03 Mar Strong Faith

Read: Romans 4:18-25

Last Sunday Pastor Ken preached from Romans 4:17 that true faith believes that God is able to keep his promises. This Sunday he will preach through the rest of the chapter and will consider how true faith believes that God is faithful to keep his promises and believes that God raised Jesus from the dead. As you prepare your heart for our corporate gathering, let these words from Tim Keller further inform you on what is means to have strong faith in God, as seen from the example of Abraham.

Heart Preparation

Paul concludes his consideration of Abraham in Romans 4:17b-25 by presenting him as a case study of real, living faith, for us to follow as his “children.” What does it mean to “believe God”? Abraham shows us it is to do three things:

1. To know that reality is greater than how we feel or how things appear. “He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead” (v 19a). God had promised him descendants (Genesis 12:2, 7), yet he had none: “he was about a hundred years old” and his wife “Sarah’s womb was also dead” (Romans 4:19). Elsewhere, Paul says: “We live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). Faith is not opposed to reason, but it is sometimes opposed to feelings and appearances. Abraham looked at his body and it looked hopeless. But he didn’t go on appearances. This shows us that faith is not simply an optimism about life in general, nor is it faith in oneself. It is the opposite. Faith begins with a kind of death to self-trust. Faith is going on something despite our weakness, despite our feelings and perceptions.

2. To focus on facts about God. Despite the apparent impossibility of the promises being kept, Abraham “gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power” (Romans 4:20-21). This shows that faith is not the absence of thinking, but rather, a profound insistence on acting out of measured reflection instead of just reacting to circumstances. Abraham pondered and considered the power of God. He believed that the God who had promised him a child was “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were” (v 17). We can imagine him reasoning it out: If there is a Creator God at all (and I know there is), he must have all power— there can be no limit to it. God knows Sarah and I are both old, but he’s the One who hung the sun and moon and scattered the stars like sand with both hands! It is ridiculous for me to think our age presents such a being with an obstacle! Faith is thinking about God, focusing on facts about him. We, of course, have far more facts about God to focus on, far greater demonstrations of his love and power. We know that God made Sarah’s barren womb a place of life (Genesis 21:1-2); and we know that, supremely, he raised his own
Son to life. We have far more to go on than Abraham did as we consider who God is, and what he is capable of!

3. To trust the bare word of God. Abraham believed “that God had power to do what he had promised” (Romans 4:21). “Believing God” is not simply thinking about God, but trusting his word. Indeed, it is taking God at his word even when there is nothing else to go on— when feelings, popular opinion, and common sense seem to contradict his promise. It is to look at what God has said, and let that define reality for you.

Abraham shows us the way to strengthen our faith.

1. Get to know a lot more about God! Study, reflect, meditate. Abraham was able to overcome his sense of weakness by reasoning things on the basis of what he knew about God. You need to do the same.

2. Act on God’s promises and word even when it is hard. Faith is living as if these promises are true. For example, you generously give away your money, though that may appear economically risky, because of his promise to care for the generous giver (Malachi 3:9-10). You tell the truth even though it may cost you a friend or favor with a particular circle, because you know it pleases the God who is Lord of history and who holds the hearts of all people in his hands.

Excerpt from Romans 1-7 For You, by Timothy Keller

Song List for Sunday

1. “This I Believe,” Arr. by Shane and Shane
2. “Raise Up the Crown (All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name),” by Chris Tomlin
3. “O Come to the Altar,” Arr. by Shane and Shane
4. “God Is Able,” by Hillsong Live