ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH Romans 4:1-25
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
BAD NEWS: We are Helpless and Hopeless! GOOD NEWS: Great Exchange Of God’s Righteousness To Mankind’s Sinfulness THE RIGHTEOUSNESS WE NEED IS: From God (v21) HEART OF THE Apart From The Law (v21) GOSPEL Received By Faith (v22) For Sinners Only (23) Based On The Grace Of God (24) Provided By Jesus’ Death (vs 24-25) A Demonstration Of God’s Justice (v26)
• He was born during the reign of the mighty Nimrod. His father Terah was one of Nimrod’s noblemen. He grew up in a society where everyone, including himself, worshiped idols. At 3 years old, he began to think incessantly about the nature of the world. At age 25, he married his niece Sarah. Around this time Nimrod began building the Tower of Babel. At age 48, God gazed upon the great tower (Gen. 11:6-7) Abraham destroyed his father’s idols and was arrested for heresy.
WHO IS ABRAHAM? •
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Midrash is a method of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation of religious, legal, or moral teachings.
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THE CALL OF ABRAM–Exalted Father The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. Genesis 12:1 18 So the Lord made a covenant with Abram that day and said, “I have given this land to your descendants, all the way from the border of Egypt to the great Euphrates River— …Genesis 15:18-21
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will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed;5 because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws.” Gen. 26:4-5. But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, Descendant of Abraham My friend, Isa. 41:8
Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord and well pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life. Book of Jubilee
ABRAHAM WAS MADE RIGHT WITH GOD BY FAITH AND NOT BY WORKS (vs. 1-8) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? 2 If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. 3 For the Scriptures tell us, “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND GOD COUNTED HIM AS RIGHTEOUS BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH.” 4 When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned.5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. Romans 4:1-5
And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith. Galatians 3:6 quoting Gen. 15:6
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:29
If we think that we are slightly good on our own effort to enter heaven, we will surely go to hell with it. Richard Wong
The good conduct of The blessing David Abraham did not pronounced came not on merit him salvation. those whose good works The bad conduct of merit it but on those David did not prevent whom God has forgiven. his salvation.
ABRAHAM WAS MADE RIGHT WITH GOD BEFORE CIRCUMCISION AND NOT BECAUSE OF CIRCUMCISION (vs. 9-12) • The Jews felt that circumcision was a surgical act that secured their righteousness. Our Rabbis have said that no circumcised man will ever see hell. Rabbi Menachem. God swore to Abraham that no one who was circumcised should be sent to hell. The Midrash Abraham sits before the gate of hell, and does not allow that any circumcised Israelite should enter there. The book Akedath Jizehak
9 Now,
is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. 10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! 11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. 12 And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:9-12
The granting of righteousness was given to Abraham who was an uncircumcised Gentile when he received it.
ABRAHAM WAS MADE RIGHT WITH GOD BASED ON HIS FAITH ON A PROMISE AND NOT ON KEEPING THE LAW (vs. 13-25) Salvation for Abraham was based on a promise. He would be heir of the world. The promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants of Abraham.
ABRAHAM: Father of Multitude No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you (Gen 17:4-7).
Abraham was 99 years old and had no children but he believed on the promise. Abraham believed against all hope. Abraham’s faith did not weaken. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. Righteousness was imputed to him because he trusted in the revealed promises of God.
APPLICATION OF ABRAHAM'S FAITH TO US And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 for our benefit; too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. Romans 4:23-25
The very one who was delivered over, crucified because of our transgressions and raised because of our justification.
ABRAHAM JUSTIFIED BY FAITH Romans 4:1-25
We Are Made Right With God By Faith And Not By Works We Are Made Right With God By Grace And Not By Law We Are Made Right With God By The Power Of His Resurrection And Not By Human Effort
