Tag: Faith

Morning Musing: Romans 4:16

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“This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We are tribal by nature. We naturally and quickly form ourselves into groups based on pretty much any category imaginable, and then set our group apart from any other group. More than that, we fairly easily set our group against any other group. We see the world very much in terms of us and them. Because of that, when God had created a people through whom He wanted to introduce Himself to the world, they started treating their relationship with Him as something that set them apart from everyone else rather than sharing it as was always His intention. That is, they started to guard it as their own and only their own. But God always intended a relationship with Him to be for everybody. This universal intent lies at the heart of the Gospel. It is also where Paul goes next.

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Morning Musing: Romans 4:13-15

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“For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world  was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Faith is one of the essential ingredients for getting through life and enjoying most of the ride. Assuming on a fairly generic understanding of faith as simple belief in what we cannot see, we definitely don’t go a day and rarely go more than a few moments without it. Sometimes we fool ourselves into buying into the notion that we don’t need faith, but this is little more than playing a game of philosophical Opposite Day where we just stake out whatever is the opposite position the people around us hold. It’s silliness masquerading as seriousness. I wonder if part of the reason faith is such a central aspect to our lives isn’t because God designed salvation to operate on faith. Let’s talk about one reason faith is so essential.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 16:24

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“Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

If someone promised you that you could have everything in your life suited exactly to your desires, would you be interested in what they had to say? Not only that, but they promised that if your desires changed, the state of your situation would change with them. You wouldn’t have to go anywhere you didn’t want to go or do anything you didn’t want to do. I don’t know about you, but that strikes me as likely to be a pretty tempting offer. Well, there is a voice in our world today that makes this kind of an offer to us. This past Wednesday night at Bible study as we were starting to explore Peter’s confession of Jesus as Messiah we chased a rabbit trail for a few minutes that found us talking about this very offer and how it squares with a life spent in pursuit of Jesus. Let’s talk for a few minutes today about convenience and following Jesus.

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Morning Musing: Romans 4:9-12

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“Is this blessing only for the circumcised,  then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith, while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I don’t think I consciously remember a single Sunday school lesson before about sixth grade (and I only remember one from that year). But I do remember my third and fourth grade class quite well. Our teachers brought us Schwartz’s glazed donuts and Tang, and we sang Father Abraham most weeks. It was a silly Sunday school song whose motions we always did backwards such that we wound terribly dizzy by the end of it. But the point of the song was to teach a theologically rich spiritual truth that we find Paul espousing in this next part of his letter.

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Digging in Deeper: Romans 4:1-5

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“What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For all of human history before Jesus, and in every religious movement other than the one bearing His name since, salvation in whatever form it has been imagined has been understood to be the result of things we have done. When we do the right things, we gain the prize of life. We receive the reward of our efforts. What God offers in Christ, however, is radically different from this. And better. As Paul continues in his presentation of the Gospel, he now sets his sights on unpacking how salvation works and why, in spite of what we might have imagined, it has actually always worked the same way.

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