Results of Saving Faith

Transcript

GR 1422
03/07/10
Results of Saving Faith
Romans 4:23-25
Gil Rugh


We're in the book of Romans together and the 4th chapter. There is no more important subject in all the world than the subject of God's provision of salvation. You think about it, a proper understanding and a proper response to the truth that God has revealed regarding His plan for our salvation will matter forever. It's hard for us with finite minds to grasp onto that. Then in hundreds of millions of years the proper response to the salvation that God has provided will be the difference between heaven and hell. And the book of Romans is unfolding the wonder of God's plan of salvation. It started out by showing that we are all sinners and as sinners we are all under condemnation, under the judgment of God, worthy of eternity in hell.

When we pick up with chapter 3 verse 21 we picked up with the discussion of God's plan of justification, having shown that all are under condemnation how can those who were under the condemnation of a holy God be brought into the kind of condition where God the judge of all will declare them righteous, not guilty, innocent, absolved of guilt in the courtroom of heaven. And Paul is unfolding that beginning with chapter 3 verse 21 and that will go through chapter 5 verse 21. In chapter 3 verse 22 we are told he is talking about the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. Stress on faith, on believe, in Jesus Christ. And everyone needs this because there is no distinction. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. So we need the righteousness of God. All of us do because we are all sinners and God has provided that righteousness in Jesus Christ. And so we can be justified, verse 24,” as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” And God displayed Christ as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This constant emphasis on it's faith in God and in the salvation He has provided in Christ. Christ is the propitiation, He bore the wrath of God so that the wrath of God might be turned away from us. He paid the price to set us free from the penalty and power of sin so that we might be justified, declared righteous by a holy God.

Beginning with verse 27 and down through chapter 4 verse 25 he's talking about the provision of salvation through faith alone in Christ. Important to understand it is not faith plus works, but it is faith alone in Christ that brings salvation. Verse 28 of chapter 3 said “we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.” And if the works of the Law as given to Moses on Mt. Sinai were not necessary in addition to our faith, no works are necessary. So Paul is demonstrating we are Jews and we as Gentiles learn from it as well, that salvation is by faith alone. He's made the point at the end of chapter 3, there is only one God. ‘Since indeed God is one,” verse 30, “He will justify the circumcised by faith,” the Jews, “and the uncircumcised by faith,” the Gentiles. So salvation will be conveyed in the same way for all people, Jews and Gentiles alike.

What we have in chapter 4, you remember, is the example of Abraham. He was the father of the Jews, the Jews are all descendants from Abraham. He's demonstrating with Abraham that salvation is by faith, a man is justified by faith apart from works. So we pick it up in verse 3 of chapter 4 and he said, “What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” And that verse from Genesis 15:6 is behind everything that is said down to verse 22 of chapter 4, where he quotes it again. “It was also credited to him as righteousness,” his faith as we see in the context. He's talking about you can be declared righteous by God by faith. Look at Abraham, Abraham believed God and God credited it to him. That word appears several times in the verses that follow. He credited it to him, reckoned it to him as righteousness. So in the courtroom of God before the throne of God, he is absolved of guilt. Why? What did he do? The Jews said Abraham was such a holy man that he kept the Law perfectly 500 years before God gave the Law to Moses. That's not true, that's Paul's argument. Abraham was declared righteous by God through faith, not because he did certain works, kept the Law, or otherwise.

He used circumcision as an example. The Jews believed circumcision was necessary for salvation, like some people today believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. And then we looked at and saw that the scripture says that Abraham was declared righteous by God through faith in Genesis 15. Over fifteen years later he is circumcised in Genesis 17. So Paul's argument, circumcision can't be necessary for salvation. God declared Abraham righteous when he believed in Him many years before Abraham was circumcised. That's an important point for us today as well. There is only one God, there is only one way of salvation. Remember, that is the argument for the end of chapter 3. When was Abraham baptized?

I listened to two priests on the Roman Catholic channel this week. I don't watch it a lot, but I was watching this. And they were talking about how serious it is. Many today in the Roman Catholic Church are baptizing babies by just dipping their bottom in water. Do you know what these men were saying? That is terrible, their eternal destiny is at stake. They are not saved if the water was not put on their heads. What a terrible thing, that baby is not saved because they dipped the bottom in water instead of the top. When was Abraham's top dipped in water? It didn't happen. Can baptism be necessary for salvation? No. Circumcision is not necessary for salvation, nor are other works.

Verse 13, “for the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world.” We were in this section in our previous study. The promise to Abraham that he would be heir of the world is the Abrahamic Covenant, the covenant that God established with Abraham. And to Abraham with his descendants. He didn't receive those promises through the Law, he received them through faith. “The righteousness of faith,” as the end of verse 13 says. If it had been through the Law the covenant would have failed because Paul has already established in the first three chapters that no one keeps the Law. By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight, including Abraham. So if the promises to Abraham had been on the basis of his keeping the Law, then everything collapses.

Verse 16, “For this reason it is by faith in order that it might be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants who are of the faith of Abraham.” And a reminder there that he was made a father of many nations, verse 17. The Abrahamic Covenant, we noted has three major provisions—land, seed and blessing. There is a promise of the land to the nation Israel. We went back through a number of passages in the book of Genesis and it's repeated again that God promises the land to the nation Israel, the descendants of Abraham along the proper line forever. The land of Canaan, what is referred to as Palestine today, is Jewish land. Ultimately it will be theirs forever. So the promise of a land. There is a promise of a seed, descendants as it is translated in verse 13, the promise to Abraham or to his descendants, to his seed. It's a promise of many descendants that will form a great nation, the nation Israel, innumerable descendants. There will also be nations that come from him. So the seed promise. And then there is a blessing that in Abraham all the nations of the earth would be blest. Those are the aspects of the Abrahamic Covenant.

Let me just note that there are three categories addressed in the Abraham Covenant as well. First there are promises that are individual promises to Abraham. Within this Abraham Covenant that we talked about in some depth last week's study, there are individual promises to Abraham. For example, he would be the father of a great nation, the nation Israel. There is only one father, originator, and that's Abraham. He would be the father of a great nation. He would also be the father of many nations. Those are the promises given individually to Abraham. He would personally experience God's blessing. That's an individual promise to Abraham. He would have a great name. That's true. We're talking about Abraham today, 4000 years after Abraham lived. He would be a blessing. Those are individual promises to Abraham.

Secondly there are national promises to Israel. So the individual promises to Abraham only apply to Abraham. The individual promises to the nation Israel. It will be a great nation. There will be innumerable people like the sand of the seashore, like the dust of the earth, like the stars of the heavens. They would possess the land permanently. Those are promises to the nation Israel, they are not promises to me, that I would possess the land permanently. That's a promise to the physical seed of Abraham who have the faith of Abraham, the Jews.

Third, this is important, there are universal promises to all nations. That is, all the nations of the earth will be blessed in Abraham. Understand, the Abrahamic Covenant is still in force. It is the foundational covenant of scripture. The other covenants—the Palestinian Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, the New Covenant—really elaborate portions of the Abrahamic Covenant. This third area, universal promises to all the nations, in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed, has to do with the salvation provided for us in the Jewish Messiah. And we come under those salvation blessings as part of the New Covenant. It was made with the nation Israel but its blessings extend to us as Gentiles.

If you keep that in mind it keeps you from getting confused and thinking there is no future for Israel. The Abrahamic Covenant always did include promises to Gentiles and they in no way nullified any of the promises to the nation Israel. It's been there from the beginning and are part of that covenant.

Now what is being elaborated in verses 14 down to verse 22 is when Abraham received these promises he didn't have children. And he not only didn't have children, he didn't have a child. And yet he believed God. That's the point. Verse 16,”For this reason it is by faith in order that it might be in accordance with grace so the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, which would be Jews, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all.” Since Genesis 15:6 is the first declaration of faith resulting in righteousness, and it's declared of Abraham, he's not only the physical father of the Jews, he's also the spiritual father of all who believe in the promises of God. That includes us then in the salvation promises, the blessings to all the nations. The promises to the physical descendants, the Jews, will only be fulfilled in those physical Jews who have the same faith as Abraham had in the God of Israel and His promises. We as Gentiles enter into the salvation promises and experience the blessings that God promised by believing in the God of Abraham and the promises of His word as well.

Now you'll note verse 17, this promise that he would be the father of many nations, not just the nation Israel, this is given to Abraham “in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which did not exist.” That's going to be a point picked up in the application to us in a moment. He gives life to the dead and calls into existence that which does not exist. “In hope against hope he believed that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, so shall your descendants be.” I mean, he's being told he's going to be the father of a great nation, he'll be the father of many nations. He'll have descendants that can't be numbered and the poor old guy doesn't even have one kid. And yet he believes God.

“In hope, verse 18, against hope he believed so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, so shall your descendants be.” Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body now as good as dead, since he's about 100 years old. And his wife Sarah, her womb is dead. The two of them had never produced a child together. Now Abraham is 99 and Sarah is 89 and you're talking about us becoming fruitful. He looked at his body and said, dead. Looked at Sarah's body, dead. As far as producing children, we might as well be in the grave. But you know what he did? He believed the promise of God. When God said He was going to give him a host of descendants, Abraham believed Him. God credited it to Abraham as righteousness.

Verse 20, “with respect to the promise of God he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, being fully assured that what God had promised He was able also to perform. Therefore it was credited to him as righteousness.” So you see verse 22, we pick up the quote again from Genesis 15:6 that ties us back to verse 3 of chapter 4. It's all about demonstrating the righteousness that was credited to Abraham was credited to him by faith. That's all he had, the promise of God. If he had had half a dozen children, he might have been able to say, I'm sure God will multiply this. It's a small brood, but if they are fruitful, who knows what will happen, given a long enough time. But no, he doesn't have any children. I'm a dead man, my wife is a dead woman. But God said He is going to give me a host of descendants, innumerable, I believe God. Hope against hope. All the evidence is contrary. I believe God. It was credited to him as righteousness. You see all he has is the promise of God, he believes it, God credits it to him as righteousness. Righteousness comes by faith. That's all. I believe it.

Verse 23, “Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him.” That was written in Genesis 15:6, thousands of years ago, but it was written for our benefit so we could know how God will credit righteousness to the account of sinful people. Not written for his sake only, “but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited.” Here it is again. God applying something to our account, the work of Christ, His shed blood, His death where He bore the wrath of God in His body on the cross. Taking it away from me, He turned that wrath away from me by paying the price necessary to set me free from the penalty and power of sin. He redeemed me so God now can declare me absolved from guilt. Innocent because the penalty has been paid.

It will be credited to us. What will be? Our faith as those who believe in Him. Believe in Him. We are believing in the same God that Abraham believed in and we are believing in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. What did Abraham believe? Back in verse 17, “in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God who gives life to the dead.” Abraham was believing in God and the God who gives life to the dead. You know what? We are to have the same kind of faith as Abraham had. We believe in God and it's the God who gives life to the death, the God who raised His Son from the grave. He raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Verse 19, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body now as good as dead and the deadness of Sarah's womb.” But Abraham believed in God and the promises of God and we believe in God and the promises of God. Christ was delivered over because of our transgressions, He was raised because of our justification. We believe the God who has given His promises, that those who believe in His Son will be saved. He gives life to the dead, His Son was raised from the dead. Abraham believed the promises of God that He'll give me descendants and I believe in the God who gives life to the dead. You see the difference, the similarities are complete. It's faith in the God who has given His promises. Faith in the promises of God is the same thing as faith in the God who gives the promises. I mean, God promised and Abraham believed the promise. Why? Because he believed that God was able to do what He promised.

Verse 21, “being fully assured that what God had promised He was able to perform.” So when I believe the promise of God, I'm believing in God. So righteousness is credited to Abraham for believing in God and His promises, that He would give life to those dead bodies, give them descendants. We are credited with righteousness by God when we believe in Him and His promises to credit righteousness to those who believe in His Son whom He raised from the dead. He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, that's His death. He was given over to die on the cross to bear our sins in His body. These verses go back to Isaiah 53, the great passage there, particularly the verses toward the end of that chapter. He was raised because of our justification. Provision had been made for us to be declared righteous. Remember the resurrection is the seal of God on the work of Christ. I Corinthians 15, if Christ wasn't raised from the dead, then our faith in Christ is worthless because the promises of God and His Word are not true. So He is not a God who can be trusted. But it is true and so here is the plan of God. How would a person be saved? Believe in the God who provided His Son to die on the cross for our sins, who raised Him from the dead because the work had been done, the wrath of God was propitiated, redemption had been accomplished, the price had been paid that was necessary to set us free from the penalty and power of sin. So that those who believe in God and the provision He has given of His Son are justified by their faith in the work of God, the promise of God. That's the plan of God for salvation.

Seems overwhelmingly simple, doesn't it? Isn't it a great tragedy that there are multitudes of young people and old people alike who think they are going to be saved because they go to church, because they go through certain rituals. Parents give their children a false assurance and they themselves have false assurance. I had you baptized. I was baptized as a little tyke, didn't do anything but get me wet. I was lost when they put the water on me, I was lost when they took me home. Because salvation is by grace through faith. People say, I'm doing my best, I'm trying my hardest, I want to live for the Lord, I try to keep the Ten Commandments. That's too bad, that's the road to hell because salvation is by grace through faith. Verse 16, “it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace.” If even a little bit of your works were involved it would all fail. It is by grace through faith, not works.

Some of you have asked the question, what about James? Here we are spending all this time proving that justification is by faith apart from works and then James blows the whole thing by saying Abraham was justified by works. Turn over to James. James is writing to Jews also. Paul has Jews in mind, he's writing to a Gentile church but the Jews' problem with circumcision and the Law are being addressed by him. James addresses his letter in James 1:1 that he's writing to the twelve tribes of the dispersion, the dispersion being a technical term for Jews throughout the world, out of the land that God promised to them. Even today, the diaspora, the dispersion. He's talking about the importance of works. Verse 22, “prove yourselves doers of the word and not merely hearers who delude themselves.”

You come down to chapter 2 and James is clear. You can't be saved by keeping the Law. Verse 10, “whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point has become guilty of all.” People think today, I'm trying to keep the Ten Commandments. You know what? You are condemned. By Jewish counting there are 613 commandments in the Mosaic Law and when you break one of them you are viewed as guilty of breaking the Law. It's a unit. We think if there are all those commandments and I keep a number of them, I'll be in good shape. No. You break one, you break it all. I've gotten to be an old man, I haven't been in jail any days of my life. But if I go murder someone, I've broken the law. You know where I'm going—to jail. Wait a minute, look at all the laws I kept. Add them up. A man my age, how many laws did I keep? And you would send me to jail for murdering that person? You'd say, yes, you broke the law. You have to pay. But people say, I don't keep the Law perfectly, but I'm working at it. Well, might as well quit, you've already failed.

But look at verse 14, we have another side to consider here. “What use is it my brethren if someone says he has faith but has no works. Can that faith save him?” You know we go to two sides. There is the one side that believes you have to believe in Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection and also try to keep the Law, try to keep the Ten Commandments, try to do your best. And that together will result in God saving you. We can have the adverse opposite reaction by people who say, I'm a free grace person. Works are not part of our salvation at all. You place your faith in Christ, make that decision and it's done, it's over no matter what. A number of years ago a man wrote a book and said you place your faith in Christ and you may become an atheist, an agnostic, one who curses God, but you're still saved because you placed your faith in Christ.

James is dealing with one side, Paul was dealing with the other. Paul is saying works have no place in your being saved, but James wants to show if you have saving faith the result of that will be your life will change and you will live a life of faith in obedience to God.

“What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but has no works. Can that faith save him?” We're talking about faith, a faith that doesn't produce works. Verse 17 he says, “even so faith if it has no works is dead, being by itself.” In other words it has no works connected with it. Faith if it has no works is dead. Someone may well say, you have faith and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, I will show you my faith by my works. Faith is something intangible, not seen. You believe that God is one. That was the basic Jewish belief, Deuteronomy 6, “hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one.” The oneness of God, the unity of God. But you know what? You believe that God is one, that's great. You know who else also believes that? The demons. They believe it so much they tremble, they shudder. That's faith, that faith is impacting them to the degree they tremble in the presence of the God who is. Think about it, when Jesus walked this earth what did the demons say? We know who you are, the holy One of God. They weren't denying who Jesus Christ was. They said, we know who you are, you're the holy One of God. And you know what else they asked Him? Have you come to torment us before the time? They recognized that He is the sovereign Son of God who had the power and authority to cast them into hell. Have you come to torment us before the time? They know something about the plan of God that has been unfolded, that sinful beings will be cast into hell. The demons believe but they are not saved.

You believe that God is one. Good for you, you do well, you are in the company of other believers, the demons. They believe the same thing. But that faith in God has no impact on their lives. They continue to live in rebellion against Him. So you know what happens, we want our kids to be saved so much, we want them to make that decision for Christ as early as they can. And we do, I want my grandkids to trust the Lord early. But we need to be careful. We say, they made a decision, they said they trusted Christ. They grow up and become high school young people, young adults, college students, whatever, and they are living like the devil. They are not interested in the things of God, they're not interested in the Word of God, they're not interested in living in obedience to Him. We say, at least I take comfort in knowing that they placed their faith in Christ. You understand what James is saying here. They didn't have saving faith, they had demonic kind of faith. What they believed about Christ may have been true, but saving faith will transform a life.

“Are you willing to recognize,” verse 20, “you foolish fellow that faith without works is useless.” It's of no value, it's of no profit. It didn't accomplish anything. He said it was dead, verse 17, in verse 20, it is useless. It can't save you. Why do we come here? Because of Abraham in verse 21. He's going to use Abraham as an example. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” And he's writing to Jews, remember. And all the Jews called Abraham their father. Remember in John 8 when Jesus was debating with the Jews? What did they say? We have Abraham as our father. And the Jewish race began with Abraham. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son, Isaac, on the altar.”

You know there are certain verses of scripture, and you understand how I am saying this, that I would have written differently. And this is one of those. And then verse 24, “you see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” And I say, Lord, you could have saved me much grief if you had just worded that a little differently. There are other verses like that in the Bible—repent and be baptized for the remission of sins. I thought baptism wasn't necessary for salvation. Lord, why did you write it that way? You know the Lord could have cleared this up. I think some of these things are here to allow the unbelievers to be confused and to require us as believers to be diligent in our study of the scripture, that we might demonstrate ourselves approved to God by handling accurately the word of God.

Was not Abraham our father justified, declared righteous, by works. When? When he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. You see that faith was working with his works and as a result of works faith was perfected. And the scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God and was reckoned to him as righteousness. And he was called the friend of God. Lo and behold you know what he uses to prove that Abraham was justified by works? Genesis 15:6, the same verse that Paul used in Romans to prove that Abraham was justified without works. Now you think it stretches us, think about James' readers. They didn't have Romans to go check. They had to get it right with just the book of James. Well stop and think, was not Abraham our father justified, declared righteous, by works when he offered up his son, Isaac, on the altar? And then he is going to quote from Genesis 15:6 in verse 23, “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” And he is called the friend of God. When was Isaac offered on the altar? I believe that's Genesis 22. When was Abraham declared righteous by believing? Genesis 15:6.

Now we just studied Romans 4 and there Paul used the argument, God declared Abraham righteous in Genesis 15. When was Abraham circumcised? Genesis 17. Fifteen-plus years after God declared him righteous, he was circumcised. What did Paul say? Circumcision couldn't have been necessary for Abraham's justification. Now James says Abraham was justified by works when he offered up Isaac on the altar. That's in Genesis 22. That's another 15-20 years after he is circumcised. Thirty-plus years after Genesis 15, after God declared him righteous. Who has it right here?

Luther is well known for declaring that James was a “right strawy epistle” and if he had been making the decision he would have left it out of the canon. But I do have a quote from Luther but I don't have it handy. He did believe that works had a place, not in bringing about our justification, but as a result of our justification. And that's what James is talking about.

You see, verse 22, “that faith was working with his works and as a result of the works faith was perfected,” brought to completion. And the scripture was fulfilled and shown to be true. “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God.” He was called the friend of God in II Chronicles 20:7 and Isaiah 41:8. You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Come back to Hebrews 10. You may say, I don't know if I'm tracking this, but it's important to track it. It's the difference between heaven and hell. We only have to be correct on the fact that salvation is by faith alone in Christ alone, no works part of our becoming saved, being saved. But you must also understand that if you are genuinely saved, saving faith always produces works. In Hebrews 10 the work of Christ in being the Savior, the sacrifice for sins has been presented. Verse 26 tells us, “if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of fire which will consume the adversary.” In other words if you persist in refusing to believe in Christ, there is no other sacrifice for you. You reject the only sacrifice God ever provided. There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. When you refuse to believe in Jesus Christ you've closed the door to salvation. There is on other alternative. People like to say we're traveling different roads but we're all going to the same place. Well, the way to destruction is broad and there are many traveling that road. But there is only one way of salvation. And you reject that, you're on your way to an eternal hell.

He warns them, come down to verse 36, “you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was promised.” You see you are doing the will of God but you have to wait to get what was promised. God has promised me heaven. I'm doing the will of God but I haven't gotten what was promised yet. It will come. “For yet in a very little while He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith.” There is our verse, the righteous shall live by faith. Habakkuk 2:4, “the just shall live by faith.” “And if he shrinks back my soul has no pleasure in him.” We are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul. Genuine saving faith is a persevering faith. It's not just we trust Christ here. Period. Now I'm done. It's true, I came to trust Christ at a point in time. That was the beginning of a life of faith. You enter into life through faith and now you live a life of faith. And those who don't follow through in living a life of faith, they shrink back to the destruction of the soul. Saving faith is a persevering faith. Now don't get it confused. The works are a result of saving faith. They are not part of our being saved, they are a result of having believed and being saved.

So you come to Hebrews 11. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” And whose approval are we going to talk about? God's approval. How do we know? Look at verse 6, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” It's faith in Him, faith in His promises that He will reward with salvation those who believe in Him.

Look at verse 7, “by faith Noah,” then we come to verse 8, “by faith Abraham when he was called to obey God, going out to a place which he was to receive, an inheritance, not knowing where he was going.” In Genesis 10. Abraham called to leave Ur of the Chaldeans, this was his home. Then he went to Haran. Then from Haran he would go to Canaan. You come into chapter 12 you have the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant given to Abraham. You find Abraham in the land of Canaan offering sacrifices to God. Abraham has believed God. And we noted in previous studies, Abraham was saved before Genesis 15:6. He was a man of faith, believing God, pleasing God by believing in Him. Genesis 15:6 becomes the focal point because that's the first time we have believe used in the Old Testament, first time we have faith and righteousness joined together in that clear statement, and it's declared of Abraham. He becomes the focal point. But Abraham had faith before that.

By faith, verse 9,” he lived as an alien in the land of promise as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob and fellow heirs of the promise.” Abraham never did get or own anything there. He lived in a tent. He said, Lord, you have promised me the land of Canaan for my descendants and me, how about if I build a mini-mansion. Lived in tents. All he had was the promise of God. Come down to verse 11, “by faith Sarah herself received ability to conceive beyond the proper time of life and she considered Him faithful who promised. Therefore there was born even of one man and him as good as dead.” So here you have the faith of Sarah, the faith of Abraham, and the result is Isaac. Faith. Therefore, verse 12, will be the fulfillment of the promise. “As the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand of the seashore will their descendants be.”

Then you have some comments about faith. And not having received all that was promised, yet they still believed it. Then verse 17, “by faith Abraham when he was tested offered up Isaac.” Wait a minute, by faith Abraham left his homeland; by faith Abraham lived in the land of Canaan without any permanent residence there; by faith Abraham and Sarah conceived a child Isaac; by faith Abraham offered up Isaac. You see what it is demonstrating? Saving faith results in a life of faith, constantly living by faith because the just shall live by faith. “When he was tested offered up Isaac,” he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son. Abraham had received all these wonderful promises, now God had come through and he had Isaac. Now God says, you take Isaac, and all the promises are dependent upon Isaac having descendants. And you take him and you offer him as a sacrifice to Me. By that sacrifice I mean you kill him on an altar made to Me. What did Abraham do? Packs up, off he goes to offer up Isaac. Now you think Abraham would be having an argument with God here. God, I don't want you putting yourself in a box you can't get out of, but you know it took a long time for Sarah and me to have a son. There is going to be a problem with your promises if I kill him. Don't you think you want to rethink this. What would he be telling God? God, you don't know what you're doing. You know what Abraham did? He got up in the morning, went off to offer Isaac. He has the knife up in the air ready, and the angel of the Lord says, stop, Abraham, you don't have to do it. Abraham ready to do it. What was he thinking? Wouldn't you want to help God out? God, I can't kill Isaac, he's the son of promise. All the descendants come through him that really matter.

You know what Abraham was thinking? Verse 19,” he considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead.” Are you telling me Abraham is thinking, God told me to sacrifice my son, I'm going to run the knife through him and he'll be dead. Then how is God going to fulfill the promise? Well you remember what God did when I believed him before? He gave life to this dead body, He gave life to the dead body of Sarah, we produced Isaac. Do you know what He's going to have to do? I guess He'll have to raise Isaac from the dead. That's believing the promises of God.

Abraham, have you ever seen anybody raised from the dead? No, I don't have to see somebody raised from the dead. I believe in the God who can raise people from the dead, I believe in the God who is able to do what He promises. You see that's the faith. I believe God and the promises God gives.

So you come back to James 2. “Was not Abraham our father justified by works?” Every time Abraham manifested his faith in God by his obedience he could be declared righteous. That's another manifestation of saving faith. He'd been saved prior, but every time he believes in the promises God gives, he is manifesting saving faith and is justified, declared righteous by God. That's not his initial justification, but it's a manifestation of saving faith. So verse 22, “you see that faith was working with his works. As a result of the works, faith was perfected.” It's the fruit that is a result of saving faith. And so the scripture was fulfilled. “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. He is called a friend of God.” This is a life, you know. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things pass away, behold new things have come. He's not just Abraham the man who on that one occasion believed God, he's Abraham the man of faith. By faith he did this, by faith he did that.

You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone. So it depends on where we are. For salvation and initial justification, it's by faith alone. But when you place your faith in Jesus Christ and the promises that God has given concerning Him and are saved by Him, the power of God transforms you. Now you are born again, you are born into God's family. Paul will pick this up in some detail in Romans 6, the transformation that is brought about. That's what James is talking about. He uses Rahab as another example, we don't have time for that.

So you see faith if it doesn't produce works is dead, it is useless because saving faith is a life transforming faith. Come back to Romans 4 as we conclude. How did Paul begin Romans 1:16-17, “I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. In it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as Habakkuk wrote, the just shall live by faith.” So we enter into salvation by faith alone, when we first believe in God and His promises we are declared righteous by Him. You know what? That is the beginning of a life of faith and we trust Him and obey Him and we are declared righteous by Him. And our works manifest His character in us, He declares us righteous, righteous. Does that mean I wasn't really saved before? No, it's a fulfillment of what He said. He declared us righteous, now we live a life of faith. That's a life of obedience.

So when we come to the end of Romans 4, verse 23, having faith credited to us as righteous. It wasn't written for Abraham only, “but for our sakes, to whom it will be credited as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” He the One who was delivered over because of our transgressions, was raised because of our justification. You'll enter into life when you believe in God and His promises concerning Christ. And if you really believe in Him and are saved, you have saving faith, not a demonic kind of faith that you believe facts about Jesus. You can talk about the facts of Christ. But that faith is genuine and has resulted in the power of God changing your life. Your life will be different, you will now live a life of faith. Remember this. I don't want to give false assurance to my grandchildren. I don't want to say, I remember, you believed in Jesus when you were little. I want to tell them if you really believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, your life will be different. You will now be living for Him, you will now be living in obedience to Him. And if they are not I want to be honest. The Bible says your life testifies to the fact you have never truly been saved, because if you are truly saved your life will be changed. You now live a life of faith, you now live in obedience to God because you are trusting Him. And when you are trusting Him you will obey Him. Not to keep ourselves saved, the works, this is the evidence and result of the power of God in salvation in a life. We must be clear. I want to be as clear as I can for my children, for my grandchildren, for those I come in contact with. It's just as serious and fatal an error to have demonic kind of faith and be trusting you are going to heaven because it's by grace through faith and even though my life doesn't give evidence, you can't tell me I'm not saved. I believe. That's just as serious an error as the person who thinks they are going to get to heaven by believing in Jesus and keeping the Ten Commandments, or by believing in Christ and being baptized. They are both fatal, doom you. So we want to be clear. You are saved by grace through faith, believing in God and the promises He has given concerning His Son who died to pay the penalty for our sin and was raised from the dead. And when you really believe in Jesus Christ and are saved by the power of God and He declares you righteous, your life will never be the same. Doesn't mean there won't be stumbles, Abraham stumbled, but the characteristic of your life will be a life of faith, a life of believing and obeying God as the manifestation of His work in your life.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your salvation. Thank you for your patience in unfolding your word so simply and clearly. Lord, it is of utmost importance for time and eternity that we be clear on these matters. How terrible to have a false assurance thinking we are saved when we are doomed to an eternal hell. You have been clear. Salvation, being declared righteous in your courtroom is by faith in Jesus Christ alone. When we have truly trusted Jesus Christ and are saved by your power, our lives will never be the same. We now begin a new life, a life of faith, lived in obedience to you and your word which brings a fruition and fulfillment of what you have said about those who believe in you. Thank you for the greatness of your grace and the power of your salvation. In Christ's name, amen.