Romans Bible Study #11 "Baptized Into His Death" Romans 6:1-14 (Video and Lesson Notes)

To go to the beginning of the series on Romans, click here...
To go to the last study (#10), click here..
To watch the entire series on YouTube, click here...


Read Romans 6:1-14

So chapter 6 opens with a question based on the last thought of chapter 5. We rejoice in this truth, that where sin abounded, grace did much more abound (as in KJV) and that as sin reigned in death, grace will reign through righteousness much more. Paul, in chapter 6, opens with the question and answer method that he has employed before in this book. It is as if there is some imaginary person who Paul is talking to that keeps interrupting him with questions. This was called the diatribe and was frequently employed in ancient literature. What is the question that this imaginary person poses to Paul? “Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” In other words, so if grace is going to abound...literally superabound...over our sin, maybe we should just sin more so that there will be more grace! Doesn’t that make sense?

What is Paul’s response to this question? “May it never be!” This was one of the strongest negative words in the Greek language. We might translate it, “No way!” or “Absolutely not!” Then Paul gives an answer to why he is pushing back at this idea so hard. He tells them, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?”

This is the only time in Romans that Paul speaks of baptism. I’m finding out that when you read commentaries on this chapter about this verse and the next one, which also speaks of baptism, that there are about as many ideas of what Paul means as their are commentators. Rather than turn to commentators, we want to turn to scripture itself to help us understand what Paul meant here.

Let’s look at baptism in other places in the NT. First of all, there are several different baptisms mentioned in the Bible. Can you name some? John’s baptism, Baptism of the Holy Spirit, water baptism, are the three most predominate. Let’s talk about John’s baptism briefly. Go with me to Matthew 3. Let’s read beginning with verse 5. (Read Matthew 3:5-6) So John’s baptism was a baptism of confessing sins, or of repentance as it says later in the chapter. His baptism was preparing the way for the one who could actually do something about their sins, who could atone for them. John himself would point to a greater baptism to come. (Read Matthew 3:11) John prophesies here that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and fire. I don’t think that this is two different baptisms. Rather, I believe that this is two different ways of describing the same experience. (In Mark, he says, “He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.)

When would this happen? At Pentecost. Read Acts 1:4, 5. So here, Jesus reiterates John’s prophesy adding “not many days from now.” Let’s go to Acts 2. Read 2:1-5. This is the literal fulfillment of John’s prophesy. After this, Peter preaches a powerful message. Let’s pick up at the end of this message. (Read 2:37-42). After Peter himself had been filled with the Holy Spirit, he was able to preach as he had never preached before. And the gospel had an effect on people like it had never had before. They were pierced to the heart, in other words, it went straight through to the depths of their being. Their immediate response was, “what shall we do?” Peter responds that they should repent and be baptized in Jesus’ name for the forgiveness of sins. The result would be that they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He would go on and exhort them to be saved. But...to be saved from what? From this perverse generation. Three thousand responded. Did they then go on their merry way and return to life as if nothing had happened? Not hardly! Verse 42 says that they “continually devoted themselves, to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to breaking of bread (or communion), and to prayer. Let’s read on. (Read verses 43-44) When you read this, you can’t help but see power. These people’s lives had been totally transformed by the work of the Holy Spirit. Think about John’s prophecy. He said that this baptism would be like fire. What does fire do when it touches something? It burns out impurities. And it transforms. Nothing touched by fire is ever the same again. These people would never be the same again. The baptism of the Holy Ghost utterly changed their lives forever. Yet, there were outward signs, but they were only a demonstration of what had happened in the heart.

Let’s go to one more scripture before we go back to Romans. Read 1 Peter 3:18-21. Peter says that Jesus was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit. He mentions Noah. He and his family were brought through a monumental baptism, weren’t they. Were things different after their baptism in water? You bet they were! When they left the ark, they were entering into a new world. The old world was gone. In verse 21, Peter says that this corresponds to baptism. Here, he is obviously talking of water baptism. It doesn’t literally save us, but it is a figure of our salvation. He says it’s not the removal of dirt from the physical flesh, but “the answer of a good conscience before God.” (KJV) When you are baptized, you are participating in a one-act drama. You are portraying the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. You are saying that you believe that Jesus died for your sins, that he was buried for your sins, and that He was raised to intercede for you forever. However, you are also acknowledging that something has happened in you. You have been baptized with the Holy Ghost (which is none other than the Spirit of Christ), that your sins are washed away, that your conscience has been made clean...and that you have been saved from the filth of this world...from this perverse generation that you and I live in. You are not just saved from hell to go to heaven. You are saved from the old life to begin a new life.

(2 Cor. 2:14-17?)

Let’s go back to Romans 6. Let’s re-read verses 3 and 4. How many baptisms were there at Pentecost? 2 . I believe there are two baptisms here in Romans 6 as well. There is the baptism of the Holy Spirit in verse 3 which he described as being baptized into Christ Jesus...being baptized into his death. This was for those at Pentecost a transformative event. For those who have been born of the Spirit or regenerated, it is also a transformative event. In verse 3, Paul says, “therefore (or because of this) we have been buried with Him through baptism into death,” (that’s transformation...the old life is gone now!). As Jesus was raised into a new life of power and purpose, so we now are raised that we might walk into a new life.

He goes on with this thought in verse 5. This baptism of the Holy Spirit unites us with Him in the likeness of His death. Because of this, we can be assured that we will be raised in the likeness of His resurrection. But Paul doesn’t stop there. The effect of this is not only that we will ultimately be raised with Christ at the final resurrection, but it has an effect for right now. Look at the order of things in verse 6. First of all, in this baptism, he says that our old man (or old self) was crucified with Him. We died. What is the result of this death? That our body of sin might be done away with? What do you think he meant by that? Do you think he means the physical body? I don’t think so. My physical body is still hanging around! I believe he’s talking about our old life. The way we used to do things in the body. The word translated “done away with” means “to render idle, inactivated, unemployed.” Our old nature is still there, but now it’s unemployed! What is the purpose of this body of sin being inactivated? So that we would no longer be slaves to sin. In other words, that we would now be free from sin. This is the answer to the question in verse 1. Jesus doesn’t just save us from our sins so that we can continue sinning. He saves us from our sins so that we can be freed from sin!

Then in verse 7 Paul continues his thought by saying that “he who has died is freed from sin.” What do you think he means by that? In verse 6, he depicts sin as a master. Before we are “baptized into Christ”, we are held in bondage by that master. We sin because we are sinners. We are sinners because we sin. Without Christ, we are alive to sin but dead to God. With Christ, we are alive to God but dead to sin. This doesn’t mean that we have no capacity to sin anymore. It means that we have lost our love for sin. What tasted good to us doesn’t taste good anymore. We are no longer rebels against God.

In verses 8 through 10, Paul uses Christ as an example of being dead to sin. Jesus, of course, had no sin, yet He became sin for us on the cross. In verse 10, it tells us that He died to sin once for all. That was on the cross. The result of sin was death. Sin did all it could to Christ. Sin killed him. Your sins and my sins killed Jesus. But now, the result of that sin, death, has no more dominion over Him. He died once, never to die again. In Hebrews, it says, He ever lives to make intercession for us. Here it says, “the life that He lives, He lives to God.”

Before we go on, I want to talk some about this baptism into death. Paul takes it for granted that all of his Roman brothers and sisters in Christ understand what he is talking about...that they have all experienced this. I’m afraid today that the average Christian wouldn’t have a clue what he’s talking about. This “death to sin” is the call of Christ to walk with Him. It is the call to leave all and follow Him. Repentance means to turn one way and walk the other way. That is the essence of what we are called to do in Christ. We cannot turn to Christ and His new life without turning from the old life. Yet men today seem to think that they can be in Christ and in sin at the same time.

Bacholorette...Hannah Brown...I refuse to not stand in the sun. I refuse to feel shame. I refuse to believe the lies and evil that flood my comments. I am standing firm in believing that maybe God wants to use a mess like me to point to His goodness and grace….“I have had sex and Jesus still loves me!”

David Wilkerson…”The reason that we continue in sin is because we don’t have the fear of God in us…There is no victory over any besetting sin unless the fear of God has been implanted.”

We live in an era of what Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace.” It is grace that doesn’t change us. It is grace that gives us salvation, but doesn’t call us to renounce sin.

"Cheap grace is the idea that "grace" did it all for me so I do not need to change my lifestyle. The believer who accepts the idea of "cheap grace" thinks he can continue to live like the rest of the world. Instead of following Christ in a radical way, the Christian lost in cheap grace thinks he can simply enjoy the consolations of his grace." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Watchman Nee:

If a believer could understand the full implication of the cross at the time he is born anew he would be freed wholly from sin on the one side and on the other be in possession of a new life. It is indeed regrettable that many workers fail to present this full salvation to sinners, so that the latter believe just half God's salvation. This leaves them as it were only half-saved: their sins are forgiven, but they lack the strength to cease from sin. Moreover, even on those occasions when salvation is presented completely sinners desire just to have their sins forgiven for they do not sincerely expect deliverance from the power of sin. This equally renders them half-saved.

If a person is “half-saved” as Watchman Nee calls it, are they really saved? I wouldn’t bank on.

In the first 5 chapters of Romans, Paul outlines the wonderful news of salvation by grace through faith. Beginning in chapter 6, Paul gives us “the other side of the coin.” This is what distinguishes “cheap grace” from “costly grace.” Here, we are “bid to come and die.”

Let’s look at one more scripture before we move on in Romans:

Read Titus 2:11-14

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. (NKJV)

God’s grace brings salvation. It is available to all men. But this same grace teaches us that we should deny ungodliness, worldly lusts or desires and that we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. If we don’t teach that side of grace, we’ve only taught half of the salvation story. That’s why we get so many “half Christians.” I want to be a whole Christian, don’t you!

Let’s look at verse 11. Up until now, Paul has told us to do only one thing. What is it? Believe. That is one side of the coin. Now, here on the other side of the coin is the call to follow Christ...and die to sin. He says, as Christ died and was raised to die no more, you have died with Him to sin no more. Now...consider yourselves to be dead to sin.

To die to sin does not mean that we can never sin anymore. As we’ve already stated, it is death to the love of sin. Yet even the love of sin can be resurrected in our lives if we don’t actively turn from it. We have died to sin...now we have to act like it. And we have to act like we are alive to God in Christ Jesus...which we are!

Verse 12 goes on to say, “Therefore, or as a result of this, don’t let sin reign in our mortal bodies so that we obey its lusts.” Remember what we talked about last week from the last verse of chapter 5? Sin at one time reigned in our lives, but now we are under the reign of grace. Why would we now turn back to our former master?

At the end of the Civil War, all of the slaves in the United States were set free. Yet, not all of them knew that they were free for some time. Some of them, though legally free, were practically in bondage to their old masters. In some cases, even after they found out that they were free, they returned to their old masters because it was what they knew. They were comfortable with being in slavery. This is how it is with so many Christians. They have been set free from sin, but they return to their old way of life. They haven’t considered themselves to be dead to their old master.

Look at verse 13. Paul says don’t go on presenting the members of your body as members of unrighteousness but instead present yourselves to God. The slave that was legally free but still under the will and sway of their old masters were not really free, were they? The word translate “present” means “to stand beside” or “to place at one’s disposal.” How crazy would it be to be free from your old tyrannical master and then present yourself to be at his disposal? Yet, I’m afraid that is what so many do!

In verse 14, Paul gives us the reason that we are not to present ourselves to sin. Before we encountered Christ, sin had dominion over us. It was our master. Yet, now, we have been made free from sin. We are not under the law of sin but under grace.

I’d like to end with the story of a man named William Cowper.

William Cowper was born in England on November 26, l73l. His life was full of personal anguish. At five, his mother died, and Cowper, a timid and sensitive child, was treated with great cruelty by an older boy. Other school experiences were also painful. At eighteen William began to study law, and fell in love with his cousin Theodora Cowper, but her father did not approve of the match. Neither of them ever married.

After completing law studies he made little exertion in the field. Later he was offered a government position for which he would have to be examined. William was so terrified of having to answer questions that he worked himself into a fit of madness. At one point, he became so despondent that he attempted suicide. After time in a private asylum, he recovered his reason. Cowper moved to the country town of Olney, where John Newton, the ex-slaver, was pastor. Soon they were close friends.

In 1771, Newton, became concerned with Cowper's increasing melancholy. Hoping to lift his spirits by keeping him busy, Newton suggested that he and Cowper co-author a book of hymns. Newton himself often wrote hymns to illustrate his Sunday sermons. "Amazing Grace" is one of the 280 hymns he wrote for the Olney Hymns. Cowper wrote 68 of the hymns, including "Oh for a closer walk with God," "God moves in a mysterious way," and "There is a fountain filled with blood."

The Olney Hymns first introduced Cowper to the world. Cowper kept writing poetry and became famous. In 1773, Cowper became engaged to Mary Unwin, but he suffered another attack of madness. He had terrible nightmares, believing that God has rejected him. Cowper would never again enter a church or say a prayer. When he recovered his health, he kept busy by gardening, carpentry, and keeping animals. In spite of periods of acute depression, Cowper's twenty-six years in Olney and later at Weston Underwood were marked by great achievement as poet, hymn-writer, and letter-writer. His first volume of poetry, Poems by William Cowper, of the Inner Temple was published in 1782 to wide acclaim. William Cowper died of dropsy on April 25, 1800. At the time of his death, his Poems had already reached their tenth printing.

One of his most famous hymns is hardly known now, yet I love the sentiment of it. This depressed man, who even though famous, lived a very difficult life, loved the Lord. He hated sin as much as he loved God. So must we…

O for a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame, A light to shine upon the road That leads me to the Lamb!

Where is the blessedness I knew, When first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul refreshing view Of Jesus, and His Word?

What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still! But they have left an aching void The world can never fill.

Return, O holy Dove, return,Sweet messenger of rest; I hate the sins that made Thee mourn And drove Thee from my breast.

The dearest idol I have known, Whate’er that idol be Help me to tear it from Thy throne, And worship only Thee.

So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; So purer light shall mark the road That leads me to the Lamb.

Romans Bible Study #10 - "The Reign of Grace" Romans 5:12-21 (Video and Lesson Notes)

To go to the beginning of the series on Romans, click here...
To go to the last study (#9), click here..
To watch the entire series on YouTube, click here...

Read 5:12-21

Before we begin studying this text, which to me is one of the most difficult to understand in NT, I want to make a few suggestions about how to study the Bible, particularly when you come to difficult passages like this one…

Understanding Difficult Passages

1. Read prayerfully - ask God to reveal His heart to you through this passage.
2. Read carefully - Don’t try to rush through the text...slooow down! Read through the passage several times, stopping to consider what the writer is trying to communicate to you through the Holy Spirit. It’s more important to get the meaning of the passage than to cover a certain amount of material.
3. Read the text in other translations.
   1. Explain spectrum of translations (slide)
   2. Three types of translations...Formal equivalent (NASB, KJV, NKJV, ESV), dynamic equivalent (NIV, NLT), paraphrase (The Message, The Voice, Living Bible)
   3. Paraphrases -handle with care!
4. Underline key words - notice repetition of words.
5. Use scripture to interpret scripture.
   1. Good study Bible is very helpful here (cross-references)
   2. OT quotation in NT - look it up! (also vice versa)
6. Use Bible study tools
   1. Look up meaning of key words in original language (Hebrew OT, Greek NT)
      1. Bible study apps (Tekarta - Strong’s Concordance w/NASB or w/KJV)
      2. Bible Hub (includes HELPS dictionary)
      3. Vine’s dictionary of NT words
   2. Look up meaning of key words in English.
   3. Use study Bible notes
      1. Cultural background material is especially helpful
   4. Commentaries (Handle with care!)
   5. Online Bible studies (Handle with care!)
7. Personal application - So what? How does this apply today? How does this affect my life and the lives of those around me? How does this passage challenge me?
8. Take notes as God reveals His word to you.
   1. Suggest paper Bible
   2. Don’t be afraid to write in your Bible!
   3. Write dates by your notes
9. After you’ve done some of this...move on. Don’t get hung up on difficult passage so that it keeps you from the rest of the section of the Bible you’re studying.
10. Go back...Many times I have gone back to a passage in a day or two and saw things that I had completely missed previously.

Does anyone else have any Bible study tips before we move on?

What we want to do now is to apply some of these techniques to our passage in Romans.

(The significance of this passage that we are studying tonight is that here we get our understanding of original sin. How that death came upon all men. Why this world is so broken. But we also get a clearer picture here of how it is that one man could pay for the sins of many. How is it that Jesus could pay for the sins of all of us?)

Vs. 12 What is the first thing that we notice about this passage? First word is therefore-connects us to previous passage. It can connect us to the very last thought of the previous passage or it can connect us to the overall theme of the previous chapter. In this case, I believe that it is a direct connection to vs. 11. (Read the verse) Seems to me that Paul is about to explain to us about what reconciliation is. Reconciliation means change. Bible study note- God changes us from enemies to family.

Who is the one man through whom sin entered into the world? Adam. So right off the bat we see that we have an OT connection. Study Bible references Gen 2:17; 3:6, 19. Story of fall of man...Our text says that it is through this one man Adam that sin entered into the world, how death entered into the world through sin. Additionally it tells us that because of this sin in the garden, death spread to all men. This is because all sinned.

Notice also that there is a dash at the end of verse 12. Why do you think that’s there? (No punctuation in the original, but translators believe that Paul broke off his thought here to be continued later. Some versions have 13-17 in parenthesis). So what we are going to be reading for awhile is a parenthetical thought. Not the main thrust of what Paul is talking about...but very important!

Vs. 13-14 Paul begins this parenthetical section by bringing up the Law of Moses again. He notes that sin was in the world in the period of time between Adam and Moses, even though it is true that sin is not imputed (remember that word?) where there is no law. So...though there were no transgressions of the law in that period, because the law had not yet been given, there was sin. How do we know this? The text explains that we know this because death reigned from Adam to Moses. We know it because everyone from Adam to Moses died! This was true even though men and women of this time period may not have sinned the very same sin as Adam and Eve. In the context, Paul is saying that all sinned in the first man Adam. This is the doctrine of original sin, which he is about to further explain in the next verses.

The argument in Romans 5:12-14 “runs like this: We know that all men die. But death is the result of disobeying the Law. There was no Law from Adam to Moses, but men still died. A general result demands a general cause. What is that cause? It can be only one thing: the disobedience of Adam. When Adam sinned, he ultimately died. All of his descendants died, yet the law had not been given. Conclusion: they died because of Adam’s sin. “For all have sinned” means “all have sinned in Adam’s sin.” Men do not die because of their own acts of sin (I would add "only"); otherwise, babies would not die. Men die because they are united racially to Adam and “in Adam all men die” (1 Cor. 15:22). Warren Wiersbe

At the end of verse 14, Paul identifies Adam as a type of Him who was to come. Who was he talking about? Christ

Yet, in the next three verses, 15-17, Paul presents Christ more as the antitype of Adam than as the type. He is going to show us the contrast between Adam and Christ.

Let’s look at theses three verses. Do you see any words or phrases that are repeated?

“Not like” is in verses 15 and 16

“If by” is in verses 15 and 17

“Much more” is in verses 15 and 17

“Transgression is in all three verses...5 times!

“Gift” is in all three verses...4 times.

“The One” is in all three verses...6 times!

There is a certain symmetry to these verses.

Verse 15 - contrast between the free gift of Christ and the sin of Adam. Paul says that through the transgression of Adam, many died. The stream of humanity was polluted at the source. Yet, the great contrast between the grace given to us in Christ and the sin of Adam is that grace covers “much more” than just our sin. In other words, it doesn’t just bring us back to zero. There is “much more” than just having our sin covered. We now in Christ have the ability to walk with God in a way far more intimately than Adam and Eve ever had in the garden. Amazing thought! Notice that God’s grace “abounds” to the many.

Verse 16 - in this verse are actually two contrasts between Christ and Adam. The first contrast is that in Adam, God’s judgment, which resulted in condemnation and death, arose from one act of disobedience. In Christ, the need for the gift of grace arose from many transgressions. The second contrast is that the transgression of Adam resulted in condemnation, while the free gift of Christ resulted in justification.

Vs 17 - Here Paul seems to take the thought of verse 15 even further. Notice the word “reign" is repeated. This contrast here is between the “reign of death” ushered in by Adam’s sin and the “reign in life” through Jesus Christ. Paul tells us that those who receive abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness are able to reign as king “much more” than death was able to ever reign through Adam.

Formerly death was our king, and we were slaves under its totalitarian tyranny. What Christ has done for us is not just to exchange death’s kingdom for the much more gentle kingdom of life, while leaving us in the position of subjects. Instead, he delivers us from the rule of death so radically as to enable us to change places with it and rule over it, or reign in life. We become kings, sharing the kingship of Christ, with even death under our feet now, and one day to be destroyed. John Stott

In verse 18, Paul begins to compare Adam and Christ. The language changes from “not like” and “much more” to “just as” and “so also”. In this verse also, we seem to be picking up the main thought that Paul left off in verse 12. The similarity between Adam and Christ here is that “the one act of the one man determined the destiny of the many.” The act of Adam had a result on all men...that is all men who are in Adam’s lineage (which happens to be all men). The act of Christ had a result on all men who are in Christ’s lineage (which in other places we know are those who believe). Of course, there is still embedded in this verse quite a contrast, because the result of one was condemnation and the result of the other is justification.

Vs. 19 expands on verse 18. This is again both a comparison and a contrast. It was by one man’s disobedience that “the many” were made sinners. “Even so”, Paul says, it was through the obedience of One that “the many” will be made righteous.

Vs. 20 goes back to talking about the Law of Moses, which the Jews were so hung up on. He makes the statement that the Law was given so that the transgression might increase. This is very similar to what Paul said in 3:20 “because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” Yet, here Paul takes it a step further. Under the Law, transgressions didn’t decrease, they increased. Men were more accountable because now they knew more...consequently they sinned more. Yet, the good news...the great news of Romans 5:20 is that ‘where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.”

NKJV Study Bible: “The Greek term Paul uses means “superabounded” Not only can sin never exceed the grace provided by God, sin loses its threat when compared to the superabounding grace of God.”

He expands on this thought in verse 21. Here is another contrast in a comparison. “As sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Here again are the reign of death and the reign of grace through the righteousness of Christ.

Nothing could sum up better the blessings of being in Christ than the expression ‘the reign of grace’. For grace forgives sins through the cross, and bestows on the sinner both righteousness and eternal life. Grace satisfies the thirsty soul and fills the hungry with good things. Grace sanctifies sinners, shaping them into the image of Christ. Grace perseveres even with the recalcitrant (stubborn), determining to complete what it has begun. And one day grace will destroy death and consummate the kingdom. John Stott

Verses 18-21 “The Voice” translation (paraphrase

So here is the result: as one man’s sin brought about condemnation and punishment for all people, so one man’s act of faithfulness makes all of us right with God and brings us to new life. 19 Just as through one man’s defiant disobedience every one of us were made sinners, so through the willing obedience of the one man many of us will be made right.

20 When the law came into the picture, sin grew and grew; but wherever sin grew and spread, God’s grace was there in fuller, greater measure. No matter how much sin crept in, there was always more grace. 21 In the same way that sin reigned in the sphere of death, now grace reigns through God’s restorative justice, eclipsing death and leading to eternal life through the Anointed One, Jesus our Lord, the Liberating King.

Romans Bible Study #9 "Exult In Hope" Romans 5:1-11 (Video and Lesson Notes)

To go to the beginning of the series on Romans, click here...
To go to the last study (#8), click here..
To watch the entire series on YouTube, click here...

Read Romans 5:1-11

The first word of this chapter is key. Remember that when you see a “therefore” you need to find out what it’s “there for.” It’s there because everything in chapter 5 is going to based on what we have learned in the latter part of chapter 3 and all of chapter 4. The last part of chapter 3 was the basic outline of salvation. How it is that we became justified before God. Chapter 4 describes what justification by faith is and what it is not by using Abraham as an illustration of one who walks by faith. Now we begin to look at the results of being justified by faith.

Paul, in verse 1, says that the first result of justification by faith is that we have peace with God...through our Lord Jesus Christ. The Greek word for peace (eirene) is akin to the Hebrew word for peace (shalom). Both mean .”to join together as a whole”...“wholeness”..

“The general meaning behind “shalom” is of completion and fulfillment - of entering into a state of wholeness and unity, a restored relationship...Shalom is the result of God’s activity in covenant and is the result of righteousness...Peace, in this case, means much more than mere absence of war...completeness, wholeness, harmony, fulfillment, are closer to the meaning. Implicit in shalom is the idea of unimpaired relationships with others and fulfillment in one’s undertaking…” (Theological Wordbook of the OT)

(It’s important to note that though Paul wrote in Greek, he thought in Hebrew. This definition works in both languages).

So the result of our justification by faith is that we now have peace with God...wholeness...unimpaired relationship with God…

This definition of “unimpaired relationship with God” leads us right into verse 2. Paul says that in addition to this peace, we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand. Many versions use the word “access” instead of introduction. Both are useful.

There was a barrier in the temple to a Jew having complete access into the Holiest of Holies...the innermost room in the temple where God dwelt…(in Hebrews we learn that it symbolizes heaven itself)...What was it? The veil of the temple. We know that at the crucifixion that veil was torn. This symbolized the fact that God’s people now have complete access to all of God and all that is in God. What about the Gentile? He was not allowed to get anywhere near the veil. There was “a middle wall of partition” that kept him out. It was a wall that separated the Gentiles from the Jews. On that wall was a sign that stated that Gentiles were not allowed to go any farther. Let’s look at what Paul says elsewhere about this wall…

Read Ephesians 2:14-18

So now, as Gentiles we also have complete access to all that there is in God...through our Lord Jesus Christ. One definition of the word translated “introduction” or “access” is “to have access (approach), with intimate (face-to-face) interaction…”... All three occasions of (this word in scripture) refer to "having audience (direct access) with God". The fact that it also means “introduction” tells us that this is just the starting point of our Christian life. And what is it that we have “access” or “introduction” to? It is Grace. Paul uses “Grace” here in a metaphorical sense. We have access into a vast domain called grace. Picture a king’s palace named “Undeserved Favor” or “Grace” which we now have access to. He says we stand in it. E.g. it is not a place to which we come and go as a visitor but a place in which we live. Grace is our new home. We don’t live in the do’s and don’ts of law, but in the unmerited favor of God. His grace is what we depend on every day. Not our merit but His. What is the result of this “standing in grace?” He says we exult in hope of the glory of God.

One very important item in determining a man’s power of... standing firm against whatever assaults may be hurled against him, is the sort of footing that he has. If you stand on slippery mud, or on the ice of a glacier, you will find it hard to stand firm; but if you plant your foot on the grace of God, then you will be able to ‘withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand.’ And how does a man plant his foot on the grace of God? simply by trusting in God, and not in himself. So that the secret of all steadfastness of life, and of all successful resistance to the whirling onrush of temptations and of difficulties, is to set your foot upon that rock, and then your ‘goings’ will be established. Alexander MacLaren

What does “exult” mean? The English word has an interesting meaning. It is from a Latin word which means “to leap upward...to show or feel elation or jubilation especially as the result of a success.” In this case, though, our jubilation is not in our success but in the success of our Savior.

The Greek word behind this is even more interesting It means living with "head up high," i.e. boasting from a particular vantage point by having the right base of operation to deal successfully with a matter...figuratively, it refers to living with God-given confidence.” This word is translated “boast in many other places in the NT. So we don’t boast in ourselves, but we boast in our God!

Paul says we boast in hope of the glory of God. We learned last week that Biblical hope is not a wish. It is earnestly expecting something to happen. We might say it means “we can bank on it.” John Stott calls it “a joyful and confident expectation which rests on the promises of God.” That’s what we glory in, what we boast in...what we exult in…

In verse 3, Paul takes a curious turn. Verses 3-5 remind me of when I was a small child and my father would take me into the pool or lake. I could stay in the kiddie pool by myself, but, not being able to swim, I couldn’t go into the deeper waters without an adult. My dad would put me on his shoulders and we would wade out into the deeper waters. That was fun...because I knew that my dad was carrying me there...but it wasn’t long before I’d be ready to go back into the kiddie pool...Later in Romans we will be going into some deeper theological waters...we will go from milk to meat...In these three verses we wade out into the deeper waters...on Daddy’s shoulders…

What is curious when we get into verse 3, at least it would be curious to a baby Christian, is that Paul makes the stunning statement that we also exult in our tribulations. Remember, exult means a feeling of jubilation...a leaping upward. How in the world are we to “exult in tribulations?” Aren’t tribulations bad?

Actually, when we look at the word translated “tribulations”, it is really bad...It actually means “pressure” (what constricts or rubs together), used of a narrow place that "hems someone in";...especially internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined (restricted, "without options"). [By contrast, (another Greek word most often translated as “distresses or difficulties”) focuses on the external pressure exerted by circumstances.] Now, none of that seems like something we would want for ourselves. Yet, Paul says we are elated...ecstatic and jubilant in our tribulations. How is that? It is because of what follows.

Paul says that we can rejoice in our tribulations because they bring about perseverance. Now, understand that it is not inevitable that they bring about these things. This is what is supposed to happen. It is what happens when we yield to God and “stand in His grace.” Now this word translated “perseverance” is also translated as “endurance”, “patient endurance”, and “steadfastness.” It’s root means “to remain under”. It is not a “gritting your teeth” endurance where you just gut it out but are a mess inside, but it is “patiently enduring” tribulations. How can we patiently endure tribulations? Through faith in God. By knowing that “nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus” (to jump ahead to chapter 8). By knowing that as a child of a king nothing will happen to us that God cannot and will not in time turn to something good. By knowing that we can trust His heart...that He has plans to prosper us and not to harm us...to give us a hope and a future. (Jer. 29:11).

There is a natural progression to each of these things in Romans 5:3, 4. We could not know anything about perseverance or endurance unless we first have tribulations and troubles. And it takes perseverance to come to the next thing. In verse 4, it says tells us that perseverance leads to proven character. What do you think he meant by that?

The word translated “proven character” is “dokime” which means (the process or result of) trial, proving, approval. I came across some interesting background on this word…

"In the ancient world there was no banking system as we know it today, and no paper money. All money was made from metal, heated until liquid, poured into moulds and allowed to cool. When the coins were cooled, it was necessary to smooth off the uneven edges. The coins were comparatively soft, and of course many people shaved them closely. In one century, more than eighty laws were passed in Athens to stop the practice of whittling down the coins then in circulation. But some money-changers were men of integrity, who would accept no counterfeit money; they were men of honour who put only genuine, full-weight money into circulation. Such men were called dokimos, and this word is used here for the Christian as he is to be seen by the world." (Donald Grey Barnhouse, Romans: God's Glory, p. 18.)

So how do we get to be a “spiritual dokimos”, a person of absolute integrity...a man or woman of proven character? By persevering under tribulation. By remaining in a state of absolute trust and peace before God even in the tremendous pressures of life. And what is the result of the proven character that we develop? It is hope! Remember, we started with hope. Now we come around full circle to hope. So...have we gained anything? Absolutely yes! We have gone from a baby hope to a mature hope. Now we have a much greater, much more grounded hope. And what is our hope? It is of course in Christ.

Verse 5 says that this hope does not disappoint us? Have you ever had a hope in something that turned out to be groundless? I dare say all of us have at one time or another. Life is full of great disappointments...yet Paul assures us that this hope in God will never disappoint us. What evidence do we have for this? Paul gives us the evidence of the Holy Spirit. He tells us that it is because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which was given to us. Remember, one of the names of the Holy Spirit is “Comforter.” He comforts us by strengthening us...by pouring out the love of God in our hearts. Now this “pouring out’ is not a trickle. It is literally a “gushing out.” The evidence that our hope is real is that the love of God gushes out from God into our hearts...and the Holy Spirit is the one doing this. BTW...this is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in Romans.

John Stott:

‘Under the vivid metaphor of a cloudburst on a parched countryside’,what the Holy Spirit does is to make us deeply and refreshingly aware that God loves us.

This verse serves as a transition to verses 6-11. Now, he is, in effect, taking us back out of the deeper waters (we will be going back into them shortly!) of tribulations and perseverance into the wonderful truths about the love of God. Yet, whether we are new born Christians or mature Christians who have been in the faith for decades, these truths never get old. If someone is studying advanced trigonometry, do they not need the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division? No, and we still need to go back to the truths of the basics of our faith. In verses 6-11, Paul tells us about the love of God. He wants us to get the full impact of what the love of God is...we need to go back and reflect on how much God really loves us.

Verse 6 says that Jesus Christ died at the right time. God chose a time...the perfect time...to send his son to die for our sins. This was true in history, but it is also true in our experience. There is a perfect time that each of us comes to know that Jesus died for our sins...That time, is when we were helpless...when we came to the end of our strength. At that time, Jesus died for the ungodly...that’s you and me.

Then in verse 7, Paul makes the point that hardly anyone would die for a righteous man...that is, a man who was righteous according to the law. Paul at one time said that as a Pharisee he was righteous according to the law. Of course, he was also self-righteous. He goes on to say that for a good man, someone might be willing to die. That is...a man who was not only righteous in the externals but in the internals. Someone who truly loved God…

But then verse 8 makes the point that we were none of those. We weren’t righteous and we weren’t good. We were the ungodly. Let’s re-read this verse...I’m going to read this in the old King James just because I like it so well…

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Not when we were righteous. Not when we were good. When we were helpless. When we were ungodly. When we were sinners. When we were rebels against God. This is an astounding verse. It’s the essence of Christianity. Christ died for sinners. Christ died for us.

There is one curious thing about this verse that grabs my attention. When he said ‘Christ died for us”, what tense is that in? Past tense. It happened in the past...in a given point in history...almost 2000 years ago. But when he says, “God commendeth His love to us” or “God demonstrates His love to us”, what tense is that in? Present tense. You see, though Jesus died at a given point in history, the application of the benefits of that death is an ongoing thing. It reminds me of the fact that when an animal was slain in the temple, it was at a given point in time. Yet the blood from the animal (and other animals) was then taken into the Holy Place where it was used continuously. This is a type of the continuing work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers.

Now let’s do another little word study. The word translated “demonstrate” means “to stand near”... referring to facts "lining up" with each other to support (commend) something. It is standing near to support a thing. KJV uses “commendeth.” We don’t use the word “commend” much, but we do use a similar word…”recommend.” When we recommend someone we are supporting them. What Paul is saying I think is that we never have to doubt the love of God, because He made the ultimate expression of His love to us in sending His son to die for us when we were completely helpless, without strength...even rebels against Him. It is an ongoing recommendation of His love. We should never doubt His love as long as we continually go back to the cross to see how much He loves us.

This leads directly into verse 9. Because we have now been justified, we now can be assured that we will ultimately be saved from the wrath of God through Jesus. Why is this? Verse 10 explains further. He died for us when we were enemies to God, and we were reconciled when we were rebels to Him through the death of His Son. Now that we have been reconciled, Paul says that we shall be saved by His life...that is, the life of Jesus. What does he mean by this? There is a verse in Hebrews that I believe sheds light on what this passage is about.

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV)

25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

This verse is talking about the ongoing priesthood of Christ. After Jesus rose from the dead, He ascended to heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. What is He doing today in heaven? He is making intercession for those who come to God through Him. What is the result of this intercession? They are saved to the uttermost. (NASB says “forever”, but this word means more than only “for all time.” It also means “completely.” “perfectly”, “utterly”. This tells me that the work of salvation is ongoing. There is a sense in which we can say not that we were saved or are saved but that we are being saved. He is continually ministering in heaven on our behalf. We are being saved by His life...that is, by His living today. Our salvation will not be complete until He takes us home. Remember this scripture…?

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; (Phil. 1:6 NKJV)

That good work in us is the work of salvation...of reconcilliation to God. We won’t be fully reconciled to Him until “the day of Jesus Christ.” When He comes back to get us. That day, all will be completed. That will be the day of our full salvation.

Let’s look at one more verse. Verse 11 flows out of verse 10. In verse 10, it says we WERE reconciled by the death of Jesus and that we SHALL BE saved by his life ultimately. In verse 11, it says we have NOW received the reconciliation. Now received. This is for now. Paul says that we exult in Christ (there is that word exult again!) because we presently have the reconciliation. Salvation is not just something in the past that we can look back on, nor something in the future that we can look forward to, but something that we presently possess. Why? Because He always lives to make intercession for us. That’s something we can exult in!

George Matheson suffered poor eyesight from birth, and at age 15 learned that he was going blind. Not one to be easily discouraged, he enrolled in the University of Glasgow and graduated at age 19. He then began theological studies, and it was while pursuing those that he became totally blind.

Matheson’s three sisters rose to the occasion and tutored him through his studies—even going so far as to learn Hebrew, Greek, and Latin to be able to help their brother. With their help he was able to complete his studies.

After graduation, he answered a call to serve as pastor of a church in Innellan, Argylshire, Scotland. He had a successful ministry there, and was later called to serve as pastor of the much larger (2000 member) St. Bernard’s Church in Edinburgh.

On the day that one of his sisters was married, Matheson wrote this hymn. He recorded this account of that experience in his journal:

“My hymn was composed on the evening of June 6, 1882. I was at that time alone. It was the day of my sister’s marriage... Something had happened to me which was known only to myself, and which caused me the most severe mental suffering. The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes, and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction...

Matheson obviously didn’t intend to tell us what caused his “most severe mental suffering,” but people who know his background strongly suspect that it had to do with a heartbreaking experience several years earlier. His fiancee had broken her engagement to him, telling him that she couldn’t see herself going through life married to a blind man. Matheson never married, and it seems likely that his sister’s wedding brought to memory the woman that he had loved and the wedding that he had never enjoyed.

At any rate, Matheson’s “severe mental suffering” inspired him to write this hymn, “O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go.” The hymn celebrates the constancy of God’s love—”love that wilt not let me go”—”light that follow’st all my way”—”joy that seekest me through pain.” It concludes by celebrating “Life that shall endless be.”...

When I read the various accounts of Matheson’s writing this hymn, one sentence struck me as especially important. It was this—Matheson said, “The hymn was the fruit of that suffering.” There is an important lesson in that. All of us suffer some sort of heartbreak or disappointment or disability at some point in our lives. What makes all the difference is our response —whether we let the hardship stop us or inspire us to greater effort.

Matheson suffered two severe blows that could have stopped him—the loss of his eyesight and the loss of his beloved. In both cases, he made the best of a bad situation—and we are all the richer for it. As this hymn reveals, it was his faith in God that kept him going through the adversities that he suffered. He believed that God’s love would not let him go—and that God’s light would follow him all his way—and that God’s joy would seek him through his pain—and that faith made all the difference.

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that foll’west all my way,
I yield my flick’ring torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Romans Bible Study #8 "Father Of Us All"..Romans 4:13-25 (Video and Lesson Notes)

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Review 4:1-12

Read 4:13-25

So in the section we’ve already covered, Paul explains to us that Abraham was not saved by his works, nor by circumcision, but by faith alone. In verses 13-15, he goes on to explain that Abraham was not saved by keeping the law.

I believe it would be beneficial to us to read from a similar teaching Paul had written to the churches in Galatia years before. Let’s read Gal. 3:16-19.

There are a lot of things we could talk about in this section, but I mainly wanted us to read this to note that Paul brings out to the Galatians what every good Jew would have already known...that the law was not given for many centuries after Abraham. Therefore, the idea that Abraham was justified by law keeping was untenable. We talked last week about how many Jewish teacher’s of Paul’s day believed that Abraham was justified by works. Paul refutes that argument in the first part of Romans 4. Many of them also believed (believe it or not!) that Abraham was justified by law keeping...even though the law would not be given for centuries!

Ancient passages from the rabbis say:

“We find that Abraham our father had performed the whole Law before it was given…” They argued that he kept the law long before it was given...by intuition. Paul refutes this idea both in Galatians and in Romans 4.

In verse 13, Paul identifies God’s words to Abraham in Genesis 15 (which we read last week) as “the promise.” This promise was given to Abraham as he was told to look up at the stars and count them…”if you are able to count them,” God said. “So shall your descendants be.” In Romans 4, Paul describes this promise in all it’s vastness...that he should be the heir of the world. In a sense, this might be a restatement of what God had told Abraham years earlier that “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3) In Psalm 37, David would tells us that “those who wait for the Lord will inherit the land (vs. 9) and “...those blessed by Him will inherit the land…” Jesus would rephrase this in Sermon on the Mount in saying “Blessed are the meek (or gentle), for they will inherit the earth.” (Matt. 5:5)

Paul in vs. 13 says that this promise was not through law but through “the righteousness of faith.” In vs. 14 he argues that if those who keep the law are the heirs of this promise, then “faith is made void and the promise is of no effect (KJV) or nullified.” The law of Moses and the promise God made to Abraham were at odds with each other. As we already read in Galatians, “For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise.” It is one or the other...it can’t be both.

“”Law and promise belong to different categories of thought, which are incompatible. Law-language (‘you shall’) demands our obedience, but promise-language (‘I will’) demands our faith.What God said to Abraham was not ‘Obey this law and I will bless you’, but ‘I will bless you; believe my promise’.” John Stott

In verse 15, Paul gives a reason for this…”for the Law brings about wrath (or judgement), but where there is no law, there also is no violation (or transgression).” This is not saying that where there is no law, there is no sin. Remember, Paul has already brought out the point in chapter 3 that the law was to give knowledge of sin, not to save us from sin. This is saying that you can’t break a law that hasn’t been given yet. If there was no law that says you can’t murder someone, murderers would not be violators of the law, but that is hardly the same thing as saying that murder is not wrong.

We actually have had this sort of thing happen in our society often. Slavery was allowed in our country before the Civil War. There was no law against it in many southern states. It would have been impossible to arrest a slave-owner for owning slaves before a law was passed making this a crime. Does that mean that it was right to own slaves before then? Of course not! More recently, in the south segregation was practiced. Separate drinking fountains between blacks and whites, separate schools, even separate places on busses. No one could be arrested for this because there was no law against segregation. (In fact, the law was written for segregation!) Once a law was written, in was now “against the law.” Yet, there was always something wrong about it.

In verse 16, Paul begins to pull together everything from the previous 15 verses. (“For this reason” is usually translated “therefore.” I think this makes more sense.) The first part of this verse in Amplified Version reads:

“Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy],”

So the promise is given by grace and received by faith. “Grace gives and faith takes.” Paul would say much the same thing in Ephesians 2:8-9:

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (NKJV)

Paul says that this salvation is the gift of God, not of works. In Romans 4:16, he says that this was so that it might be sure or guaranteed to all the seed, or all the descendants, not only the physical descendants of Abraham, but the spiritual descendants of Abraham, that is, those who have the same kind of faith that Abraham had. Abraham, he says, is the father of us all, not only Jews but Gentile believers as well! Paul is saying to us that when we believe God, we have a guaranteed promise from God that we will inherit all things, including eternal life. It is not based on lineage, not on pedigree, not on law-keeping, not on circumcision. It is based on God and His gracious provision. It is guaranteed because it is all based on God! This promise is as trustworthy as God Himself! When we simply receive this promise, we never have to doubt anymore. It is “sure to all the seed.” In the first part of verse 17, Paul bases this “father of us all statement” on the scripture in Genesis 17:5 where God said “A father of many nations have I made you.”

This verse really begins a turning point in Paul’s argument. From here on out, it seems that he is talking not only of Abraham’s initial faith in Gen. 15, where God gives him this promise, but now he is also bringing in Abraham’s more developed faith in Gen. 17, which occurs about 14 years later, when he is 99. Let’s go back and read this account.

Read Gen 17:1-7

So now, after 14 years, Abraham (who up until this time is actually called “Abram” or “Father”) has still yet to receive the promised seed, which was promised to him and Sarah first in Gen. 12 (when he was 75 and she was 65) and then in Gen. 15 (when he was 85 and she was 75). Let’s notice that in Gen. 12, all that Abraham was required to do is believe. Here is required to believe and obey. I think this is often overlooked. The promise was not conditional on Abraham’s obedience, but on his faith. Yet this certainly did not mean that God did not require obedience from Abraham. God absolutely expected obedience from Abraham. But it was not obedience to law, but it was obedience that was born out of faith. Because you believe me, God is saying to Abraham, “I expect that belief to produce a blameless walk before Me. Because of my relationship with you, Abraham, your seed will be multiplied exceedingly. My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.”

This is where God changes his name from “Abram” (father) to “Abraham” (father of many). It was at this time also that God gave Abraham and his seed the covenant of circumcision, which Paul has already said in Romans 4, was a seal of Abraham’s faith. In the same way, our obedience to God is what identifies us as bearers of Abraham’s faith. Obedience is the fruit of faith. When we see fruit on a tree or on a vine, we now know that life is there...and we even know what kind of life by the fruit. If it’s apples, it must be an apple tree!

Back in Romans 4:17, Paul identifies this God who made Abram into Abraham “father of many”as the God who “gives life to the dead” (resurrection) and “calls into being that which does not exist” (creation). Both of these things are not natural, but supernatural. Abraham believed in a God who would give him descendents supernaturally.

In verse 18, it says that Abraham “against hope believed in hope.” (KJV). In other words, when there was no human reason to hope that the promise would be fulfilled (he was, after all, 99 and Sarah was 89, right?), he still believed the promise. He “hoped against hope.”(actually, this phrase had its origin in this verse) This doesn’t mean that he had a mere wish.

To get the idea of what this hope involved, let’s go ahead and re-read 18-22.

Listen to what John Stott says about this section:

This firm conviction about the power of God was what enabled Abraham to believe, both against all hope and in hope at the same time, when God promised him that his descendants would be as many as the stars, although at that time he and Sarah did not have even a single child... It is not that he ran away from the realities of his situation into a world of fantasy. On the contrary, without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact, indeed the two painful, stubborn facts, that he could not beget a child and that Sarah could not conceive one. For the facts were that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead Yet out of that double death God brought a new life. It was at one and the same time an act of creation and of resurrection. For this is the kind of God Abraham believed in.

When you see the word “hope”, think “earnest expectation.” Abraham expected God to fulfill His promise, though there was no earthly reason to think for. His hope was grounded in his view of God, not in his view of man.

It is amazing to me that our text says that Abraham “did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith.” Did Paul not know what happened between chapters 15 and 17? Let me give you a hint...his name was Ishmael! Abraham took matters into his own hands, according to the custom of the day, and fathered a child by Sarah’s handmaid. God would explain to Abraham later in chapter 17 that the promised seed would not come through Ishmael but through another child yet to be born, not through Sarah’s handmaid but through Sarah herself...and God even told him what the son’s name was to be...Isaac. This tells me that we can make many mistakes and, in God’s eyes, still be considered strong in faith. Isn’t that comforting! You see, I believe that Abraham’s siring of Ishmael was a mistake. It was not God’s perfect will...but it was an honest mistake. I honestly believe that Abraham believed that he was carrying out God’s promise in producing Ishamel, but of course he was wrong. God actually told Abraham that he would bless Ishmael and would make him a great nation. If the covenant which God had made with Abraham was based on Abraham’s works, it would have been negated right there. No, it was based on God’s works and God’s faithfulness.

In the end, Abraham grew strong in faith, believing that what God had promised, he was able also to perform.

As we look at Abraham as “the father of us all”, his faith gives us a good idea about what real faith really is.

1. Abraham did not just believe that God exists. Hebrews 11:6 says that “he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
2. Abraham believed the actual promise of God. His faith was not a dead faith but a living, active faith.
3. Abraham’s faith was a continuing faith. It wasn’t a once-in-a-lifetime faith. The faith that is taught today is often built around a one-time confession. Some teach that once you make that confession, you’re in. If it’s not continuing faith, it’s really no faith at all.
4. Abraham’s faith was a growing faith. He “grew strong in faith.”
5. Abraham’s faith was an unwavering faith. “He did not waver in faith.” Though he made mistakes, he never doubted God’s promise.
6. Abraham’s faith was an obedient faith. God told Abraham to walk before Him and to be blameless.
7. Abraham’s faith was a tested faith. Even to the point, in the end, of being willing to offer up his son on the altar. (Gen. 21) Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us this…

By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense.

Abraham’s faith is the model for our faith. Abraham’s faith is true, saving faith.

It was there on Mt. Moriah that Abraham demonstrated the culmination of a lifetime of faith. There, even more than any other time in his life, he demonstrated his belief that “what God had promised, He was able also to perform. And it was there that we have a picture of one who was greater than Abraham. Abraham’s son Isaac was figurative raised from the dead. God’s only Son, Jesus Christ, was literally raised from the dead. God the Father slayed His only Son on the cross.

Let’s re-read the final three verses of Romans 4.

When we believe in Him who was delivered because of our transgressions, and raised because of our justification, when our faith in Jesus Christ is real like Abraham’s faith in God the father is real, our faith in credited to us as righteousness. That is real, abiding faith.