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[Discussion Questions] [Solid Ground-Home]
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ReviewSpin up:
ESV Romans 4:1 What then shall we say was
gained by Abraham, our forefather according to
the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was
justified by works, he has something to boast
about, but not before God. 3 For what
does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed
God, and it was counted to him as
righteousness."
This is a good place to wrestle with the faith and
works issue, especially since both Paul and
James turn to Abraham as an example.
ESV James 2:17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith and I
have works." Show me your faith apart from
your works, and I will show you my faith by my
works. 19 You believe that God is
one; you do well. Even the demons believe- and
shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown,
you foolish person, that faith apart from works
is useless? 21 Was
not Abraham our father justified by works when
he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active
along with his works, and faith was completed by
his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham
believed God, and it was counted to him as
righteousness"- and he was called a
friend of God. 24 You see that a
person is justified by works and not by faith
alone.
Notice how Paul appeals to Gen 15 and James appeals to
Genesis 22, and specifically how the events of
Gen 22 fulfill the work of God in Gen 15
(justification by faith):
ESV Genesis 15:6 And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
ESV Genesis 22:16 and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have
done this and have not withheld your son, your
only son, 17 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, 18 and in your
offspring shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."
Justified by Works?
In
the sight of God Abraham is justified in Gen.
15, long before he offers Isaac on the altar. God knew Abraham’s faith to be genuine. Abraham is justified to us, to human
eyes, in Gen.22 when he shows his faith through
his obedience. Jesus used the same verb in Luke 7:35
when he declared “wisdom is justified by all
her children” (i.e. shown to be genuine wisdom
by its results). Here, to “justify” does not mean to
be reconciled to God but to demonstrate the
truth of a prior claim. Just as true wisdom s demonstrated by its
fruit, Abraham’s claim to faith is justified
by his outward obedience. [The Reformation Study Bible notes on James 2:21, p. 1803]
Justification is by
faith alone, but justifying faith can never be
alone.
ESV Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, his
wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just
as David also speaks of the blessing of the one
to whom God counts righteousness apart from
works: 7 "Blessed are those
whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins
are covered; 8 blessed is the man
against whom the Lord will not count his
sin."
Faith (equated with trust in verse 5) is counted as righteousness—this
is grace (undeserved favor), not something owed,
something we are blessed to receive.
ESV Romans 4:9 Is this blessing then only
for the circumcised, or also for the
uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to
Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then
was it counted to him? Was it before or after he
had been circumcised? It was not after, but
before he was circumcised. 11 He
received the sign of circumcision as a seal of
the righteousness that he had by faith while he
was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make
him the father of all who believe without being
circumcised, so that righteousness would be
counted to them as well, 12 and to
make him the father of the circumcised who are
not merely circumcised but who also walk in the
footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham
had before he was circumcised.
ESV Romans 4:13 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 of Sarah's womb.
“heir of the world” –drawn from Gen 15, 17, & 22. Christ (the seed of Abraham Gal 3:16) has begun inheriting the earth.
ESV Galatians 3:16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not
say, "And to offsprings," referring to
many, but referring to one, "And to your
offspring," who is Christ
ESV Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. 19 Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit,
This
promise preceded Moses (Law) by 430 years. It includes more than Abraham’s
physical seed.
the
God … who gives life to the dead and calls
into existence the things that do not exist—Biblical
faith is founded on good rational reasons, they
are NOT blind leaps of “faith.” He goes on:
ESV Romans 4:20 No distrust 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.
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