Romans 18: Abraham's Faith (3) (Rom 4:23-24)

“The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Rm 4:23-24)

Saving Faith and Obedience
How can someone who hasn’t done anything righteous become righteous? How can we be saved without the observance of His law? Those are reasonable questions that were also raised at that time.

Justification by faith does not mean that a saved person disregards the law. It only means that the saved person no longer trusts in obedience as a way to be saved. 

The criminal who was on a cross next to Jesus didn’t do anything righteous. He committed a crime. He himself said, “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.” (Lk 23:41)
However, he believed in the Lord during the last moments of his life and said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”” (Lk 23:43)
Here, we see radical forgiveness. Jesus didn’t say, ‘It’s too late.’ He simply said, “You will be with me today.” How could this happen? That’s because Jesus’ righteousness went into the criminal’s life when the criminal believed in Him.
There are people who decide to believe in Jesus in their last hours, especially in hospitals or in hospice care. I heard a story of a Christian nurse who chose to work in hospice care in order to proclaim the gospel to patients who were about to die. I know a church in Korea that built a hospice for that very purpose.
All this is possible because of the redemption given through Jesus Christ. He paid the price for all the sins of the world, and thus made perfect righteousness. And, the only condition to receive it is to believe in what He did on the cross to save us. That’s the power of saving faith.
However, what we must also know is that these cases are very unique. No one knows when he or she will die.
So, what’s more important for those who are credited as righteous by their faith in Jesus is that they live out the righteousness they’ve received from God. It means that if we really have faith in Jesus, we should show our faith by obeying God’s laws in the world.
Paul talked about this in Romans chapter 3. After he explained that one can only receive God’s righteousness through faith, not by works of the law, Paul addressed those who thought the law was useless and that only faith mattered. He said,
“Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Rm 3:31)
This short verse does a great job of explaining the relationship between faith and the law. We can’t make the law null and void because of our faith. Rather, we must uphold the law with faith in Christ.
James called faith without deeds ‘dead’ faith, which can’t possibly save people. So, the veracity of our faith must be proven through the fruits of our faith.
We talked about atheists who do good works and Christians who are not interested in serving others. In fact, there can’t be Christians who don’t do good works.
The word ‘Christian’ means one who belongs to Christ and follows Him. So, it’s impossible for Christians not to have an interest in loving others. So, if you see ‘Christians’ like that, they might not have true faith in Jesus. It may sound harsh, but that’s what the Bible says about being Christian.
What's sad is that there are many ‘nominal,’ ‘cultural,’ Sunday Christians who think they believe in Jesus, but don’t even know what that means. In fact, Christians who are not interested in serving and loving others are not a minority, but a majority in modern churches.
It’s becoming harder and harder to find true Christians who surrender their lives to Jesus and follow Him with strong faith. It’s hard to find people who sacrifice what they have to follow God’s will. In these times, we must continue to go back to God’s Word, learn what a true Christian life looks like, and try to live out our faith.
Christians are those who are credited as righteous through their faith in Jesus. Now, what's left for them is to live out the righteousness they received freely, upholding the law of love by loving God and our neighbors as Jesus loved us. If we don’t have such desires, we should check whether we have genuine faith in Jesus because true faith naturally produces its fruits in our lives.
When it comes to salvation, justification, and God’s righteousness, only faith matters. We’re justified only through faith in Jesus, not works of the law. However, that faith must be shown in our lives in the form of love—love for God and for others.
That’s how we check the veracity of our faith. As Jesus said, “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Mt 7:17, 20)
Abraham: A Case Study in Faith
Paul concludes Abraham’s story in the latter part of Romans 4 by presenting him as a case study in real, living faith. Abraham showed us what it means to believe in God.
1) Faith is to know that reality is greater than how we feel or how things appear.
Romans 4:18 says, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed” (Rom 4:18)
At that time, God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, “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.” (Rm 4:19)
Abraham looked at his body and it looked hopeless. How could a hundred-year-old man and an old woman whose womb was dead have a baby? It didn’t make sense at all. But Abraham didn’t go off of appearances. Even though the circumstances were “against all hope” from the point of view of the world, Abraham believed in the Lord, putting his hope in Him.
This shows us that faith is not simply optimism about life in general. Faith begins with death to self-trust. Faith is trusting in God despite our weaknesses, feelings and perceptions, knowing that the reality God brings is greater than our feelings and the ways things appear.
This is what Paul meant when he said, “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Faith is not opposed to reason, but it is sometimes opposed to feelings and appearances. Because faith does not depend on what we actually perceive and feel in the world, but on God’s promise.
2) Faith is to focus on truths about God
Despite the apparent impossibility of the promises, “… He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rm 4:20-21)
These are really challenging verses. Abraham gave glory to God because he was ‘fully’ persuaded by God’s promise and His almighty power. This shows us that faith is not the absence of thinking, but rather, a persistent insistence on God’s reality.
 Abraham trusted in the power of God. He believed that God was “the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.” (Rm 4:17)
 He was able to overcome his hopeless circumstances because he chose to cling to who God is. So, faith is to continue to think about God, focusing on truths about Him instead of being overwhelmed by how things appear.
 3) Faith is to trust the word of God.
Romans 4:21 says Abraham believed “that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:21)
Abraham held tightly to God’s promise even when feelings, circumstances, and common sense seemed to contradict God’s promise. That was Abraham’s faith. He put his hope in God when no hope was left. He continued to hold onto God’s promise. He was fully convinced of God’s power.
 Romans 4:22 says, “This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”” (Rom 4:22)
 This righteousness is also given to us, Abraham’s spiritual descendants. For Romans 4:23-24 says,
 “The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” (Rm 4:23-24)
 The resurrection of Jesus was a groundbreaking event. No one could imagine that one could be raised from the dead. Even Jesus’ disciples hadn’t believed His resurrection until they saw Jesus with their own eyes. The resurrection of Jesus is hard to believe because it doesn’t make any sense. That’s why we need to continue to cling to the promise written in His Word.
 If we really believe that God is real and that He created heaven and earth, it’s not strange for us to believe that He raised His son from the dead. It’s not blind faith, but rather rational thinking. That’s the faith God requires us to have—to know that God’s reality is greater than what we see in the world, to focus on truths about God, and to trust in His promise written in the Bible.​