Romans 4 Part of the Family
- Read Romans 4:1-25
INTRODUCTION
All of us have parts of the Bible that we really enjoy reading and others that are a bit more tedious for us. For instance, I just finished reading the Song of Solomon as part of my quiet time. Not one of my favorite books, with all of that back and forth between the love, and the lover and their friends. A little distracting.
Often we like the action parts of the Bible. David and Goliath, or Jonah and the great fish. We like reading the gospels where Jesus is performing miracles, walking on water, feeding crowds of people, raising Lazarus from the dead, and then rising from the dead Himself. We enjoy that.
We often enjoy reading the book of Acts where we see the church growing and expanding and the Lord adding to their number daily. We love seeing the heroes of the faith, standing up boldly to the politicians and such and proclaiming the gospel, even when they’re commanded not to.
We love seeing Paul and Silas singing in the prison after being beaten and because of their faithfulness under persecution, the jailer and his family being saved. We love seeing Peter imprisoned and because of a church prayer meeting, he being released from prison by an angel, and dream of having a prayer meeting like that in our church. Those are exciting things and exciting days.
As a result, we sometimes tend to muddle through or avoid passages like the one we have read this morning, because it takes thinking. It takes figuring. And as a result, we miss so much.
As we look at this passage this morning, I would like you to notice 3 great truths, gems which we will bring to light together, all of them ending with the word “Alone.”
We are saved by faith alone, based on the word alone, so that we are not alone. We are saved by faith alone, based on the word alone, so that we are not alone.
Say that with me please. We are saved by faith alone, based on the word alone, so that we are not alone.
Now, as we begin to uncover these gems, let’s think for a moment about where we are and how we got here. Paul, who has not yet been to Rome, wants to go there. He keeps hearing about the Roman Christians’ faith, and he keeps hearing about how faithfully they have been walking with the Lord.
So he writes the church in Rome a letter. In Romans 1 he writes,
> Romans 1:8-10 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you because the news of your faith is being reported in all the world. God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in telling the good news about his Son—that I constantly mention you, always asking in my prayers that if it is somehow in God’s will, I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
I’ve heard about your faith and I am excited to meet you. Can you imagine? In a pagan world, where there is no press, where there is no TV or radio where churches can advertise or their pastors broadcast their sermons, a church so alive and impacting lives so much that Paul hears about what’s going on there 930 miles away?
Paul says I’ve heard about what’s going on there and I long to see you.
In chapter 3 he addresses a problem all the world has. He writes:
> Romans 3:10-12 There is no one righteous, not even one. There is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away; all alike have become worthless. There is no one who does what is good, not even one.
> Romans 3:23 -24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
In chapter 3 Paul says, all the world has a sin problem. Nobody meets God’s requirements. They all fall short, and the only way to address that issue is by God’s grace.
Then he opens this portion of his letter by writing, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness. In other words, we are saved by faith alone.
Saved by faith alone
Turn to your neighbor and tell them, “We are saved by faith alone.”
Oh my friend, there is nothing you can do, no money you can give, no people you can help, no church you can attend, no mission field you can go to, that is payment enough to take care of your sins.
- Read Romans 4:1-3
If a man were to cheat on his spouse, how many times would he have to mow the lawn before that breach of trust was healed in his wife’s heart? How many times would he have to pressure wash the driveway, how many rings would have to buy her, before her hurt would be gone?
If a wife gives her faithful husband of 30 years an incurable std, how many meals would she have to prepare before he forgot? How many times would she have to wash his truck, or pack his lunch before that hurt was healed?
See that’s what many of us have tried to do. We have sinned against God, and we think that if we try hard enough, or work long enough, that it will make up for what we have done and that simply is not possible. The only way for that hurt to be taken away, and for that hurt to be healed, is for us to be justified. For us to be made just as if it had never happened.
That’s what the word justified means. It means to be made just as if that never happened.
Oh, how many of us wish we could take a Mr. Clean magic eraser and wipe away some of the things we have done. But the Bible says there is only one thing that will make us clean and whole and that is the blood of Jesus Christ.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again, nothing but the blood of Jesus?
Why in the world do you think Jesus would leave the glories of heaven, to come down here and be crucified? I don’t know about you, but when I get to heaven I don’t plan on ever leaving. And yet Jesus did! Why? To do something for us that we cannot do for ourselves. To justify us. To make us clean and whole. And how do we get this?
- Read Romans 4:3
Abraham believed God. He had faith in God. And that works for everybody. It worked for Abraham. It worked for Nicodemus. It worked for the woman caught in adultery. It worked for that thieving tax-collector Nicodemus, it worked for the thief on the cross, and it worked for this preacher boy years ago, sitting at a little table in my parents kitchen when I was 6 years old.
The Bible says:
> Romans 10:13 Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Who can be saved? Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord.
When my grandfather passed, years ago, my aunts and uncles decided to give me his library. So when we moved here I took those couple of boxes of books of his and mixed them in with mine, so I had a number of books in my library I wasn’t family with. I was going through the books one day and came across one of my grandfather’s books I was unfamiliar with called “Approaching God” by Steve Brown, a book about prayer. I read it, and thought, “This is good stuff.” So I got to checking on it and found out he was teaching a doctoral seminar at RTS seminary in Oviedo the next month, so I went and took the class.
In the class he told about visiting with a chaplain one time who was the only person, at the time, who was allowed to go in and visit with Jeffery Dahmer. The chaplain told Dr. Brown, “Steve, you’ll be happy to know that Jeffery Dahmer is reading your book.” He said, “No, I wasn’t happy he was reading my book. That killer cannibal deserves whatever he gets.
My friend, if the gospel is not able to justify Jeffery Dahmer, then it may not work for me either. But I know, Jesus can justify a Christian persecuting person like Paul. It can justify a murdering madman, like the Gadarene Demoniac. It can justify a womanizing backslider like Solomon, and Jesus can do the same for you.
> Romans 3:24 We are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
We are saved by faith alone. Nothing you can do to earn it.
2. Based on the Word alone
Second, our faith is based on the word alone.
- Read Romans 4:1-8
Paul anticipates that there will be some objections. He imagines that there will be some folks in the church who complain that you have to be good or something in order to be saved. So to back up what he is saving, what does he do? Look there again please at verse 3.
- Read Romans 4:3
Paul asks, “What does the Scripture say?” My friend, that is the question we must always ask. What does the scriptures say?
As he is divinely inspired by God to write these New Testament Scriptures, he continues to point back to the Old Testament Scriptures. He asks, “What do the scriptures say”?
And that, my friend, is something we all should ask. That is something all of our lives and all of our decisions should be based on. What do the scriptures say?
Do the scriptures cover everything? No. They don’t tell you what color the carpet should be in the church or what side the piano should be on. They don’t tell you how often to cut your grass, or who to have do it.
But the scriptures to tell us
> Genesis 1:26-27 Then God said, “Let us make man in[ our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.
My word, my extension cord has a male end and a female end. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out there are 2 genders and that God created and made them that way. What do the scriptures say?
> Isaiah 5:20-21, 23 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who consider themselves wise and judge themselves clever.who acquit the guilty for a bribe?and deprive the innocent of justice.
What do the scriptures say?
> Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous flourish, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, people groan.
My friends, the decisions made in churches, the decisions made in our homes and in our country should not be willy-nilly, whatever feels right at the time. The decisions and judgments we make are to be based on the word of God.
Well, I think that God is love and a loving God wouldn’t . . .
Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what the scriptures say.
I can show you in scripture, where Jesus got so sick of some of the stuff going on in His Father’s house in the name of religion that He turned over tables and drove people out with a whip. I can show you in scripture where sinning David told Nathan the prophet that the thieving neighbor deserved to die, and Nathan pointed his finger at his sin-hiding king and said, “You are the man.”
I can show you where some self-righteous folks brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, and Jesus told them, “Let the one who is without sin, throw the first stone.” And after those folks left he turned to the woman and said, “God understands that no one is perfect and He’ll overlook some of our mistakes.”
NO! He said, “Go and sin no more.”
I can show you where Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:
> 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or males who have sex with males, no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom.
But I can also show you where in the very next verse Paul writes, “And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Don’t tell me what you think. Don’t tell me how you feel. Tell me what the scriptures say.
We are saved by faith alone, based on the scriptures alone, third, so that we are not alone.
3. So that we are not alone - We are part of the family
- Read Romans 4:16-25
I will make you the Father of many nations.
- read vvs 22-25
My friends, God was at work back then and He is still at work today. We are part of the family of God. We are one of those “many nations.” You are part of the tapestry of God woven through the history of mankind.
I was blessed to be able to learn a little bit about Chris’s grandfather a while back. He was a Christian, a man of God who boldly stood up for his God in a non-Christian country. Chris’s dad then passed that heritage down to his son.
We are standing on the shoulders of all of the believers who have gone before us. We are sanding on the shoulders of Abraham, and David and Paul, and Peter. We are enjoying the benefits of the faith of our founders and those who have gone before us.
The sacrifices they made to pass on the gospel, to provide scripture, to spread the Gospel around the world, to found a Christian nation. We are not alone, We are standing on their shoulders.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. We are not alone. We are part of the family. We are enjoying the blessing and the labor of those who have gone before us and we have a responsibility to those who come behind us.
Paul writes in:
> 1 Timothy 1:12 I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry—
Well my friend, God has considered you as well. Look around at how many people who do not know the Lord. Who are not part of His kingdom nor part of what He is doing on earth today. But God has selected you, and adopted you, and called you to be part of His family, and to be an ambassador for Him.
My son leads a small group in Denver. My Dad was a leader with the Gideons, was a deacon and Sunday School teacher. His dad was a part of the Christian Business Men’s Committee. taught Sunday School and supported many Christian colleges and ministries. His dad was a circuit-riding Presbyterian minister in Tennessee.
One generation after another, passing down to the next generation the faithfulness of God and a love for the Lord. Paul writes, this justification was not for Abraham alone, but it was for us as well.
My friend, we are not alone. We are part of the family, part of what God is doing in our world today.
Every song you lead us in, is part of the work of God and blesses the family of God. Every prayer you pray in that closet that no one sees, every Christmas light you string, every encouraging phone call you make, every person you invite, every roof panel you install, you are doing the work of God in the kingdom of God and you are paving the way for those who follow.
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. And we pray that all unity will one day be restored. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
Standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before, paving the way for those who follow behind.
We are justified freely, by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
> Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
