, you know I'm gonna give you the land and I'm gonna bless you and I want you to be a blessing to the nations and The key began his family through the family line of Abraham so Now we're ready for verse one as he's gonna talk about establishing the law But what he's really meaning is we're establishing the law or upholding the law because it was always by faith So then what shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh has found? What is what is he found? What is Abraham for if Abraham was justified by works now? What he means is by works of the law He means if Abraham was justified by doing all the laws of Old Testament Then he has something to boast about but not before God for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was Accounted to him as righteousness now. This is a very significant verse. It comes from Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 and What it says in that verse is Abraham was promised that he would have a child Through Sarah, but Sarah was barren and Abraham and Sarah had no child's and God said you got God said to Abraham Abraham look up at the stars I want you to look up there check out all the stars And he said Abraham you're gonna have as many seed as there are stars in the sky that from You and and from your wife Sarah you guys are gonna have as many children in offspring as you see the stars in the sky and It's sad even though Abraham and Sarah were barren and they had been barren for a long time and couldn't have children It says Abraham believed God and it was a credit or accounted to him as righteousness so even though Abraham couldn't fully see or Didn't have what God promised yet meaning the son Isaac in which whom God would bless and multiply his family but Abraham believed it before he saw it he had faith and Because he had faith He was reckoned or accounted righteous God said Abraham because you believed in the promise of God You have right standing with me So let's keep going as the Apostle Paul was spells out the significance of the fact that Abraham believed and was given right standing with God now to the one who works his wage is credited as favor is Not credited as favor, but what does do and he's kind of talking about like a job there you know if you go to work you get a wage and That's just what's do you But to the one who does not work But believes in him who justifies the ungodly his faith is credited as righteousness what Paul's trying to say is that The one who believes is given righteousness That's the way it is today by the way through Jesus Christ that if we believe in Jesus We are given right standing with God because of the fact that Jesus took our sin It what what he's trying to say is in in upholding the law and trying to follow the law of the Old Testament He's saying really this all began With Abraham who believed also and was given righteousness Just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works And what he means there is apart from works of the law and now he's gonna quote Psalm 32 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven hallelujah, and whose sins have been covered See our sins have been covered by the blood of Jesus and what he's what he's saying is is this Psalm 32 Which was written way before Jesus actually? Forecasts the gospel blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account hallelujah praise God That because of what Jesus Christ did in our faith in him our sin will not be taken into account because we've been forgiven Hallelujah, but Jesus is the way to be forgiven. You got to believe in him So then he says okay this forgiveness that we have been able to receive from Jesus, but actually Abraham illustrated this even long ago when he believed in the promise that he would have as many children as stars in the skies Even though he didn't have him yet So he says in verse 9 is this blessing that on the circumcised and what he means is by Jews or On the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also see this is a big deal because The Jews were having a hard time seeing that everyone like us could just come straight to God through Christ And that we wouldn't have to become a Jew first and That's what Paul is trying to teach here and what an amazing thing that is right when we came to Jesus We didn't have to go and I mean we may have been circumcised by our parents if we were men because of health reasons But we weren't really doing it to be you know part of the family of God So for we say faith was accredited to Abraham as righteousness This all goes back to Abraham and how then was it credited while he was circumcised or uncircumcised now, that's a really interesting question and an important one now It's really important to understand the timeline in Genesis chapter 12 God blessed Abraham He said I'm gonna bless you I'm gonna give you the land of Israel and I'm gonna bless you And and I'm gonna have it so that you will be a blessing that happened in Genesis chapter 12 Now he waited many years and he still didn't have any children and in Genesis 15 Which we've already talked about God comes to Abraham again and says Abraham take a look up at the sky and see all the stars You're gonna have as many children as that and and Abraham although him and his wife have been barren now for you know Their whole lives He's he believed and he was credited righteousness the question that Paul's asking in order to teach something Significant is when Abraham was promised this and he believed and he was accredited righteousness Was it while he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Well actually the covenant of circumcision that God put into account where he said listen Once you believe in me and come part of my family I want you to get circumcised to show that you're part of my family that happened later in Genesis 17 so in Genesis 15 Abraham was already made right by faith because he believed in the promise of God before he was circumcised that's what Paul's trying to indicate here because All of the rest of the world isn't circumcised to show their faith in Jesus You know, we just did it for other reasons and he's trying to show that we all can be part of the family of God even though We're uncircumcised even though we aren't Jews because Abraham believed and was given righteousness by God before he was circumcised so Was it while he was circumcised or uncircumcised not while circumcised but while uncircumcised so Abraham believed God and was given righteousness before he was ever circumcised and he received Excuse me and he received the sign of circumcision a Seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised So that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised that righteousness might be accredited to them see Paul is really showing that Even before the law was fully in place Abraham believed in God and was given righteousness before the law before the covenant of circumcision and That is so that Abraham could be the father of us all not just Jews But Gentiles any of us any of us who believe in Jesus And when Paul says he's upholding law, he's saying really if you understood the law You'd understand that faith came before the law Abraham was made right before the law And now all of us who have faith like Abraham did who believe in Jesus. We all become part of the family of God That's where he's headed So verse 12 and the father of circumcision to those who are not Who not only are of the circumcision But also who follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised verse 13 he'll continue to illustrate this for the promise to Abraham or to his descendants That he would be the heir of the world was not through the law, but through righteousness of faith This is a critical thing that Paul's chairing is that the Old Testament had a law the Jews were supposed to follow it They were supposed to be obedient to it. It's not just the Ten Commandments and not just circumcision got a whole lot more But what the Apostle Paul is saying is that Abraham was made right by God by faith before any of that ever came into existence And now that Jesus Christ has come if we believe in Jesus we are made right by God Just like Abraham was because Abraham was made right by God before the law ever existed Therefore we don't have to go back to the Old Testament and fall all the laws of the Old Testament Because Abraham was made right by faith before the law ever existed and this is a really important understanding you know, I'm thinking of people who who may or may not be listening right now and they might whip open the Bible and they might Point to something in the Old Testament and say oh you people think we need to follow the word of God We'll hear in the Bible. It says that you're not supposed to wear You know Clothes of mixed fabrics or you're not supposed to eat pork or you're not supposed to eat shrimp Why do you tell me that I have to follow this and follow that in the Bible when you don't even follow the whole Bible and What they don't understand is we have to understand today? What is? binding and what is not what needs to be followed today and what doesn't need to be followed today and We are not under the law anymore. We are made right by faith We don't have to we should go back and learn the whole Old Testament and all the things that had to say But we have to have a New Testament lens And we have to look at the Bible and see what Jesus and the apostles said in the New Testament as far as what we're following today Because although we believe in the whole Bible. We're not under the covenant of the whole Bible anymore We're not under the Mosaic covenant anymore. We're under a new covenant. We've been saved by grace through faith Hallelujah And we don't have to go back to the law anymore. This is really important Verse 14 for if those who are of the law are heirs faith is made void and the promise is no Nullified for the law brings about wrath But where there is no law there also is no violation. So what he what he's saying is is It's not people who are heirs of God or part of the family of God It doesn't come through the law anymore If it did come through the law then faith would be nullified meaning it wouldn't be by faith But it is by faith and it's not through Adherence to the Old Testament law, but what did the Old Testament law do? It showed us that we were sinners see if there was no law if there was no on Testament law 613 laws of the Old Testament We wouldn't know that we couldn't follow it But now because of the 613 laws of the Old Testament, we see that the Old Testament people never rightly Followed it, but as a result of those laws being in place They they were violators of the law. They couldn't follow it and we are violators And this takes us back then to the theme that Paul's been trying to share for the first Two and a half chapters is that we all sinned and fall short of the glory of God The thing that the law shows us is that we're sinners every single one of us We all essentially would have faced the wrath of God because our sin separates us from God But what he's trying to share with us is that before the law Abraham was made right by faith and now We can be right right made right by faith And even though we would be violators of the law too and we would be under God's penalty or separation because of our sin God can make us right by faith through Jesus. That's where we're headed hallelujah For this reason verse 16. It is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace So that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants Not only to those who are of the law But also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all See this says so much and you know I think of all the people that deny the Bible and they you know, and I want to say this humbly But they frankly don't have any idea what they're talking about. They don't even know the Bible I mean if you don't understand this stuff then you don't even you don't know enough to deny the Bible You got to understand it first before you could deny it and what the apostle Paul is saying right here is That we've been made right by faith through grace hallelujah praise God for God's grace favor mercy forgiveness So that the promise now when he says that as a as someone who knows the Bible that's really important that you know what that is so that the promise Will be guaranteed to all the descendants Not only to those who are under the law of the Jews But also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all Do you know what's being said here? Is it saying that now those who believe in Jesus have been? Made part of the family of God just like a Jew is part of the family of God because he came from the lineage of Abraham Now those who are of faith who have been justified and made right by faith like Abraham was are now a part of God's family. We're now part of Abraham's family through faith And that the word promise when you see that you got to know what that means the promise comes from Genesis 12 And really that those next set of chapters, but it begins in Genesis 12 Abraham. I'm gonna bless you I'm gonna make your name great. I'm gonna give you the land and I'm gonna I'm gonna bless the nations through you and and then the promise is Abraham. You're gonna have a child And it's not gonna be through some maidservant. It's gonna be through Sarah even though she's barren I'm gonna give you a child And I'm gonna give you as many family as there are stars in the skies God made Abraham a promise guess what? We are those stars in the sky now. Not only was Israel those stars But now we through faith like Abraham had faith and was made right We have faith in Jesus and are made right are now the fulfillment of the stars in the sky Now all of us can be part of the family of God through faith in Jesus. We're part of that promise I'll make you a great nation. I will I'm gonna bless those who bless you and those who Curse you I will curse. I'm gonna make your name great And I'm gonna bless you so that you will be a blessing to the nations now the church of Jesus Christ who believes in him Are part of that blessing part of the family of God and we're supposed to be a blessing to those around us by turning people towards forgiveness of sins and salvation through Jesus Christ hallelujah He is the father of us all we've been made part of the family as it is written a father of many nations I have made you and and Ken there's so many things in here that most people would would read over when he says many Nations what that means is here. We are in America, right? God started his family back in the land of Canaan and in Jerusalem and with the Jews and with Israel but he promised that Many nations would be part of his family and that's Gentiles not just Jews and not just Israel and people all over the world And here I am really far away from Abraham's land, and I'm in America in the state of Wisconsin But I'm a believer in Jesus, and I'm part of that Nation that that that family of God now through faith in Jesus, and so are you wherever you may live I don't care whether it's Russia or India or Australia or Germany and praise God for people listening in all those places and so many more You are part of the family of God through faith in Jesus Christ. You're part of you've been grafted into God's family through faith in him You've been made right by the blood of Jesus Hallelujah Verse 17 be here in the presence of him who believed even God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist in Hope against hope he believed now He's talking about Abraham right now in hope against hope he believed because remember they were barren and they had no children So that he might become a father of many nations again That's a big word that Paul's using there not just Israel not just Jews But now many nations according to that which had been spoken so shall your descendants be a member It's many descendants as their scars in the sky Without becoming weak in faith. He contemplated. This is Abraham his own body now as good as dead because he was like a hundred years old Since he was about a hundred years old and the deadness of Sarah's womb Yet with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief But goose grew strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully assured that what God had promised That he would be a blessing that he would have the land that he would have a large family that it would come through Sarah that it would come through Isaac that promise he was He was also able to perform he believed that what God promised God would do Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness see because he believed and that means before the law before circumcision 480 years before the Mosaic covenant ever even existed Abraham believed and was given right standing now Listen to what the apostle Paul says here now Not for his sake only was it written that it was credited righteousness. Oh, this is a big deal take it in verse 23 Now it's not just for Abraham's sake only that it was written that it was credited to him But for our sake he's writing to Rome. He's writing to you know, and he's writing to us Hallelujah But for our sake also to whom it will be credited as those who believe in him Who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead? He was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our Modification see just as Abraham was made right now all those who believe that Jesus Christ came and died on that cross and was Raised from the dead now. We've been forgiven our sin. We've been made right by God We God reckons us and looks at those who believe in Jesus as right because Jesus took our sin And he rose victorious from the dead over that sin He was raised from the dead and one day all of us who believe in him will be raised to and we will Be able to stand before God in right standing because we've been perfectly forgiven by Jesus Christ the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world and that's why you need Jesus because He's the one that can make us right and no one else can you can't live? Rightly enough on your own that's why the first two and a half chapters try to convince you and I listen your understand I'm under sin we'd be under condemnation We'd be under wrath, but God and his great love while we were still sinners sent Jesus Christ to die for us So that we could be forgiven so that we could be made right so that we could go to heaven and hallelujah now The most important thing in all the world is to believe in Jesus to be forgiven of your sin And now you begin to live for him in this life until this life is done and then we get to be with him forever hallelujah it's really important to understand the Old Testament the sequence of the things that happen in the Old Testament and That is that Abraham was made right before there ever was a law And that's why Jesus is the fulfillment of the law because now if you believe in him You're made right and hallelujah one day then you can be in the presence of God forgiven Because you stand that way already through faith hallelujah. What a blessing it is God bless you all You you You [BLANK_AUDIO]