The Authentic Faith of Abraham - Romans 4:17-25

Introduction to Romans 4:17-25

We saw last week that Abraham was declared righteous before he was circumcised. In Gen 15:6, he believed God when God told him that he would have his own offspring. In Gen 17, God promised that he would be the father of many nations.

Then Abraham was circumcised and the significance of the circumcision was that it is a sign that points to the confirmation that Abraham was indeed declared righteous by faith before he was circumcised.

Hence, he could be the father of all believers, both Jews and Gentiles.

His universal fatherhood was based on the promise that God gave to him that he should be the father of a multitude of nations, hence the phrase “heir of the world.” This promise came by faith, not by keeping the law.

And it rests on God’s unmerited favor to us.

Now if we can become children of Abraham by having his faith and not having to be circumcised, then we need to understand the kind of faith that Abraham had.

So in today’s passage of Romans 4:17-25, Paul is going to describe the nature of Abraham’s faith.

I. Abraham’s God-Centered Faith (4:17-22)

The last phrase in v. 16 is that Abraham is the father of us all.

A. Abraham Took God at His Word (4:17a)

And once again, the basis is on the promise God made to Abraham back in Gen 17:5 when God changed his name from Abram to Abraham: “No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.”

This promise shows that Abraham’s universal fatherhood over all the nations was God’s original intention all along.

But the emphasis moves from Abraham’s universal fatherhood to the nature of Abraham’s faith.

If Abraham by his faith becomes the father of all people, and if his faith is counted to him as righteousness, then it would be important to observe the nature of his faith.

It is also important because unless we have the kind of faith that Abraham had, the faith that is counted as righteousness to us, we wouldn’t be Abraham’s children, and more importantly, we wouldn’t be God’s children.

And it is not just any kind of faith, as we shall see.

Authentic faith believes that God is totally trustworthy.

B. Abraham Believed in a Powerful God (4:17b)

The outstanding thing to note was how God-centered Abraham’s faith was.

This is the God who has the power to raise the dead, and to call into existence the thing that does not exist. This is the omnipotence of God: God is all-powerful.

And if God can do these things, what is giving Abraham a child of his own? Abraham believed that God alone could do the impossible.

If God can give life to the dead, we probably take it in a physical sense. The greatest demonstration of this is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead (cf. v. 25).

But it is also true that God gives spiritual life to the spiritually dead.

And just as God alone resurrects a dead body, so God alone gives spiritual life to the spiritually dead.

God is also able to call into existence what once did not exist. This speaks of the creative power of God. God alone is able to create something out of nothing.

God’s power is demonstrated in the most amazing way through His ability to resurrect the dead and to create out of nothing and this is the God in whom Abraham believed.

Authentic faith trusts in a God that is powerful to resurrect and create out of nothing.

C. Abraham Had Confident Expectation in God (4:18)

It is helpful here to differentiate between human hope and divine hope.

Human hope is not guaranteed 100% to come to pass.

You can hope to do well in your exams, but can you guarantee that it will 100% come to pass? No.

You hope to get the promotion at work, but there is no guarantee.

Human hope is not a guaranteed thing. But divine hope is totally different; it will most certainly happen because it is from God. That is why we use the term confident expectation to explain divine hope.

If God told Abraham, “so shall your offspring be,” as the stars in the sky, then it would certainly be.

Authentic faith confidently expects God to fulfill His will.

D. Abraham’s Faith Was Not Hindered by External Circumstances (4:19)

Literally Abraham’s body was as good as dead, and notice “the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” Abraham’s situation could have potentially weakened his faith in God.

But once again, Abraham does not allow what he can see, his old age, Sarah’s barrenness, to weaken his faith in God.

Faith is in the unseen, not in the seen.

Abraham does not waver, he does not doubt, despite these humanly impossible situations.

What are the various obstacles in your life that may potentially cause you to weaken in faith? Are you looking at your physical condition, your health, your bank account? Don’t you know that these obstacles are designed by God to test whether you would believe Him or not.

Think about it, if there are no obstacles in life, why would you need to believe God?

If the road to your destination is nicely paved and you can see your final destination, why would you need faith?

But when you can’t see the way ahead, and in fact, you are not even sure that the path you are on is the right one, and there are all kinds of obstacles ahead, that is when you cry out to God, Lord, this is impossible for me to do in my own strength.

Authentic faith focuses on God’s power instead of man’s weakness.

E. Abraham’s Faith Grew as He Gave Glory to God and Maintained Full Confidence in God (4:20-21)

Rather than causing a weakening of Abraham’s faith or doubting, Abraham’s faith grew as he gave glory to God.

How was his faith strengthened?

By his giving glory to God.

Once again, we see Abraham’s God-centered faith. What does it mean for Abraham to give God the glory? It means that he trusted in God alone to carry out His promise as the resurrecting and creating God.

We saw earlier in 1:21-23 that the fundamental sin of man is his failure to give God the glory. In 1:25 he worships the creature rather than the Creator.

On the contrary, a faith that glorifies God is one that humbly acknowledges that life must be lived in total dependance on God.

What is required is trust in God’s Word.

A second way by which Abraham’s faith was strengthened was that he was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised (v. 21).

Once again, we see a God-centered faith.

We would do well to remind ourselves that Abraham’s faith was not in faith, but in God. It is not that Abraham’s faith was powerful, but that God is powerful and Abraham put his faith in God.

Authentic faith grows strong by glorying God and being convinced of His reliability.

F. Abraham’s Faith was Counted to Him as Righteousness (4:22)

This is the kind of faith that is needed in order for God to impute His righteousness to Abraham.

The kind of faith that trusts in God’s power, and not in one’s external circumstances, a faith that gives glory to God and steadfastly clings to God’s promises.

That is the kind of faith in God that he would count as righteousness.

Authentic faith acknowledges that salvation comes only from God.

Translation

The significance of the description of Abraham’s faith is that we should walk in the footsteps of the faith of Abraham our father.

II. The Relevance of Abraham’s Faith for Us (4:23-25)

It is interesting to look at Abraham’s faith, but there is a reason why Paul is telling us all these things.

A. Righteousness Counted to Us in the Same Way It Was Counted to Abraham (4:23-24)

What is that way? Faith.

Abraham was counted righteous by faith and we are also counted righteous by faith. And when people put their faith in God, God is fulfilling his promise to Abraham of making him a father of a multitude of nations.

Therefore, there is no difference in the way the OT people and NT people are saved; both groups are saved by faith alone.

The question is, did Abraham put his faith in Jesus?

Let me attempt to answer that with the following points:

1. God’s plan of redemption is progressive in nature.

God used Abraham as His instrument where eventually, the lineage leads to Christ.

Abraham believed God’s promises, and that promise culminates in Christ who is the ultimate fulfillment of that promise God made to Abraham. This is confirmed by Gal 3:6-9.

2. Jesus says in John 8:56, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.”

The content of Abraham’s faith included Christ.

3. Abraham could know that his descendant would reverse the curse caused by sin.

“I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, 18 and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice” (Gen 22:17–18).

4. Abraham already believed in God who has power to give life to the dead (v. 17, cf. vv. 24-25).

That was also why he was so ready to sacrifice Isaac.

“By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, 18 of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 19 He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back” (Heb 11:17–19).

So how will righteousness be counted to you?

When you believe in God who raised His Son from the dead (cf. 10:9-10).

This is also a God-centered faith.

It is faith in a powerful God who is able to raise the Christ who died to life. And since Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no man can come to the Father except through Him.

A belief in God has to include a belief in His Son.

And Jesus came into the world to reveal God to us. As our Lord told Philip, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn 14:9).

B. The Faith that Saves is a Faith in the Person and Work of Christ (4:25)

We have seen that Abraham’s faith is God-centered. But since Christ came to fulfill His Father’s promise to Abraham, our faith is Christ-centered.

Once again, saving power is not found in our faith but in the object of our faith, faith in God who has the power to raise the dead and create something out of nothing.

Why is Christ our object of faith? Because, first, He was delivered up for our transgression. This has allusions to Isa 53.

“But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5).

The One who delivered Jesus up to transgression is none other than God Himself.

“He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Rom 8:32).

God delivered Jesus up for our transgression so that we might receive forgiveness of sin.

The promises made to Abraham became a reality through Jesus Christ.

But Jesus wasn’t just delivered up for our transgression, He was also resurrected for our justification.

Notice the implication if Christ was not raised from the dead: “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Co 15:17).

So Jesus’ resurrection secures our justification. Jesus’ death and resurrection was the ultimate fulfillment of the promise of universal blessing God made to Abraham.

Saving faith is a faith rooted in the person and work of Christ because Jesus saves.

Conclusion

How is your faith today? Our study of the faith of Abraham gives us a good opportunity to do a checkup on our own faith.

For Personal Reflection

1. Which aspect of your faith do you find lacking as compared to the faith of Abraham?

2. How has the growth of Abraham’s faith throughout his life been an encouragement for all of us as believers?

3. Why is it necessary to believe that Christ rose from the dead?