Romans 4:1-5, 13-16
1 What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to
the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast
about, but not before God. 3 For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5 But to one who
without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as
righteousness. 13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law,
neither is there violation. 16 For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the
promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to
the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he
is the father of all of us,…) (NRSV)
What a great text for the time of Lent. We are waiting in anticipation of so
much during Lent. All of it finally culminates in the promises made in Christ,
upon the cross. We are fortunate to be able to sit here as Christians and know
what is done for us by God in Christ Jesus, in his death and resurrection. We are
by no means close to that yet in Lent, with it being only the second Sunday.
However, we know the story, we wait in anticipation of…..Of what do we wait for? That is a question I asked myself, just what is it that Christians are waiting for?
Do we wait for a promise? How can we wait for this promise, a promise that
despite our human sinfulness, through God’s grace in God’s attitude towards us
sees us at righteous, not by anything that we do but by the power of the Holy
Spirit who instills faith in us in what is done by God in Jesus Christ. Even the
faith we have as Christians is what God does for us, not what we do.
Faith is what saves not works. It is the faith in Christ Jesus who was
conceived by the Spirit and was born as the Son of God. We need faith in God
but also in Jesus, for if Jesus is the Son, how can we separate the two? In
gospel of John it says,
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
We have a promise, a promise to not be condemned but to be saved because
we believe. Faith, is the trust of a promise made by God. If we have faith, then
we have accepted the promises of God and are willing to take a chance on the
promise. Faith is unconditional. Faith does not say, yes if, but only. Faith
attaches nothing to it but the trust in the promise of God as heard in the word.
Paul Althaus a famous German theologian says; “Faith exists only as a
response to God’s word.” (Althaus 43) ….”Faith and the promise of God belong
together”. (Althaus 44) “For this reason the hearing of the word precedes faith, as both Luther and Paul repeatedly emphasizes. (Althaus 44)
So I say, is this not what happens with Abraham? Did he not hear the word?
Because he heard the word, which proceeds faith as Paul and Martin Luther say,
- Abraham hears and believes
he believed. Our text says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned
to him as righteousness.”
It is Martin Luther who says, “In Faith you must put everything except the word of God out of your mind…Faith depends only and simply on the word, never lose
sight of it, and sees nothing else.” (Althaus 44) There is great value in faith, not
only for us but God. Althaus says, “We honor God most in our faith, seriously
trusting that God is who God is.” (Althaus 44).
Works, for righteousness sake are of no value. Let’s face it, if we could do
works to earn our righteousness, what need would there be for Christ on the
cross. Would it then not be all for not? Besides, how can we ever know that we did all that is needed to be considered righteous by God. If it is works of the law that we are righteous, then as Paul says; faith is null and the promise is void.
There was a man who was sick and visiting his doctor. He was very
concerned about his future. He turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to
leave the examination room and said, “Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what
lies on the other side.” Very quietly, the doctor said,
“I don’t know.”
You don’t know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?”
The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a
sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into
the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness. Turning to the
patient, the doctor said,
“Did you notice my dog?
He’s never been in this room before. He didn’t know what was inside. He knew
nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang
in without fear. I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know
one thing…I know my Master is there and that is enough.”
As we journey together this Lent, trusting in a promise, a promise here but
also yet to come, let us remember that as God’s people, sinful and broken, that
we can trust that God is who God is and because of that, we also can trust in the promises of God. God did not send God’s Son, into this world to condemn the world but to save the world for all that believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ.
Bibliography
Althaus, Paul. The theology of Martin Luther. THEOOFLUTHER.logos4 ed.
Philadelphia:Fortress Press, 1996.
The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. 2012th–12th–10T15:47:45Z
NRSV.logos4ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989.