Click here to view the entire service
In Romans 4:12 Paul said all believers are walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham. And now in verses 13-25 Paul details and describes these steps of faith and this morning we’re going to trace those steps of Abraham’s faith. Do you have Abraham’s kind of faith? Are you following in the steps of his faith? We’re going to find out this morning.
Before we go there, I want to summarize God’s dealings with Abraham in his biography in Genesis 12 through 22. Hang on as we make a quick trip through these chapters reviewing God working with Abraham.
In Genesis 12 God promised Abram (which means “exalted father”) three things: land, seed, and blessing. These promises were literal, unconditional, and eternal. We call this the Abrahamic Covenant. Genesis 12 is one of the most important chapters in the Bible.
In Genesis 15 God appeared to Abram and promised him that his seed, his children, would be like the stars of the sky. That’s when Abram believed God and was justified, and God sealed the deal by passing through the divided animals as a torch and oven. He assured Abram of the land for his descendants in Genesis 15:18.
In Genesis 16 Sarai and Abram didn’t have even one child so they thought they should take matters into their own hands and Abram, who was 86 by now, had Ishmael through Sarai’s servant Hagar.
In Genesis 17 lots happened. God appeared to Abram when he was 99, changed his name to Abraham (“father of a multitude”), instituted circumcision, changed Sarai’s name to Sarah (“noble woman”), and promised Abraham a son through Sarah. Abraham fell on his face and laughed. “I’m 100 and Sarah’s 90. No way. May Ishmael live before you.” God said, “No way! You and Sarah will have a son. And since you think it’s so funny, we’ll name him Isaac, which means laughter. I’ll establish My everlasting covenant with him.”
In Genesis 18 God visits Abraham and promises him a son with Sarah within a year. Sarah overhears and laughs. God reminds them both, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?”
In Genesis 21 sure enough a year later, right on time, Sarah gives birth to Laughter Isaac. Sarah says, “I have born Abraham a son in his old age.” Abraham is 100 years old. God has finally given him that promised seed!
In Genesis 22 God tells Abraham to take this son whom he loves, Laughter Isaac, and sacrifice him on Mt. Moriah. What does Abraham do? He gets up early and with Isaac heads out to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice his only beloved son. As we now know, God, Jehovah Jireh, provided a ram for Abraham to offer in the place of his only beloved son. What an amazing picture of God offering His only beloved Son some 2000 years later in the place of sinners.
While Abraham had questions as God dealt with him, you can see that when God made promises to Abraham, he believed what God said. That’s why we follow in the steps of the faith of Abraham. Abraham’s biography in Genesis leads up to this amazing portion in Romans 4 where Paul describes and applies those five steps of faith for us.
STEP # 1 – YOUR FAITH IS NOT IN YOUR LAWKEEPING
Romans 4:13-15, For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
Paul has already told us we are not justified by works or circumcision. Now he assures us no one will ever be saved or justified by trying to keep the law. If you are trying to merit God’s favor by keeping the law, you have destroyed faith and nullified God’s promise. Not only that, if you’re trying to be saved by keeping the law, you will face the wrath of God because no one keeps the law.
God didn’t say to Abraham, “If you keep all my rules and regulations, then I’ll make you an heir of the world.” No, God promised Abraham, “In your seed all the nations shall be blessed.” It’s not conditional on law keeping, but unconditional based on God’s promise. Faith is the opposite of works and law keeping. Faith trusts the promise of God. Faith is empty of merit. Faith isn’t a pitcher full of Root Beer; faith is an empty cup with nothing human in it. Faith simply receives from God and depends 100% on what God promises.
Imagine your dad promises, “I’ll buy you a DQ Blizzard of any flavor you want tonight.” Whether or not you get the blizzard depends on whom? But what if he said, “I’ll buy you a Blizzard tonight if you do exactly what I say all day without grumbling and you do it immediately and cheerfully. If you don’t do it immediately and cheerfully, not only will you not get a Blizzard but I’m going to take your video games away for two months.” Now on whom does your enjoying that Blizzard depend? True faith rests simply in God’s promise, not in your human performance or law-keeping.
STEP #2 – YOUR FAITH EMBRACES GOD’S PROMISE GIVEN TO YOU BY GRACE ALONE
Romans 4:16, For this reason 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,
This is one beautiful and important verse. There are three powerful words in God’s plan of salvation: faith, grace, and guaranteed promise. Faith means trusting God. Grace means God saves us based on no merit of our own. Grace means unmerited favor. God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Romans 3:24 said, “Being justified or declared righteous freely, as a gift, by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.”
Faith rests in God’s promise. It’s not, “Have I done enough to merit God’s blessing.” Merit and grace do not live in the same house. Faith and grace live in the same house, on the boulevard called Assurance. This means that what God has promised He will certainly fulfill, no question about it, guaranteed. God doesn’t lie. God keeps His promises. You see it with Abraham. God kept every promise he made. And Abraham did nothing to deserve them. Isaac was a gift by God’s grace. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “Our salvation is sure because it is founded on the character of God Himself, His everlasting and abounding grace.” We sing that song of assurance.
“I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me He hath made known,
Nor why unworthy Christ in love redeemed me for His own,
But I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
To keep that which I committed unto Him against that day.”
STEP #3 – YOUR FAITH RESTS ON GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE
Romans 4:17, (as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
This is where God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (a father of a multitude in Genesis 17:4-5. You can imagine the chuckles when Abraham walks in to share his new name with the guys at the city gate. “Hey fellas, God gave me a new name. I’m Abraham now, the father of a multitude.” “Wait a minute, Abe. How many kids do you and Sarah have right now?” “Uh, none, but we’re working on that.” So, for many months they teased him, “Here comes childless Abe, the father of a multitude. Abe, you’re 99 years old, and Sarah isn’t a spring chicken either. You sure about all this?”
Where was Abraham’s faith? It was in God. He believed in an omnipotent God, able to do exceedingly abundantly beyond all that he could ask or think. What can your God do? Two powerful truths in this verse. God gives life to the dead – only an omnipotent God can do that. And God calls or creates something that doesn’t exist, just like He created the universe out of nothing. What a mighty God we serve! For Abraham, God’s going to give life to two senior citizens far beyond child-bearing age. He’s going to provide a child. God can make dead things live. Every Jew in the history of the world is living proof of this verse. They come from Sarah’s dead womb.
If you’re a believer in Christ, God gave spiritual life to you when you were dead in sin, and He calls believers into existence. We were dead and didn’t exist as believers. We were dead nothings. But God made us living somethings in His Son! Your faith rests on God who is omnipotent!
STEP #4 – YOUR FAITH TRUSTS IN THE GOD OF HUMAN IMPOSSIBILITIES
Romans 4:18-20, In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
Remember this catchy chorus – “Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He does the things others cannot do.” Abraham is facing a human impossibility. But he believed his omnipotent God. In hope against hope, against all the human evidence to the contrary. God isn’t a heavenly magician, but you may be facing something that just doesn’t seem possible. Learn from Abraham here. God had taken Abraham outside to look at the stars and promised, “So shall your seed be.” That was humanly impossible when the promise was made. But not with God. Abraham’s faith was, “If God said it, that settles it. I believe it.”
Verses 19-20 are loaded with marks of a healthy faith. First, he didn’t become weak in faith despite all human circumstances to the contrary. He faced the reality of his and Sarah’s physical condition. Faith doesn’t ignore reality, but that didn’t destroy his faith. He was trusting in a God bigger than his circumstances. David faced the huge circumstance of Goliath, but David too didn’t become weak in faith. Goliath was big, but David knew his God was bigger.
Second, Abraham did not stagger in unbelief (KJV). He held fast to God’s promise. We need to respect the promises of God so we don’t stagger or waver in unbelief. Sometimes we do, right? Peter perfectly illustrates it when he climbed out of that boat, looked to Jesus and walked on the water, but began to sink when he looked at those waves. The way to not stagger is to eye the promises. that is how you live by faith. And we have plenty of promises. All things work together for good to those who love God. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Casting all your cares on Him, because He cares for you.
Third, Abraham grew strong in faith. The more he saw God keep His promises the stronger Abraham’s faith grew, to the point he was willing to sacrifice Isaac, knowing God was able to raise the dead! How do we grow strong in faith? Read and feed on the Word of God. See what God is able to do for His people. His grace is sufficient for us; His power is made perfect in weakness. There are times when our faith grows weak. There are times when you stagger because the circumstances seem overwhelming. Jesus reproved his disciples, “Oh you of little faith.” Another time the disciples yelled, “Master, we’re perishing!” He responded, “Where is your faith?” They had faith, but they weren’t using it. So, even when you stagger or waver, you still have that God-given faith and you’re driven back the Word. You read and feed your soul on God’s truths and meditate on them like that Psalm 1 man. He delighted in God’s Word and meditated on it day and night. Go to the promises, to prayer, to fellowship with other believers and you recover, you grow strong in faith.
Fourth, Abraham gave glory to God. The only way to give glory to God is to believe Him. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “There is nothing so insulting to God as not to believe Him.” We glorify God when everything is going against us, and we still go on believing. Circumstances may be driving us to despair, but we keep on believing God like they did in the end of Hebrews 11. By faith they conquered kingdoms and put foreign armies to flight. First John 5:10 says, “The person who does not believe God has made Him a liar.” We glorify and honor God when we believe His promises.
Fifth, Abraham glorified God by believing God was able to do what He said in verse 21. What a GLV, Great Little Verse. Fully assured. No question about it. Abraham went walking around touting his new God-given name “father of a multitude” when he didn’t even have one child. “Let ‘em laugh. I know God. I believe God. I believe God is able to do everything He promised! I don’t know how He’s going to do it, but I know He has the power and is able to do it.” Put your situation in this verse. If God made the whole creation out of nothing (and He did), He can keep His promises to us.
STEP #5 – YOUR FAITH SECURES JUSTIFICATION IN CHRIST ALONE
Romans 4:22-25, Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, 24 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, 25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Paul concludes by bringing it back to us, to believers in Christ. In the same way God imputed Christ’s righteousness to Abraham, He imputes the same righteousness to every believer based on the completed work of Christ. God delivered His Son to pay for our sins, our sins were imputed to Him, and God raised Christ from the dead because Christ’s work was fully accepted. God declares every believer in Jesus justified or righteous by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
SO WHAT?
Are you following in the steps of the faith of Abraham? Are you being strengthened in your faith, embracing God’s promises, fully assured that what God has promised He’ll fulfill? Or maybe you are staggering, looking at the deadness of your own spiritual life, or the seeming impossibilities looming out before you. Like Abraham, in hope against hope, look to the God who is able to make dead things live in your life, and bring changes into your life that you thought were impossible. By reading and feeding on His promises, you will grow stronger in faith and above all, you will glorify Him.