The introduction of Abraham begins waaaay back in the first book of the Bible; Genesis. The giving of a family tree in chapter 11 ends with Abram's relatives.
Then the BIG chapter ... Chapter 12 ... The very first Jew is chosen by God. Abram, whose name will be changed by God to Abraham. Although in reality it will be 3 generations before Judah, the namesake of the Jews is born.
In this chapter, God shows us an individual that was given promises by God and asked to leave his family and journey to a strange land. God promised many benefits. But Abraham would have to step out blindly. If God didn't keep His word Abraham could be putting himself an his family in danger. Abraham decided to put his faith in God, packed up his wife and belongings and left the land of his birth after putting his faith in God.
Rom 4:1-3 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
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 CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." NASU
So ... each Jew was circumcised at birth to identify with God's chosen people; to say to the world I'm a Jew. But as we see in this chapter, each Jew had to choose to receive righteousness one by one by putting faith in God. Just as all of us do today. And just as Abraham obeyed God after he put his faith in him, we today desire to obey and follow God after putting our faith in Christ and receiving new life.
(If you haven't read Definitions listed below. Please read Definitions 1 and 2. The word 'believed' above means 'put faith in' not just 'Sure, I believe there is a God.)
It is so hard for us to accept that our salvation doesn't depend on our efforts to be good and God is so patient and understanding with us that He says it over and over again. He ends vrs 8 saying, "... blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account!"
That really does sound too good to be true. My sins don't count once I put my faith in Christ?
Hmmmmmmmm, maybe He better say it one more time :)
Read vrs 9 through 12 where God once again reiterates that Abraham received forgiveness and righteousness by putting his faith in God.
After that, Abraham was circumcised as a sign that he belonged to God, (The first circumcision) just as those that accept Christ are baptized as a sign that they belong to God and have received a new life. The same as a wedding ring is a testimony to the world that these two people belong to one another.
Sometimes Jews and Christians get it wrong and think that the 'sign' is the whole ball of wax. God said the sign without the action means nothing. Slipping a wedding ring on your finger doesn't mean you're married.
Vs 13 to 15; More assurances. God says our sins condemned us. He provided a way to overcome our condemnation. By putting our faith in God, ourselves into His hands, He would give us Righteousness; Eternal Life; make us His child instead of just His creation. Once He has given us Righteousness, He no longer looks at our sins. They are no longer between us.
Once you have a child, that child is yours for better or for worse. If he/she turns out to be a hand full, you don't re decide whether or not you want them to be your children. Your goal at that point is to decide how to raise that child to be the best they can be.
Once you become a child of God the same thing happens. He no longer weighs whether or not He wants you to be His. You ARE His. You are righteous and Eternal. His goal now is to roll up his sleeves and begin to work with you to make you the child He created you to be. God DOES discipline His children :) You have the choice of making it a smooth ride or a bumpy ride :)
Vs 16,17 We see the miracle of Sarah having Abraham's child when she is 90 yrs old. It is through the blood line of this child that God Himself will come to earth one day to do away with sin once and for all.
Vs 23 & 24 Paul says way back in Abraham's day, thousands of years ago, God recorded these words for our sake also; the ones that would choose to put our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ who would die to pay for our sins ... and raised again to give new life to each one of us that put ourselves in His hands. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! :)
It's very hard to keep these nut shell size. Please read in your own Bible as we go along. Also, we've mentioned a couple of times that the only reason the 'law' (Including the 10 commandments) were given to educate us as to what it meant to be holy. By recognizing holiness ... we would all clearly see we were sinners. That's all the law could do; show us our sin. It can't remove them. Galatians spells it out very clearly. Since I belonged to a religion that said I had to obey the law to go to heaven, I was always scared. Therefore the verses in Galatians really helped me. I'm going to post them as PS to Romans 4 tomorrow. Those that need extra reassurance will love these verses. In fact everyone should :)
Series on Romans for new or non Christians but all are welcome
Definitions 1 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977428907&nav=MyGather
Definitions 2 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977429295&nav=MyGather
Definitions 3 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977429344&nav=MyGather
Romans 1 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?memberId=485292&articleId=281474977445120&nav=MyGather
Romans 2 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?memberId=485292&articleId=281474977449148&nav=MyGather
Romans 3 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?memberId=485292&articleId=281474977453939&nav=MyGather
Romans Pre 4 http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?memberId=485292&articleId=281474977459826&nav=MyGather
The Jew http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977468966&nav=MyGather
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Comments: 10
Chapter 4 of Romans. If I am getting it, the point is that justifictaion
is by faith, and not just good works.
I read a book once on how all three faiths could be traced back
to Abraham. God bless you Glome,
The first two articles to this series (listed above) explain the perameters of faith in kind of a fun way. But really shows the difference between 'faith' and 'believe' as the words are used today. If you didn't get a chance to read them, you would probably enjoy them. They're easy reading.
I'm very glad you read the 4th chapter for yourself. :)
Very nicely done, Glome.
Since I would certainly not be considered a new one, I thank you for allowing me to pop in.
I love that you popped in. Actually, oh we of many words :) you can imagine how difficult it is to only give a nut shell haha. I'm having to sit on my hands to stop them from typing. So I had to keep it to teen tiny basics. That's why I indicated new or non :)
We did have some very good conversations on the first 3 as they were just definitions but it drops off for Romans itself.
It is kind of hard to make yourself read too much on Gather where you're alway in a hurry to get to the next article. But you never know who might be reading quietly and gaining knowledge from God.
Thank you for coming by.
But thanks so much for sharing that with me. And for coming by.