Faith Overrules the Rules

Learning from Abraham’s Trust in God (Romans 4)

In our study on Romans 4:13-25, we focused on a few significant points:

1. You Can’t Earn God’s Gift — Trying to contribute to God’s gift by good behavior, rule-following, or religious effort nullifies or voids grace. Like paying for a birthday gift, it ruins the nature of the gift.
2. Rule-Keeping Doesn’t Restore Relationship — We’ve all learned that following rules is how we succeed in everyday life. Still, it mis-trains us for relating to God. Abraham was justified before any laws were given. Trust and taking God at his word is what restores us, not performance.
3. Faith Means Trusting God’s Promise, Not Your Effort — Abraham’s faith grew by being in God’s presence, believing God could do the impossible, and focusing on specific promises not general hopes. You can be confident, not because of the quality of your faith but also because of the quality of your savior.
4. Our Sin Is a War Crime, Not a Minor Debt  — Sin isn’t just a manageable mistake; it’s rebellion against God’s reign, like launching a war. Jesus not only paid the debt but also cleaned up the wreckage and offered the rebuilt world as a gift. That’s grace.

Like all passages in Romans, this passage contains more than we can discuss in a single sermon. And many great questions are asked about the passage. We’ll cover several of them below.

Romans 4:13-25 (ESV)

¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For 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 there is no transgression. ¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸ In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness^[a] of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹ fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²² That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³ But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

When was Abraham promised that he would be “heir of the world?”  (vs. 13)

Genesis 17:8 gives one key promise:

“And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 

Land is promised to Abraham’s descendants but not the land of the entire world.  However, in the incident where Abraham showed his trust in God by being willing to give up that one son who was born, we do see that one of Abraham’s offspring is specially identified as one who will bring blessing to all the nations of the earth:

And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 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, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” Genesis 22:15-18 (ESV) 

So we have a special descendant who will bring blessing to the whole world; with other prophecies, we learn this one will be the Anointed one, the Hebrew “Messiah,” the “Christ” as translated in Greek.  So, the Messiah is a descendant of Abraham.

Psalm 2 is a song of the Messiah and describes the promise of Yahweh, the LORD, giving this descendant the ownership of the world.

“I will tell of the decree:

The LORD said to me, “You are my Son;

today I have begotten you.

Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,

and the ends of the earth your possession.” Psalms 2:7-8

So we see here that God promised Abraham a descendant who would inherit the whole earth! 

What can we discern about the promise made to Abraham (vs.13)?

A Promise Without the Law. God’s promise was made without the law. If the promised inheritance belongs to “adherents of the law,” then the promise is nullified or voided. The promise to Abraham, and us, is in effect because it’s based on his and our faith (vs. 14); if it were based on a righteousness that comes by observance of the law, the promise wouldn’t have worked. Paul says that even if there was ONE RULE you had to keep to be declared righteous, then the promise would be void.

When observance to any law is the standard, it only shows how we fail to do it, and so it just leads to punishment, the wrath of God (vs. 15).  I believe Paul is making the point that the promise was given to Abraham. His response of trusting God came first, so that the promise – including the coming Messiah – has nothing at all to do with the law. Without any law, there’s no disobedience! Abraham was outside the system of law-keeping or law-breaking when God made him the promises. God revealed his law to us to show us that we can’t keep any law perfectly. Abraham lived in a time when God had not made his law clear.

A Promise is Guaranteed Because It’s a Gift. The promise is sure and certain because it is a gift from God.

The Promise is Not to Physical Descendants. The promise is to “the one who shares the faith of Abraham.” So the “offspring” of Abraham that receive the promise are not identical to the physical heirs, but to those who share the same faith of Abraham.

Is it wrong to consider real-world limitations, or does faith operate despite them? (vs.19)

Abraham absolutely considered his weaknesses: the “deadness” of his and Sarah’s natural reproductive abilities. He simply considers God’s ability to create life a more relevant and overriding truth. 

Your confidence in an airplane is greater than the weakness of your personal ability to fly. But you have to believe the airplane truly can fly you. Suppose you focus exclusively on your own inability to fly and dismiss the capabilities of an airplane. In that case, you’ll never get the benefits of the airplane.

Psalms 68:35 (ESV) says:

“Awesome is God from his sanctuary;

the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.

Blessed be God!”

When God chooses to do so, he can give us capacity.

It is wise to be realistic about your limitations and capabilities, but it is even more important to evaluate God’s ability, his power, and his promises. The Apostle Paul came to learn that God had brought him through extremely perilous circumstances to make him rely not on himself, but rather on God (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). 

Is Paul being literal or rhetorical when he says Abraham was “as good as dead”? (vs. 19)

Paul uses this wording to say that Abraham’s body was “to be dead” (as translated in KJV and NET) or “to be as good as dead” (as translated in ESV, NASB among others). 

The “deadness” seems to refer mostly to Abraham’s bodily ability to have children. In that sense, a 100-year-old man is dead. 

Looking at Abraham’s unwise actions in life, how can Paul say “no unbelief made him [Abraham] waver concerning the promise of God?” (vs. 20)

Professor Douglas Moo says that, despite momentary doubts, Abraham generally trusted God:

The alert reader of Genesis may ask whether this is really true. For Genesis 17:17 tells us that Abraham “laughed” at one point when he was told of God’s promise about having a son. Jewish interpreters — and some Christians — have tried to get around this apparent failure by insisting that Abraham’s laughter was one of joy. But this is not the case. What Paul is claiming is that Abraham, overall, maintained a firm conviction in God’s promise and acted on it. He had his momentary doubts, it is true, but they were momentary and always overcome by his faith in the God who had promised. By doing so, Abraham glorified God, because he took him at his word (4:20b – 21).

Professor Robert Mounce (1921-2019) says that these doubts and questions, even laughing incredulity at God’s Good News, are to be expected even as someone grows in faith:

Abraham faced the fact that he and Sarah were beyond the age of bearing children, yet he never wavered in his confidence in the promise of God (v. 20). It is true that he fell to the ground in laughter at the idea of bearing a son at his age (Gen 17:17), but that did not qualify as a departure from faith. God does not expect us to blandly assume the miraculous. The idea struck Abraham as somewhat ridiculous, but he believed it anyway. Instead of “wavering” or hesitating in his confidence in God (diakrino, “to be divided in one’s own mind”), Abraham’s faith was strengthened through the ordeal. As muscles develop when kept in tension, so was Abraham’s faith strengthened by the experience he was going through. His faith rose to the occasion, and Abraham “gave glory to God.” He praised him for who he was and what he would do.

Scottish pastor F.F. Bruce cites numerous examples of Abraham’s unwise behavior. Still, he reminds us that God is the one who held and strengthened Abraham’s faith.

It is a bit disconcerting, however, to read Paul’s interpretation that Abraham did not weaken in faith beside portions of the Genesis narrative. In Genesis, Abraham protests to God (Gen. 15:2–3), twice allows Sarah to be taken into a king’s harem (Gen. 12:11–20; 20:1–18), tries to procure the promised heir through Hagar instead of Sarah (Gen. 16:1–6) and laughs at God’s promise of a son (Gen. 17:15–17). Paul notes, however, that Abraham ‘was strengthened in his faith’ (NIV), a divine passive which refers to God as the agent of strengthening. Abraham cannot take credit for this strengthening of his faith. Being fully convinced that God would do what he had promised is also in the passive voice. With the clock ticking and time running out for him and Sarah, Abraham did not convince himself that God would be faithful and fulfill the promise. God convinced him. What Paul says of his own experience, that ‘the Lord stood by me and gave me strength’, enabling him to carry out his charge to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles despite harrowing obstacles (2 Tim. 4:17), also applies to Abraham’s struggles during long years of waiting. When Abraham was dogged by misadventures, God made his faith dogged and relentless. As a result, Abraham gave to God the glory that the Gentiles had withheld (Rom. 1:21, 23).

What can we learn about “faith” from this passage of Romans?

IT IS LOOKING AWAY FROM SELF. Abraham could have focused on his weakness, old age, and limitations (vs.19).  But this inward focus would have weakened him. So we see faith is looking AWAY from yourself and looking toward something trustworthy. If you’re worried about what you can do, about your past, or about your ability to understand, then you’re focusing on yourself, and it will weaken your faith.

IT IS BASED ON CLEAR WORDS OF GOD. Abraham had been given very specific promises – a child, many descendants, and an heir who would someday rule the whole world.

Martin Bucer, Reformation pastor and professor (1491-1551),  reminds us that if we are not certain God has said something, then we shouldn’t have faith in it:

Let us here take note that “faith” means to lay hold of the words of God in the simplest manner possible, without any questioning and without passing judgment on it. … It is, therefore, enough for us if he should say something; it is enough that it is promised. Whatever kind of promise it may be, however difficult it may be for you, remember it is God who spoke and brought all things into existence.

We ought, however, to investigate just as religiously what God has said. If it is not certain that he said something, there is nothing else for faith to hang on to. In this case the whole mind and all our powers must be strained toward that to which he summons us. But even in this endeavor Satan employs his devices and with even the very least of the things that God has said he displaces God’s sayings with his own lies. There are an endless number of things that have to be expressed not only by a limited number of words but by only the barest few. There are as a result many ambiguous things in the Scriptures. It is everywhere necessary to interpret one thing in light of another. Satan’s abuse is such that he often persuades us that something diametrically opposed to God’s Word is the very Word of God itself, fetched as it is, though in a depraved manner, from the sacred text. For this reason, God must be always diligently entreated to guard a simplicity within us and to strengthen the soul that seriously seeks his will. Thus all things will be clear, and he will straightway illuminate the mind so that it inclines toward his intended meaning.

IT ONLY MAKES SENSE IF YOU TRUST THE PROMISE. Abraham “against hope” (vs. 18), which means (I believe) that for Abraham and Sarah, their natural hope of having children was exhausted. She was 90; he was 100. If they ignored God, nothing about their natural logic would have led them to think they were to have children. So by trusting God, they were trusting in the exceptional promises of God.

FAITH CAN GROW STRONG. Faith can grow stronger  (vs. 20).  It grows when you focus on the specific promises of God. Faith grows when you respond by trusting him. And faith leads you to respect the good that God is and to respect what he’s doing.

FAITH IS NOT A WORK.  It would be easy to misread this text (vs. 22) to say that God looks at Abraham’s faith, and that faith itself is what was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 

Cash can be “deposited” in an account, but when the same thing happens with righteousness, it’s called “imputed.”  The righteousness of God is imputed to you, and the way you connect to it is by faith.

What do we learn about God himself in this passage?

This passage teaches us several beautiful truths about our loving Father. 

LIFE GIVER. He’s the God who gives life to the dead. Abraham and Sarah having physical children proved that God was the God who brings life from the dead! (vs.17).  And what do you know – God does it again. He raises Jesus from the dead to make us right with God (vs. 24-25).

CREATOR. He’s the God who creates – he calls the things that are not as though they were (vs.17). The lack of raw materials is not a limitation.

CAPABLE (vs. 21).  He’s the God who is ‘able to perform.’  How did Abraham grow strong in belief? He was fully assured that God could do what he had promised (vs. 21). 

PROMISE-MAKER (vs. 21). He is the God who will do  ‘what he had promised.’ God communicates his promises. Abraham didn’t just hope for something he desired. Abraham didn’t “speak a word of faith,” as if his own faith was the key to it all. God was the key, and God communicated his plans to Abraham.

WORTHY OF GLORY (vs. 20). Abraham recognized that God himself, not Abraham, was the one worth honoring. Professor James G. D. Dun writes that “Abraham did what man in his primal sin failed to do, which is to live in total trust and dependence on God; by giving the proper response of a creature to the creator, which is trust, he glorified God.”

CREDITOR (vs. 23-24). God is keeping score. The damage Abraham did as well as the damage you and I have done has created a debt. God knows what we owe.

Wasn’t Jesus’s death the act that paid the penalty for our sin? Why is Jesus’s resurrection related to our justification? (vs. 25)

Jesus was turned over to be beaten and killed on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. Then verse 25 says he was “raised for our justification,” and this may be the clearest place in the Bible that links your justification, your “not guilty” verdict, with the resurrection of Jesus. Paul is saying that God the Father raised Jesus from the dead, and he was saying he approved of Jesus’s act as complete. It fully satisfied the penalty of sin for all who would trust in Jesus.

Pastor John Piper explained it this way:

I take that to mean that when Jesus died for our transgressions, a full and sufficient payment was made for our forgiveness and justification. Therefore, it would have been unjust to leave Christ in the grave, since he had so fully paid for our sin. So God raised him from the dead to vindicate the perfection of Christ’s atonement and obedience. The resurrection of Jesus was the declaration that what he accomplished in his death was flawlessly successful, namely, the purchase of our justification.

Maybe we could say it like this: When Christ died and shed his blood for our transgressions he atoned for the sins that killed him. Since those sins are now covered and paid for, there is no reason for Christ to remain dead. His death was solely to pay for our sins. When they were perfectly paid for, there remained no warrant for his death anymore. It would be unjust to keep him in the grave. He could not stay in the grave, “it was impossible for Him to be held in its power” (Acts 2:24).

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash