Romans 4:17 ¶ (As it is
written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he
believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things
which be not as though they were. 18 Who
against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations,
according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered
not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet
the deadness of Sara’s womb: 20 He
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God; 21 And being fully
persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22 And therefore it was imputed to him for
righteousness.
Again, I want to quote the verse to which Paul is referring.
Genesis 17:4 ¶ As for me,
behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
Here also are two important statements about God’s sovereignty
over life and creation. God can make alive anyone or anything who is dead
physically. Quickeneth means to make alive.
In addition, God has created all things out of nothing. Every
thing that exists began with the Spirit of God, His mind, and was spoken into
existence by His Word. It did not exist in the physical world before He spoke
it into existence. All of the reality we know is a production of God although
suffering from the taint of judgment for mankind’s rebellion. This must be
sorted out.
Abraham believed, trusting God to be true, even though what He had
promised Abraham did not seem to be in the realm of the possible. Although we
know from his behavior that his belief and hope were imperfect, like ours, it
was still there and God honored it. Even our little faith is recognized by God.
One of the characteristics of the Holy Spirit speaking about the
saints of God in the Old Testament is His glowing report of their faith, as
weak and imperfect as it might have been. We will see this again in Hebrews,
chapter 11. Notice the background from Genesis of what actually happened…
Genesis
17:15 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, As
for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her
name be. 16 And I will bless her, and
give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother
of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 17
Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart,
Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah,
that is ninety years old, bear? 18 And
Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! 19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee
a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my
covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard
thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply
him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great
nation. 21 But my covenant will I
establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the
next year. 22 And he left off talking
with him, and God went up from Abraham.
For those of us who lament our weak and imperfect faith consider
how the Holy Spirit extolls and lifts up the faith of His saints in Hebrews 11
whose shortcomings are illustrated in the text of the Bible.
Romans 4:23 ¶ Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Paul makes note later why things were recorded, for our learning
and edification.
Romans 15:4 For whatsoever
things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through
patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Not imputing sin to someone who believes God through Jesus Christ
is a promise that we all receive when we accept Christ as our Saviour and Lord.
Here Paul promises that if we believe that Jesus rose from the dead sin is not
imputed to us. This remarkable statement is fundamental to our salvation.
The Holy Spirit has laid out for us what it means to believe in
and on Christ to be saved. Jesus said…
John 6:28 ¶ Then said they
unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said
unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me. 7 If ye had known me, ye should
have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the
Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus
saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known
me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou
then, Shew us the Father?
Belief in Jesus’ divinity, His being God in the flesh, in His
sacrifice for our sins against Him, and believing in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ justifies us legally before God and removes the taint of sin from us as
we are made righteous in God’s eyes. Paul underscores here the gospel as he
does elsewhere, what is required for salvation.
1Corinthians 15:1 ¶
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto
you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; 2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in
memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures; 4 And that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
Romans 10:9 That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Remember this promise in the Old Testament?
Psalm 103:8 The LORD is
merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide:
neither will he keep his anger for ever. 10
He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. 11 For as the heaven is
high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12 As far as the east is from the west, so far
hath he removed our transgressions from us.
We have this promise from the Old Testament as well which shows
that salvation under the New Testament is available to the Jews.
Jeremiah 31:33 But this
shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those
days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in
their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
And this continuing promise to both Gentile and Jew who become the
church from the New.
1John 1:9 If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
We are also promised that the things that beset us that pull us
away from God’s standards and expectations do not have to overwhelm us.
1Corinthians 10:13 There
hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful,
who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the
temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
Indeed, whatever we suffer does not have to overcome us, even
hunger and lack.
Philippians 4: 11 Not that
I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am,
therewith to be content. 12 I know both
how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am
instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13 I can do all things through Christ
which strengtheneth me.
None of these things are able to, on their own, or have to
separate us from God’s love through Christ. Nothing and no one can condemn or
accuse us before God.
Romans 8:33 Who shall lay
any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that
condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is
even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it
is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, 39 Nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In these verses it is clear that it is God who works on the sinner
from the inside through His Spirit and by virtue of the sinner’s acceptance of
Christ. All other efforts to deal with sin are mere self-help platitudes tossed
out by supposed gurus with a money-making agenda.
We are justified by Christ and we are not condemned by God.
Because of that no one else or nothing else can condemn us.
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