Romans 4:16a - Resting on Grace

Romans 4:16a - For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants

Message: The Promise of God comes about by faith

Time: The date of the book is probably 60 A.D. written from Corinth on Paul's third missionary journey. The church in Rome seems to be established and Romans does not speak of any one error in the church that he is addressing. The church had a large Jewish element, but also filled with Gentile converts from paganism, both free as well as slaves.

What the Lord is Saying:

Background
It is always good to look back from where we have come. And the focus of chapter 4 has chiefly been to communicate that the righteousness of God is received apart from the Law and apart from Circumcision. By practicing or doing what the Law says, we affirm it and ourselves. By breaking the Law or not doing what it says, we show ourselves we are guilty and disobedient. The Law is a mirror. Circumcision is an act of obedience and a picture of the removal of sin in the life of the believer. It is a picture of the inward change that has occurred. Abraham and David, from the Old Testament, testify of this. Abraham received the faith of righteousness before the Law and David received is apart from the Law. David was shown that the righteousness puts to death sin. The Wrath is what the Law exposes.

It is not by the Law. It is not by Circumcision.

Verse 16a tells me what it is by therefore that a person is saved or made right with God. It is by faith. It is so simple. Why do people make it so hard? And Paul here also shows us that it is Faith in accordance with grace. Paul has hammered through to us the point that it is by faith.

I was sharing God's truth with an atheist friend and his remark on some of these points was, "Well, of course that is the doctrine. Of course the doctrine would be all about God." And of course it is, is the answer. The problem is people don't want to accept the simple.

So, why faith? Because of God's grace. It is only through the Power of God.

Interesting illustration of this from Steven Cole -- In 1947 a rumor spread that the Ford Motor Company would give a Ford (car) in exchange for every copper penny dated 1943. The rumor spread so fast that Ford car dealerships throughout the country were jammed with thousands of requests for information. The U.S. mint also received a large volume of inquiries. It all turned out to be a hoax. The statistics of the mint show that in 1943 there were over one billion pennies minted from steel-zinc, but due to a copper shortage, the number of copper pennies was exactly zero. There has been a rumor abroad in the human race for centuries that entrance into heaven can be obtained by good works. But it’s not true. The fact is, there are no works made on earth that are acceptable in heaven. All of our works are tainted by sin. The only righteousness that gains entrance to heaven is the righteousness of Jesus Christ graciously imputed to sinners who believe in Him.

"For this reason" - what did we just learn? The Law cannot save. Because of this, it is by faith. But Law and Grace are not opposed to one another. We need the Law to show us our need for grace. We do not need the Law to bring us to grace through our obedience. That is the error today. Many have been led to believe that it is through obedience that we are given the opportunity of grace. 

Promise: Justification by faith alone preserves the principle of grace alone (Tabletalk, March 18, 2014).