Abraham: An Example of One Justified by Faith
Romans: The Gospel For All • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
While we may mention different ‘faiths’ when referring to other religious beliefs, Christianity is the only faith that speaks of justification by faith. It is not as if Christianity is one of many faiths, as Spurgeon said, but Christianity is true faith. That is, to have true faith is to be a Christian. This is why what applies to us today in believing Jesus died for our sins applied to Abraham who was counted righteous because he had faith. God is pleased by faith, which is a full assurance in what God has promised and told us. This is not only the message of the NT, but the entire structure of the Bible hangs on this. Faith alone pleases God.
Abraham: Justified by Works or Faith?
Abraham: Justified by Works or Faith?
A grave mistake that is often made regarding the Gospel and the New Testament in General is that is contradicts, or overthrows the OT. This, Paul argues, is simply untrue. Specifically, justification by grace through faith alone is not something new to the NT or the Gospel, but is founded in the very roots of the OT and the Jewish identity. While the Jews Paul argues with are convinced that justification is by works of the law, Paul will demonstrate the opposite by using Abraham as an example.
Boasting
Once again, Paul brings up boasting. In his argument against the Jewish notion that works of the law can save, Paul asks the question, “did Abraham, the Father of the Jewish nation and of Faith, have something to boast in?” If his righteousness were by the law, than yes. But Paul adds, “but not before God.” Commentator Doug Moo explains:
“from God’s perspective, Abraham has no right at all to boast because he was not, and could not be, justified by works.”
What Paul means is that from a purely human perspective, Abraham might have something to boast in. But before God, Abraham was justified by faith.
This shows the great distance between our boasting and God’s standards. Someone can look at Abraham and say, “wow, he really had something to boast in, his great work in offering Isaac up in faith for example.” Such a person is not God though.
Before Isaac, before circumcision, God made a promise to a pagan man and that man believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Paul points out that the text says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. This verse proves that it was not by works on the law. In Genesis 15:6 where the quote is taken from, God is restating the promise that from him a nation would arise and through his seed all the nations of the earth would be blessed. This promise eventually seemed unlikely since Abraham remained childless. God re-establishes that promise and Abraham, despite the current evidence pointing to the contrary, believes God. His faith is not based on circumstances, its not based on what he has done for God, he is going out on a limb in faith and relying completely on the promises of God. His simple faith is what is counted as righteousness.
Abraham: Justified Without the Law
Abraham: Justified Without the Law
Does this mean that the act of believing God was counted a righteous act by God? No, and for two reasons,
First, keeping in mind that Paul has been arguing that works do not count towards our justification, faith is not just another work that we may perform in order to be counted as righteous in God’s sight. This is a grave mistake people make, leaning their salvation on their own faith rather than on God’s righteousness. You are not justified because of your ability to conjure up faith.
Second, it is not the act that God considers righteous, but rather the person. Again, Doug Moo explains:
“When Abraham believed God, God granted him the status of “righteousness”; he considered him “right” before God.”
It is not that a work of faith was considered a righteous work before God, otherwise Paul whole argument falls apart. Rather, God graciously counted Abraham righteous simply because he believed. Abraham’s faith was not faultless, as the Jews often believed. They even went as far as to say that Abraham never sinned against God, which is clearly not the case. In the very next chapter, Gen 16, Abraham does not act in faith but in his own works. He works for Ishmael rather than believing that God would provide the child through his wife. Abraham’s faith wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t righteous, but it was there and God counted Abraham as righteous because of his faith, not his faith as a righteous work that could justify him.
Why should we interpret faith this way? Because Paul does, and not only that but because it is logical and in the OT Scriptures.
It is logical because if grace is grace, than the righteousness which God accounts to those who believe must be a gift from God. God is never obligated to anyone, which is why justification must be by grace through faith. If justification were based on the law than justification would be a wage God would be obligated to pay, not a gracious gift. If God is ever under obligation to someone, he is not the God of Scripture. God owes no man anything, and it would be eternally improper for God to put himself in the situation of owing something. This is Paul’s point in verse 4.
It is Scriptural, and for this Paul brings up David’s words from Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Here, David’s praise is directed towards a God who covers sin. This may seem contradictory to the God who will by no means clear the guilty, but that contradiction is resolved at the cross where propitiation covers our sins.
Through this, Paul shows that the OT doesn’t show that man can be justified by works, but by the free gift of God. The sinner does not deserve grace, is not entitled to mercy, and didn’t work for justification, but God gives it freely to them. So Paul says that David “counts righteousness apart from works.”
Faith in a Gift
Faith in a Gift
Christian faith, therefore, is faith in a gift. It is not trying to earn something from God, nor is it trying to pry something from God’s unwilling hands. It is a free gift to all who will openly accept it despite their circumstance. Abraham had no physical evidence for, and much evidence against, having a child and being the father of many nations, but he simply believed that God was going to be true to his word.
The faith that we have is faith in a gift. It is something given as undeserved and not earned by anything, not even our faith. Redemption is not the wage of faith, rather faith is the means of receiving the gift. Faith itself is a gift from God, the repentance given to change our minds from thinking in a dead, worldly way to believing God and having it counted to us as righteousness.
Application
Application
So how should we apply these truths about faith and the gift of salvation to all who believe? In a true puritan fashion, with a number of considerations.
Consider your original state in sin.
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
From such a state, the law did nothing but condemn you. It points out your wretchedness, your depravity, and your need. The problem with those who see their good works as able to justify them is that they do not see the depth of their sinful nature. But it is worth looking into the mirror of God’s law and be reminded of this. Not only are you sinful in nature, but you are dead. If we are to find comfort in Paul’s word for us today, especially in his quotation from Psalm 32, we must first recognize our sinfulness. Abraham believed God, but this did not justify him. He, too, was dead in his sin.
Consider the great grace which raised you up to believe.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Consider the value of faith and how, by God’s unending mercy, it is enough to apply the gift of God’s grace to you. You, like Abraham, may be justified and declared righteous in God’s sight. Faith is precious and a thing not to be wasted. Abraham not only heard the call of God, but had the faith to act on it. Abraham not only heard the promise reiterated, but had the faith to believe God and have it counted to him as righteousness. Your faith, small as it may be, is precious. Be sure you protect it. There are many things in this world that are after your faith. Worldliness, the assaults of the devil, sin, and suffering can all wear at our faith and, unfortunately, often prove faith to be nonexistent. This calls us to stay alert and stand guard over our faith. Nothing can take true faith away, and that is because God gives those with true faith the grace to persevere with it. Count your faith as a precious thing. Who are you that such a great gift, a gift that is included in the gift of redemption, should be bestowed? And yet, by grace, it has been. Do not let it whither, but count it with the value that is has and nurture it to be a stronger, more resilient faith.
Revel in the blessing of justification apart from works of the law. As we count faith as worthy and works as unworthy, so let us count the forgiveness of sin as having great value and sin itself as being worthless.
Make a habit of praising God for the gift of free grace. You have not earned your wages, which are death for sin. God does not treat you as your sins deserve, but forgives you as restores you to himself. There is no praise high enough for the lavish gift we are given in Christ, but try anyway. God has done this “to the praise of his glorious grace” (Eph 1:6) for
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
Give God glory for the things he has done. What is praise but verbalizing to God the greatness of his work? What is evangelism but the sharing of God’s gracious gift given to others and verbalizing it that way? When we have meditated on all these truths and have internalized them thoroughly, we will know it because we will not be able to stop praising him for what he has done.
The purpose of salvation, whether Paul’s or ours, is to display God’s grace, power, and patience and produce a true worshiper of God (John 4:21–24). It is for His glory primarily, our benefit is secondary.
John F. MacArthur
Praise will make the reality of this grace much clearer to us. It is for your benefit that you should be approaching God with great praise and glory for the free gift you have in Jesus Christ. You are in the best place you could possibly be in existence. The more you praise God for that, the more you will feel and see the revelation of that blessed state and find the joy of your salvation. This will be your source of joy and comfort throughout this life, a joy God means to give you at all times.
There should be no grumbling or complaining here, you have been brought from death to life. A man who has been lost at sea and, against all odds, is saved, he does not complain about the quality of the food on board the ship that rescued him. So let us not grumble as the Israelites, whose faith turned out to be nonexistent and they died in the wilderness. Instead, our goal is to have the eyes of our heart enlightened. If a blind man were to receive in ointment that, when applied once a day, would bring him more and more sight over the course of time, he must not fail to follow the doctors instructions. So let the ointment of praise be applied to your spiritual eyes everyday so that you may see more of God’s glorious grace in saving you.
that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Everything in our salvation is designed by God to magnify the glory of God.
John Piper
Conclusion
Conclusion
Abraham gained nothing by the flesh, even through the law, and neither will we. Anything that we leave for the flesh to accomplish will remain undone.
Abraham had nothing to boast of, and neither do we.
Abraham believed God and it was counted as righteousness. His faith was the factor by which God counted him a righteous man, though he was a sinner.
Faith alone can save you. Follow Abraham’s example of faith and persevere in it and you will find the greatest of rewards in it: eternal life. Look to Christ and believe he died to wash you of your sins and present you to God free of spot or wrinkle, free of sin and fault. Then you are truly his.