Abraham's Example of Rescue...

Last week, in Romans 4:1-12, we saw Paul introduce us to two people who played a prominent role in God’s activity throughout the history of the Jewish people. And through the lives David and Abraham, we discovered a timeless truth that our rescue requires trusting in God’s promise instead of our performance.

This week I would like for us to look at another section of a letter in our Bibles called the book of Romans. And in this section, we will see that the Apostle Paul has more to say about Abraham. And as Paul continues to unpack the example that Abraham provides when it comes to experiencing the relationship with God that we were created for, we will discover another timeless truth that is essential to embrace if we are to experience rescue from the insurmountable problem that our selfish rebellion and sin creates for us. So let’s look together at this section of this letter, beginning in Romans 4:13:

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

Paul begins this section of his letter to the members of the church in Rome by reminding them that God’s promise to Abraham that he would be the father, or the forerunner who provides an example to follow, for all humanity was not based on his performance in keeping the Law, which are all of the commandments that are recorded in the first five books of our Bibles. Instead, God gave Abraham righteousness, or the state of being right with God, as a result of his confident trust in God’s promise, not his performance. Abraham’s position as an example to follow, for all humanity, whether religious or irreligious, was based on his confident trust in God’s promise that is recorded for us in the first letter of our Bibles, called the Book of Genesis, which we looked at last week.

Paul then explains that “if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified”. But what does that mean? Paul’s point here is that if it was Abraham’s performance that enabled him to be right with God, then faith in God has no effect or impact on our relationship with God. In addition, if it was Abraham’s performance that made him right with God, then God’s promise is ineffective and powerless. Because, if we can be rescued from our problem of selfish rebellion and sin by our performance, then we do not need to have trust in God or His promises, do we?

In verse 15, however, Paul reminds the members of the church at Rome, and us here this morning, that those who attempt to do things for God in order to get right with God, are only given what they have earned, which is God’s wrath. To attempt to be rescued from selfishness and sin by trusting in our performance will only result in us receiving what we are owed for all our efforts, which is God’s right and just response to our selfish rebellion and sin when we refuse to follow God’s commands.

Paul then states “but where there is no law, there also is no violation”. In other words, when there is no legal or moral standard that we must meet by our performance in order to be right with God, then there is no way that our performance can cause us to fail to meet a standard that makes us right with God. Because, as we discovered last week, our performance never enables us to be rescued from the problem we have with God as a result of our selfishness and sin.

That is why Paul explains in verse 16 that is by faith, in accordance with grace, so that God’s promise of rescue by faith would be guaranteed to all the descendants of Abraham. God’s promise of rescue is valid across calendars and centuries, across continents and cultures, as a result of God’s transformational intervention and activity in the world. Paul’s point here is that Abraham provides an example to follow for all humanity, as to how one can be rescued from the problem that selfishness and sin presents. And that rescue comes from placing one’s confident trust in God and His promises. Paul then continues by pointing the readers of his letter to a story in the Bible that reinforces this reality in Romans 4:17-18:

(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. 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."

Paul here points the readers of this letter to a story that is recorded for us in Genesis 17. To understand this story, however, we first need to understand the context in which this story takes place. Some 13 years before this story, in Genesis 15, we see God remind Abraham, who was 86 years old, of His promise to make Him a great nation that would leave a great legacy. Abraham responds to God’s reminder with a question “How is my reward going to great? I am 86 and have no children. I am getting old. You are going to have to give the reward to servant.”

God then makes an amazing and seemingly impossible promise to Abraham. Your servant will not be your heir. No, Abraham, you will have a child. And you will not have a small legacy. Your legacy, your descendants will be too great to count. Abraham responded to God’s promise by believing God’s promise. Now the word believed here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, is the same word for faith. It conveys the idea of entrusting oneself to someone in complete confidence. Abraham placed his compete confidence in God.

Now fast forward 13 years. Abraham is now 99 years old. And Abraham still has had no children. For 24 years Abraham remembered God’s promise that he would be the father of many nations. For 24 years Abraham remembered God’s promise of being the forerunner and example that a multitude of nations would follow. For 24 years Abraham remembered the promise of having an amazing legacy. And for 24 years that promise had remained unfulfilled. And it is in this context that we enter into this story in Genesis 17:1. Tomorrow we will look at this story and it's timeless implications for our lives today when it comes to our rescue from selfishness and sin.