Greetings and welcome to all present and online, in America and abroad. Today we continue our study in Paul’s letter to the Romans, in the fourth chapter, last week we asked the question: Do the Scriptures teach that the salvation that God has provided for all mankind is given as a free gift totally apart from works or the keeping of the Law? Also, Just why is there such a great misunderstanding in the conflict between salvation by faith alone and salvation by faith plus works? Let us continue this examination of what the Bible teaches about what a proper reaction to God’s salvation should be from those to whom it is provided. Turn with us to the fourth chapter of Romans, and listen as we gain some insight into this great chapter with a message that our Pastor Landis Fisher has titled: “The Model of Saving Faith”
Old Testament Scripture Reading: Joshua 2:8 – 15 (NASB)
Josh 2:8 Now before they lay down, she came up to them on the roof,
Josh 2:9 and said to the men, “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.
Josh 2:10 “For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed.
Josh 2:11 “And when we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the LORD your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.
Josh 2:12 “Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father’s household, and give me a pledge of truth,
Josh 2:13 and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.”
Josh 2:14 So the men said to her, “Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you.”
Josh 2:15 Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the city wall, so that she was living on the wall.
New Testament Scripture Reading: Romans 4:7 – 17 (NASB)
Rom 4:7 “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.
Rom 4:8 “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”
Rom 4:9 Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS RECKONED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Rom 4:10 How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;
Rom 4:11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them,
Rom 4:12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
Rom 4:13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
Rom 4:15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
Rom 4:16 For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
Transforming Power Statements:
#1) Because of the doctrine of ‘original sin’ cleansing and forgiveness can only be done by God; and must also, therefore be by grace and not works, because no amount of works or Law keeping can be retro-active.
#2) Furthermore, because even when we have been saved, since we are not ‘omniscient, we still commit sin and break God’s Law and need continual forgiveness and cleansing along the way.
#3) These facts apply to Jews as well as to Gentiles and the Scriptures prove that God has and does grant pardon to both the circumcised and uncircumcised as well and that He always has for all who have faith in the likeness of Father Abraham, and even before.
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