Hi and thank you for tuning in. Today we are going to finish up chapter 4 of Romans.
But before we get started I’d like to tell you about two sermons that were recently given at my place of worship, Crossroad Community Church.
They are powerful and force us to look at our lives as Christians in today’s culture. Pastor Andrew Betts talks about some controversial subjects that most pastors don’t want to take on. If you love this country the way I do, I encourage you to take the time to view these videos. You can find them posted at perspectivefortoday.com
Now let’s continue with our study of Romans.
Romans 4:20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,
God is as good as his word. Abraham had seen throughout his life that God meant what He said and said what He meant. Abraham didn’t waver in his faith because God’s promises are true. Our God, the God of Abraham can be trusted, because our God is not a liar. Abraham gave God the glory for all that he did in his life and so should we.
Do you live your life as though God’s promises are true or do you question God at every turn? Are you sold out for Christ or can you be bought by the enticements of a sinful world. If you are sold out for Christ then Philippians 1:21 should resonate with you.
Philippians 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
If this perspective doesn’t sound appealing to you then you are definitely not sold out. You are still clinging to the things of this world.
So what makes our perspective change? First and foremost we have a love relationship.
Matthew 22:37-38 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.
Next, we need to surrender all that we are, until there’s nothing left of us but Jesus.
Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus told his disciples, If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what shall a man give in return for his life?
Finally, we need to have a sincere desire to share the gospel with the lost.
Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
If we can live our lives with this eternal perspective then we can truly say, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Let’s look at our next verse,
Romans 4:21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised
Abraham didn’t know how God was going to fulfill His word, but he had confidence that God was capable of doing what he said.
After all, this is the God of Genesis, the God who created all that is seen and unseen. Our God is the omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent God. In other words, he is all powerful, all knowing, and all seeing God. Abraham’s faith was well placed.
Moving on to, Romans 4:22 That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.
God was truly pleased to find a man that took Him at his word. God credited Abraham with righteousness. He had a righteous standing before God. Abraham had been delivered from condemnation and was justified by a holy God through faith.
Romans 4:23-24 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,
If we like Abraham, believe all that God is and all that God has done our faith will also be counted for righteousness. That is, if we believe that God raised Jesus from the dead and accept him as Lord and Savior.
This chapter of Romans is a prime example of why the Old testament has relevance for us today.
So many people stay focused on the New testament and fail to realize that the new is built on the old.
The following excerpt by C. H. Mackintosh puts it like this,
“Abraham was called to believe in a promise, whereas we are privileged to believe in an accomplished fact. He was called to look forward to something which was to be done; we look back on something that is done, even an accomplished redemption, attested by the fact of a risen and glorified savior at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.”
Romans 4:25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
When Jesus was “delivered up” He was handed over by God as a sacrifice to pay the price for our trespasses or sins. In other words, Jesus died on the cross in our place, taking on the penalty of God’s judgment for our sin.
It is only through Christ’s Resurrection that we can be justified. There can be no justification if Christ remained in the tomb. The very fact that he rose tells us that the work is finished, the price has been paid, and God has accepted the atonement of the Savior.
This brings us to the end of chapter 4. I’d like to thank you for listening and may you have a week full of opportunities to share this good news with those that need to hear it.