Romans 4:13-15From the very beginning, when mankind has been judged to be righteous it has been because of faith. You can’t invalidate Abrahams promises with the law that came later. The law magnifies our lack of ability to serve God and the way our nature is set to serve ourselves.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
Romans 4:16-17
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
The promise doesn’t rest on the works of Abraham but upon the faith exhibited by Abraham. Likewise the heirs of Abraham are not heirs according to the law but according to Grace because they share in the faith of Abraham and are the result of the promise made to Abraham by God. In that sense, Abraham is the father of us all. God gave life to us when we were spiritually dead. God called us into existence as the children of Abraham when we were lost and without hope in the world. That day when you were saved, as you heard the Gospel … God resurrected your dead heart and called you into existence as a child of Abraham. Salvations are as miraculous as Lazarus’ resurrection when serves as a physical picture of our salvation. Jesus gave life to a dead Lazarus and called him into existence when he was not in existence except as a rotting corpse.
Romans 4:18-22I wonder if Abraham objected to being referred to as “as good as dead” but I guess not. Abraham knew that it was not his ability that would fulfill the promise. Abraham’s confidence was in God and was the result of years of fellowship and interacting with God. Abraham was familiar with God and so he knew that God was the one who was able to do what He had promised and that was what mattered.
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.” 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. No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced
that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”
Romans 4:23-25Our righteousness comes from faith in Him who raised Jesus from the dead after being delivered up for our sins and raised for our justification before God. Here we have in view our blessed double imputation in the atonement; we trade our sin for His purity.
But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Chapter 4 ends with a compact statement regarding the imputation of our sin to Christ and the imputation of His righteousness to us. It has been called “The Great Exchange” in a recent book by Bridges and Bevington. It is the heart of the Gospel. Paul continues to explain the Gospel in Chapter 5.
Romans 5:1Remember when we see a “Therefore” we look to see what it is there for. In this case it is a link back to “Double Imputation” as the heart of the Gospel and faith as the operative “cause” that results in the peace we have with God. Please keep in mind that faith has content and an object in Christianity. Our faith is not “believe-ism” or a blind leap. Like Abraham (and in fact partly because of the testimony of Abraham) we believe God because He has proven Himself faithful. God says that I’m justified by faith in the work of Christ and that I have peace with God through Christ.
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Listen to these verses by Spafford in the hymn “It is Well with my Soul”;
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,Spafford knew the comfort of justification (and hath shed His own blood for my soul) and he knew that his sins were paid in full not in part.
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
Spafford – It is Well with My Soul (1871)
Romans 5:2Again listen to Spafford point to the hope of the glory of God …
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
But, Lord, ‘tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,We like Spafford should long for the appearing of Jesus and our entry to heaven. We now can rejoice that the sky and not the grave is our goal. Rather than fear the Glory of God, the Grace of God will prepare us for the Glory of God. Apart from the Grace of God that Glory terrifies and our God is a consuming fire.
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh trump of the angel! Oh voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
Spafford – It is Well with My Soul (1871)
Romans 5:3-5One more time listen to verses from Spafford’s great hymn;
More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,It is well with my soul when I am justified before God. We don’t easily remember that we should rejoice in our sufferings. We undervalue endurance and character. We want a shortcut to hope. Spafford had sorrows like sea billows. He was a wealthy man mourning the loss of his son who then lost almost all of his wealth in the Chicago fire of 1871. That fire burned about 4 square miles over about 3 days. Thinking they needed a vacation he sent his wife and 4 daughters ahead of him for a vacation in England. There was a collision at sea and his 4 daughters were all killed. He wrote the lyrics for this hymn as his ship passed the point where his daughters died at sea. He was writing his heart and even in the deep sense of loss he was looking for a way to rejoice in suffering, allow endurance to produce character, and allow hope founded on Christ to be his only life.
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
Spafford – It is Well with My Soul (1871)
A daughter named Bertha born later to Spafford and his wife said, “That he could write such words at such a time was made possible by the fierceness of his struggle and the completeness of the victory.”
Romans 5:6-11
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Salvation, is three fold in that we are saved (Justified), we are being saved (Sanctified), and we will be saved (Glorified). That is why Scripture here says, “much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
If God gave us Grace (underserved favor in His sight) when we were sinners then it is irrational to think that He will not also give us Grace to live before His face. How could we ever question God’s work in our life? He didn’t destroy us when we were in rebellion against Him. We were His enemies and He reconciled us by the death of His Son. He didn’t reconcile us to lose us or to destroy us. Being lost and destroyed is all we deserved but He was for us. How can we worry about the enemy of our souls taking us from His hand? We are purchased at too great a price for God to let us go. We were reconciled while enemies and now, much more, shall we be saved by His life.
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