Redemption

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness... that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also...

Abraham wasn't made right with God by what he did—and neither are we.

The One Story of Scripture

Father, we pray that as we look into Your word today You would continue to instruct and teach us. We thank You, God, that You transform us by the renewing of our minds as we consider Your word. So work in us today, that we would reflect to the world around us Your great grace and love and mercy. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Although the Bible is composed of 66 different books, written by 40 different authors, on three different continents, over a 1,500-year period, in three different languages, it is one cohesive story. It begins with God and His creation in Genesis 1 and 2. It moves to the fall of man into sin in Genesis 3. And then from Genesis 4:1 to Revelation 22:21, the entirety of the rest of the Bible is about redemption. Redemption is the core focus of the scriptures—the story of what God is doing to draw fallen humanity back to Himself.

From Adam to Abraham

Although we are introduced to Adam and Eve, who had many children, the storyline narrows to one son, Seth. From Seth it follows to Enosh, then Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and down to Noah. Many people know the story of Noah, because in his day God brought a worldwide flood in judgment upon sin. Only Noah, his wife, his sons—Shem, Ham, and Japheth—and their wives were spared. Not because they were perfect, but because, as Genesis 6 tells us, Noah found grace in the eyes of God.

After the flood the world begins to repopulate. The same command given to Adam—be fruitful and multiply—is given to Noah and his sons. But the story focuses on only one son, Shem, because through Shem God would fulfill His plan of redemption. The line continues: Shem to Arpachshad, then Sela, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah—and Terah had a son named Abram. In Genesis 11 and 12, the redemptive plan zeroes in on this one man.

God Calls Abram

When we meet Abram, he is 75 years old. His name means father of many, yet he is married to Sarai, about 65, and they have no children—a strange thing indeed.

Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, from your family and from your father's house, to a land that I will show you. And I will make you a great nation; and I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing... and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

Abram departed as the Lord had spoken. He left all he knew. Most people in his day lived in walled cities like Ur, staying close to family because the world was dangerous. Abram left that protection behind. He took Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his household and moved west to Canaan. For the rest of his life he would live not in a walled city or a house of stone, but as a sojourner in a tent, moving his great encampment from place to place.

"Do Not Be Afraid"

A few years later, in Genesis 15, Abram is in his early 80s, still childless. By now he has essentially picked a fight with all the peoples of Canaan. His nephew Lot had been taken captive when raiding kings sacked Sodom and Gomorrah, so Abram gathered more than 400 trained men of his household, tracked the kings down in the night, defeated them, and rescued Lot. But in doing so he made himself the problem child of the region—and that left him fearful.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid... I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

If God says "do not be afraid," the implication is that you probably are. Abram had walls of cloth for protection and nations all around him upset with him. So God says, "I am your protection."

Abram answered, "Lord God, what will You give me, seeing I go childless?" The one set to inherit everything was a servant, Eliezer of Damascus. "My name means father of many," he is essentially saying, "but I am father of none." God replied that Eliezer would not be his heir, but a son from his own body. Then He brought him outside:

"Look toward heaven now, and count the stars if you're able to count them... So shall your descendants be." And Abram believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.

Underline that verse. Abram put his trust in the word of the Lord, and God credited it to his account for righteousness.

Helping God Along: Ishmael

Time passes. Abram is 85, Sarai 75, still childless. So they decide to take matters into their own hands. Have you ever tried to trust God but thought, "It's not happening in my timing—maybe I need to help this along"? Sarai suggested Abram have a child through her handmaid, Hagar, an Egyptian servant, who would serve as a surrogate. Abram agreed. And so, at 86, he had a son by Hagar named Ishmael.

Then God went silent for 13 years.

The Covenant Confirmed

Now when Abram was 99 years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly."

This came 24 years after Abram first believed and was accounted righteous. Notice the order: this is actually the first command Abram receives to walk in righteousness—after God had already declared him righteous. God says, in effect, "Now that you are righteous, walk before Me and be blameless, because we are entering a covenant."

"No longer shall your name be called Abram, but now your name shall be called Abraham; for I have made you the father of many nations."

God assures him of a son through Sarai—now renamed Sarah. When Abraham hears this, he laughs: "I'm 99, she's almost 90. Would to God that Ishmael might live before You!" But God answers: "No, Sarah your wife will bear a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant with him."

Redemption Only by God's Power

Remember the metanarrative: creation, fall, redemption. Only God can create ex nihilo, out of nothing. What does man bring to the table? A fall—sin. And only God can bring the return; only God can bring redemption. When Abraham pleads for Ishmael, God says no, because Ishmael is the product of Abraham's own working. God's plan of redemption cannot come through human effort; it must come by His divine, miraculous power. The only way 90-year-old Sarah could bear Isaac was by God's power—because redemption can never come by our own efforts. All we bring is sin and a fall.

So at 100, with Sarah at 90, Isaac was born. The son of the promise had come, and the story of redemption continued—from Abraham to Isaac and on.

The Genealogy of Jesus

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begot Jacob, Jacob begot Judah and his brothers... Jesse begot David the king... Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

This is the genealogy of Jesus, because the Bible is the story of redemption. Christ means the anointed One. The root of Jesus' name, Yehoshua or Joshua, means the Lord is salvation. He is the anointed One who brings redemption. Creation, the fall, and then redemption—and redemption comes only through Jesus Christ.

A Divided Church and the Question of Abraham

In the first decades of the church there was a cultural divide between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. Paul had already written, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation... to the Jew first and also to the Greek." God's intent was that the church be one, with no cultural divide. Part of why Paul writes this letter is to heal that problem.

The gospel came to the Jewish people first, simply because Jesus came through the line of Abraham. But Jesus commanded the church to go into all the world—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth. God's redemptive plan was always for the whole world. Yet many Jewish Christians, counting Abraham as their father and circumcision and the Law as theirs, looked down on Gentile believers. Some even traveled to Gentile churches saying, "If you really want to be blessed before God, you must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses." Circumcision was the sign God gave Abraham in Genesis 17 as the seal of the covenant—24 years after Abraham believed. By Paul's day, certain Jewish Christians made that sign a requirement for blessing.

What Did Abraham Find?

Paul has already established in Romans 1–3 that we are not made righteous by works, nor by bloodline, nor by anything special we do, but only by the grace of Christ—for all of us are unclean. He knows the Jewish believers will object: "But what about Abraham? Wasn't he justified by works?"

What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

If Abraham had earned his standing, he could boast. But when you read the story, Abraham did a lot of foolish things. Twice—in Egypt and again at Gerar—he told rulers that his wife was his sister, fearing they would kill him for her beauty. Both times God had to intervene and the kings rebuked him: "What is your problem, man? I thought you were a prophet of God." The Bible reveals Abraham warts and all. He was not perfect.

So Paul asks: was Abraham made right by something he did? If so, he could boast—but "not before God." Why? Because the covenant and its commands came in Genesis 17, more than 13 years after Genesis 15:6: "And Abraham believed in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness." Abraham was made right not by keeping a covenant that did not yet exist, but because he trusted God, and God graciously credited righteousness to his account.

Grace, Not Debt

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

If redemption were by anything we did, then when God gave us salvation we would know it wasn't a gift—He would owe it to us. If I could earn my salvation, I would stand before God and say, "Pay up." But the Bible from Genesis to Revelation shows that God gives salvation by grace—an undeserved, unmerited gift. It cannot be by works, or God would owe it to us.

Faith In What?

Many people today say, "You just need to have faith." But faith for the sake of faith has no power. For faith to be potent it must rest in something trustworthy. Paul doesn't merely say "believe"; he says "believe on Him who justifies the ungodly."

Picture this. Suppose I owe a debt of a million dollars, and someone asks what I'm going to do. "I'm just going to believe it'll be paid." You'd think I was nuts. But suppose Bill Gates were my uncle and promised, "I'll pay your debt." Now when someone asks, I say, "I'm trusting in my uncle Bill—he has the resources, and he promised he would." That's not lunacy; that's a great plan. The difference is the object of the trust.

Here is the awesome thing in Scripture: Mark 2 asks, "Who can forgive sins but God?" Only God can. And not only does He have the ability, but throughout the Bible He has promised, declared His intent, to forgive our sins—a gift of grace received through faith. God looks down on the sinner who trusts the only One who can forgive sins, and says, "I am going to declare you righteous." I cannot make myself righteous by my works, but God can and will as I put my faith in Him.

David's Blessedness

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.

Paul now quotes David in Psalm 32. The word "blessed" literally means O how happy. Many scholars believe Psalm 32 was written around the same time as Psalm 51, after David was found out for his sin. David took another man's wife, Bathsheba, in adultery, and she became pregnant. Her husband, Uriah, was one of David's key generals, away fighting David's war. To cover it up, David schemed to make it look as if Uriah had fathered the child. When that failed, David arranged to have him abandoned on the battlefield to be killed. So David committed both adultery and murder, then concealed it for a year—until the prophet Nathan exposed him.

In Psalm 51 David cried out for forgiveness, and God forgave him. So in Psalm 32 he writes, "O how happy is the man whose willful disobedience is forgiven... whose sins are covered." David knew his works were evil and, under God's law, punishable by death. Yet God was merciful—not because David deserved it, but because God was gracious. David trusted the One who forgives iniquity, and God accounted him righteous. Bathsheba's father and Uriah's family no doubt wanted justice, and yet God was merciful.

Father of All Who Believe

Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but uncircumcised.

For "circumcised" read Jewish; for "uncircumcised" read Gentile. Abraham was declared righteous before circumcision. He received that sign as a seal of the righteousness of faith he already had. Therefore Abraham is the father of all who believe—not only of Israel, but of every Gentile who trusts the same God Abraham trusted. By grace through faith we are grafted into the family tree and made righteous, and righteousness is imputed to us also. He is father both of believing Jews and of all who walk in the steps of the faith Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

The Glorious Reality of the Gospel

"All we like sheep have gone astray," says Isaiah 53; "we have turned, every one, to his own way." Romans 3 says all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. In Romans 5 we will see that through one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all because all sin. According to our sinful works, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). What we deserve is judgment, just as David deserved judgment. But the free gift of God in Christ Jesus is eternal life.

Jesus is the One who redeems—who opens the door to forgiveness, not to the person who works for it, but to the person who trusts in Him who promised it. "Would to God that Ishmael might live before You," said Abraham. And we sometimes think, "But I'm a good person; I do good works—would to God that my Ishmael might live before You." And God says, "No, it's not possible, for no righteousness is imputed by the works of the law; it comes only by grace through faith." It is a work of God alone.

Oh, that God would so impress this on our hearts that wherever He takes us—a workplace, a campus, the community, or the uttermost parts—we could not help but declare it to those who still find themselves in unrighteousness, who have the opportunity to put their trust in the One who makes us righteous.

Closing Prayer

Father, I thank You for Your great grace. I thank You, Jesus, that You have made the way open—You are redemption. The Bible says You are the propitiation, the payment, the redemption price for our salvation. Without You we could do nothing, but we thank You that You have opened the way to salvation. You call to all who are weary and heavy laden, who are trying to work out their own salvation, to put their trust in You who justifies the ungodly. Enable us to share that glorious grace with everyone we meet. You said no one comes to You except Your Spirit draws them, so draw by Your Spirit now. Work in us, Your church, to be witnesses unto You in our community this week. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.