Abraham has been Paul’s focus in Romans 4. He will mention Abraham 9 times in Romans. Beyond chapter 4, he’ll refer to him again only twice, in chapters 9 and 11. Abraham was saved before and without the law of Moses, before and without circumcision. Abraham was saved based on faith, not works that would (or could) obligate God to save him.
Building on Abraham’s example, Paul talks about the type of faith Abraham had in the last few verses of chapter 4. When Abraham was old and considered his body beyond child-bearing, not to mention Sarah’s, he still trusted God would fulfill His promise. In that sense, he “hoped against hope.” There’s an inspiration for those who do not think that God can forgive them of their sins. Abraham “hoped against hope” and trusted God’s promises despite how we may have felt.
When we consider Abraham’s attempts to “help” God fulfill His promise of an heir – Eliezer, Ishmael – we should not see that as Abraham not believing God but thinking God would fulfill His promise in some obvious way: through a slave or a son through Hagar. But, once God promised that the heir would come through Sarah as well as Abraham, his faith grew stronger. He was “fully assured” that God would fulfill His promise.
Thus, as Paul does in other places, the statement from Genesis 15:6 was not written just for Abraham’s sake or Israel’s sake but “for our sake.” Because we need to understand that we, too, will be saved when we trust in God who raised Jesus from the dead. That resurrection was for our deliverance and for our justification!
Building on the theme of “justification,” Paul moves into chapter five as he talks about “justification by faith.” Up to this point, Paul has used “faith” twenty-seven times and the verb “to believe” five times. Once we have been justified by this faith – the same type of faith Abraham had, then we can have peace with God – the shalom that the Jews prized. But this peace is available only through Jesus Christ! Observe how important Jesus is; consider these verses: 5:1, 11, 21; 6:23; 7:25; 8:39.
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This proven character leads to hope. The fuel of the Christian’s engine. Christian hope does not leave us disappointed because we know the love of God. God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to Christians. Without the Holy Spirit’s guidance and assistance through His Gospel, we would know nothing of the love of God nor about Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the heart and soul of the Gospel message and we’ll consider His role next week as we meditate on Romans 5:6-21: “Christ Died for the Ungodly.”
–Paul Holland
