Romans 4:1-25 - Justification by Faith - Illustrated (Part 2)

SERMON NOTES

Justification by Faith - Illustrated (Part 2)
Romans 4:1-25

Romans 4:1-5 (NKJV)
Abraham Justified by Faith1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (banking term - means to put in your account) to him for righteousness.” 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,

Romans 4:3 (NKJV) 
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (banking term - means to put in your account) to him for righteousness.”

What is Paul referring to here....

Genesis 15:5-6 (NKJV)
5 Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Romans 4:9-12 (NKJV)
Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

Here's the point.....Genesis 15 happened... 

• before there was a law
• before there was the ritual of circumcision
• before Moses was even born (Abram was born some 500-700 years before Moses!)

Think about this...Abraham was declared righteous before God while he was still a GENTILE!

Romans 4:13-15 (NKJV)
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 4:16-17 (NKJV)
Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, 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 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV) 
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast

Romans 4:18 (NKJV)
who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”

Abram - exalted father
Abraham - father of a multitude

Romans 4:19 (NKJV)
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.

Genesis 18:13-15 (NKJV)
And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Romans 4:20-22 (NKJV)
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Romans 4:23-25 (NKJV)
Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Abraham on the witness stand - evidence that he is saved - like all of us are saved - by FAITH!

1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

Takeaways from Romans 4:

Takeaway #1 - Justification by Faith

• The primary focus of Romans 4 is on the concept of justification by faith. 
• Paul uses the example of Abraham to illustrate that righteousness is not earned through works but is received by faith in God's promises. 
• This emphasizes that salvation is a gift from God, received through faith rather than through human effort.

Takeaway #2 - God's Free Gift 

• To make sure we clearly understand this great salvation message, Paul reviewed three important facts: 
  • 1. Abraham's redemptive experience happened at least 14 years before he was circumcised. (Romans 4:9-10; Genesis 17:24)
  • 2. Abraham was made righteous by faith 430 years before the law was given at Mount Sinai (Romans 4:13; Galatians 3:17-18)
  • 3. This gift of salvation is available to all who believe in God "who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead." (Romans 4:23-25)

Takeaway #3 - Application to Believers

• Salvation is a gift from God, received by faith. Good works are also part of God's plan; however, they are not the means of our salvation but the results of our born-again experience.

Conclusion:

Have you accepted Christ as your Savior?