THE GOSPEL OF
CHRIST
SPREADING THE SOUL-SAVING MESSAGE OF JESUs
(Chapter 4)
Introduction by narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. Spreading the soul-saving message of Jesus. And now, Timothy Sparks and Ben Bailey.
Ben Bailey:
“What does the Scriptures say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted
to him for righteousness” (Rom 4:3) I’m Ben Bailey.
Timothy Sparks:
And I’m Timothy Sparks. Welcome to our study of the Book of Romans. This broadcast is brought to you by individuals and congregations of the churches of Christ. We hope you will visit the churches of Christ in your area, and let them know how much you appreciate their support of this broadcast. If you have a Bible question or a spiritual concern, they would be happy to help you with it. If you would like a Bible study, they also would be glad to assist you with that. We, too, would like to be of service. Visit us on our website at www.thegospelofchrist.com, where we have streaming audio and video lessons of our broadcasts. You may download these and use them to assist you in your study of God’s Word. We also are making available DVDs and CDs of these broadcasts. We will be glad to send any of these to you completely free of charge.
As we begin the Book of Romans, keep in mind that Romans 1:16-17 is the theme and the thesis of the book. Romans 1 teaches that the Gentiles are lost due to their sins. Chapter 2 teaches that the Jews are also lost due to their sins. They were condemning the Gentiles for some of the same sins that they themselves were committing, but the Jews were also lost. Romans 3 teaches us that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Thus, both Jew and Gentile were lost due to sin. That, then, brings us to Romans 4, where we learn about Abraham as a great man of faith, and how he was saved because of his obedience to God.
Ben Bailey:
Abraham is a perfect example of someone whom God called. God called him, and told him to leave the land in which he lived in order to go to a new land. God didn’t even tell Abraham where He was sending him, yet Abraham went anyway. God promised him that through his seed, all nations would be blessed. There is the great “seed promise” that was given to Abraham and his descendants. Abraham was a man who followed God faithfully. There are some important points from Abraham’s life that are going to arise in Romans 4. Paul is going to talk about the seed promise, and how that Abraham and Sarah were advanced in age and past the age of childbearing. Yet God promised them that they were going to have a child. The Bible tells us that they didn’t waver at the promise. They received that promise by faith. They believed God, and waited for God to do what He had told them He would do. This illustration from Romans 4 about the life of Abraham is a wonderful example of what faith is. Some think that faith is a “leap into the dark.” Others think it is something you “just feel.” But biblical faith is actually obedient trust in God. Romans 1:5 and 16:20 speak of “the obedience of faith.” When we see Abraham’s life, and the promise that God had made to him, it was both a promise and a challenge for Abraham.
Timothy Sparks:
God did make a promise to Abraham about “blessing his seed.” But that promise also represented a challenge for Abraham, because he had to obey God if he expected to see the fulfillment of the promise. Only then would he be a recipient of the promise. In Genesis 22:18, God told Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him. Even though God spared the life of Isaac, in Abraham’s own mind he had actually put his son to death because he had raised the knife to kill his son. God, of course, prevented Abraham from doing any harm to Isaac, because it was a test—a challenge. Yet, notice the great promise of Genesis 22:18 (which was based upon the faithfulness of Abraham): “In your seed, all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” The Jews thought through the centuries that they, as Abraham’s descendants, were “the seed.” Yet notice what Paul said in Galatians 3:16 when he wrote, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed, who is Christ.” Christ was the promised seed that God had discussed with Abraham. Whether or not Abraham understood that, he knew that there would be a great blessing—a great promise—that would come to fruition as a result of his faithfulness. As a result of Abraham’s obedience, Christ was able to come into the world through the descendants of Abraham and thus bless you and me with the opportunity to be saved from our sins.
Ben Bailey:
Many of the Jews thought that they were right with God because of circumcision. This concept is buried deeply within the history of Abraham. God gave the promise of circumcision to Abraham. Many of the Jews thought that because they were circumcised, because they were the children of Abraham, they were going to be the ones who received that promise. But as Paul told the Christians of Galatia, it wasn’t seeds (plural), but “seed” (singular—Christ). As Paul said in Romans 4:9-10, it wasn’t because of circumcision that Abraham was righteous. Circumcision was a sign or a seal that he was in a covenant relationship with God. The Jews thought when they were circumcised that this meant they were “the righteous seed.” Yet as Paul pointed out in Galatians 5:6, “in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.” It’s not circumcision that God wants. He doesn’t want us to cut off the outward flesh. Rather, as Joel 2:13 points out, we must rend our hearts to make them pleasing to God. Abraham didn’t receive his salvation wasn’t as a result of the law, but rather of the righteousness faith. There’s the main idea. Salvation is not going to be achieved through law-keeping. Although I must do what God says (just as Abraham had to do what God said), my keeping of the law does not earn or merit my salvation. Yes, I must do what God says. However, I also must have an obedient faith and trust in God. Our keeping of the Gospel does not earn us our salvation. It’s the promise that God gives us by faith. This is what Abraham was trying to get his descendants to see—that they weren’t going to be justified through circumcision, but by keeping faithfully the will of God.
Timothy Sparks:
As we look at Abraham’s constant persistence in wanting to do the will of God, we understand that he was by no means perfect. On certain occasions, we see his weakness. Yet, he certainly did give for us an example that we should follow. This is why Abraham is presented in Hebrews 11 as one of the great Old Testament worthies—one of the great men of faith in whose footsteps we today should follow. We learn from Romans 4:7-8 that we will have a blessing pronounced upon us, too, if we will be faithful. ”Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” This has been called one of the greatest blessings in all of Scripture. God will not impute sin to us if we are faithful to Him. Notice what Romans 4:20 says concerning Abraham’s faithfulness: “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore ‘it was accounted to him for righteousness.’” Abraham believed God when He said that he and Sarah would have a child, even though they were not at the stage in their lives where they should have been able to have a child. Abraham believed that God would be able to bring about what He had promised. Abraham “did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief.” We must not waver, either. Remember James 1:6-8, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” We must not waver; we must not doubt. Rather, we must be fully convinced that God can deliver what he promises, as we learn from Romans 3:4, “Let God be true, but every man a liar.” God is true, and He will follow through on His promises. We must simply do what God has commanded—without questioning or doubting—realizing that there is an eternity that awaits, and that if we comply with God’s will, then we, too, can share that eternity with Him.
Ben Bailey:
When discussing the case of Abraham, many people come to Romans 4 and think they see an example of how we are saved by “faith only.” Yet Abraham really proves exactly the opposite—that “faith only” is not what saves us! Romans 4 is the exact opposite of this idea. Yes, Abraham had faith, but it wasn’t faith only. Abraham was accounted as righteous only when he believed God and had done those things God had commanded. James 2:24 poignantly points out that faith alone can never save anyone. James 2:24 is the only time the phrase “faith only” is ever used in Scripture, and there it is condemned. James says that faith only will not save us! You may have heard of professors in colleges who will ask the question, “What will you take—Romans and Paul, or James?” They seem to think the two stand in stark contradiction to each other. Really, Paul and James are talking about two different kinds of works. In Romans 3 and 4, we see where the Jews thought they were earning their salvation. So, Paul showed them that meritorious works would not save them. Yes, they needed to be like Abraham and have an obedient trust in God (i.e., they did have to do something). But it wasn’t by such acts of obedience (“works”?) that they were saved. James was talking about conditional works—things that we have to do because God told us to do them. There are conditions that I must meet if I’m going to be saved. Everyone would say that you must believe. Yet, did you know that belief is a condition—a work? Jesus said in John 6:29, “This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He sent.” Now, is it a work that God Himself has to do? Of course not! It’s a work from God for us to do. Some people suggest that they are not going to do anything that relates to works. If they believe in Jesus, they have violated their “no works” principle. You see, there are different types of works. There is an important difference evinced in the Bible between meritorious works and conditional works.
Timothy Sparks:
Yes, there certainly is. We see this very clearly from the passage to which you referred in James (2:23). Notice that James says “Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness and he was called the friend of God.” Abraham believed God. Did that mean that Abraham possessed some sort of shallow belief system that said, in essence, “Lord, I believe what you say, but I’m absolutely not going to do anything about it!”? No, that’s not the kind of belief Abraham possessed. Abraham believed God, and then acted upon that belief. “Belief” means “an active, trusting, obedient faith.” Abraham did not believe that he had merited or earned his righteousness (salvation). He knew that God had given him a promise. That promise was based upon something he had already done. What had he done? He had offered up his son Isaac by faithfulness (meaning that he faithfully followed through with what God told him to do). So this promise was given, but Abraham still had to continue to acknowledge and serve the God of Heaven. We need to get away from thinking that we can be saved by works of righteousness. Paul dealt with that when he wrote in Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.” It is through the love, mercy, and grace of God that we are able to comply faithfully with His will. We cannot come to Ephesians 2:8-9 (“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”) and say, “We can’t do anything, there’s nothing we can do.” Nor can we come to Ephesians 2:8-9 and say, “I don’t have anything to do with my salvation, but if I’m going to be saved, then I’ll do it meritoriously.” Paul addresses both of those. Notice that he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Paul stresses that we are saved by God’s grace. But that occurs only when we have complied faithfully with His will. It is at the point of our baptism into Christ that we become God’s workmanship, created in Christ “for good works.” We are then “saved to serve.” Without serving, we cannot continue to be saved because God cannot continue to give us His grace. It’s not a meritorious system. It’s not something that we earn. It’s something that we are able to receive, and it is by obeying God (just as Abraham did) that we receive it. So, as we look at the context of Romans 4, we see that Paul’s comments strike at the heart and core of what the Jews actually believed concerning Abraham.
Ben Bailey:
To those who
thought they were going to earn their works because of their lineage through
Abraham, Jesus said, “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham”
(Lk. 3:8). So it wasn’t the fact that their connection to Abraham was going to
save them. I’m reminded of the idea of grace, conditional works, and meritorious
works. A perfect illustration is the city of
Timothy Sparks:
Notice from 2 Kings 5 the story of Naaman. He is the prime
example of this very thing. Naaman was a leper. He had been told that Elijah
could heal him. He thought that Elijah would come, wave his hand, call on the
name of his God, and cleanse him of his leprosy. Naaman wanted to be cleansed.
He even had a preconceived idea of how he was going to be cleansed. But that’s
not what happened. Whenever Elijah told Naaman that he had to dip seven times
in the River Jordan, Naaman was enraged because he had a preconceived idea of
how he thought he should be cleansed from his leprosy. Then one of his servants
said, “If the man of God had asked you to do something great, wouldn’t you have
done it?” Of course he would have! How much easier is it just
to go be dipped seven times in the River Jordan? Naaman had thought, “There
are cleaner rivers. Why the dirty River
Ben Bailey:
Another good example of grace and salvation can be seen in
Genesis 6. Even in the days of the flood, there was grace wasn’t there? In
Genesis 6:8, we find the Bible saying that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the
Lord.” Even during this horrible time—when God destroyed all people on Earth
except Noah and the seven people who were with him—we see that grace was given
even then. God said, “Build an ark, and I will save you. You get in the boat,
and you’ll be saved.” There’s God’s grace. There’s His gift of salvation. The
people had to hear the preaching of Noah. They had to respond to that preaching.
They had to get in the boat. Then they could be saved from the flood. Now if
they had done those things, when they got in the boat and it started raining, do
you think anyone would stand on the top of that boat and say, “Boy I really
saved myself didn’t I? I earned that.” No, it’s very doubtful that anyone would
think that way. In fact they would probably get down on their hands and knees
and thank God for His salvation. They were saved. Yet, there were conditions
they had to meet. They had to hear. They had to believe. They had to get into
the boat. The same is true today about the plan of salvation. God has given the
gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was crucified between thieves. He died on
To be saved, we have to believe that Jesus truly is God’s Son. Jesus Himself said, “Unless you believe that I am He, you will surely die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). Belief is a work. It’s a conditional work. John 6:29 says that it’s a work for us from God. We also have to repent. We have to make changes in our life. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul said, “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation.” Repentance is not just sorrow. Repentance is a changed will that leads to a changed way. Peter said, “Repent and turn again” (Acts 3:19). We must repent. That’s a condition—something we must do. We also must confess Jesus as the Son of God. In Romans 10:10, we’re told that “with the heart, one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” We must confess Jesus as the lord of our life. He is the risen Savior, and I’m going to be faithful to Him. And then, we also must be baptized in water. Jesus said, “He that believes and is baptized will be saved. He who does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). Jesus said very clearly that Belief plus baptism equals salvation. In Acts 2, after the people who had crucified Jesus asked, “Men and brethren what shall we do?,” Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of your sins.” Now think about this as we think about the plan of salvation. Once I have believed, repented, confessed, and been baptized, do I proudly stand up and say, “I’ve earned my salvation?” No. I can never do that. I’m a sinner. I fall short. I can never go to a cross and sacrifice my own body for my sins. Jesus is the Savior He alone has the right to set the conditions of my salvation. And He has said very plainly what I must do. God does not “owe” us anything. Jesus said, “When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Lk 17:10). I haven’t been profitable in and of myself. Rather, it is only by the grace of God that I’ll ever be saved.
Timothy Sparks:
It is the Gospel that makes our salvation possible. Paul said, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For in it, in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. As it is written, ‘the just shall live by faith’” (Rom. 1:16-17). If we’re going to be righteous in God’s sight, we’re going to have to be obedient to the Gospel. Once we’ve come up out of the watery grave of immersion, having been cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ (the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world—John 1:29), then we can faithfully dedicate our lives to serve Him. He hung on the cross to purchase your redemption and mine. If you had been the only rebellious sinner this world has ever known, Jesus would not have hesitated one moment to die for you. God has so loved us, that He’s given us a plan of salvation. He gave His very Son. Are you willing to give yourself to Him, Who gave Himself for you? Are you willing this day to consecrate and dedicate yourself to God? Why not become a child of God today, so that then you can take the Gospel message and help others to come to a knowledge of the truth so that they, too, might be saved? God is a loving God, patient God. He is not willing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Once we obey the Gospel by believing in Christ, repenting of our sins, confessing Jesus as the Son of God, and then being baptized in water to access His cleansing blood, then we can begin the victorious new life of being a Christian as we continue to study the Scriptures and tell others how to be saved from sin. The Gospel is good news. The good news is that no one has to be lost. People can be saved, and can serve God in this life. Then they can be with Him for all eternity. We hope that you will continue to study the Bible with us. God loves you. He has a plan for you. We urge you to strive to discover more of “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”
Narrator accompanied by a cappella singing:
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1. Romans 1 teaches that the Gentiles were lost due to their sins. Romans 2 teaches that the Jews were lost due to their sins. Who, according to Romans 3, is lost because of their sins?
2. In Romans 4, Paul discussed an example from the Old Testament of “obedient faith.” Who did he use as his example?
3. What did Paul use the person mentioned in question 3 above as an example of obedient faith?
4. In Genesis 22:18, God told Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Who did the Jews think the word “seed” referred to?
5. In Genesis 22:18, who does the word “seed” actually refer to?
6. In this lesson, circumcision is discussed. In the context of Abraham, what did circumcision show?
7. According to Joel 2:13, what must we do to make ourselves pleasing to God?
8. In this lesson, something was mentioned as being “one of the greatest blessings in all of Scripture.” That is that “something”?
9. How do Romans 4:20 and James 1:6-8 relate to each other?
10. How does the example of Abraham disprove the concept of “faith only” salvation?
11. What is the difference between “meritorious works” and “conditional works”?
12. According to John 6:29, believe is a work. What type of work is it?
13. Why was Abraham referred to as “the friend of God”?
14. Discuss meritorious works in light of Titus 3:5.
15. Does Ephesians 2:8-9 teach that there is nothing we can do in the salvation process?
16. What point was Jesus trying to get across to the Jews when He said that God could “raise up children of Abraham” from mere stones (Lk. 3:8)?
17. In the case of Naaman the leper, what important point is taught in regard to his “obedience of faith”
18. Jesus said, “When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’” (Lk 17:10). What was His point?
THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST,