Have you ever asked the question, “What happened to the Jewish people like Abraham, Noah, David, and so many others who died before knowing Jesus Christ?” They didn’t have the opportunity to believe and put their faith in the Messiah because that was thousands of years before His birth. Paul took some time to answer this question in Romans chapter 4.
Paul makes it clear that "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith" (verse 3). This belief that God had a perfect plan and commitment to live according to His promise was equal to making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. These same people who believed thousands of years ago were not saved by themselves, but through the salvation brought through Jesus Christ. This brought them forgiveness, grace, and a future in Heaven. These Jewish people who believed and lived by faith were given the same righteousness that we have through the cross. It was their willingness to look to the future, believing that God had a plan, that saved them.
As you think about Abraham and his faith, you have to ask yourself the question, "What is my faith in?" People put their faith in a lot of different things: wealth, family, friends, religion, and so much more. How many people put their full faith in God? Abraham had to learn to trust in God. Over his many, many years on planet Earth, he developed a deep faith. This meant he had to let go of finding his faith in his family when he left home. He let go of his faith in himself when God promised him a child at his old age. He let go of his faith in his future blessings when he showed that he was willing to sacrifice the life of his only heir, Isaac. In that same way, we have to let go of putting our faith in everything else but God. We have to fully rely upon Him and the promises that He gives us in His Word.
My friend, as we think about faith, is our faith rooted in a firm belief in God and His promises? If we trust and believe God is who He says He is and we trust what He tells us, then our faith will be solid. We will then act in obedience, be willing to release control to Him, sacrifice when He calls us to sacrifice, and stake our life on Him and His word. The question today is, “Do we believe God?” If so, this changes everything.
Take some time right now to read slowly and deliberately through Romans 4:1-25, which is listed in the Going Deeper section below. Based on these verses and what you know about Abraham, how did Abraham's faith demonstrate his belief in God? What evidence do you see that an unwavering belief in God was at the root of his faith? How does his faith inspire you in your own faith?
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, 15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
