Romans 4:18-25

18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. -Romans 4:18-25

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God promised Abraham that he would be the “father of nations.”  One problem though, Abraham’s wife Sarah couldn’t have children.  She was barren.  In the midst of this impossible obstacle, Abraham trusted God.  His trust wasn’t perfect.  His faith wasn’t perfect.  But the obstacle to Abraham’s faith strengthened his faith.  That’s the paradox of spiritual trials—they seem like they exist to hurt us but in turn they make us stronger.

Like many, during this pandemic, I’ve been exercising and working out quite a bit.  When you lift weights, it actually tears apart your muscles and damages them.  It looks like destruction.  But that destruction brings about healing that actually makes the muscles stronger and bigger.

This is just like faith.  When there are obstacles to our faith, those obstacles actually help to make our faith stronger because we need to use faith.

Are you facing obstacles to your faith right now?  May you see them as opportunities for your faith to grow!

Romans 4:9-12

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. -Romans 4:9-12

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Who is Abraham?  Why is circumcision even talked argued about in Christianity?

Many consider Abraham to be the father of the Jewish people.  God told Abraham to leave his home country and basically start a new nation.  And Abraham obeyed.  God wanted this new nation to be distinct from all the nations in the world so he made the guys get circumcised.  So circumcision now has become the mark of whether or not you belonged to Abraham’s new nation.  The mark showed that you were part of God’s people.

Fast forward 1600 years.  Abraham’s new nation is no longer new.  They are called Israel and they continue to practice this circumcision tradition.  But now the tradition itself has become so important it’s replaced faith.  Israelites falsely believe that you’re God’s people if you are circumcised.  Faith is not even part of the equation!

Now before you hound on the Israelites, we Christians today do the exact same thing.  We think that going to church makes us a Christian.  We think having Christian parents make us a Christian.  We think standing up in an altar call during a praise night makes us Christian.  NONE of those things do.  In the end, it’s faith.

Before God told Abraham to perform the mark of circumcision, Abraham already was part of God’s family because Abraham had faith.  The Apostle Paul was trying to emphasize this using a history lesson about Abraham.  Abraham’s faith came BEFORE God gave the mark of circumcision.

Going to church, going to Harvesters or AYL, or even reading your Bible or praying doesn’t make you a Christian.  You need to have faith that comes BEFORE doing any of those things.  Faith is matters.  It’s how you connect to God’s Insta, or FB, or TikTok, or whatever.  It starts with faith.

Are you starting with faith or do you falsely believe that the things you do will save you?

Romans 4:1-4

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. -Romans 4:1-4

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If we see our faith as grace-based, then anything we have we see as a blessing from God.  But, if we see our faith as works-based—that we did something to earn it—then anything we have we see as a product of our hard work.

How do you know if you’re seeing your life through the lens of grace or through the lens of work?  That’s easy.  Are you blaming God for things?

Oftentimes, when we blame God, it’s because we believe we’ve done things to deserve better.  The thinking goes like this, “I’ve served you in Harvesters and at church.  I’ve been a good person.  God, you should do more to bless me.  Why don’t I have this or that?”

The person who believes in a works-based Christianity feels that God owes him or her.  He or she did the work, God now needs to come through and honor His end of the bargain.  And when God doesn’t, the person gets mad at God.

But in a grace-based Christianity, the person understands that God did all the work.  God doesn’t owe him or her anything.  Any blessings the person receives is seen as a gift.  There is a sense of gratitude toward God regardless of the person’s external circumstances.

If you’re mad or annoyed at God for something, it’s possible that you’re struggling with a works-based mentality of faith.  You feel you earned your religiosity and God should compensate you accordingly.  That’s not Christianity, that’s self-worship.

Ask God to help you to get rid of your works-based mentality.  Ask Him to help you see the world through His grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Romans 3:29-30

29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. -Romans 3:29-30

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God’s gift of Himself is available to everyone.  The story of Christianity is the story of God’s redemption of the world and He chose to start His story with the Jews.  But His plan all along was to help everyone.  We see hints of that even when Jesus was on earth.  He would help people who were Gentiles (not Jewish) and in many instances he commented on how the Gentiles had greater faith even to those who engaged in traditional Judaism.

When the Apostle Paul comes to faith, God’s plan to share His salvation with the world begins to come to fruition.  God gives Paul the task of sharing the Good News with Gentiles.

If you’re not Jewish, then you’re a Gentile, and your faith can be traced back all the way to the Apostle Paul.  He started the process of helping Gentiles meet Jesus and his mission continues today.  It even continues with us.  A huge part of the Harvesters and AYL is not just to help Christians grow in their faith, but to help those who may not call themselves Christians to learn more about Jesus.

God made Himself available to you and to me.  We can’t just hoard God.  Now we need to share Him with our friends and family.

Romans 3:21-25

21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. -Romans 3:21-25

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What the heck is the word “propitiation?”  It means to “make up for” or to “pay the cost for.”  Another word for it would be “justice.”

As this passage tells us, all of us have done something messed up in our lives.  All of us have definitely have had messed up thoughts.  That’s sin.  When we mess up, we’re committing an injustice either against others, against ourselves, or against God.  Oftentimes, it’s all three!

That injustice has be made right and that’s what Jesus did on the Cross.  He paid for the injustice we commit to each other, to ourselves, and to God on a daily basis.  Propitiation—God paid for it.

May this reality give you joy and gratitude.  We deserve punishment for our mess, but Jesus took the punishment instead.  That’s sacrifice.  That’s grace.  That’s love.

Romans 3:19-20

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. -Romans 3:19-20

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Many of us know the Ten Commandments like don’t steal, don’t lie, and don’t murder.  What’s the purpose of these laws?  First, the reflect the character of God.  But second, just as important is that they help us to recognize our own messed up sinful nature.  On our own, it is impossible to keep all God’s laws.  For example, the Ten Commandments say to honor our parents.  Have you ever disrespected your mom or dad?  Have you ever talked back to them? 

My niece Taylor is a super cute baby.  She’s also a little sinner.  When we tell her not to do something, she ALWAYS wants to do it.  When we set a law for her to follow like don’t crawl on the wires, she immediately wants to break that law.  That’s her sinful nature at work.

We’re just like Taylor.  When we are told not to do something, there’s this fire inside of us that wants to disobey.  That fire is our sinful nature!

One purpose of God’s law is to show us how we are sinful and therefore we can’t follow His law perfectly.  God’s law teaches us that we can’t save ourselves.  We need a savior to help us.  That’s where Jesus comes in.  He saves us because we can’t save ourselves.

The law reminds us that we need Jesus.

Romans 3:10-12

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” -Romans 3:10-12

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We always think of ourselves better than we really are.  “I’m not that bad,” we think.  If you ask the average person if they are good enough to get into heaven, most would answer “yes.”  There’s an inherent narcissism that we all share.  We don’t judge ourselves by the same standards we judge others. 

The Bible puts us in our place.  It reminds us of our spiritual reality.  There is NO ONE who desires to do good.  There’s a fancy Christian-ese term we use called “total depravity.”  It basically means we’re so messed up that we don’t even know how messed up we are.  No one has the desire to do good.

Wait, but what about al the do-gooders in the world?  What about those who want to save the whales and promote racial justice and the like?  The Bible tells us any desire that we have to do good comes from God.  This is part of God’s “general grace” for all of humanity.  Whenever we see people doing good or even you doing good, it is by God’s grace and power that you even have that desire.  

This passage reminds the hold sin has upon us.  It reminds us that we are ALL in need of a savior.  And this reminds us that Jesus is that savior.

Do you think of yourself better than you really are?