Through Faith (Romans 4:9-25)
If someone wrongs us, we feel like they are indebted to us. If someone breaks the law, they owe time, money, or community service to pay for what they’ve done. This is normal and natural to us. But God has a way of shaking up what is normal and natural to us. He makes it clear that he’s not like us.
We have studied Romans 1-3 and understood our need for the gospel. Everyone wrongs the God who made them. We dishonor Him by believing a lie. We worship and serve things that are created instead of our creator. We learn the truth about right and wrong, but refuse to practice what we preach. We sear our conscience and grow numb to the evil we commit, attempting to make excuses and justify ourselves. We pile up debt with God, and no one can escape the debt they owe.
But God is righteous. He does not want to inflict wrath on those who have sinned against Him. He wants us to understand what we’ve done and feel ashamed. Then, He wants us to see what He has done through Jesus and receive forgiveness and grace. The gospel is the truth about our sinfulness and the truth about God’s righteousness. It reveals the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins.
Romans 3:23–26 (NET) — 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 25 God publicly displayed him at his death as the mercy seat accessible through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.
Today, we are going to study a section of Romans that explains to us how we receive forgiveness of our debt and keep it paid off. The answer is found in verse 25, “Through faith.” This is the key phrase or idea in the book. We have spent a few weeks looking at Habakkuk to understand what faith is. Now, I want to apply that to our study of Romans.
“By Grace” and “By Faith”
Verse 24 says, “They are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” All of our sins are freely justified by His grace and the redemption of Christ. Grace is an undeserved gift, a totally free offering that makes up for all the sins we have committed. It pays the debt.
Then, verse 25 says, “God publicly displayed him at his death as a mercy seat… God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed.” God displayed Jesus as the passover lamb, the sacrifice that allows for the forgiveness of all sins and wrongs. This forgiveness is made available through God's goodness and righteousness, demonstrating His desire for all humanity to know His own greatness. God's amazing grace was exemplified by both God and His Son as they endured pain and suffering to open the door for this forgiveness. We have a mercy seat available to us because of God’s gracious action.
There is no doubt that we are saved by God’s grace. Without his love, power, and wisdom we would have no hope of being justified, redeemed, or forgiven. But there is another important phrase that we find in this section. This is a phrase we will really focus on throughout this lesson. In the NET version, He says that the mercy seat is “accessible through faith.” The ESV says it is “received by faith.” This is a BIG DEAL. God doesn’t go through all this trouble to make grace available and then hide it behind some huge paywall. He makes it accessible. We see the gospel in this, for, “The righteous will live by faith.” What God told Habakkuk is true. God will make those who are spiritually dead alive again through His grace and through their faith.
No Boasting
Now, to say that we are saved by God’s grace and through faith implies a few things. First, it implies that our salvation is not by keeping the law, which no one could do anyway. Second, it replaces pride with thankfulness. Let’s see how this is true.
Romans 3:27–31 (NET) — 27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 28 For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law.29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 30 Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.
As I said at the beginning, when we do wrong, we have to pay for what we’ve done. That is expected. But God breaks that mold. He does what we cannot do. He pays our debt for us with the precious blood of Jesus. That kind of breaks our perception of reality. We can now be forgiven without paying for our sin? Surely, that’s not the case. That would mean that those who have sinned more than us are given a reset and are forgiven when they do not deserve it. Can’t you just see the Jews gears turning in this way, “That means all our efforts to keep the law were meaningless.” They were proud of what they had done, and wanted their efforts to count for something.
Paul wants to address this. He was a “Hebrew of Hebrews.” He had devoted his life to keeping the law, but it was never enough. He wasn’t making progress. In fact, he was becoming increasingly violent and, unknowingly, opposed to God. But God, in his grace, had made it to where he can be forgiven. There was no other option. The lawkeeper’s best efforts will never be enough to save them. But God, in his mercy, has extended that grace to save the Jews and the Gentiles. He’s their creator too. While He is forgiving, He might as well forgive all the sinners who will humble themselves and accept His forgiveness. He wants all mankind to be forgiven, and He wants that forgiveness to be accessible through faith, not law keeping.
This doesn’t mean that the law is meaningless. He forgives Jews and Gentiles for breaking the law, so that they can willingly uphold the law. We go from righteousness based on our ability to uphold the law to a righteousness based on God’s kindness. That changes our posture from one of pride to gratitude.
Blessed Without Law
This principle sheds new light on the Old Testament. Who was really righteous in the Old Testament? Who did God seem to draw near to and bless in the past? It was always those who had faith. Paul’s words in Chapter 4 make these ideas obvious. The righteous have always lived by faith. No one has ever been spiritually alive because they kept the law well enough.
Abraham
Romans 4:1–5 (NET) — 1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh, has discovered regarding this matter?2 For if Abraham was declared righteous by the works of the law, he has something to boast about—but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”4 Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation.5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Abraham was declared righteous by God because He believed God was trustworthy. By faith he left his homeland and traveled to a land he did not know in order to receive the gracious blessing that was promised. He lives by faith, and, consequently, he becomes spiritually alive to God. He is declared righteous. What happened with Abraham was not the result of works of law. There was no law given at that time. One could even argue that he broke the law of his conscience by lying to the Egyptians about his wife. But God chose to count his faith as righteousness. Notice the words in verse 5 again, “believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous.” He’s calling Abraham ungodly, and says that God had to declare him righteous or justified on the basis of his faith, not his work.
David
Romans 4:6–8 (NET) — 6 So even David himself speaks regarding the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.”
David is a great example of this. What could David have done to make up for his sin? He committed adultery and murder. There is no making up for that. No amount of sacrifices can clear away his guilt and sin. But He repents and asks God for forgiveness. Then, he believes the prophet, Nathan, who tells him that God has put away his sin. That’s why he says what he says in Psalm 32, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the one against whom the Lord will never count sin.” David was able to be counted as righteous because God is gracious and David chose to believe in Him.
Our Forgiven Mentality
Given this explanation of salvation, what is our mentality toward God’s grace and righteousness in general?
- Undeserving - Too many times I hear Christians talking about salvation as though it is something we get because we deserve it. Not one soul on earth deserves it. We have to give up on deserving salvation or righteousness. It cannot happen.
- Confident - It’s not that we think we cannot be saved, but that we believe we need help from God. This is one of the most fundamental flaws in our society. We tend to go from one extreme to the other. Either we rely on no one but ourselves, or we expect everything to be given to us on a silver platter. The middle ground says, “I don’t deserve anything, but I appreciate and trust that God wants to forgive those who live by faith in Him.” This confidence is the faith we saw in Habakkuk that must be in us.
- Overwhelming Gratitude - It’s not that we disregard God’s law, but that we aren’t chained to it for righteousness. Those who are in Christ want to keep the law from their heart. They don’t see keeping the law as burdensome, but as an act of love toward the God who loved them. We aren’t satisfied with simply abiding by the rules. We want a deeper relationship. We want to be sanctified and holy so we can draw nearer to the God who forgives and provides.
Conclusion
For some of us, it may be difficult to grasp how forgiving God is showing Himself to be. We would never forgive on the level that He is forgiving. There is no way! But consider that if God was willing to give His Son for us, we can rest assured that He loves us and that He wants us to be forgiven. He takes no pleasure in punishing the wicked. Faith has confidence in God’s willingness to fulfill His promises and provide forgiveness through Jesus.
Do you believe that the sacrifice of Jesus is enough to cover your sin and shame? Consider the sinners forgiven in the New Testament. Jesus is willing to take a criminal hanging on a cross to heaven with Him. God forgives David, Peter, and Paul. Will He not forgive you? Don’t waste time with anxiety. Be joyful and grateful for the blessing of forgiveness. Confess your mistakes and believe that God has removed them as far as the east is from the west.