LISTEN

This sermon was preached by Andy Brownlee at the Ladybarn site of Christ Church Manchester on Sunday 25th March 2018.

SERIES

This message was part of the ‘SERIES NAME’ series, preached at Christ Church Manchester’s church in Withington in EARLY/MID/LATE YEAR. The full series included the following sermons:

• Sermon 1
• Sermon 2
• Sermon 3

BIBLE VERSES

This sermon was based on Romans 4:1-15.

Abraham Justified by Faith

1What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6just 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.”

9Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11He 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, 12and 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.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13For 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. 14For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

KEY POINTS

Not through good works

• Abraham’s works did not make him righteous; ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited him as righteousness’.
• God’s grace is a gift, not a wage. God justifies us as a gift, not as something that we have earned, not as something that we deserve.
• If you’re a believer, like David in Psalm 22, then God does not count your sins against you.

Not through religious rituals

• The Jews of Paul’s day thought that circumcision was an automatic passport to heaven. This is wrong for two reasons.
• God made Abraham righteous before he was circumcised, because of his belief, not because of the religious ritual.
• Circumcision is merely a sign, not the cause. Like Health Certification stickers on food, it is not the sticker that makes the food right. It is just a sign.

Not through keeping the law

• Abraham lived 430 years before the law, through Moses, was given to the Israelites. And yet he was justified by God.
• That’s because Abraham was not justified by the law, as many of the Jews acted as if he was.
• The purpose of the law was not to save anyone; the purpose of the law was to prove that we needed saving.

Through faith

• This does not contradict James — James is talking about growing in faith; Paul is talking about faith that saves
• We are saved by faith, as Abraham was, but our faith should then lead to action
• We are accepted by God by our faith, but out faith is demonstrated by our obedience.

MORE SERMONS

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