Romans 4:13-17 – God’s Promises are based on Faith

Topic: God’s Promises are based on Faith

Reading: Romans 4:13-17

Introduction and Overview

One of the key foundations that underpin Christianity is the principle of faith. All of God’s promises are based upon faith, and everything God offers humanity comes through faith.

To quote a few examples, righteousness is based upon faith, freedom from law, freedom from sin, entry into the kingdom of God, and salvation into the eternal places with God and Jesus Christ are all based upon faith. As the scripture says in Hebrews 11:6

”…without faith it is impossible to please him. For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Our aim is to draw near to God, which we do through faith. And as this scripture tells us, without faith we cannot please Him and we cannot draw near to someone we do not believe in.

In today’s reading we learn that all of God’s promises are based on faith and without faith we cannot receive His promises. The great thing about faith too, is that everyone has the capacity to believe. Everyone can have faith in God, and so faith is the great leveller for humankind.

So, let’s look at the verses in the reading today to discuss and identify what they say.

Key points from reading:

1. The promises of God are based upon righteousness by faith, not keeping the works of law
2. The works of law nullify faith
3. Removing the law removes sin
4. The offer of righteousness and salvation is made to all mankind through faith

Discussion:

1. Scripture: Romans 4:13
   • Abraham lived and preceded the giving of the law through Moses by about five hundred years. God declared Abraham righteous by faith when he believed that God would give him and Sarah a son. God also promised that Abraham would have descendants as many as the stars in the skies or the sands of the sea, and that he would possess all of the land he traversed and that God would lead his descendants out of slavery and into the Promised Land.
   • All of these promises came because Abraham had faith. The promises of God were not based upon anything Abraham did, but because Abraham believed God.
   • And the promises had no basis in the law because they preceded the law by 500-600 years. Moses was descended from Abraham many generations later, and it was through Moses that God gave the law. But the promises given to Abraham by and through faith were to carry down and be given to all mankind through one specific descendant of Abraham’s line: Jesus Christ.
   • So, all the promises that we receive come through faith also, specifically faith in Jesus Christ. It is through Christ that we receive all of the promises of Abraham. To gain a better insight into this, I recommend you read Galatians chapter 3.
2. Scripture: Romans 4:14
   • This verse tells us that if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs to the promises given to Abraham, then the promises given to Abraham and by extension to ourselves by faith, is null and void.
   • Why and how does adhering to the law nullify the effects of faith? Surely the law is a good thing, as the scripture says in Romans 7:12, saying, ”So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good.” So, if the law is holy, just, and good, how can it nullify faith?
   • The reason is because righteousness by keeping the law is not based upon faith. It is not based upon seeking the grace of God and accepting His gift of grace where He removes our sins and declares us righteous as He did with Abraham, simply through believing that God raised Jesus from the dead.
   • Instead, righteousness under the law is based upon what WE do. It is based upon us keeping the strict works of the law, and so rather than being a righteousness that comes from God, it is a righteousness that we work for and earn through keeping the law. Thus it is a form of self-righteousness if it is sought through works that we do in compliance to the law.
   • It is not a bad thing to keep the law, because as noted above, the law is holy, just and good. But doing the works of the law is not based upon faith in God, (even though the truth of the law was meant to be based on faith too). But the Jews approached the law as if it were based upon works and so they missed the point of the need for faith that underpinned the law.
   • So, if we are seeking a righteousness based on works of law, as some do today through fasting, tithing, keeping the sabbath, etc., then we are rejecting the righteousness that comes through faith in the resurrection of Jesus through the working of God. As evidence of this note the following words:
   • 3 I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is bound to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit, by faith, we wait for the hope of righteousness. (Galatians 5:3-5)
3. Scripture: Romans 4:15
   • One of the key tenets of the New Covenant is freedom from sin. The purpose for Jesus dying was to set us free from sin and the condemnation of sin that will lead to the wrath of God and judgement.
   • In order to ensure we are freed from sin completely, God had to remove the law. This verse tells us that it is through the law, or rather by failing to keep the law and breaking the law, that we receive God’s wrath. The scripture says, “The law brings wrath,” that is, the wrath of God through breaking the law.
   • But when the law is taken away and we are set free from the law, there is no wrath. And there is no wrath because there is no transgression of the law.
   • There is no sin where there is no law because you cannot break a law that you are not under. When God takes away the law, you are no longer under the law, and therefore it is imposiible to break the law. This may be hard for many to understand and to accept, but this is what the scripture tells us. When we die with Christ in baptism, we die to sin and we die to the law (Read Romans 6:1-3, and Romans 7:1) When we die with Christ, accepting His death by faith and the grace of God as if it is our death, then God takes away our sins, removes the law from us, and declares us righteous by faith because we believe that He has raised Jesus from the dead.
4. Scripture: Romans 4:16-17
   • Finally we see that the offer of righteousness by faith is made available to all the peoples of the world, not just the children of Israel. Abraham was told that he would become the father of many nations, and that “parenthood” comes about when we follow his example of faith in God.
   • The scripture also specifically suggests that is by faith in the resurrection that we receive the promises and the free gift of righteousness by faith. It says, “…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.” (Romans 4:17)
   • The adherents to the law also have the opportunity of salvation and receiving the promises of God, but only by faith also. Those who think it is by self-righteousness through keeping the works of the law are cut off from God’s grace, as noted in Galatians 5. But those who do follow the law, believing that God is watching and they are serving the living God do have the opportunity of salvation.
   • However, it is a much harder road because there is always the reminder of sin and condemnation in the law, whereas in Christ those problems are removed. Furthermore, in Christ we receive the power to overcome the passions, lusts, and desires of the flesh that drive mankind to sin. This comes through the working of the Holy Spirit in us.
   • The path of righteousness by faith is far better and far easier. And it is only by this path that we receive the promises of God because all of God’s promises are based on faith.

Key Takeaways:

1. The path of righteousness by faith is a better way than seeking righteousness under the law, because following the works of law will cut us off from Christ and the grace of God.
2. The promises of God rest upon faith and believing in the resurrection of the dead, specifically that God raised Jesus from the dead.
3. This offer is made to all peoples of the earth if they will believe and have faith in God.

Prayer Points

1. Pray to God that you can fully understand and receive His righteousness that comes through faith, and put no confidence in your ability to keep the works of the laws of Moses.
2. Pray to God and confess that Jesus is the Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead.
3. Accept in faith the truth from God that you are set free from the law, that your sins have been completely and utterly taken away, and that God has declared you righteous by faith.