Romans: Faith of Abraham: Faith Unseen

As I noted last month, this chapter is a discussion by Paul that centers around the subject of salvation by faith and not of works or the law.

I divided it into four paragraphs/subjects. We looked at the first two last month, and we will look at the last two this month. The four subjects are:

The Faith of Abraham: vs 1-8
Faith for Both the Jew and the Gentile: vs 9-16
Faith Yet Unseen: vs 17-22
Faith for You and Me: 23-25

Let’s dig in and examine these last two subjects in Chapter 4 that Paul discussed in his letter to the Romans.

Faith Yet Unseen

Jesus said blessed are those who believe and have not seen to Thomas when he believed after he had examined the wounds in Christ’s body (John 20:29). Therefore, Paul is using the example of Abraham and his belief in God’s promise to provide an heir through Sarah even though they are both very old. Faith unseen described in terms of what our normal eyes and course of life would accept as real or possible.

Romans 4:16-22:

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Verse 16 Notes: “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,”

Romans 1:16-17: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith.”

Faith: pistis: “persuasion, that is, credence; moral convictions (of religious truth, or the truthfulness of God or a religious teacher), especially reliance upon Christ for salvation; abstractly constancy in such profession; by extension the system of religious (Gospel) truth itself: – assurance, belief, believe, faith, fidelity” (Strong’s G3982).

Grace: charis: “graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especialy the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy)” (Strong’s G5484).

Sure: bebaios: “(through the idea of basality); stable (literally or figuratively): – firm, of force, stedfast, sure” (Strong’s G949).

What does this verse tell us?
- Abraham is our father of faith to ALL who believe
- Faith is given to us by God’s grace
- Faith is a sure foundation on which to stand
- All the spiritual seed will partake of the promise

Verse 17 Notes: “(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.”

Genesis 17:1-7:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Putting the hey in Abraham: Abram was changed to Abraham: In Hebrew abram (aleph, beth, resh, mem) became abraham (aleph, beth, resh, hey, mem). In ancient Hebrew, the hey was “written” as a profile of a head with the throat emphasized. The hey is used to say many things and is pronounced with a lot of breath.

Hey can represent the breath of the Holy Spirit. Adding the hey to Abram’s name bespeaks several things: faith, power of the Holy Spirit, look here – something important to see. With mem at the end, look at the many nations that will flow from him!

Sarai was changed to Sarah: (shin, resh, yod) turned into (shin, resh, hey).

Read John 16:7-15: the Holy Spirit points only to Christ.

Verse 18 Notes: “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.”

Abraham was ninety which he received the promise again and his name was changed. He was one hundred when Isaac was born (Genesis 21:5: “And Abraham was a hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him.”)

He was without hope at ninety and even at ninety-nine when the Lord and two angels visited before they destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. But after the visit, it seems something changed. He had hope!

Verse 19 Notes: “And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:”

Read this verse carefully. Abraham’s body was sexually dead, had most likely been so for many years. Sarah’s body was unable to reproduce, and the way of women had long left her.

These did not cause Abraham to stumble in that last year. He had a hope that, frankly, should have been against all hope, or we could say against all odds, or a trillion or even infinity to one chance that they would have a son. Unbelievable! Faith that God’s promise was, indeed, going to happen!

Sarah was 127 years old when she died, Abraham would have been around 137 years old at her death.

Genesis 25:1-2: “Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.”

Genesis 25:7: “And these are the days of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years.” One hundred seventy-five years.

So, Abraham had eight sons all together. But the son of promise was Isaac.

Clearly, Abraham got quite a boost to his “dead” body. He lived seventy-five years after Isaac was born and had six more sons.

Verse 20-22 Notes: “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.”

Father of many nations: Did he ever see that with his physical eyes? He, despite having never seen the fulfillment of the “end of the promise”, did these three things:
- Stayed strong in his faith in God.
- Gave glory to God for the promises.
- Stayed fully persuaded that God would perform them.
- These three elements gave him what he needed to never waver, never stagger, never stop believing.

Stagger: diakrino: separate thoroughly, doubt, discriminate, to hesitate, waver (Strong’s G1252).

Romans 1:17: The phrase “from faith to faith” is in Greek is ek pisteos eis pistin. Ek is preposition genitive, pisteos is noun genitive singular feminine, eis is preposition, and pistin is noun accusative singular feminine (Gilbrant).

Start with the faith that God has given you right now.

Focus on the faith you do not have as yet – that prize of the high calling.

Now, by living by faith, grow from the faith you have to greater and greater faith as you walk with Christ and He matures you.

The just shall live by faith: This last phrase summarizes what Paul has as a goal, I believe, for his whole letter.

The reader is to start with a saving faith.

The doctrines and teachings he is about to share are meant to help the reader to grow in faith as he/she moves from faith to faith.

The reader is then meant to continue to live out their new Christian life by faith, a growing faith.

The just: Anyone who is saved and becomes justified before God through a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

Shall live: conducting the business of living: grow up, grow old, work, family, serve, worship, buy and sell, etc.

By faith: By the faith that he/she already has, but with an eye to growing their faith as they walk in the Spirit with God over time. The Greek word for live is future tense (Gilbrant) and implies that the believer will continuously, and into the future, live by his/her faith.

Faith for You and Me

Paul will now point out that it is by that same faith that we can believe and have a salvation experience in Christ.

Romans 4:23-25: “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.”

Romans 5:1-2: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

The passage speaks of several things:

- The reference to Abraham, who is our “faith” father, as, in a way, Adam was our “human” father – the father of human race, the first “Adam”.

- Abraham, by faith, had righteousness imputed to him; not by works, but by believing the promises that God had given him.

- Imputed is the Greek word: logizomai: estimate, account, impute, reckon, think on, to take an inventory (Strong’s G3049).

- God recorded the exchanges between Abraham and Himself (via Moses being directed by the Holy Spirit) to let us have a “by faith” example. Note verse 4:17, “[a]s it is written”, which Paul uses to bring the reader’s attention to the Genesis account of God making promises to Abraham.

- So, the written record not only provides evidence of Abraham’s faith and, therefore, imputed righteousness, but for our benefit as well, as we also place our faith in the promises of God and specifically those that refer to salvation.

- This passage also speaks of relationships, not just the relationship we have with Abraham as our “faith” father, but with Christ and God our heavenly father as well. Let’s look into these relationships as we dig into these few verses:

Verse 23 Notes: “Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;”

Written, of course, refers to the passage in Genesis 17:1-7:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

In fact, what was written was written long after Abraham was dead. So really, Paul is letting us know that what was written was for our encouragement and admonition.

I would also like to remind you of the unique way that Abram’s name was changed to Abraham. The hey added to his name that in the ancient Hebrew points to the breath of God and, thus, Abraham’s very name implies a special relationship with God, that of His Spirit dwelling or living alongside Abraham’s spirit.

God has chosen to bestow on Abraham gifts: a bequest of the land, the creation of many nations from his loins, and an intimate walk with God Himself (“walk before me, and be thou perfect”).

Verse 24 Notes: “But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, of we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;”

And so, we learn that we, too, can have a relationship of imputed righteousness with God if we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Notes this relationship is predicated on one very important condition, that of belief on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not works we did, not being born into some church denomination, not a certain self-purity of soul, but belief in Christ’s atoning works on the cross.

Verse 25 Notes: “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

What did Jesus do and how does it apply to us? He was delivered up (presented to be slaughtered as a lamb is slaughtered for the alter) for our offenses – His chastisement for us.

Isaiah 53:4-9:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgement: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

And he was raised from the dead not just to prove Himself victorious over sin and death, not just to prove that HE was, indeed, sent by the Father, not just to prove that He obeys the Father’s will, but for our justification.

Justification in the Greek is dikaiosis (Strong’s G1347), which means justification and also can mean acquittal. Imagine, He rose from the dead for our acquittal!!

Verse 5:1 Notes: “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

So let us look at this verse with relationships in mind:

- We have access to God, a relationship we didn’t have before becoming believers.

- We have become sons/daughters of God, a family relationship.

- We have access to God’s grace: His “charis“, His “graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude): – acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy).

- It is His grace in which we stand. Stand: histemi (Strong’s G2476): abide, stand, appoint, bring, continue, covenant, establish, hold up, lay, present, set (up), stanch, stand (by, forth, still, up). Compare <G5087> (tithemi).

And in this grace we have access and peace with God. We can rejoice, we can hope, we can glory in God Himself – what a relationship!!!

Closing Thoughts for Believers

The Trio of Verses

Romans 1:17 (bold added): “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written. The just shall live by faith.“

Galatians 3:11 (bold added): “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 10:38 (bold added): “Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.”

These are actually quotes from an Old Testament prophet, Habakkuk.

Habakkuk 2:4 (bold added): “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

Paul has created an interesting trio of verses:

Paul spends a lot of time in Romans explaining who the just are (first several chapters).

Then, in Galatians, he does a lot of correction to the church as to how they as believers ought to live.

Finally, it is in Hebrews that he (I believe he wrote it) elaborates on what is faith, Hebrews 11 being the “faith chapter” in the Bible.

Hebrews 11:1 (bold added): “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Substance: (Strong’s G5287): hupostais: From a compound of hupo (G5259) and histemi (G2476). Hupo means beneath, below something, under. Histemi means to stand, abide, establish. Together they form a new word that means “a setting under (support), that is, (figuratively) concretely essence, or abstractly assurance (objectively or subjectively): – confidence, confident, person, substance.” Another way to say it: that which I stand upon, that which I have confidence in.

Evidence: (Strong’s G1650): elegchos: from elegcho (Strong’s G1651) which means to admonish, convict, convince, rebuke, reprove. With the sigma added to the end of the word (s), it becomes “proof, conviction:- evidence, reproof”.

I want to have you look at a simple verse that speaks volumes about our relationship with God and Jesus Christ:

Luke 12:31-32: “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
- Little flock – God is our shepherd.
- Father’s good pleasure – He is our Father.
- Give you the kingdom – He is our King.

In this relationship, we see three immediate benefits:
- Peace, instead of fear.
- As we seek Him, all that we need is provided for us.
- We are given the kingdom – that is, we inherit and participate in the kingdom.

Let me close with a passage out of Isaiah:

Isaiah 49:13-17: “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted. But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.”

A wall of protection “chomah” (Strong’s H2346) by which God continually protects us.

Let’s continually seek to live in this very special relationship that God has designed for our good.

Psalm 34:1: “. . . I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”

Psalm 71:3: “Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.”

Psalm 71:14: “But I will hope continually, and will yet praise thee more and more.”

Proverbs 6:21: “Bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck.”

Luke 24:53: “And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen.”

Acts 6:4: “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”

Maranatha!

Bro. Joe

References

Gilbrant, T. The Complete Biblical Library Interlinear Bible. World Library Press. (2020). Wordsearch Bible. [computer software]. Nashville, TN: LifeWay Christian Resources. (Original work published 1990)

Strong, J. Strong's Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries. Meyers, R. (2005). e-Sword. [computer software] . Franklin, TN: Equipping Ministries Foundation. (Original work published 1539)

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