Romans 4:10-1610 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

11 And he received the sign of circumcision, 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.

12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

13 It was not through 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. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 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 are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Romans 4 – 5“Revisiting the Past”

Being parentedVersus

ParentingWhen we look back at those events

Being parented looks and feels different at different times of our livesAs we age life can become more clear

Paul is going to have us look back at our spiritual father

To see the deeper storyAbraham was not perfect

He did not and could not obey the lawThat he was a man of faith

Romans 4What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

As a matter of factAbraham lived before the law

His call and most of his life began before circumcision was required

10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, 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.

12 And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 It was not through 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.

The truth about Abraham is that he trusted God when he

was told to go

16 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 are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

Someone might say, show me at least one other place where Abraham

showed his faithShow me his complete trust in God

18 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.” 19 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.

20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.

When we look at great men and women of the old covenant…

We can look at what they accomplishedOr

We can look at the faith it took to trust that God could work through them

We are heirs to the promise that came to Abraham

We are all saved by faith, through grace and are justified freely

We also have peace, joy and hope

Romans 5Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

The apostle is slowly trying to help us understand the numerous benefits of claiming faith in Christ

My name is “No No”Look at the benefits and rewards

Romans 55 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

We have been justified by faithTherefore we have peace and

access to God by graceWe have joy and hope

And we receive God’s love -- made evident in His Spirit in us

When did God do all this for us?When we were being good?When we were obedient?

When we were asking for help?Not all all!

Romans 56 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

His death and resurrection are the payment for our sins

…for our inability to obeyChrist redeems our past, present

and future

10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Here is why this is such a big deal…Someone can cover your debts

BankruptcyThey don’t have to like you

They make ask to never see you againThey may look down on you

Being reconciled means…God, through Christ, wants to have

an ongoing relationship with usA peaceful, joyful, hopeful and

loving relationshipEven when God knows the ins-and-

outs of our lives

Remember, Paul is telling us more benefits and rewards we receiveYou can not brag about how well

you keep the lawYou can brag about how generous

God is to us

One last item to addressVerses 3 and 4

They seem to interrupt the flow of the verses around it

It is as though Paul is having this introspective moment that bleeds onto

his otherwise logical progression

Romans 53 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.

In this introspective moment Paul says…Even when life is painful, it has purpose

It has directionAnd it is not related to our disobedience

Sometimes we suffer because we are faithful

We have been justified by faithTherefore we have peace and access to

God by graceWe have joy and hope

God’s love made evident in His Spirit in us

God reconciled us to Himself

When life is tough God gives us meaning, hope, joy and peace

Putting it all togetherJews and Gentiles are not unlike each

otherWe have the same heritage

It is a heritage of faithWe can not brag about our obedience We can brag about God’s generosity

Putting it all togetherIt is easy to think of God as the

God who says “No”Paul has been revealing that God is

a generous GodCovering debts and forgiving

Wanting us to have peace, joy, hope and reconciliation

Putting it all togetherWe often think of God as the God

who is eager to punishPain and difficulty are part of life

In Christ, even pain and difficulties can be meaningful

With God we can have joy, peace and hope in the midst of pain

My parents were tyrantsThey were mean

They held me backNow I know

They gave me more than my eyes could see or my mind could understand

Our spiritual father, Abraham, blessed us with a legacy of faith

We are the Federated Church.

Our Mission is to…

Seek Christ, Serve Christ and Share

Christ.