Faith in Christ Alone / Romans 4:1-25

Amen. Alright. If you have your Bibles, please turn to Romans chapter four.

Just by way of introduction, this series in Romans thus far—maybe with the exception of last week—has been like a salvo regarding total depravity. Have you noticed that? You start reading chapter one, and you’re like, “Oh wow, I’ve got issues.” Then you read chapter two, and you’re like, “Oh dang, I’ve got really bad issues.” Then you read chapter three, and you’re thinking, “Come on!”

It continues that way until finally, we reach Romans 3:21. When you get to that point, it says, “But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God is revealed.” It is manifested, and God begins to show us His plan of redemption and His plan of salvation.

It comes as you heard so eloquently and passionately taught last week. I just wish Shay would get fired up, don’t you? I mean, I listen to him and I’m just thinking, “Come on, get excited about what you’re talking about!” He was talking about justification by faith. That is the essence of the gospel. The prime concept in all of the Bible is the idea that we approach God through the finished work of Jesus Christ and by faith in what He has done for us.

But what is faith? What does faith look like? How can we describe what faith really is? When you think about it, faith is a movement from concepts about God to a belief and a trust in God. It’s moving from the idea of “I know some things about the gospel” to “I have now placed my trust; I’ve yielded my life; I recognize and have completely given control and authority to this gospel.”

The author of Hebrews puts it this way in chapter 11:

Hebrews 11:1 (NASB)

Now faith is the assurance of [things] hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

To be justified by faith is to move beyond the idea that we know the flannelgraph story and can draw it out on a napkin. It is the idea that our entire life is now built upon the foundation of being justified by faith. It’s a movement beyond mere knowledge.

The Example of Abraham and David

That’s what chapter four is all about. Paul begins the dialogue in chapter four by dealing with two primary Old Testament characters, and I think it’s fascinating that he chooses these two.

The first he chooses is Abraham. Abraham is the patriarch. He is the one God chose when He was looking over the earth and said, “I’m going to set a people aside to be My people.” He called that guy. He was the first pick from an idol-worshipping family. God said, “I choose him.” Abram had incredible faith, and so Paul uses him as an example of what faith looks like.

But he also uses David. David is a fascinating character. He was the greatest king in the nation of Israel, a man after God’s own heart. But David is also known for his sin with Bathsheba. He’s known for a moral “oops.” I mean, poor guy—he’s this incredible king, but there’s that one thing that follows him.

Paul starts in verse one by asking a rhetorical question, using a phrase he employs throughout this letter: “What shall we say then?” He asks if Abraham was made righteous according to his works. Was Abraham’s relationship with God based on his behavior, his actions, or his deeds? Did God look around and say, “I’m looking for a really good dude… oh, there’s one, I’ll choose him”?

Romans 4:1-2 (NASB)

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

See, the gospel of justification by faith is built on the foundation of total depravity. We cannot truly understand the nature and implications of the gospel until we understand how completely wretched we really are without Jesus. Thankfully, we get several chapters of that! Paul says no, Abraham is not justified by works, or he would have something to boast about. The only boasting we have is to boast in the Lord. Why? Because He is the one who accomplished our salvation.

Romans 4:3 (NASB)

For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’

Some of your Bibles might say “credited,” some might say “reckoned.” That word—credited—is used ten times in this chapter. It is the key to understanding what justification by faith means. To be credited means to put into one’s account or, literally, to set down accounts.

From a moral or spiritual standpoint, our accounts are bankrupt. They are completely overdrawn. We have no righteousness in our account. We swipe the ATM card and it’s declined. We write the check and it bounces. There is nothing there. But the concept of justification by faith is that God credits righteousness to our account.

When God looks at your account without Jesus, He doesn’t see any righteousness at all; He sees wickedness. But when that proverbial ATM is swiped and the righteousness of God has been credited to your account, He sees Jesus in you. You acquire that by faith.

Wages vs. Gifts

Notice verse four. He says that to the one who works, his wage is not credited as favor.

Romans 4:4 (NASB)

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

For those of you who have a job, when they hand you the check, do you grab it and say, “Thank you so much! I’m just so grateful that you’ve paid me”? No. You’re like, “Hey, where’s my check?” Why? Because you earned it. You worked, and you deserve that money. Paul says the one who works earns a wage; he gets what he or she deserves.

Romans 4:5 (NASB)

But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

That is the essence of the gospel. Jesus justifies the ungodly. The wage we deserve is sin and death. But by the finished work of Jesus, when we have faith in Him, He credits to our account that which we did not earn and do not deserve. He gives us something outside of ourselves, something we could never achieve on our own. The one who does not try to earn the favor of God, but instead believes, trusts, and accepts the benefits of His finished work—that is what it means to believe by faith.

Now, in verses six through eight, he shifts gears from Abraham to David. Again, David was a king who conquered the land, provided security for the people, and wrote most of the Psalms. But in a moment of moral weakness, he fell. He crafted a Psalm—Psalm 32—that cries out in confession.

Romans 4:6-8 (NASB)

just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ’BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. ‘BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.’

Look at the contrast between these two examples. Abraham had faith, and it was credited to him apart from his deeds. David had faith, and it was credited to him despite his deeds. Do you see that? David, in a heart-wrenching confessional prayer, says, “God, thank you that when I blew it morally, that wasn’t a disqualifier.”

Faith and Religious Rituals

In verse nine, Paul shifts to the topic of circumcision. Let me explain why this is so significant. In Genesis 12, God made the Abrahamic covenant: land, seed, and blessing. He gave it unconditionally. In Genesis 15, the covenant was ratified. In those days, you didn’t sign a contract; you took an animal, cut it in half, and passed between the parts as if to say, “May this happen to me if I don’t fulfill my end.”

Interestingly, Abraham didn’t pass through the parts. God put him to sleep and passed through the parts alone. Why? Because the covenant had nothing to do with what Abraham did or didn’t do. It was about God saying, “I promise, despite you.”

But every covenant had a sign. In Genesis 17, God gave the sign of circumcision. It was a religious rite, a “hoop” to jump through that showed external obedience. But Paul asks: When was faith credited to Abraham? Was it before or after he was circumcised?

Romans 4:9-10 (NASB)

Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;

Faith was credited in Genesis 15. Circumcision wasn’t given until Genesis 17. Abraham had faith and was declared righteous before he had any external sign of obedience.

Romans 4:11-12 (NASB)

and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

This means there is no special privilege to external religious exercises. Faith comes first. Abraham set the example of what faith alone meant—not faith plus some external sign. Faith was credited; obedience followed.

In our context, the closest thing we have to this is baptism. Baptism is an external sign, a step of obedience that shows the world publicly what God has already done on the inside. Can you be a Christian and not be baptized? Yes. Does baptism save you? No. To assume it is faith in Jesus plus an external act is to assume the work of Jesus isn’t really finished. It’s like saying, “You’re almost there, but now you need this too.” That is not what the Bible teaches.

The Law as a Thermometer

So, what about the law? Was Abraham justified by his obedience to the Bible? Simply put, Abraham was declared righteous before Moses was even born. The law was given in Exodus; Abraham believed God in Genesis.

Romans 4:13-14 (NASB)

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;

If the law were sufficient to save, it would nullify the promise given to Abraham. If you can only be saved by the law, then the promise God gave Abraham means literally nothing. So then, what is the purpose of the law? What is your Bible for?

Romans 4:15 (NASB)

for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.

I don’t know what you thought your Bible was for—maybe teddy bears, puppy dogs, and group hugs. But verse 15 says the law brings about wrath. Why? Because the law reveals sin. It’s like when the Fresno PD parks one of those radar trailers on the street. When you see your speed flashing, you realize exactly how fast you’re going. The law “guns” you. It shows you the reality of your violation.

PJ used an illustration a couple of weeks ago that I thought was fantastic. He said we tend to confuse thermometers and thermostats. A thermostat sees the temperature and can do something to fix it—it kicks on the AC or the heater. But a thermometer can’t do a darn thing to adjust the room. All a thermometer does is show you that you’re sick. The law of God is a thermometer. When we read it, we should think, “I’m sick, and I never noticed how sick I was.”

The Guarantee of Salvation

Because it is by faith and grace, our salvation can actually be guaranteed.

Romans 4:16-17 (NASB)

For this reason [it is] by faith, in order that [it may be] in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, (as it is written, ‘A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, [even] God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

If you earned your salvation, how long do you think it would take for you to lose it? If we approach God based on moral merit, it would only take one wrong thought or deed to lose our standing. The only way for salvation to be guaranteed is if it is not about you.

Just as God put Abraham to sleep and passed through the pieces Himself, the cross is about Jesus and His finished work. He offers it freely. You didn’t earn it, so you can’t “un-earn” it. It is based on the one who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

“Earn This” vs. “It Is Finished”

In 1998, one of the greatest movies ever made was released: Saving Private Ryan. The first thirty minutes are a brutal, realistic depiction of war. The movie begins, however, with an elderly man walking through the cemetery at Normandy. He finds a specific grave and is overcome with emotion.

Then the flashback begins. Tom Hanks’ character, Captain Miller, takes a squad to find Private Ryan, played by Matt Damon. At the end of the film, as Miller lies mortally wounded on a bridge, he pulls Private Ryan close. With his final breath, he says, “Earn this. Earn it.”

Then it flashes back to the cemetery. You realize the old man is Private Ryan. He turns to his wife and desperately asks, “Am I a good man?” He has been tormented his entire life by the thought that he might not have been worth the sacrifice. He spent decades hoping he had performed well enough to earn that man’s death.

The gospel is not like that.

Jesus’ final words on the cross were not “Earn this.” They were “It is finished.” Jesus doesn’t call us to Himself so that we can perform to earn what He’s given. He provides His death freely so that we would believe by faith. Instead of spending our lives in shame, guilt, and torment, wondering if we’ve done enough, we rest in His provision.

With joy and gladness, we serve Him until He takes us home—not out of fear, but with delight, because He has already paid the price.

Believing the Impossible

Abraham believed in “hope against hope.”

Romans 4:18 (NASB)

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.’

When God told Abraham he would have a kid, his wife Sarah chuckled. He was almost a hundred years old! The Bible’s nice way of putting it is that they were “advanced in years.” That ship had sailed. Childbirth was not an option. But because God said it, Abraham believed it.

Romans 4:19-21 (NASB)

Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.

Abraham believed God for the impossible, and we are just like him. We are asked to do what he did. We were born in sin; that’s who we are. There is no hope in us. We are totally depraved. However, God pursued us. Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live and died the death we deserved.

Romans 4:22-25 (NASB)

Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, [He] who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

If you talk to someone who doesn’t know Jesus, we sound crazy. A hundred-year-old dude having a kid? A man rising from the dead? It sounds impossible. But God said it. We believe by faith in an empty tomb and a bloody cross.

Apart from religious rites, apart from works of the flesh, and apart from the law, our faith is credited to us as righteousness. But notice: it is faith in Him, not merely about Him. Many people know the stories—the wine at the wedding, the guy who was blind, the animals on the ark. You can know about Him and still not have faith.

Faith is the conviction of things not seen. It’s being on terra firma, knowing that the Savior of the world did exactly what the Scriptures said.

Closing: A Call to Faith

Are you willing to give Him control? Abraham didn’t have all the details. He didn’t know the rest of the story, but he knew God. I don’t know what God is going to do in your life. I’m not going to tell you that if you follow Jesus, you’ll be wealthy or never get sick. In fact, the Bible promises persecution and suffering. But we consider the sufferings of this present world not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed.

Don’t laugh at God’s plan. Embrace the fact that the Savior did the impossible for you. We don’t earn it. We don’t clean up our lives first. We simply come and say, “I believe in who He is and what He did.”

Let’s pray.

Father, would you help us? We are a culture of “type A” people on a treadmill, trying to earn what we could never earn. Help us to recognize that we simply believe by faith in the finished work of Christ alone. Thank you that you still offer this gift today. We thank you that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that You raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Having been justified by faith, we finally have peace with God. We thank you for faith—not merely knowledge, but trust in Him. We pray in His name, Amen.