Romans 4:18-25
18. (Abraham) Who against hope believed in hope, that he might be the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
19: And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb:
20. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
21. And being fully persuaded that, what he (God) had promised, he was able also to perform.
22. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
23. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
24. But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
25. Who
was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our
justification.
(18.) At the time that the KJV Bible was translated, the word "hope" meant "confident expectation". Religion has changed it's meaning over the years to mean "wish".
(19.) Abraham was "not weak in faith".
Science and human reasoning would say that Abraham's hope was impossible. But
Abraham did not explain God's promises or change them so that they would fit
human reason and science. He didn't think that his or Sarah's human weakness
would stop God. How many of us think that our human weakness can undo our
salvation and stop God from completing the good work He has begun in us?
(Phil 1:6) Or how many of us explain away creation so that it can fit man-made
science?
(20.) Abrahm did not "stagger" at God's promise.
He didn't wobble and weave. He didn't wonder if he had misinterpreted God's
word, he didn't search for a hidden meaning, or go to an expert to interpret it
for him. Many people are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge
of the truth" by doing that, (II
Tim 3:7) This verse says that is just
unbelief. But Abraham was "strong in faith". When he heard the word
of God, he knew it was the word of God, and believed it. I Thes 2:13
says that if we will take that same approach of faith, the word of God will
work in us too. "...when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye
received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of
God, which effectually worketh in you that believe." When we rightly
divide God's truth so that we know what applies to us, we can believe it
all, word for word, without twisting it to fit our time, (II Tim 2:15).
(21.) Verse 21 is a wonderful definition of faith. Many use Heb 11:1 to define faith, but I think this verse is more understandable. Real faith is taking God at His word.
Many think of faith as something entirely different. Here are some things that faith is NOT.
1.) Faith is not just mental assent, like believing Jesus died for sin but not trusting Him to pay for mine.
2.) Faith is not deceiving yourself into denying reality. For example, If you are sick and try to get healed, denying that you are still sick is not faith, it is denying reality.
3.) Faith does not expect what is not promised. God never promised that He would give us prosperity, healing or miracles, like He did for Israel. Expecting Him to give you whatever you pray for (Mat 21:22) only leads to disappointment and delusion. Taking someone else's promises for yourself is not faith, it is spiritual robbery.
4.) Attributing everything that happens to some mysterious, unknowable purpose of God is not faith, it is superstition. We live in a sin cursed world where Satan is god (II Cor 4:4) and bad things happen. Faith in God's future for us is what gets us through the tight spots rejoicing, (Rom 5:3-5 & 8:23-25).
(22-24.) God imputes (counts) His
righteousness to all who believe what He says to them. But He has said
different things to different people of various ages. We would not get His
righteousness by believing that we would be the father of many nations! But
Abraham did. We do not get His righteousness by believing that Jesus is the Son
of God, the Messiah and King. But the believers in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John
did, (Mat 16:15-18) What we need to believe to be righteous is in Romans 4:25,
that Jesus died to pay for our sin and rose
again.
(24.) Notice the "if" in verse 24.
God's righteousness is NOT imputed to everyone, but only ""IF we believe on God who raisied up Jesus our
Lord from the dead". Remember that without God's
righteousness, we are in sin and destined for the second death in the lake of
fire, (Rom 6:23; Rev 21:8).
So we desparately need His righteousness.
"Even the righteousness of God which is....upon all them that believe:
(Rom 3:22) "For (God) hath made (Christ) to be sin for us,.. that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Cor 5:21)
(25.) Verse 25 summarizes what we believe about Jesus that saves us. Also read I Cor 15:3,4.
There are two issues in this verse. 1.) Jesus "was delivered for our offences". He died to pay for our sins. Jesus was not a martyr who was killed for a cause. Sin is the only reason that people die (Rom 5:12&6:23) and Jesus had no sin. So no one could have killed Him (Mat 26:53,54; John 10:17,18) They had tried and failed, (John 10:39). But when the time was right, (on the day that the Passover lamb was sacrficed), Jesus willingly took our sins and paid for them. In the hours of darkness on the cross before he died physically, He experienced spiritual death, which is being separated from God, (Mat 27:46). He quoted Ps 22:1, "My God (the Father), my God (the Spirit), why hast thou forsaken me?" God's wrath was poured out on His soul without dilution because He was made "to be sin for us" (II Cor 5:21; Is 53:10-12). He experienced the horror of the second death in our place. He didn't die physically until all this was accomplished, (John 19:28-30).
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