Witness of Faith (Rom. 4:1-12)
Let us bless and greet one another, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” In Romans 1, there was the question, “Why do nonbelievers get judged by God?” and the answer is that they do not want to keep God in their hearts. The next question is, “Why do the Jewish people receive judgment, then?” and it is because they are unable to follow the Law. Next, why do all people receive judgment? Because all have sinned. Then, what is the strength or the benefit of the Israelites? It is because God has entrusted them with His Word. Then, towards the end of Romans 3, it says, “How do we receive salvation?” It is by faith and God’s righteousness that we are saved.
1. Abraham
1) Believed God (Rom. 4:3)
There are a lot of questions regarding God and the Jews here; the Jews are asking, “Then, what is everything we’ve done until now?” and God is giving them the answer through Paul. Paul uses the examples of Abraham and David. He’s giving them the examples that righteousness does not come from your actions; it comes from believing in Jesus Christ. If, in your heart, Jesus Christ is not your Lord, then whatever is inside of your heart is bound to come out. In other words, you have to believe that Jesus, Who is God, is your Lord. However, if I place the creations of God into my heart, and I believe in and follow that, then I will fall. Let’s say I’m trying to use people or use the church. Then without a doubt, I will collapse, why? Because God is alive, and God does not simply pass by unrighteousness or illegal activity. So, today, you must stand your heart before God correctly in order for this walk of faith to take place in your life.
So, Paul is proving, using the example of Abraham, who is the father of faith, and David, to prove why faith is the root of righteousness. As much as we hold the Word of God in our hearts, it will be revealed in our life, because even right now, God is carrying out and fulfilling His promise exactly, accordingly. So, for whomever holds onto God’s promise and prays with that, your prayers will be answered. And God wants to raise those people up as witnesses of faith in the world. For you and me today, laying down everything is best. All of your thoughts, all of your worries and concerns, they don’t help you at all because God is alive, even now. The fact that God is alive means that things do not go according to my plans. Everything goes according to God’s promise, and that is the evidence that He is living. If there are any of you who have disbelief and think, “That’s not true,” then you will realize that that is not true. I can stand as a witness to that myself; no matter what method you use, it is not going to work. No matter how much you try to deceive people, it’s not going to work, why? Because God is living. Even now, He is moving the entire universe centered on His Word. The more you know that, the more you will lay down everything before God.
God called Abraham out of Ur of Chaldea, and when God called, it means God’s Word came upon Abraham. Abraham received God’s grace and came out by faith. Then, God said, “I will make you into a source of blessings,” and, “Go to the land I will show you.” One more thing, “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” These three things are very important. This promise God made to Abraham is being applied to us exactly the same way, today. As you live your walk of faith, if something is not working out well, it is because you have gone outside of God’s Word. “Oh, I know the Word of God so much, but this is not working out.” It’s because you know the Word of God incorrectly, it is because you are reading the Word of God however you want to. You need to look at the Word of God the way God wants you to, and that’s only possible if God gives you that grace. We do not live the life we want, we live the life that God wants for us. At this time, what is the Word that God wants for us? That is what we receive. No matter how much you plan out your week from Monday through Saturday, it will only be fulfilled if you are aligned with God’s plan. That is why fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
(1) A son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir (Gen. 15:4)
(2) Your offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen. 15:5)
(3) Believed the Lord and credited to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6)
Then, how is it that Paul proves that Abraham received righteousness by faith and not by actions? The evidence of Abraham’s faith is in Genesis 15:6 where it says, “Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to them as righteousness.” So what does it mean that Abraham believed the Lord? It doesn’t mean he just believed, abstractly or vaguely, it means that Abraham believed the Word that the Lord gave him. In John 8:56, Jesus said, “Your Father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day. He saw it and was glad.” It means that Abraham believed that Jesus Christ would be born through his lineage.
In Gal. 3:8, it says that Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham, “All nations will be blessed through you.” So, what are all of these verses summarized? Essentially, God found Abraham when he was 75 years old, and made him a promise to give him a reward. When Abraham asked what that reward is, God said, “I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand in the sea.” Even though Abraham was 75 and his wife Sarah was 65, so they were too old to have babies, they still believed, and that’s why God said, “I will give you that child.” In other words, Abraham believed that God would give, through him, Jesus Christ Who would be born later. By believing in that, Abraham was counted as righteous. In the verse we read, Gal. 3:8, it says, within that justification is not only Jews but Gentiles, too, and that’s what Abraham believed, so God is giving this evidence to the Jewish people.
2) One who works (Rom. 4:4)
(1) Wages are credited as an obligation (Rom. 4:4)
(2) If justified by works then have something to boast about (Rom. 4:2)
(3) Not before God (Rom. 4:2)
For people who are working, they need to be paid, and that’s an obligation or compensation; it is not a gift. Religion is about me doing something to try to gain some blessing from a god. So, it doesn’t matter who or what that god is, all that matters is that it is stronger than I am. So, if I want to get something from this being who is stronger than me, I have to give something in return. And maybe that action is, “I’m going to give the service of my prayer, or serve the church, or give my offering.” Either way, I’m doing something that I expect compensation for. There are also people like that inside of the church, who don’t know what it means to serve by faith. The characteristic for those people is that, if things don’t work out the way they want, they have a hard time about that. Then they say, “Oh, I’m so afflicted.” With the words they’re saying, “Oh, I’m being tested or afflicted,” but in reality, what they’re saying is, “I didn’t get what I want.”
God is not a God Who fills our greed; God carries out His will, and that is why you must receive God’s grace. What is the gospel? The gospel means that God found us, and God must give us grace to have faith. That grace, that is the gospel. So why do we worship before God? To receive His grace, and if you receive God’s grace, your faith naturally rises, then God’s Word is fulfilled according to your faith. Some people say, “Oh, I believed and it still didn’t work,” that person might be confusing true faith versus conviction. There are people who confuse believing in God’s Word vs their own thoughts and their own ideas. They have their own convictions and they think that that is faith. Nonbelievers don’t have faith at all, so whatever convicts them is what they live for, and when those kinds of people come into the church and receive the gospel, they just change their language, but they’re still living with their convictions. But that’s not faith; that is still their stubbornness. Our stubbornness is not fulfilled; only God’s promises are fulfilled. It was credited to Abraham as righteousness, and later on, we see that Abraham’s faith wasn’t even that great.
3) One to whom God credits righteousness – David (Rom. 4:6)
Then next, what about this great King David that all of you respect so much? David is somebody who took the wife of one of his highest soldiers and killed him in battle, and took his wife sexually. If David did something like this, how could the Israelites claim that he was a great king? If something like that were to happen where the leader of the country were to kill somebody else and take their wife, then they would go into prison for years. So, based on the law, David should be done for, but why did God save David? Because God made a covenant with David. Because God promised that, through David’s lineage would come the future Messiah, that is why God decided to save David.
(1) Transgressions are forgiven (Rom. 4:7)
(2) Sins are covered (Rom. 4:7)
(3) Whose sin the Lord will never count against them (Rom. 4:8)
Rom. 4:7 says, “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” This is evidence that David’s actions were not that great, the true blessing is that God did not acknowledge his sin. So he’s giving the evidence that God did not consider David righteous because of his actions. Then, the Jews fight back again, they say, then, “What about circumcision? What’s that about? We received the circumcision because God told us in Genesis 2 that this is the sign that we are His people and His covenant.”
2. Abraham
1) Circumcision
(1) Uncircumcised credited as righteousness (Rom. 4:9-10)
Then he says God answered them and said, “I gave Abraham the command to be circumcised in Genesis 17, but already in Genesis 15, I credited him as righteous because of his faith, so the circumcision is a token of salvation, but not a requirement.” Then, was what the Jews said wrong? No, it’s right, but they just misunderstood. It’s like people today saying, If you receive baptism you’re saved, that’s not true. The person who already has salvation gets baptized as an extra representation of that. So, he’s continuously telling the Israelites that salvation and righteousness is given by grace from God through faith. So, from the very beginning, regardless of whether you are a circumcised Jew or an uncircumcised Gentile, you receive righteousness through faith.
(2) Circumcision was a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith (Rom. 4:11)
Then He says, “Even his inheritance was received by faith.” They were in a situation where they could not have children, but God was promising to give them a child. Then, He also promised the land of Canaan, which was God’s enterprise. This land of Canaan represents haven, but it also represents the Kingdom of God. In other words, it represents the heaven that we go to after we die, but also the Kingdom of God we must establish on this earth. This is the inheritance or legacy of those who believe. Then it is true that even if you do nothing on earth, you still go to heaven. Then, why is it that God still forces ut so uphold and live by the law? That is not a condition to go to heaven after you die, that is a way to be blessed on this earth. If you follow God’s Word by your faith, that’s how many blessings God has prepared for you on earth. Then, when we stand before God in judgment, He will reward us based on what we have done. The reason why we serve the church and do these things for salvation is for our reward in heaven and on earth.
(3) Father of all of who are circumcised, uncircumcised (Rom. 4:12)
So, through David’s descendants comes Jesus later on. Once Jesus Christ comes, even Gentiles can receive salvation. That is Gal. 3:29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs, according to the promise.” Now, it is no longer about the biological or physical descendants of Abraham, but anyone who believes in Jesus Christ becomes a spiritual descendant of Abraham. That means anyone can receive their inheritance from God. The heaven we will go to and the Kingdom of God to establish His authority. God has given us that inheritance of changing Satan’s Kingdom on earth into God’s Kingdom. Even right now, Satan is controlling the world by his culture. How? Satan deceives his people, so they live chasing the greed of their flesh. As soon as humans were separated from God, they had greed to become their own god. So they don’t listen to anyone’s words, because they are their own god, “I am right.” So, because they ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they judge what is right and wrong. So, “I am always right. God’s Word is not right, I am right.” That is a state that has already been seized by Satan, so I do what is best for me, what I want to do, until the very end, and if it is going to make me physically successful, I will do it until the end. But that individual doesn’t know they are seized by Satan. One day, they will collapse just like the tower of Babel. This is how Satan is holding onto the world. Next, how is Satan holding onto the world? He hold onto the religious leaders. He gives spiritual influence to the entire world using people who are influenced by evil spirits. Even right now, if you empty your heart or you concentrate too much on one direction without the Word of God inside of you, you will fall into this. Humans are spiritual beings, so we are always being influenced, either by the spirit of God or by evil spirits. That’s the culture of the world Satan is holding onto. Now, we have the inheritance of changing that kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of God by testifying the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, whatever school or job you’re going to, if it doesn’t align with making disciples of all nations, then it’s not aligned with God because that is the promise God gave us, and it’s the same thing for the future. It doesn’t matter whether we ‘re going into the age of AI or not, because God’s Word is fulfilled. “Go and make disciples of all nations. Go and proclaim the gospel to all peoples.” Jesus already knew what would happen thousands of years in the future when He made that promise. May you have that blessing.
2) Heir
(1) Abraham and his offspring (Rom. 4:13)
Next, what kind of faith did Abraham have? God told him to sacrifice his only son as a burnt offering. What is a burnt offering? It means a body is cut up limb by limb and is completely burnt up as an offering to God. God told Abraham to do that to his son, but what faith did Abraham actually sacrifice him with? It says in the Bible that, even if Isaac died, the Bible would bring him back. What is the basis of this faith? That, when we couldn’t have any kids, God gave us this kid, and without a doubt, God promised that Isaac would be the inheritance, so one day, God is telling me to sacrifice and kill him? I’m sure that even if I do kill him, God will revive him and bring him back to life because this is God’s promise. Isaac has to come for my body in order for Jesus to come later on. So in other words, Abraham had the faith in the resurrection. God called them when it was impossible for him and his wife to have a child, because they were too old, and God still called them and they answered in faith. So for us, in a state of physical impossibility, God gives us His Word, but Abraham believed that. He’s at an age where he can’t have kids at all, but he still believes it. It’s not that he believed it because the circumstances were believable, but he believed it even though the circumstances were impossible.
(2) Righteousness that comes by faith (Rom. 4:13)
Then, was Abraham’s faith really great? No. For example, as soon as God called Abraham, they went to Canaan. When there was a famine, the first place he goes is he runs to Egypt. Does he have faith? No. Then, why does God keep elevating him as the “Father of faith”? Because later on, he did, so God is just calling him the “Father of faith.” You and I are the same, we didn’t have faith from the start. Through worship, we receive God’s grace little by little, then our faith grows, and later on, we do believe. My circumstances, my environment are not “it” at all, but I believe in God’s promise. It’s impossible for me to have children, but I believe with certainty that God will allow us to.
(3) Father of all people (Rom. 4:16)
Then in Genesis 17, when God sees that he is doubting again, He says, “I will change your name from Abram to Abraham,” which means “Father of all nations,” so He is reconfirming the process. Later on, Abraham even asked, “Can you confirm again what blessing I will receive from You?” Then, when they were about 86 years old, Abraham and Sarah were talking, “We’re too old to have children, what if you have a child through my servant, Haggar?” and they had Ishmael. That’s not faith.
When God gives you His Word, you have to wait. When we look at it, it might not seem like the right time, but for God, it is the right time. But instead, people use humanism and try to force God’s Word, “This is what God wants.” After that, for 13 years, God’s Word did not come back to them, that Abraham had Ishmael when He was 86, and God does not speak to him again until he’s 99. Again, when He’s 99, God speaks. “This time, next year, you will have a son, and by the time he is born, you shall call him Isaac.” Even before you and I were born on this earth, God prepared. Isaac will be born, so when God and the angels come to warn them about Sodom and Gomorrah and tell him about the son, Sarah actually laughed internally. It means she didn’t believe, so Abraham’s faith wasn’t actually that great. It was actually a repetition of disbelief. Every time that happened, God found him and gave him His Word again, and because he still did not believe, what did God put him through?
3) Resurrection
(1) Gives life to the dead (Rom. 14:17)
(2) God calls into being things that were not (Rom. 4:17)
(3) Believed even though he knew that Sarah’s womb was dead (Rom. 4:19)
Because surviving became hard again, he went down to Abimelech, and Abimelech had a lot of wives and a lot of servants, but he couldn’t have any children. Then one day, he sees this very beautiful, elderly woman coming and asks Abraham if this is his wife, and Abraham says, “No, this is my younger sister,” because at that time, if the husband wanted someone else’s wife, they would kill the original husband and take his wife, but because Abraham said that Sarah was his younger sister, Abimelech gives Abraham money to buy Sarah. So on their wedding night, they’re about to spend their wedding night together, and God stops them. He tells Abimelech not to touch her, she has a husband, and Abimelech said, “She said she didn’t have a husband so I bought her with my money,” and God says, “No, this is the wife of my prophet, and if you touch her, I will close the wombs of all of your wives.” So, in the early morning, he goes and finds Abraham and quickly says, “Go on, get out of here,” and then Abraham prays for Abimelech and his wives. When Abraham prayed for him, that is when God opened up the womb of his wives so that they could bear children. What does this mean? In order to give Abraham the faith, that, “Even in your old years, I can still give you a child,” God put him through this Abimelech trial.
3. God’s promise
1) Strengthened in his faith (Rom. 4:20)
(1) Fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised (Rom. 4:21)
Our faith does not grow overnight; we don’t believe because the moment we are born, we have Original Sin. “That person has good faith”? Nonsense. Even their father of faith, Abraham, didn’t have faith. As God’s Word and grace continuously gets planted in this person little by little, their faith grows. Then in Rom. 4:20, God says, “I have become strengthened in my faith. What is faith? Heb. 12:2 says to let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of our faith. This means the main object of our faith is Jesus, and if we fix our eyes on Jesus and really focus on Him, then we receive that faith. It means that faith cannot come from us. That’s why if you meditate on the words of Jesus, if you look to Jesus and fix your eyes, then, you will receive this faith.
It says Abraham was certain of what he will pass on. This doesn’t happen overnight, but until that faith comes, God continuously gives grace. So, in your walk of faith, you need to be in that location, in that seat that receives God’s grace. Then, one day that faith grows, and without a doubt, the works of faith take place. If we have our disbelief, then the works of disbelief take place. If you don’t find this believable, then those works of disbelief will take place, in other words, you will keep opposing and challenging God.
(2) Credited as righteousness (Rom. 4:22-23)
In today’s scriptures, we received that Abraham was called righteous because he believed in Jesus Christ Who is to come. For us, we believe in Jesus Christ Who was born 2000 years ago, and though we never saw Him, we are called righteous by that faith. So whether Abraham or us, we were both called righteous by faith. I believe in the fact that, by Jesus Christ dying on the cross, all of my sins, curses, and death have been taken to Him. If you believe in the fact that this Jesus Christ overcame death, overcame the authority of Satan, and is living inside of us as life and the Holy Spirit, then your faith will take place. If you believe in the incident of the cross, then it means the Holy Spirit dwells in me, it’s invisible, but He is inside of me, He’s with me.
(3) Us who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead (Rom. 4:24)
So, how do we believe this? Romans 10:9-10 says that we receive faith by hearing the Word of the gospel. Faith is incredibly important. God, the almighty and all-knowing God, is living inside of me as the Holy Spirit. If you truly believe this, all problems are finished. What does it mean that all problems are finished? It means that He has the answer, He is the way, He is the One Who can even save the dead. And not only is he seated at the right hand of the throne of God, but He is also living inside of me as the Holy Spirit, and I am now His temple. If you believe in this, then it is finished. If you believe in this, then from then on, prayer takes place. Because Jesus Christ is living inside of me, with me personally as my spirit. So, what is prayer? It means that you are having a very personal, intimate relationship with that Spirit, God. If you’re not able to pray, it means you don’t really believe. There are some people who really force themselves to pray by brute force. For that kind of person, they don’t care about a personal relationship with God or who God is; they are only shouting to get what they want and their plans. That’s the religious prayer. Whether this person is praying to Buddha or the Sun or another god, they are just believing, “This god is stronger than I am, so I’m just praying for what I want.” If you think that’s prayer, you’ll never be able to pray.
People say that prayer is hard and that seems right, but it’s wrong. God is currently walking with me very personally, and having personal communication with Him, that’s prayer, but you’re unable to do that because you don’t believe it. As much as you’re able to believe by faith or by grace, then you can pray. If I have a best friend, it is because I can share everything in my heart and they can share everything in their heart with me. Then, what is prayer? It is a relationship between me and the God inside of me. Not only that, but I’m having a fellowship with the One Who has created me, the One Who can create things out of nothing. And as evidence of that, you will make the same confession as David, “The Lord is my Shepherd, the Lord is my Shield, The Lord is my Victor, the Lord is my Healer;” how is this possible? When I was communicating with Him, these are the things I discovered. Whatever you’re worried about right now? It’s because you don’t believe in God. Are you worried about the future? It’s because you don’t believe.
2) Holy Spirit
(1) With (1Cor. 3:16)
(2) Guidance (Jn. 14:26-27)
(3) Filling (Ac. 1:8)
He is alive right now and He is living inside of me as the Holy Spirit. I hope you will stop worrying and instead have a communication with the God inside of you. That Holy Spirit inside of you is waiting and listening to answer you. The reason Jesus tells us not to worry is because the Holy Spirit is living inside of us, but people are living as if He is not. So, are you able to accurately pray? Are you able to naturally pray no matter where you are? Because God is with you no matter where you are. No matter what kind of problem, crisis, or conflict you are in, God is with you and He is guiding your way. Then, the direction God gives of missions, evangelism, and world evangelization, will be fulfilled by God. “I don’t have the strength to do it, “ that’s why I pray to receive God’s power by the filling of the Holy Spirit. You need to challenge towards that. If this is God’s will but I don’t have the strength to do it, then God, give me the power to do it,” then you need to keep challenging towards it, otherwise, if something is beyond your abilities, you just collapse, but what if this is God’s will? Then, ask God to give you His power. I hope that blessing will keep piling on you as faith.
3) All nations
(1) Proclaim the Gospel, Disciples (Mt. 28:18-20)
(2) Healing (Mk. 16:15-18)
(3) Future generations (Jn. 21:15-18)
Then Jesus said, “Go and make disciples of all nations,” one day, you will find this believable. Because God gave the promise that all peoples will be blessed through Abraham, and He is fulfilling that even today, through us. Go and heal all people, these signs will accompany those who believe. You shall place your hands on them, and they will be healed.” In the beginning, I did not believe this, I thought this was in the words, but this was irrelevant to my life. One day, I received God’s grace, “Oh, this is God’s promise, and God is going to work according to His promise.” Before that point, I looked at my situation and didn’t believe it. When will healing take place? That’s in God’s time schedule, but either way, God promised it, and little by little, that faith begins to pile up. One day, I even got the level of faith to heal my disease and with that faith, I prayed to God and He healed me. Then, I realized, “Oh, faith grows little by little. Without a doubt, the Lord promised to heal diseases, and it’s normal to not believe. However, one day, in this ministry, if this is aligned with God’s will and time schedule, He will give you that grace. Then, Jesus says, “Raise the next generations,” we must save them. If you’re running a business, your business must be to save the next generation. If you’re studying, it must be to save them. Then, God’s power will be upon you. Power doesn’t come for no reason, it’s because God fulfills His promise.
Conclusion
1. Covenant of the word through faith
In conclusion, hold onto the covenant of God’s Word in faith, and we do not get faith by ourselves; it is by God’s grace.
2. Pray through faith
By that faith, you pray to be with God, and by faith, we go towards missions, evangelism, and world evangelization to all nations.
3. Evangelism, Missions through faith
God promised to continuously give you grace in order to raise you up as that witness of faith. May you be that witness of faith throughout the week.
Message Prayer
Let us pray holding onto the Word we have received.
Offering Prayer and Newcomer Blessing
God, we thank You. We give praise to the God Who has given us the grace to believe in the cross. We give praise to the Lord Who is with us and guiding us with the Holy Spirit, invisibly, now. We believe You will allow us to walk with You every day, and You will give us the power to carry out Your Will for world evangelization. Exactly as You promised, we pray that every nation and every tribe will receive the gospel and stand as disciples. We believe You will bless the people who have given this offering with the economy of light to do this work. We pray all of this in the name of our Living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
Announcements
1. Bible reading, writing
2. Church meeting, 12:30pm
3. Offering can be given to the church venmo: @Antiochmissionchurch
Benediction
Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the unending love of God, and the indwelling, guidance, fellowship, and working of the Holy Spirit, be upon the heads of all the people of God, the people of all nations, and the future generations who desire to receive the grace of God to do the will of God, be with them from now until forevermore always, amen.