Dear friends in Christ Jesus,
A few months ago, our church council went through a Scriptural study of Christian Leadership. Included in those discussions were three “case studies.” We took a particular look at Stephen, and the apostles Peter and Paul. What is the value of a case study? It gives you a specific and clear example of the truth you are trying to convey.
Through Paul, the Holy Spirit was conveying to the believers in Rome that justification is not by works but by faith alone. This is true for Jews and Gentiles alike. Justification by faith is the central teaching of Holy Scripture and the doctrine on which the church stands or falls.
What better way for the Holy Spirit to impart that truth than a case study? What better case study than one God the Holy Spirit presents? Not only is the Word true but the power of that Word convinces our hearts of its validity, and enables us to trust that Word for our salvation.
Here we have The Holy Spirit’s Case Study for Justification by Faith. God credited Abraham’s faith as righteousness. These words were written also for us.
The Jewish Christians in Rome were familiar with the Old Testament account of Abraham. It is always good to review even the most familiar truths of Scripture, don’t you agree? For the Gentiles, the account of Abraham was something they were just coming to know. In both cases, the father of God’s chosen people is a perfect case study. How was Abraham right with God, holy in God’s sight? It was not on account of his works but because Abraham took God at his Word when God made promises to him.
Of all the people on earth, God chose Abraham by grace to be the father of his people and the fountainhead for the world’s Savior. God promised Abraham that he and his wife would have many children and their children’s children for generations. This was an interesting promise since both Abraham and Sarah were, humanly speaking, well beyond childbearing “since he was about a hundred years old, and that Sarah’s womb also was dead.”
There was this big reason for Abraham to think these things never would happen. Yet, “Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him.” More than just being the biological father of Israel, Abraham is the spiritual father of many nations as the Holy Spirit calls believers from among the Gentiles. This was Paul case study message to the non-Jews in Rome.
The reason
Abraham had hope was this, “being fully persuaded that God had power to do
what he had promised.” God’s promises strengthened his faith so that he did
not waver in unbelief. “This is why “it was credited to him as
righteousness.”
This was the bedrock of Abraham’s faith; faith in the sense of what he believed. Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness not in the sense of his believing but in what he believed. Abraham’s believing was merely the hand that received God’s promises. Justification, God declaring him innocent of sin by virtue of Christ’s perfect obedience, is what Abraham held in the hand of his believing.
Abraham is the Holy Spirit’s case study for the Romans on the doctrine of justification by faith. They could see that Jew or Gentile, their righteousness in God’s sight had nothing to do with their human ancestry. It had to do with their spiritual ancestry. Abraham was their father as they, like Abraham, took God’s promises to heart, and against all hope of salvation by their own works, they had hope in Jesus Christ. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.” The words were written also for us.
A case study is not much good unless I appropriate its truth. The Holy Spirit inspired the apostle Paul to write these words for us. “The words, it was credited to him,’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.”
We believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead. Several truths lie in these words. This is the application of what we said last week that we have to believe in the true God to have salvation. The true God is the Father who raised his Son, Jesus, from the dead after Jesus died under the curse of our daily laziness, excuses, and disobedience of God’s holy will.
We have what Jesus did on the cross-‘he was delivered over to death for our sins” though faith. I hold in the hand of my faith the righteousness that Jesus earned for the entire world on the cross. I am righteous in God’s sight by the cross. God credits that righteousness to me as the Holy Spirit brings me to faith.
Jesus was raised to life for, or because of, that righteousness he earned. The resurrection is the Father’s receipt that the ransom price to release us from sin, death and the devil’s power is paid in full.
The Holy Spirit’s case study for justification by faith is for our benefit as well as the Roman’s benefit. It reminds us of John when he says of his gospel, “These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” [20:31]. The Spirit wrote these words about Jesus’ dying on the cross, that it means I am righteous in his sight, and he credits that righteousness to me through faith.
The case studies the council looked at showed examples of Christian leadership that we can follow for the good of God’s people. The Holy Spirit’s case study of Abraham is not only an example to follow. It is the revelation of the promise Abraham believed. It is the promise of Jesus Christ our Savior that we believe. Against all hope of salvation because of our sins, that make it seem as if God’s promise of our salvation is impossible, we have hope, unwavering hope of salvation in Christ’s righteousness that the Father credits to us through faith. Amen. <SDG>