{This session begins with an exercise. Each
person is given a 3 by 5 yellow sticky note, and asked to write down “the most
important thing my father ever taught me.” If the relationship with the father
is sufficiently bad, “the most important thing I wish my father had
taught me.” These are then posted in two locations: one for those things
taught by word; the other, for those things taught by example}
“... Abraham ... discovered.”
(Rom
4:1-8 NIV) What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered
in this matter? {2} If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had
something to boast about--but not before God. {3} What does the
Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
{4} Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but
as an obligation. {5} However, to the man who does not work but trusts
God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. {6} David
says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God
credits righteousness apart from works: {7} "Blessed are they whose
transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. {8} Blessed is the
man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."
Verbs are the action words of the English
language. I have bolded the two words for this section: “Abraham
discovered.” For indeed Abraham discovered how faith works by putting it into
practice; it was not by instruction but by practical discovery that his faith
was developed. There are three prime examples:
1. He emigrated to the
land of Palestine at God’s command (Genesis 12). I wonder very much how many
of us would pack it up to go to (for example) Chile at God’s command.
2. He trusted God that a
son would be born to him and Sarah (Genesis 17) -- at a time of life when most
of us would be telling God that Medicare doesn’t cover pregnancy.
3. At God’s command he
attempted to sacrifice that only son (Genesis 22). This was God’s great test
of his faith. It’s interesting to note that the sacrifice as commanded is contrary
to the Old Testament Law of Moses.
Such an example of faith to us seems beyond
reach. Let me suggest that one reason for this (there are several) is that we
do learn from our experience -- we learn what we are exampled. We look at
other people around us, see their failings and (in the style of “me and Jesus
in the telephone booth”) conclude that God somehow must have the same
failings. Of course, the conclusion is an unconscious one. Look at it this
way:
·
People
cannot be trusted like that because they change their minds. People are in
time, but God is eternal; His purposes never change.
·
People
cannot be trusted because they do not have the power to carry out their
intentions; but God is omnipotent.
·
One
reason God allows such failings in others is to drive us to trust in Him alone.
Our reaction to such a world is to “hedge our
bets.” We’ll trust God -- to a reasonable point, of course. We’ll also rely
on our good deeds to build up a nice, healthy balance of brownie points where
God “owes us.” Paul points out the fallacy of such a hedge. We can see that
this method is false:
·
As
he points out, if you work, you get wages. Wages are proportionate to the
value of the work (somehow). If you have faith, what you get is totally
disproportionate. It is a gift. How do you “work” to obtain a “gift?” The
two are mutually exclusive.
·
They
are also mutually exclusive because righteousness can only reside on one side
of you -- the inside or the outside. Either you are confident of your inner
righteousness (and therefore are outside a sinner, namely a hypocrite) or you
are confident of your inner sinfulness (and therefore a repentant sinner on the
outside, and thus justified).
·
Is
it just possible this is why our faith is so weak?
Claiming the promises vs. Working a Claim
(Rom
4:9-17 NIV) Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the
uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as
righteousness. {10} Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it
after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! {11} And
he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had
by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who
believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be
credited to them. {12} And he is also the father of the circumcised who
not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that
our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. {13} It was not
through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would
be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
{14} For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the
promise is worthless, {15} because law brings wrath. And where there is
no law there is no transgression. {16} Therefore, the promise comes by
faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's
offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of
the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. {17} As it is written:
"I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the
sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls
things that are not as though they were.
We come now to a curious error in human
faith: the idea that somehow the ritual we undergo is a “work” of
righteousness. We should have disposed of this idea in the last section -- for
works obtain their proportionate reward, and the reward here is all out
of proportion. It is important to remember that baptism (like its predecessor,
circumcision) is an outward symbol of the inward transformation. Paul makes
this clear here by pointing out that God credited righteousness to Abraham before
circumcision (about fourteen years earlier, to be specific).
Process Analysis
Paul now engages in what might be called
process analysis today. To see why he needs to do this, I give you one
hypothetical example: suppose you encounter (as you stand in the bread line at
the Union Rescue Mission) two men. One, a thorough legalist whose pride is the
spur to his legalism, pours the soup. The other, a man who loves Christ and
therefore helps his brothers, hands out the bread. Can you really tell which
is which? It is almost impossible in others to distinguish between works as
the cause of righteousness (i.e., self righteousness) and the effect of love.
Paul gives us the distinction here in terms of the process of each:
·
Start
with the law; it yields transgressions (you can’t run a stop sign that isn’t
there). Transgression yields punishment, the wrath of God.
·
Start
with faith; it yields repentance. Repentance yields grace.
Permit me an analogy. Many Christians begin
with the idea that they must learn “the rules of the game.” It’s as if they
expected the church to be a locker room. They walk in thinking, “If I see pads
and helmets, it’s probably football. Look for a bat -- that means baseball.
The thing then is to choose the right game.” In fact, you walk in and see pads
and helmets on one side --- and an artist’s palette, brushes and canvas on the
other. The choice is not “which game” (i.e., which set of rules) but choosing
between “playing the game” (legalism) and creating a work of art -- a life
pleasing to God.
Paul talks much here of “the promise.” The
word is interesting in the Greek: Epaggeliaia. It means a promise
which is unconditional. God does not change; his promises are unconditional.
For us to “claim the promises” is to take God at His word. In short, we are to
say “yes God, I believe you will do what you say you will do -- and I’m going
to act upon that belief.” I propose to you three simple tests of this in your
life:
1. What do you say about
God’s promises? “God can do so little with me; I’m such a sinner” sounds so
humble. It really says, “I don’t believe God’s promise that he can make me
great in the kingdom -- it’s just too tough for Him.”
2. Do our actions show
such confidence in Him -- or are we hedging our bets?
3. Do our worries show a
lack of confidence in Him?
(Mat 6:28-34 NIV) "And
why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow.
They do not labor or spin. {29} Yet I
tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of
these. {30} If that is how God clothes
the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the
fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? {31} So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall
we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' {32} For
the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you
need them. {33} But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as
well. {34} Therefore do not worry about
tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of
its own.
On Hope
(Rom
4:18-25 NIV) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the
father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your
offspring be." {19} Without weakening in his faith, he faced the
fact that his body was as good as dead--since he was about a hundred years
old--and that Sarah's womb was also dead. {20} Yet he did not waver through
unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and
gave glory to God, {21} being fully persuaded that God had power to do
what he had promised. {22} This is why "it was credited to him as
righteousness." {23} The words "it was credited to him"
were written not for him alone, {24} but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from
the dead. {25} He was delivered over to death for our sins and was
raised to life for our justification.
Hope has one key characteristic: it appears
to be impossible. If you can see it coming, it’s not hope. Abraham understood
it well:
(Gen
17:15-17 NIV) God also said to Abraham, "As for Sarai your wife, you are
no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. {16} I will bless
her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be
the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her." {17} Abraham
fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, "Will a son be born to a
man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
He knew it was absurd; he laughed
(and by the way, Sarah did too, in Genesis 18). But God did as He said. The
Hebrew word for “laughter” is Isaac. So with all that, how is it that Abraham
kept his faith? I submit it was by the discipline of obedience; Abraham
trusted God and therefore obeyed Him. There are, I think, three key points to
this:
·
“Only
those who believe, obey. Only those who obey, can believe.” (Bonhoeffer). If
you are not in a relationship of obedience to your Lord (a relationship of
love) how can you believe?
·
Disobedience
cuts the line of trust. “You cannot cheat an honest man” also implies that a
dishonest man trusts no one. If you are disobedient to Him, you naturally
suspect He will betray you.
·
It’s
OK to ask for help. (Luke 11:13 NIV) If you then, though you are evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your
Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"
And what is the “impossible” for which we
hope? Paul outlines it in the last two verses. First, that Jesus was “delivered over to death
for our sins”--
·
As
such, He became our substitute (II Corinthians 5:21).
·
In
such, He changes our lives (I Peter 2:24)
·
For
such, He is coming again (Hebrews 9:28)
Next, that Jesus was “raised to life for our
justification.” His
resurrection is our guarantee of our eventual resurrection, as Paul puts it:
(1
Cor 15:17-22 NIV) And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you
are still in your sins. {18} Then those also who have fallen asleep in
Christ are lost. {19} If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we
are to be pitied more than all men. {20} But Christ has indeed been
raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. {21} For
since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through
a man. {22} For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.
There you have it:
·
Faith
means an absolute trust in God.
·
It
is shown in what we say and do.
·
Its
hope (and I submit result) is in the return of our Lord and our resurrection.