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We're in Romans chapter four together, day three of our look together at Romans
the fourth chapter. This chapter about faith alone, at the beginning of the
chapter the Bible talks about some ways that you and I can add to faith, that
keep faith from being the kind of faith that can really be life-changing. We've
talked about the fact that sometimes we try to earn our relationship with God
and God's approval and that gets in the way.

Sometimes we let ceremony take the place of commitment rather than letting it
enhance or express our commitment, we let it take the place of commitment. And
now as we get to Romans chapter four verses 13 to 17, we see a third thing that
can get in the way. The warning here is don't try to get to the promise of God
through the law of God.

Don't try to get to the promise through the law. Now let me explain something
about the law. Trying to get to faith by being a good person is one thing.

We looked at that the first day of this study of Romans four, but this is
different as we talk about the law. The law is not just about trying to be good,
it's about trying to follow God's rules as outlined in the Old Testament. It's
being better than good, it's striving to be perfect.

The Bible says in Romans chapter four verse 13, "It was not through law that
Abraham and his offspring received the promises that he would be heir of the
world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. " The law, it was not
through the law. The law, those are God's commands in the Old Testament,
specifically those commands that were delivered to Moses on the mountain and
brought down from the mountain to the people.

Within that law, there is sacrificial law, civil law, and moral law. Sacrificial
law, law is about what they should do in the temple. Now they should sacrifice
animals for sins, which was looking forward to what Jesus was going to do on the
cross.

There's also civil law within that law. What should happen if one person's ox
falls on another person's ox or an ox falls in a ditch? How should you handle
that?

All the civil laws of what they should do. And then there's also moral law,
which we're very familiar with, for instance, in the Ten Commandments, "Thou
shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery. " As Paul talks about the law in
Romans chapter four, he tells us that you can't get to the promise through the
law.

You can't get to faith through following this list of rules and regulation. Now
there is a purpose of the law, we're going to see that in a moment, but the
purpose is not to get us to faith. As he begins these verses of discussion about
the law, he tells us that trying to get to faith through rules just doesn't make
sense.

Beginning in verse 14 and reading through verse 16, here's what Romans four
says, "For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith has no value and the
promise is worthless, because law brings wrath, and where there is no law, there
is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by
grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring, not only to those who
are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the
father of us all.

" As you look at these verses, Paul says, first of all, that if the law worked,
faith would be unnecessary. If those who live by the law are heirs, faith has no
value. Faith would be unnecessary.

Listen, because most of us are kind people, and we'd like to help everyone get
along and not have any arguments, I often hear people trying to work out in
their mind a way for every religion to be right. Jewish people get to God one
way, Muslims get to God another way, Christians get to God another way. Paul
reminds us here, that just doesn't make sense.

If the law worked, then faith in Jesus wouldn't be needed because the law
worked. You could get to God and have a relationship with him through the law,
through keeping this list of rules and regulations, but the law didn't work.
That's why Jesus had to come.

That's why Jesus died. In fact, the idea, the idea that God would have put Jesus
through what he went through on the cross, the suffering that he went through,
if the law had been sufficient to get us to faith, that is a ridiculous idea. It
paints God as a cruel and ridiculous God, and he is not.

The law didn't work to get us to faith. It worked to show us we needed faith,
but Jesus came to show us how to have faith and how to get salvation. If the law
worked, faith would be unnecessary.

That's why faith through rules doesn't make sense. But Paul also says there's
another reason why faith through rules doesn't make sense. He reminds us that
the law brings wrath, not faith.

The law was never intended to get us to faith. Now, it has a part. Without the
law, we wouldn't know about our problem, but in the end, the law doesn't save us
and condemns us.

So how could something that brings wrath, how could something that condemn us
end up saving us? It just doesn't work. It reminds me of that old song.

Remember that old Bobby Fuller song, "I Fought the Law and the Law Won"? Paul
says, "I fought the law and I found in the end that the law won, that it showed
me my sin, but it didn't give me any victory. " What we need for the victory
that God wants to give into every one of our lives is not the law.

It's faith, faith in God's promise. Faith shows us that God's promise is both a
grace promise and a great promise. It's a grace promise and a great promise.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be
guaranteed to all of Abraham's offspring. It's a grace promise because it's a
gift of God and it is a great promise because it's guaranteed to all. And then
verse 17, that verse begins as it is written, "I have made you the father of
many nations," speaking of Abraham.

He is our father in the sight of God in whom he believed. The God who gives life
to the dead and who calls things that are not as though they were. Abraham is
the father of all that believe.

If you are a Jew, you are a child of Abraham physically, but you're also a child
of Abraham spiritually if you've asked Jesus Christ into your heart, into your
life. If you are a Gentile, you can never be a natural descendant of Abraham,
but you can be one of his spiritual descendants. We began this talk about
spiritual heritage yesterday.

Verse 17 talks about this spiritual heritage when it says, "He is our father in
the sight of God whom he believed," speaking of Abraham. And then it talks about
God and says, "The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not
as though they were. " I love those two pictures.

God who gives life to the dead. God who calls things that are not as though they
were. God who is the God of creation, he calls things that are not as though
they were.

And God who is the God of resurrection, he gives life to the dead. Ray Stedman
has said about these verses, "If you have a God who can raise things from the
dead and who can call into existence the things that do not exist, you're going
to be a very exciting person to live with. " You see, faith is not some
intellectual pursuit.

It is an adventure. It's not a comfortable complacency, but it's an
ever-expanding challenge. In order to have that kind of faith, the focus has to
be on the character of God.

Salvation in its end is not about us. Salvation is about the character of God. I
didn't do anything to earn salvation.

You didn't do anything to earn salvation. But God, because of his character of
love, God, because of his character of grace, decided to offer us salvation
through his Son. We benefit from who God is.

And so, as we pray today, let's focus together on the character of God by
praying back to God the last part of verse 17. Have you ever prayed a Bible
verse back to God? It's one of the greatest ways to increase your faith.

You pray back to God what you know to be true versus out of the Bible. So, let's
pray back to God in faith, Romans chapter 4 verse 17. Just say to God in your
heart right now, "God, I thank you for who you are and that because of who you
are, I get to enjoy the benefits of salvation.

I thank you that you are the God who gives life to the dead. Thank you that you
gave life to your Son, Jesus Christ. And because of that and my relationship
with him, you give to me abundant life in this world and eternal life as I look
forward to the next.

" And then, you might want to take just a moment to talk to God about something
that may seem dead in your life right now. Maybe it's a relationship that seems
dead or a career or a dream or maybe it's your heart and passion. Just say to
God, "God, you are the God who brings life to the dead.

Would you bring life to this dead thing in my life? To this relationship? To my
heart?

To this direction in my life? Because that's who you are, God. " And then, as
you pray, also thank God from Romans 4, 17 that he is the God who calls things
that are not as though they were.

Say to him, "God, I thank you that you are the God of creation. You created
everything out of nothing. That is your great power, and I thank you that you
can call things that are not as though they were.

You are the God who can do anything. Nothing, nothing is impossible for you. "
And so, say to him right now, "God, as I look at my life on a daily basis,
instead of allowing my life to be dictated by the circumstances around me, I
pray that my life today would be directed by the God who is above me, a God who
can resurrect the dead, a God who can create even out of nothing.

I am grateful for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. " Well, tomorrow, we
continue this look together at how to have faith.

We're going to be looking at verses 16 to 21.