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I want to welcome you to our Bible study through the book of Romans. We are in
Romans chapter 4 this week. This is day one of Romans chapter 4, a chapter that
answers the question, "How can I live a life of faith alone?

" Now, let me catch you up on where we are in the book of Romans, this book that
talks about how history can change in our lives and in this world and reminds us
that history changes when we understand God's truth and begin to live according
to God's truth in our lives. We've looked at the fact that you and I need to
understand and live up to God's truth about sin by confessing our sin to Him and
recognizing the reality of it. And then last week we turned the corner a bit and
began to talk about God's truth about salvation.

Ephesians 2, 8 and 9 says, "By grace are you saved through faith. " This week as
we go into Romans chapter 4, we're going to begin to talk about faith. What is
faith?

Some think that faith is a, it's a mental ascent to the truth. Some people that
they think that faith is a feeling of confidence. Other people think that faith,
they have a negative feeling about it.

They feel like it's a kind of self-deception, that it's somehow convincing
yourself to believe what you know isn't true. In Romans chapter 4, Paul helps us
to see faith in action in the lives of Old Testament people of faith like David
and Abraham. And it is a chapter all about faith alone.

It's a chapter that warns us to watch out for something that I would call faith
plus. When you add anything to faith, all of a sudden it's not faith anymore.
Because you see, faith is a fairly simple thing.

It's simply trusting God instead of yourself. The problem is we tend to try to
make it more complicated. We tend to try to make it honestly more about us.

Romans 4 tells us some of the ways that we try to make faith more ours than
simply trusting God. The ways that we add to faith so that it's no longer faith.
So as we begin our look at this chapter, the first few days we're going to look
together at some of those ways that we add to faith and so it's no longer faith.

And in the last few days of this week, we're going to take a look together and
talk about faith alone and how it works in our lives. As we begin Romans chapter
4, the first warning, the first thing that you and I can add to faith is the
warning against trying to earn God's approval. Faith plus God's approval.

Some way of trying to earn God's approval just doesn't work. And as Paul begins
to talk about this, he gives two examples from the Old Testament. Abraham and
David.

First Abraham, the great man of faith, the father of our faith in Romans chapter
4 verses 1 to 5. Let me read those verses. What then shall we say that Abraham,
our forefather, discovered in this matter?

If in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but
not before God. What does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was
credited to him as righteousness.

Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an
obligation. However, to the man who does not work, but trusts God who justifies
the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. When it comes to this issue
of faith, one of the things that we add to it that makes it no longer faith is
we want to work for it.

We want to have something of ourself in it. And verse 2 tells us why. Because
then we would have something to boast about.

Then we could look at ourselves and say, look, I did this in order to have
faith. Richard Halverson calls this the stubborn fact that keeps pestering
faith. Pride.

Our ego. Our pride. But Romans chapter 4 points us in a different direction by
helping us to look at Abraham.

Quotes from Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, "Abraham believed the Lord and it was
credited to him as righteousness. " James chapter 2 verse 23 talks about that
same thing. That verse says, "And the scripture was fulfilled that says Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness and it was called God's
friend.

" You see, there's two basic ways to faith. Should we try to earn it or we trust
God to give it? We try to earn it or we trust God to give it.

And Paul here says, "Abraham's righteousness was credited to him because of his
faith. " This word credited is used often in this chapter. In verse 3 it means
to put to one's account.

It's the Greek word logizomai. It's a banking term that's used 11 times in this
one chapter. God credited to Abraham's account righteousness because of his
faith.

It was a gift that was given to him. Now oftentimes we don't want a faith that
is credited because we want the credit. It's our own ego.

It's our own pride that causes us to feel that way. We all do. I certainly have.

But faith and righteousness are gifts to be received not goals to be achieved.
And Paul uses Abraham as an example of that. Abraham believed God.

That's the challenge. Here's the challenge for the day, for my life, for your
life, from Abraham. The challenge is believe God.

But you might say, but I have doubts. That's okay. So did Abraham believe God?

But you might think people might not understand. That's okay. Abraham wasn't
always understood.

Believe God. But you might be thinking, I don't understand at all. That's okay.

Neither did Abraham understand at all. Believe God. Abraham was a great man of
faith and teaches us that faith alone doesn't depend on me trying to earn it.

As if that were enough. It could never be enough. It's not enough.

But that's not the only witness that Paul brings in on this issue of trying to
earn our relationship with God. He also brings in the witness of a second great
man in the Old Testament, a man by the name of David in chapter 4 verses 6 to 8.
Romans 4, 6 to 8 says, "David says the same thing when he speaks of the
blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.

Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. " Quotes
from David in the book of Psalms on the blessedness of not trying to earn it.

Psalm 32, 1 and 2. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose
sins are covered, whose sin is never counted against them. What incredible
blessings from God.

Just list them off in your mind. Your transgressions are forgiven. That is a
word of blessing.

God's forgiveness in our lives. Their sins, our sins, are covered. That's a word
of blessing.

And then our sins are never counted against us. That's the idea of the crediting
of God. Not only does God give us the gift of righteousness, but he also takes
out of our account all the accountability that we have for our sin.

It's a double transaction. He takes out of the account the accountability we
have for our sin and he puts into our account the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
What an incredible God we have.

Now in the case of David, God's forgiveness was needed. David broke three of the
Ten Commandments. He coveted his neighbor's wife.

He committed adultery with his neighbor's wife, Bathsheba, and then he had his
neighbor killed. Uriah was killed. He broke the commandments.

How could he restore a relationship with God? He discovered that the only way
was for his sin to be forgiven, forgotten, covered, canceled by God. God
forgives our sin.

And when he forgives our sin, he forgives all of our sin, past, present, and
future. That's why the Bible says our sin is covered. It is forgotten.

It is forgiven. It is canceled. This idea that God only forgives your sins up to
the present moment is ridiculous if you think about it because God can see all
of human history all at once.

So in order for God to forgive, he has to forgive it all because he can see all
your life in this very moment. God forgives it all. And Paul points to David and
to Abraham as he talks about the kind of faith that we need that's received as a
gift, not by anything that we can earn.

He points to Abraham, the greatest of the patriarchs, to show that no human
being can be exalted in this matter of salvation. Abraham wasn't good enough to
get to righteousness on his own. And he points to David, the greatest of the
kings and also one of the chief sinners of the Old Testament, to show that no
human being can be excluded in this matter of salvation no matter what you've
done.

If Abraham couldn't be saved by his works, no one can. And if David could be
saved in spite of his sins, anyone can. If you were walking into a courtroom to
plead your case when it came to this issue of sin, if you plead not guilty
before God, the best you can hope for is a fair trial.

In a fair trial, I am judged according to the character and the perfection of
God. But if instead you plead guilty, the best that you can hope for is the
mercy of the court. The best that you can hope for is the mercy of God.

When it comes to our sins, faith is the decision to throw yourself on the mercy
of God. And when you do, when I do, the Bible says that God is merciful. He
credits his righteousness into our lives because we have trusted him.

So let's take a minute together right now to pray and to thank this God who so
deeply loves us. Take a moment right now, wherever you are, to sort of shut out
the distractions around you and to say to God, "God, I thank you. Thank you that
I don't have to earn my salvation.

Forgive me for those times when my pride gets in the way and I try somehow to
act as if my salvation, the gift of God, is of my doing. God, right now, I just
want to purely thank you. I threw myself on your mercy.

You gave me the gift of your mercy, and I am so grateful. " You might right now,
as you're praying, have never thrown yourself on the mercy of God. This might be
the moment in your life right now when you say to him, "Jesus Christ, instead of
trying to earn my salvation, trying to be good enough, I accept the fact that if
Abraham couldn't get there, I sure can.

And if David was able to get there because of your grace, I certainly can. Thank
you, Jesus, for what you've done for me. Forgive me.

Help me to lead and live the kind of life you've made me to live. In your name,
amen. " Tomorrow, we're going to continue our look together through Romans
chapter 4.

We're going to look together at verses 9 to 12.