Thursday
Evening Bible Study
May
29, 2008
Introduction
Paul has been building his case that every human being is facing
condemnation as a sinner.
The Gentiles who don’t have God’s Word are accountable because they have
all of creation around them telling them there is a Creator God (Rom. 1).
The Jews have God’s Word, the Law, which doesn’t prove that they’re better
than anyone else, the Law only proves that they too are sinners.
From that point, Paul told us that Jesus Christ is the answer to man’s
problem. Man couldn’t take care of his own sin, but Jesus Christ came and died
for us, paying for our sins.
We now can be clean before God if we will exercise “faith”, if we will
trust God to pay for our sins through Jesus Christ.
It’s all about getting to the place where we are “righteous”. This has been
the key word in our recent passage (3:21-26).
The word has been translated “righteousness”, “justified”, and
“just”. We’re going to see the word a
couple more times tonight.
Another key word is translated “impute” or “reckon” or “accounts” (all the
same Greek word). An accounting term, putting a number into a ledger.
What is God going to write in your record? What is God going to put in your
account?
How do we get God to record something in our account?
:27-31 No boasting
:27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but
by the law of faith.
excluded – ekkleio
– to shut out, to turn out of doors.
We like to feel good about ourselves, and one of the things we do to make
ourselves feel better is to “boast” about what we’ve done or who we are.
The more we understand the actual process of salvation, the more we realize
that we’ve got nothing to boast about.
We didn’t do anything worth boasting about in regards to our salvation.
We were the rebels. We were the sinners.
God loved us. God sent His Son to die.
law of faith – We aren’t saved by doing good works or by keeping the
Law of Moses. We are saved by a different law, the “law of faith”. It goes like
this: You believe, you are saved.
There’s nothing for us to boast about. All the work was done by God, not by
us.
Sometimes you’ll hear people give their testimonies and they’ll talk about
all the things they gave up for Jesus. We need to be clear to realize that the
act of giving something up doesn’t do anything for your salvation. Your
salvation isn’t based on what you give up, it’s based on the trust you have in
the blood of Jesus, that you are trusting that God did all the work necessary
for your salvation.
:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the
deeds of the law.
conclude – logizomai – to
reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; it’s the “logical” conclusion…
it’s the word translated “account” or “impute” in our passage.
justified – care to guess what the word is? It’s the same word that
was used seven times through the entire previous passage (Rom. 3:21-26).
justified – dikaioo
– to render righteous or such he ought to be
We are made “righteous” by faith, by trusting in what God did for us.
:29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the
Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also,
:30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and
the uncircumcised through faith.
To the Jewish mind of the first century, the uncircumcised Gentiles were
hardly even human. They were considered to be nothing more than fuel for the
fires of hell. It was inconceivable to think that God could even think about
Gentiles, let alone save them.
This week I was reading through Solomon’s prayer when the Temple was built
and dedicated:
(1 Ki 8:41-43 NKJV) "Moreover, concerning a foreigner, who is
not of Your people Israel, but has come from a far country for Your name's sake
{42} '(for they will hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your
outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this temple, {43} "hear
in heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner
calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as
do Your people Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have
built is called by Your name.
Solomon understood that Yahweh was not just the “god” of the Jews, but the
God who made and rules the universe.
It doesn’t matter whether you are a Jew or a Gentile. Both are made “right”
before God by coming to trust in what Jesus did for us.
We might think that prior to Jesus that people were “saved” by keeping the
Law. This was the fallacy the Jews had fallen into.
In truth, it has always been about faith – trusting God.
Lesson
Humility
We’re not better than anybody. We have nothing to boast in when it comes to
us going to heaven – except to boast in Jesus.
Sometimes Christians can come off as if we think we’re better than everyone
else.
We like those jokes that compare different religions like …
Illustration
A priest, a rabbi and a Pentecostal preacher all served as chaplains to the
students of Northern Mich U in Marquette. They would get together two or three
times a week for coffee and to talk “shop”. One day someone made the comment
that preaching to people isn’t really that hard. A real challenge would be to
preach to a bear. Well, one thing led to another and before it was over they
decided to do a 7 day experiment. They would all go out into the woods, find a
bear and preach to it......................
It’s now 7 days later and they’re all together to discuss the experience.
Father O’Flannery, who has his arm in a sling, is on crutches, and has various
bandages goes first. “Wellll,” he says in a fine Irish brouge, “Ey wint oot
into th’ wooods to fynd me a bearr. Oond when Ey fund him Ey began to rread to
him from the Baltimorre Chatecism. Welll, thet bearr wanted naught to do wi’ me
und begun to slap me aboot. So I quick grrabbed me holy water and, THE SAINTS
BE PRAISED, he became as gintle as a lamb. The bishop is cooming oot next wik
to give him fierst communion und confierrmation.”
Reverend Billy Bob speaks next. He’s in a wheel chair, with an arm and both
legs in casts and an I.V. drip. In his best fire and brimstone oratory he
proclaims, “WELL brothers ....you KNOW that we don’t sprinkle........WE DUNK! I
went out and I FOUND me a bear. And then I began to read to him from God’s
HOOOOLY WORD! But that bear wanted nothing to do with me. I SAY NO! He wanted
NOTHING to do with me. So I took HOOOLD of him and we began to rassle. We
rassled down one hill, UP another and DOWN another untill we come to a crick.
So’se I quick DUNK him and BAPTIZE his hairy soul. An’ jus like you sez, he wuz
gentle as a lamb. We spent the rest of the week in fellowship, feasting on
God’s HOOOOLY word.”
They both look down at the rabbi who’s laying in a hospital bed. He’s in a
body cast traction with IV’s and monitors running in and out of him. The rabbi
looks up and says “Oy! You don’t know what tough is until you try to circumcise
one of those creatures!”
The truth is, no “religion” is any better than another if you are trying to
reach God by doing good works.
Every religion fails. The only thing that we can count on is God doing the
work for us if we will learn to trust Him.
Like Paul said in verse 27 – there is no room for
boasting.
:31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the
contrary, we establish the law.
make void – katargeo
(“according to” + “laziness”) – to render idle, unemployed, inactivate,
inoperative
The Jewish mind might be completely horrified at Paul’s conclusions. They
considered the Law as pure and holy. They would think that Paul was tossing out
the Law.
Yet Paul has been showing that the Law of Moses was very necessary. He
isn’t doing away with the Law of Moses, instead he is showing how necessary the
Law is.
The Law shows us how sinful we are.
The Law provides for sacrifices to be made, “propitiation” where our sins
are covered.
Jesus didn’t toss out the Law,
He fulfilled it by being that perfect sacrifice for all of us.
When Jesus taught on the Law, He didn’t make it easier to obey, He taught
the true spirit of the Law.
We’ve already seen on Sunday mornings how Jesus dealt with various laws.
When God says, “Honor your father and mother”, Jesus clarified that people
were to take that seriously and care for their elderly parents (Mark 7:10-13).
When God says, “You shall not murder”, Jesus took it a step farther and
clarified that you are not allowed to be angry without a cause with someone
(Mat. 5:21-22).
When God says, “Don’t commit adultery”, Jesus taught us that it’s not just
having sex outside your marriage, but if you simply look at a woman with lust
that you are committing adultery.
There are some Christians who come to the conclusion that since we’re under
a new Covenant with God, that we don’t even pay attention to the Old Testament.
But just the opposite is true. We need the Old Testament to understand what has
happened in the New Testament. Don’t just read part of your Bible, read the
WHOLE thing!
4:1-5 Abraham justified by faith
:1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to
the flesh?
has found – heurisko
– to come upon, hit upon, to meet with; after searching, to find a thing
sought; to find by enquiry, thought, examination to find out by practice and
experience
In dealing with those Jews who have a difficult time even considering that
God would dare think about Gentiles, let alone make them righteous, Paul is
going to draw on some evidence from the life of Abraham.
The Jews were quite proud to be called the sons of Abraham (Luke 3:8), so
they would pay attention to this.
What kind of experience did Abraham have about being justified while he was
alive?
:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about,
but not before God.
justified – dikaioo – that
word again …
boast – Paul’s already reminded us that we have nothing to boast
about because we aren’t the ones who accomplished our salvation.
If Abraham had been able to earn his way to heaven, then that would be a
pretty good thing to boast about.
:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was
accounted to him for righteousness."
what does the Scripture say? – Notice that Paul is again basing his
theology on the Scriptures, not on what he thinks.
Too many people base their ideas about God on what they think God should be
like, not what God has told us He is like.
Paul then quotes Genesis. Here’s the context: Abraham (still known at this
time as Abram) has just rescued his nephew Lot, who was taken hostage when the
cities of Sodom and Gomorrah had been captured by the marauding kings of the
east. The king of Sodom has just offered to make Abraham a wealthy man for
having rescued all of his city, and Abraham refused because he didn’t want this
wicked man to claim that he was the reason for Abraham’s success in life. After
turning down the riches of the “world” …
(Gen 15:1-6 NKJV) After
these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do
not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."
{2} But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go
childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" {3} Then
Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my
house is my heir!" {4} And behold, the word of the LORD came to him,
saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your
own body shall be your heir." {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.
God makes Abram a promise and Abram believes God. What was the promise? That God would be Abram’s reward and that God
would give Abram a son.
it was accounted – logizomai
– to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over. This is the other main word.
This is an old Greek accounting word which simply means to “set down
accounts”. It’s to write numbers into a
ledger. It’s to record your checks in
the check register. This word deals with reality. If I “logizomai” or reckon
that my bank book has $25 in it, it has $25 in it. Otherwise I am deceiving
myself. This word refers to facts not suppositions.
It’s interesting that this word is found 40 times in Scripture, almost half
of them (19) are in Romans, and 11 times it’s found in chapter 4 (verses
3,4,5,6,8,9,10,11,22,23,24). Romans is
Paul’s “accounting” book.
righteousness – dikaiosune –
in a broad sense: state of him who is
as he ought to be, righteousness, the condition acceptable to God
Our big word again.
Lesson
Trust God
The bottom line is: God wants you to
trust Him. God wants you to have faith.
This is what Abraham learned.
Faith is what enacts our salvation.
Paul wrote,
(Eph 2:8-9 NKJV) For by
grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the
gift of God, {9} not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God has paid for our salvation by having Jesus die in our
place. But for that transaction to
actually go into our account, we have to have “faith”.
Some of you have online banking services. You can pay your bills online without having
to write a check or count out dollar bills.
But you still have to go online and set things up for your bank to pay
your phone bill. You still have to ask
the bank to pay the bill.
You have to trust God to pay for your salvation.
The gospel of John says a lot about “faith”:
(John 3:16 NKJV) "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Joh 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
The Greek verb “to believe” is found 86 times in the
gospel of John. John was real concerned
that his readers realize they needed to “believe”, to “trust”, to have “faith”
in Jesus which leads to eternal life.
Lesson
Handle life with faith
Abraham’s faith wasn’t aimed specifically at trusting God for salvation to
go to heaven. It was about where his treasure was. It was about the future of
his descendants (or lack of).
Our faith is supposed to go beyond just trusting Him for salvation.
Paul wrote,
(Col 2:6 NKJV) As you have
therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
We received Him by “faith”. We need to continue to trust Him and “walk”
by “faith”
When Paul was caught in the storm at sea, about to be shipwrecked, it was
his “faith” that sustained him and his shipmates:
(Acts 27:23-25 NKJV)
"For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I
belong and whom I serve, {24} "saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must
be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail
with you.' {25} "Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.
David wrote,
(Psa 56:3 KJV) What time I
am afraid, I will trust in thee.
Faith helps us deal with difficulties, “mountains”
(Mat 17:20 NKJV) So Jesus
said to them, "…assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard
seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will
move; and nothing will be impossible for you.
Illustration
Tony Snow, former press secretary for President George W.
Bush, has been battling cancer, off and on, since early 2005. When asked what
spiritual lessons he has learned from his battle, he replied: “We want lives of
simple, predictable ease—smooth, even trails as far as the eye can see—but God
likes to go off-road.”
Tony Snow,
"The Up Side," Guideposts (January 2008),
Faith is one of the keys to learning to pray and have God answer our
prayers.
(Mat 21: 22 NKJV) "And
whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive."
Are you going through a dark time?
Are you facing some big mountains?
God wants you to trust Him.
Abraham trusted God and it was counted as righteousness.