By: Curtis Baker
Last week we learned the good news that Paul has been driving at through the opening chapters of Romans. Despite human sin that has stood in the way of God’s purposes, God has made a way through the sacrifice of his Son that we may be forgiven of our sins, and declared apart of God’s family, even when we rightfully should be condemned because of our rebellion. Paul calls this good news “justification,” and taught us that this is the bedrock of our relationship with God. We learned last week that this is all a gift of God’s grace, and that we in no way were deserving of this gracious offer from God. This gift cannot be earned, but can only be received by faith.
Now that Paul has established the bedrock truth of our life in God, he now has to defend it against our very natural impulse to believe that we must earn our favor with God. From the people of Israel all the way down to modern Christians, there is a natural impulse within us to believe that our relationship with God is based on performance. After all, every other relationship we experience in life, to one degree or another, is usually based on how we perform. This was true in our relationships with our parents, confirmed for us in our time in school, and finally reinforced by our employment. All of life seems to be judged based on a person’s ability to perform. So naturally, when we think about our relationship with God, we assume that it too is based on our ability. But as Paul furthers his point about justification here in Romans, he shows us that, while never discounting the need for improvement, the gift God has given us was not based on any ability of our own.
To root this point in the history of the Bible, in chapter four, Paul leads us back to the patriarch of the people of Israel, Abraham. Abraham’s story is quite an amazing one. At an old age God asked Abraham to leave his lifelong home and go to a land where he would be a complete stranger. Abraham and his wife Sarah had never been able to have children, but now, in their elderly years, God promised Abraham that he would not only have a child, but his children would be numerous, and would ultimately bring a blessing to the world.
I want you to think for a moment of the audacity it took for Abraham to believe that what God said was true. Not only did he leave the only home he had ever known, but he trusted God that even in his elderly age, he and his wife would have a child. Abraham was nearly 100 years old before that took place. Because Abraham dared to believe God’s outlandish promise, God gave him credit for it (Rom 4:3).
Paul is very careful to note that the reason God made this promise to Abraham was not because Abraham was some outstanding man who kept the law (Rom 4:13). Indeed, God’s promise to Abraham came hundreds of years before the law ever came into effect. So God’s choice to work through Abraham had nothing to do with his performance, it had everything to do with God’s choice and Abraham’s willingness to believe that God would do what he said he was going to do.
Paul now takes that historical example, and shows it to be the foundation of our own life. Just like Abraham, God asks us to believe an outlandish promise. The promise is that even though we are all sinful and rebellious, and deserve God’s wrath, God has made a way through the sacrifice of his Son Jesus so that we do not have to face that wrath. This gift is not offered based on anyone’s performance. It is accepted when we have the audacity to believe that God would make such a gracious offer to us. It is as audacious as Abraham believing he would have a child in his old age. This is not to say, of course, that God is unconcerned about our character. He is primarily about our character! But it is a matter of first things first. God offers us justification based on our willingness to believe what he has promised. Once that has been established, then God can work towards making us the kind of people he always intended us to be. That will be our theme as we move into chapter five next week. God bless!
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
(curtisbaker@hotmail.com)
Write to: P.O. Box 157, Slaton, TX 79364
