Abraham Believed God
Notes
Transcript
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Introduction
Introduction
Paul has been laying out the truth that the Law cannot save, and that salvation comes only through faith in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ!
In Romans 3, which I preached from a couple Sundays ago, Paul deals with the wonderful concepts of justification, redemption, propitiation, remission of sins, forgiveness of sins, and the grace of God.
Unfortunately, not every one believes the cardinal doctrines of the faith.
Many of the people who would read Paul’s letter to the Romans would not accept these things as fact. Therefore, Paul calls a witness to the stand as he continues to defend his message of salvation by grace through faith.
Paul’s witness is none other than Abraham…Today, Abraham is held in high esteem by Jews, Muslims, and Christians, in Paul’s day, many people, but especially the Jews looked at Abraham as almost worthy of their worship. Abraham was a hero in their eyes, so no wonder Paul chose him to support the case of salvation through grace alone.
When looking at this, we will answer a question I’ve heard asked many times, and that is how did people get saved in the Old Testament? The quick answer is - the same way you and I do…by grace through faith.
We are going to see that in today’s message...
Number one, let’s look at:
I-The Righteousness of Abraham’s Belief
I-The Righteousness of Abraham’s Belief
We see this in verses 1-4 of our text today...
1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Abraham was the physical father of the entire Jewish race. He was the Patriarch of the Patriarchs. There could be no greater or more influential witness than Abraham, this is why the Jews looked at him so highly...
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
Those words, “to glory” is talking about boasting...Performance is the basis for boasting in oneself.
If Abraham's works were the basis of his righteousness he would have grounds for boasting. He could brag about his accomplishments. Paul says, but not before God.
Prideful man can work and boast all he wants to, but God still sees nothing good in him.
6 But we are all as an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; And we all do fade as a leaf; And our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Boasting is completely excluded from genuine salvation.
Going back to something we covered in the last message,
27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.
Where is our boasting? It’s out the window.
Because our salvation is through Christ and it is attained by the work of God and not of men, it eliminates man’s opportunity to boast in his achievements.
We are saved by grace, through faith…Ephesians 2:9 “9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
The Jews pride in their law, ceremony and status had blinded them to the fact that the only way to be justified before God is by faith.
The Bible is clear...1 Cor. 1:29 “29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.”
Sinful man has nothing of himself that he can boast about.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Paul drives his point home with a direct quote from the Old Testament... Genesis 15:6 “6 And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.”
This Scripture clearly teaches that Abraham was justified by faith.
How was Abraham justified? He believed God!
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Any plan of salvation that includes works destroys God's grace.
The person who works expects a reward for his work. When you go out and work at your job, you expect a paycheck because you've earned it. When your employer gives you the paycheck there is no grace involved. You have earned the paycheck—it is rightfully yours. The employer is just paying a debt.
The point Paul is making is, if works are involved in salvation God isn't giving you anything. If you earn your salvation God is simply a debtor paying His bill.
Now, in the next section of verses, let’s take a look at:
II-The Reward of Abraham’s Blessings
II-The Reward of Abraham’s Blessings
We see this in verses 5-8 of our text...
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The words count, impute, and reckon all come from the same word.
This is a word that comes from the business and legal world that means "to credit to an account."
By this we understand that there are not two ways of salvation – saved by works through law-keeping in the Old Testament and saved by grace through faith in the New Testament.
No...
Everyone who has ever been saved – Old or New Testament – is saved by grace through faith, through their relationship of a trusting love with God. Now, because of the New Covenant we have benefits of salvation that Old Testament saints did not have but we do not have a different manner of salvation.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
David lived under the dispensation of law.
How was he saved? By keeping God's law? No!
Did he stay saved by keeping the law? Absolutely not! In fact, David was a law-breaker. He was an adulterer (2 Samuel 11). However, he was a saved man. You remember that word impute? It means to credit to an account.
When David responded to Nathan's message and repented God forgave him. God no longer imputed David's sin to his account. Instead God imputed righteousness to David Just like Abraham, David was saved by grace through faith.
The same way Abraham was saved, and every one today can be saved!
Next, we see:
III-The Ritual in Abraham’s Body
III-The Ritual in Abraham’s Body
9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Paul continues to explain to the Jews that circumcision did not save them...
Paul anticipates another argument and, goes ahead and nips it in the bud so to speak...
It is true that Abraham was saved by faith before the law and David was saved by faith during the dispensation of the law. However, the Jews might argue both of them were circumcised which was the symbol of God's covenant with His chosen people (Genesis 17:9-14).
Paul asks the question, Rom. 4:10 “10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.”
Paul is dealing with the timing of Abraham's circumcision in relation to his being declared righteous. In other words, when was Abraham counted righteous? Before circumcision or upon being circumcised? This presents a big problem for the Jew.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
When Abraham was declared righteous before God, he was around 85 years old (Genesis 15:6).
Ishmael was born when he was 86 (Genesis 16:16).
Ishmael was 13 when he and Abraham were circumcised. Abraham was about 99 years old (Genesis 17:25, 26).
The point here is Abraham was declared righteous 14 years before he was circumcised.
You might be wondering, preacher, what is the point of going through this…
Here is the point and it’s a truth that needs to be drilled into the heads of every child of God!
Salvation never has been about what we do, it has always been about Who we belong to! If we belong to the Lord, then we are saved, forgiven, adopted into the family of God and declared righteous. If we have not trusted the Lord by faith, then we are lost, no matter what we do!
The whole point of this section is to tell men that salvation cannot be found in the rabbi’s knife, the baptismal pool, the communion, church membership, etc.
Salvation can and will continue to be found only in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Men are still saved by trusting His shed blood and His resurrection from the dead. Nothing else will do...
Paul explained that circumcision was only a sign that he belonged to God. It was a mark of a covenant relationship with God. Abraham believed by faith. His righteousness was imputed to him and to all who follow him the same way.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I know that I am saved, but not because of the things I have done, or doing or will do for the Lord.
I am saved because of Who I am trusting for my salvation!
What about you? Are you looking for some kind of a religious thing to save you? If so, it won’t work!
For us to get to heaven, we need to hear the same message the Jews heard. It’s all about faith! We can’t earn our way to Heaven, but we can believe our way there!
Abraham believed God! What do you believe?