Romans 4:13-25
The Promise Granted Through Faith
13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
The promise given to Abraham was for him and all his progeny who exercise the same absolute trust in what God tells us to do to be pleasing and holy in righteous response and not proudly attempting to earn God’s favor when we realize it is impossible to do everything perfectly according to the Law. This Law of God taught us (Galatians 3:22-25) that we are utterly unable to attain the full obedience in heart, mind, and actions required to be as holy as He is. This Law of God then taught us (James 2:10) that we must come to God my faith in His work alone which was worked for us by His only Son sacrificed for us as Abraham was given a portent of in being told to offer his only son as a sacrifice in obedience to God’s word. Here we find that the heirs of this faith do not inherit through adherence to every commandment of the Law because we all fail and justly incur only more of God’s wrath on our sin and the punishment of eternal consequences as a result. No, our inheritance comes by faith in the second Adam (Romans 5:15, 18-19) come to release us from the power of death and penalty of sin inherited from the first Adam (Romans 5:14). The Law points out our sin by our inability to keep it completely and perfectly and then points us to the law of faith given as the intended work of trusting God’s plan in Christ (John 6:29) which we work in faith and not our natural fallen man’s corrupted moral efforts. God himself provides the sacrifice as He did for Abraham with Isaac (Genesis 22:8, 18) to obtain deliverance for all who likewise taken good at His word by this faith and receive His sacrificial Lamb to take away our sins once and for all (Hebrews 9:12, 10:10). Our salvation then lies in repentance from sin and faith in Him as children of faith after our common spiritual father Abraham. We also hope contrary to hope as we see it; faith believes in hope contrary to rational hope as we obtain by free grace the gift we cannot earn as we trust God so offers it to us. As Abraham trusted that God would bring his son of promise back to him to fulfill the promise to make his the father of many nations, we also as his children of faith trust in our resurrection from death to eternal life both now (John 5:24, Galatians 2:20) and after we shuffle off this mortal coil. We then must likewise be fully convinced that what God has promised He is also fully able to perform. This is our righteousness then, trust in God’s promises of His word in His work of His Son in His perfectly righteous life, substutionary death for us, power over the grave, and ascension into the very presence of God in heaven as a forerunner for us to follow Him there forever. This is the gospel of divinely gifted faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and not of mortal works. We are counted righteous by this trust in the righteous one in whom we are found righteous (1 Corinthians 1:30) and not in or of ourselves (Philippians 3:9). This Son of God imputes righteousness to us by faith just as Jesus did for Abraham as we believe Him who raised Jesus from death after being delivered to death on our behalf in our place on that tree of cursing that the curse of sin’s penalty might be take away from us and who justified us completely by His resurrection as our own spiritual transformation from life to death. These truths are the key and content of the gospel of faith which saves us in a certain and lasting hope.
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