[Linux4christians] Thursday - Romans 4

[dcolburn at bibleseven.com]

    Thursday


      Romans 4



The Illustration of Justification

4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the 
flesh, has discovered regarding this matter? 4:2 For if Abraham was 
declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast 
about -- but not before God. 4:3 For what does the scripture say? 
"/*Abraham believed God*//, //*and it was credited*/ /*to him as 
righteousness*/." 4:4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited 
due to grace but due to obligation. 4:5 But to the one who does not 
work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his 
faith is credited as righteousness.

4:6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to 
whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

4:7 "/*Blessed*/ /*are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose 
sins are covered;*/

4:8 /*blessed is the one*/ /*against whom the Lord will never count*/ 
/*sin*//./"

4:9 Is this blessedness then for the circumcision or also for the 
uncircumcision? For we say, "/faith //*was credited to*//Abraham //*as 
righteousness*/." 4:10 How then was it credited to him? Was he 
circumcised at the time, or not? No, he was not circumcised but 
uncircumcised! 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal 
of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still 
uncircumcised, so that he would become the father of all those who 
believe but have never been circumcised, that they too could have 
righteousness credited to them. 4:12 And he is also the father of the 
circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who also walk in the 
footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham possessed when he was 
still uncircumcised.

4:13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would 
inherit the world was not fulfilled through the law, but through the 
righteousness that comes by faith. 4:14 For if they become heirs by the 
law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 4:15 For the law 
brings wrath, because where there is no law there is no transgression 
either. 4:16 For this reason it is by faith so that it may be by grace, 
with the result that the promise may be certain to all the descendants 
-- not only to those who are under the law, but also to those who have 
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 4:17 (as it is 
written, "/*I have made you the father of many nations*/"). He is our 
father in the presence of God whom he believed -- the God who makes the 
dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they 
already do. 4:18 Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result 
that he became /*the*/**/*father of many nations*/ according to the 
pronouncement, "/*so will your descendants be*/." 4:19 Without being 
weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about 
one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah's womb. 4:20 He did not 
waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in 
faith, giving glory to God. 4:21 He was fully convinced that what God 
promised he was also able to do. 4:22 So indeed it was credited to 
Abraham as righteousness.

4:23 But the statement /*it was credited to him*/ was not written only 
for Abraham's sake, 4:24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be 
credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from 
the dead. 4:25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was 
raised for the sake of our justification.



      Prayer



Lord, You inspired David to observe that it would be a blessing for one 
who behaved in a "lawless" manner and who sinned to be the beneficiary 
of Your grace, rather than the law. May I remember that it is Your mercy 
that has allowed me to not suffer eternal punishment for lawlessness and 
sin and to therefore seek righteousness and avoid lawlessness and sin.



      Summary & Commentary


Abraham was saved by faith, if he were saved by works God would have an 
obligation to him for having completed some sort of 
righteousness-earning task, but it was purely grace in return for his 
belief in God.

David noted that the Lord blesses by removing the eternal 
conviction-of-death-from-sin and Paul reminded the reader that this has 
nothing to do with religious ritual like circumcision since David was 
referring to Abraham and he was saved-by-faith before he was circumcised.

Paul also reminded that Abraham was promised that he would be the 
"father of many nations" while he and Sarah were still childless and he 
was elderly - indicating that everything involved with salvation would 
be unrelated to works, ritual, or any single nationality.

He concluded that saving-faith was for "... those who believe in the one 
who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was given over because of 
our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification."



      Interaction



        Consider

What a tragedy that man's distortions of God's word had led to such a 
heresy as to believe in any form of works-righteousness.

Discuss

Isn't freedom from works amazing? It does not come from membership in a 
man-made religious organization or nationality or race or gender. It 
liberates a person to simply love God and to receive His blessing and 
gifts and mission for life, undistorted by imperfect humans.

Reflect

Freedom comes from understanding that salvation is through faith-alone 
and not works.

Share

When have you experienced or observed confusion as to 
saved-by-faith-not-works versus saved-by-faith-plus-works?



      Faith in Action

Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any moments in your life where you 
doubt your salvation and that I turn to any form of works-righteousness 
to try to justify myself before God.

Action:

Today I will ask a fellow believer to pray in agreement to purge the lie 
of doubt and/or works-righteousness from my life so that I may trust and 
worship God-alone.

Be Specific ______________________________________________________



    Friday's text will be:


      Romans 5



-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary!
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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