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The primary conflict Paul faced in his ministry was the rejection
that his new Gentile converts faced from the Jewish church. The conflict is
understandable. Jewish believers who had followed the multiple laws of the
Torah since childhood were now being asked to welcome into their fellowship
those who not only had never obeyed the law of God, but also had treated the
Jews with disdain for their faithfulness. How can Paul help these believers
move beyond their fixation with the law and open their lives up to embrace
these strange new converts?
In Romans 4 Paul works for a resolution by pointing to the life
of Abraham as justification for his radical “faith-based” view of
the gospel. The key questions in this text are how we are restored in relationship
with God? How do we come to participate in salvation? And how are we initiated
into God’s life of promise? For Paul, there are only two possibilities:
grace through faith or works.
Unfortunately, it would appear that many believers in Paul’s
day had come to understand salvation as a relationship of exchange between
themselves and God. Through visible acts of obedience like circumcision, and
strict obedience to the law, some came to believe that God was then obligated
to reward them. From this perspective, God’s loving acceptance of us
is dependent upon the things that we do.
There are at least two major problems with this works orientation. The first
is that it creates room for some to boast. A hierarchy is immediately created
inside the church based upon the keeping—or perceived keeping—of
the law. Rather than the inclusivity and embrace modeled by Christ, the church
ends up reflecting the self-righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of
the law.
Secondly, those who think that they can be declared righteous
by keeping the law underestimate the holiness of God. For Paul, the holiness
of God is so beyond our ability to be holy, that all attempts to be righteous
before God on our own are doomed to fail.
What if Paul could demonstrate to these works-oriented believers
that the father of the faith, Abraham, was justified not by works but by faith?
This is what Paul brilliantly argues in this text.
Paul begins by pointing out that the scripture declares that
it was Abraham’s faithful response to the graceful call of God that reckoned
him as righteous (v. 3). God’s redeeming of Abraham’s life was not
due to any holy work that he had done, it was simply God’s good and gracious
favor to call Abraham into relationship with himself. Not only that, but Abraham
was declared righteous prior to his being circumcised (v. 10). Circumcision,
for Paul, was Abraham’s response of gratitude to his being justified
in relationship to God, not the cause of his justification.
Not only did Abraham’s faith precede his works, but his
life demonstrates God’s overcoming of the impossible. Because the promise
of God to Abraham included the “new life” of future ancestors, the
reason for God’s grace to Abraham had much to do with his inability to
procreate on his own. Abraham and Sarah’s barrenness became the opportunity
for God’s grace to bring life. What they could not do for themselves
in the strength of their own works—bring new life into existence—God
did by an act of miraculous power and mercy.
In this way Paul demonstrates that a relationship with God by
faith is not some radically new idea, but it is the very desire of God from
the beginning to extend grace to humankind in such a way that people walk
in faith and love with him, not in fear leading to attempts at self-justification.
Today’s text brings good news to two distinct groups of
people. The initial set of people that needs to hear Paul’s words about
Abraham is the group who continue to try and please God through good works.
We come by this problem honestly. In nearly every other arena or relationship
in our lives our value is placed upon our performance. Think about it. The
first question a stranger usually asks you after they learn your name is,
“And what is it that you do”? It is no wonder that we carry the
conviction that our value is in our work over into our relationship with God.
Surely, we end up believing, God loves us more if our lives perform according
to his standards.
Unfortunately, when we come to believe that obedience to the
law is what matters most to God, we also become extremely judgmental. As our
circle of acceptable behavior becomes smaller and smaller, so does the number
of people we find that we can embrace and express love to. Those who embody
this attitude of legalism are the very people who rejected Christ, leading
to his horrifying crucifixion.
The second group of people who need to hear this text are those
who have come to end of their ability to be holy in their own power. Like
Abraham and Sarah who ultimately found themselves laughably frustrated and
exhausted from trying to create for themselves a child, many in our congregations
feel ultimately trapped by habits, addictions, and lifestyles that they cannot
overcome in their own power.
The good news is grace by faith does what our works could never
do. There is now no room for boasting. If we are going to orient our lives
toward the law, then all that will be left is not only “wrath” but
also the destruction to community that comes when the ugliness of legalism
and judgmentalism creeps in (4:15). There is however in Christ the ability
to become a community of grace that is able to receive the mercy of God and
extend that same transforming grace onto others.
And to those who have come to the end of their abilities to
be good, this text comes as good, good news. For in the same way that God
brought new life from two hopelessly barren people, God who gives life to
the dead “calls into existence the things that do not exist.”
It would be inappropriate for us to see this text as an excuse
for antinomianism (lawlessness). Paul later will address this very issue (Romans
6:1-2) by asking whether we ought to keep on sinning so that grace will abound
all the more? His answer: absolutely not!
Because Abraham’s faith is our model, Abraham’s response
also becomes the pattern for the believer. Abraham responded in faith to God’s
promise and stepped out to follow him in trust that the promise was good.
Too often we think of faith simply as cognitive assent to a few propositions.
This isn’t faith. James says that even demons believe in this way and
shutter (James 2:19). Our relationship is not dependent upon our works, but
following God in trust becomes the demonstration of our faith. Abraham’s
faith was manifest in his willingness to leave all of his places of security
and follow God into the wilderness of relationship.
This is our response: to leave our old life behind, and to follow
him into the great unknown of new life in him.
(For the full manuscript of this sermon
go to www.preachersmagazine.org and click on “Sermons”)
This text helps the preacher speak to two important groups at
the same time. The problem of legalism that Paul faced is certainly not unique
to the first century split between the Jewish and Gentile believers. The modern
Christian church is equally guilty of placing obstacles before those who are
seeking relationship with God. Especially those of us who have grown up in
the church are often unaware of the subtle expectations that we place upon
people before they can enter into relationship with God. This text calls us
to examine our hearts for the Pharisee that resides inside every one of us
and let go of our attempts at self-justification and righteousness in our
own power.
This text is especially good news for the weak and heavy-laden
who will hear this word. For all of those who have been trying so hard to
clean up their lives or free themselves in their own strength from the sin
that entangles them, the good news is that reconciliation with God is not
dependent upon their ability to be good but it is solely a gift of grace.
Their response is to walk today in trust and allow God to begin to transform
them into a reflection of Christ.
The preacher should be reminded that Abraham and Sarah’s journey was a long walk towards God’s purposes. There were many years of barren obedience and even embarrassing episodes of unbelief along the way. But faith means keeping on with the journey in the hope and trust that God will accomplish all that he has promised.