Biblical Faith

A Sermon on Romans 4:13-25

Before I read our text, I want you to understand something important: the life of a Christian is a life of faith. Many people think that faith is only for salvation—that you exercise faith to become a Christian, but once you believe, you’re on your own. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Bible tells us in Romans 1:17 that “the righteous shall live by faith.”

In Romans 4:1-12, which we studied the past two weeks, we learned that righteousness is received by faith. Everyone is justified by faith, not by external works such as circumcision or keeping commandments. We also learned that Abraham is the father of those who believe by faith.

Today, Paul will show us more about what this faith looks like in the life of believers. Let me read our passage:

“For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness. But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

In verse 13, Paul reminds us of the promise made to Abraham—that he would be heir of the world and father of many nations. Remember that in the church at Rome, there were both Jews and Gentiles. The Jews felt superior because they had the law of Moses and were physical descendants of Abraham. Paul uses Abraham as an example to show that everyone becomes a child of Abraham through faith, not just Jews, but anyone who follows in Abraham’s faith.

Abraham believed by faith and it was counted to him as righteousness. Today, to become a Christian, you must believe by faith and you are declared righteous.

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a multitude that no one could number. This wasn’t just about being a physical father to the Jews—it had spiritual implications. He would be the father of all those who believed by faith, apart from works of the law, just as Abraham did.

The Main Idea

If I can summarize this passage in one sentence, it would be this: Biblical faith is a faith that begins with trusting God alone for salvation and continues to trust in Him for sanctification. You trust in God for justification, and then you continue to grow in faith for sanctification.

Today we’ll examine four characteristics of biblical faith. The first relates to salvation, and the next three relate to our sanctification.

1. Biblical Faith Is Not Based on Works (verses 13-17)

Paul argues again what he began in chapter 4: justification is by faith alone. Righteousness—being declared righteous and becoming a Christian—comes only by faith, not by works.

The passage tells us the promise to Abraham “did not come through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Paul is speaking to both Jews and Gentiles in Rome. The Jews felt they had an advantage because they possessed the law and had created a religion based on obeying it. They believed that if you obeyed the law, God was pleased with you.

But Paul reminds them that Abraham believed by faith many years before the law was even given. He asks them, in essence: “You claim to be children of Abraham, but you also claim salvation through obeying Moses’ law. But how was Abraham saved? He believed by faith, and his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”

Abraham didn’t have the law of Moses, so he couldn’t be saved by obeying it. He was saved by faith alone. This is the same pattern for all of us. If you’re a Christian today, you didn’t trust in works of the law or your own righteousness. You trusted in the righteousness of Christ by faith alone—and that is the only thing that saves.

Paul explains in verse 15 that “the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.” Without law, we cannot recognize what sin is. This is why God revealed the Bible—so we know what transgression is.

In verse 16, Paul says, “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace.” Salvation must depend on faith so that it depends on God’s grace. If salvation came through obeying the law or doing good works, it wouldn’t rest on grace—it would rest on your own goodness, and the glory would go to you, not to God.

This is what we learn from verses 13-17: faith alone has always been the prerequisite for salvation and justification. Salvation does not come by obedience to the law. If salvation depended on obeying the law or doing good deeds, then it wouldn’t be by grace anymore.

Before I move to the next point, let me ask those of you who have been attending church but haven’t trusted in Christ: When are you going to turn to Jesus? What are you waiting for? You’ve heard for many weeks that your righteousness is not enough and that you need Christ’s righteousness, yet you refuse to believe.

Christ is calling you to abandon your self-righteousness and trust in Christ alone. By faith, trust in His righteousness, and He will count His righteousness as your own. Many people say, “I hope God will take me to heaven because I’ve tried hard.” But you can have assurance today! The reason people lack assurance is because they’re trusting in their own righteousness. You’ll never know if you’ve done enough good works. But when you trust in Jesus, you know His righteousness is enough.

This morning, I appeal to you: turn to Jesus.

2. Biblical Faith Trusts God Even When Everything Seems Impossible (verses 18-19)

Abraham believed in God’s promises when God first gave them in Genesis 12, promising him a son and that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham believed God, and that faith was counted to him as righteousness. He was saved and became a follower of Yahweh.

But in this section, Paul reminds us that Abraham continued believing in hope that he would be the father of many nations, even though it seemed impossible because he had no children.

Look at verse 18: “In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.'” Verse 19 continues: “He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.”

Remember that God gave Abraham the promise in Genesis 12, and he believed. But God appeared to him again in Genesis 15, then again in Genesis 17, reaffirming the promise. Many years had passed from Genesis 12 to Genesis 17, yet Abraham continued to believe in faith that the One who promised was faithful.

He hoped as a believer. He had already left his father’s house, worshipped the Lord, and believed in the Lord’s promises. He was hoping and waiting for their fulfillment, even though it took many years and seemed like they weren’t coming.

Picture Abraham at nearly 100 years old—old, wrinkled, probably stooped over. Time went by and the promise hadn’t come. The child hadn’t come. Had God lied? Was God playing a prank on Abraham?

What I want you to see is that faith is not only for salvation—faith is something believers must exercise every day. Abraham believed in God and His promises for salvation, and he continued to believe in Him as a believer. He continued to hope in God.

From a human standpoint, there was no hope he would have descendants. Yet with God, all things are possible. He believed what God said. His hope wasn’t in the invincible human spirit or in positive thinking. He had a deeper, inner confidence that God was absolutely true to His word.

Verse 20 tells us: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” There were times when Abraham doubted, but he did not waver. He remained steady and actually grew stronger in his faith as he gave glory to God.

Abraham trusted the Lord against all odds. His wife Sarah was 90 years old, and he was 100. Verse 19 says his body was “as good as dead”—he was too old to bear children. Not only that, but Sarah was barren. She had been unable to have children even in her younger years, and now in her old age it was completely impossible.

But Abraham believed. Abraham hoped. He had faith in the promise of God. Verse 18 tells us he “hoped against hope”—he hoped against all odds.

Listen, brothers and sisters, it was impossible for Abraham to have a son, but he believed in hope. This is what we learn as Christians from Abraham: you believe and trust in the Lord even when it seems impossible.

Biblical faith goes beyond human power. It acknowledges the existence of the One who is not bound by human limitations. It recognizes that our God is not limited by space, time, events, or impossibilities.

What are you facing in your life right now that seems impossible? What do you need to trust the Lord for?

Some of you have genuine financial needs right now, and it seems impossible for those needs to be met. You’re tempted to help God by borrowing and getting into debt instead of getting on your knees and saying, “Abba Father, help me. This need is for Your glory, not for my own desires. Help me.”

Some of you may be called to Bible school, church planting, or missions, and you don’t know how God will provide. You have no idea where the money will come from. But if He wants you to serve Him, is anything impossible for Him?

Are you facing an impossibility in your life that would glorify God? Then it’s time to get on your knees and trust and hope against all hope. Against all odds, it’s time to trust the God of the impossible.

Think about our church. We have missionaries in the field. We’re hoping to send Pastor Gideon soon, and after that, we’re praying to send Pastor Jean to Angola. The first thing many people think is, “Where will we get the money? We don’t have enough. It’s impossible.”

Really? The God who gave a barren old woman a son cannot provide a few dollars to extend His kingdom through our church? God in His sovereignty is raising men from within our church who want to go into ministry. He’s growing our church so we can support, pray for, and oversee these men. Do you really think God cannot provide if He’s bringing these callings into men’s hearts?

God is the God of impossibilities. We’re going to continue extending God’s kingdom, and He’s going to provide because He is faithful. Ask anyone in ministry—ask any of our pastors how God has provided for this church. Ask Brother Dennis how God has provided for Lifesong when it seemed like nothing was coming, and God provided abundantly. Ask anyone doing God’s work how God provides, because He is powerful.

God’s work done God’s way will never lack God’s provision.

You must trust the God of the impossible. When it seems lost, when everything seems hopeless, God is still there.

Let me share a couple of stories. There was a woman in the 1800s in the southern United States named Harriet Tubman. She was barely five feet tall—shorter than my 12-year-old son. She was a black slave with a scar on her forehead from a childhood injury and no formal education. Born into slavery, she was a Christian who firmly believed slavery was evil.

Harriet escaped from her masters and went north to freedom. But she felt God wanted to use her to free other slaves because she believed slavery was sin. Against all odds and logic, even though she was already free, she went back to the South to help free others. She knew the route she had escaped through, so she returned to help others.

She made this dangerous journey again and again. All the slaves called Harriet “Moses”—the Moses of her people—because like Moses, she was freeing slaves. Every time she traveled that route from south to north, she prayed, “God, I trust in You. I’m going to hold steady on You, and You’ve got to see me through.”

And He did. Harriet Tubman led at least 70 enslaved people to freedom, walking through forests, valleys, and dangerous places. She never lost a single person—not one. Many slave catchers were pursuing her. She had no maps and couldn’t read. She couldn’t rely on people to hide her because if they were caught, they would face prison or death.

But she had something else: faith. Harriet said that every time she stepped onto a path in the woods, knocked on a door, waited in a swamp, or waited for cover of night, she prayed, “Lord, go with me. Make me invisible.”

Sometimes it almost seemed like it worked. Slave catchers passed within feet of her group and never saw them. Dogs couldn’t catch her scent. Fires stayed low. She credited everything to the power of God. But it all started with faith—not faith in herself or faith in a cause, but faith in the God of the impossible.

Have you heard of George Müller? He was a man in the 1800s in Bristol, England, who opened an orphanage. But this wasn’t just any orphanage—it ran without fundraisers, without appealing for money, without government support. Müller had the conviction that it was God’s will for these orphans to be cared for and taught God’s Word. He firmly believed God would provide through prayer, even when it seemed impossible to feed hundreds of orphans.

He opened the orphanage and started receiving children—first a dozen, then hundreds. Over time, more than 10,000 orphans passed through his orphanage.

One morning, the house mother came to him and said, “Mr. Müller, the children are dressed and ready for school, but there’s no food for breakfast and we have no money.”

Müller said, “Don’t worry. Take them into the dining room, have them sit down, and we’re going to pray and thank God for the food.”

So in a room with empty plates and no food, 300 children sat down. Müller prayed and thanked God for the food He was going to provide. As he finished praying, there was a knock at the door. It was the town baker.

“Mr. Müller,” he said, “I couldn’t sleep last night. I felt like God was putting it in my heart to bake bread for you and your orphanage. I got up early and baked bread for the orphanage. Can I bring it in? Can you use it?”

Müller gave glory to God. As they were unloading the bread, there was another knock. This time it was a milkman whose cart had broken down right in front of the orphanage.

“Mr. Müller,” he said, “I have a lot of milk in my cart, and it will go bad by the time I fix the wheel. I cannot deliver it on time. Could the children use some milk today?”

That morning, 300 children ate with full bellies and strengthened faith, because our God is a God of the impossible.

Brothers and sisters, where God is present, nothing is impossible. When God’s will is for something to happen, He will get it done. The church of Jesus Christ desperately needs Christians who will trust with all their hearts that God is able to bring to pass anything consistent with His will.

“My God is too small” seems to be the cry of many Christians—Christians who doubt that God can provide, protect, forgive, or intervene in difficult situations. Yet these same Christians come to church and sing “How Great Thou Art” and “To God Be the Glory,” but don’t trust that He can intervene.

Now, as Christians, I’m not saying life will always be easy. There will be times when our faith weakens. When our faith weakens, we can do one of two things: try to help God by taking things into our own hands (even against God’s commandments), or despair because we think God isn’t able.

Remember Sarah? She said to Abraham, “I don’t think God is going to give you a son. You’re too old, and I’m barren. But I have a young maidservant. Have relations with her and she can bear you a son. Maybe that’s what God meant.” She went against God’s design.

Sometimes we try to help God, don’t we? Ishmael was born, but Ishmael was the work of man. Isaac was the work of God. We don’t have to help God—we just have to trust.

Even though Abraham wasn’t perfect—he laughed when God told him Sarah would still give him a child even after Ishmael was born—he believed that God is able. He hoped against hope.

Biblical faith is absolute confidence in the God of the impossible. Biblical faith believes even against all odds when everything seems lost. Your God is great. He is able. Trust in Him.

3. Biblical Faith Believes God Is Faithful to His Promises (verses 20-22)

Look at verse 20: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.”

Abraham believed in the promises of God. His commitment was to God and trusting in His promises. Paul tells us that no unbelief made Abraham waver concerning God’s promise. Abraham remained firm in his trust in God’s promises.

His faith had initially been counted to him as righteousness, and he continued in righteousness, having faith in the promises of God. We see here that God is faithful to His promises. He’s faithful to save those who repent, and He’s faithful to fulfill His promises to His children.

I love how Paul puts it: “but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.” He was fully convinced and grew stronger. His faith wasn’t static. Even as things seemed impossible, he trusted not just the same, but more and more and more.

Even though the promise wasn’t yet fulfilled, he continued to trust and grow in trust until the promise was fulfilled. There was no doubt in his mind that God would do it.

By the time God ratified his promises to Abraham in Genesis 17, about 25 years had passed since he first received the promises in Genesis 12. Twenty-five years! God had changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude” or “father of many.”

A commentator named Barnhouse mentions that Abraham’s place in Canaan was on a trade route where many people would pass with their camels and possessions. Abraham had many wells, so travelers would stop to eat, drink water from his wells, and spend the night.

Can you imagine the conversations around the fire? “What’s your name?” “Abraham.” “What does that mean?” “Father of many.” “How interesting. How many children do you have?” “Zero.”

It would be like a woman named Patience who’s always angry, or a man named Blessings who doesn’t bless people much with his life. Abraham probably became the joke of everyone. But that didn’t make him waver. He trusted the promises of God. He was fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.

Do you trust the promises of God?

I think this is one of our main sins as Christians: we don’t know His promises, and we don’t trust the promises we do know.

Some of you are going through difficulties, and instead of trusting the promise that “all things work together for good for those who love God,” you get bitter and discouraged. You don’t believe that promise because it doesn’t seem good to you. But trust the Lord—He knows what’s better for you than you do.

He has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches in glory, but you don’t trust His promises and try to fix things yourself. You’re not generous in giving to the Lord through your church because you think if you give, you won’t have enough to cover your needs. But God says, “I will provide all your needs according to my riches in glory.” How rich do you think God is? Yet we don’t trust that.

Some of you are unfaithful in your giving to the Lord because you don’t trust that God is able to provide. If you’re not faithful, then you’re not trusting.

You have a husband or wife who’s difficult, but you try to fix them yourself instead of trusting the God who has promised that through prayer, He can work in people’s hearts. You believe the devil’s lie that your spouse is your enemy. No! The enemy is the one behind all this. You are one flesh with your spouse. The devil is trying to make you believe they’re your enemy, but the real enemy is Satan. We don’t wrestle against flesh and blood. But we don’t trust that God can work in the heart of your spouse or children.

You have sin in your life that’s robbing your joy and making you miserable. Psalm 32:1 says, “Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven and against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.” That’s a promise—you will be blessed, happy, and joyful if you trust in Him. If you repent, He will forgive you and you’ll be blessed. But instead of repenting and believing He can give you joy in Him, you think your sin will bring more satisfaction.

What about when someone has done evil against you? Can you trust that God is in control? When someone offends you deeply, speaks evil of you, or doesn’t do what they’re supposed to do, you get bitter and that bitterness lasts so long. You have an unforgiving heart and take things so personally that you’re blinded to God’s goodness and sovereignty.

God promises that He has all things under His control, but you don’t trust that. You feel you have to go speak to that person and give them a piece of your mind—actually, you give them the whole thing! You don’t trust that God is in control, so you try to fix it yourself, bringing more division, problems, and bitterness instead of speaking in love, praying, and trusting the Lord.

Is God good? He promises He is. Then why do we complain all the time? Why do you fight? Why don’t you trust Him?

Think about it right now: In your life, what promise of God are you not believing? What sin is in your life right now? Match that with what promise you’re not trusting. If there’s sin in your life, there’s a promise you’re not trusting.

God is not a man that He should lie. He will do what He has promised. He promised Abraham a son and that he would be the father of a multitude, and He did what He promised. Today, you and I are actually children of Abraham by faith because God was faithful to His promises to Abraham, and God is faithful to His promises to you.

But sometimes you don’t know the promises, and you don’t trust those promises. So what sin is in your life? What promise are you not trusting?

I remember Brother Jack telling me that when he became a Christian and was growing in faith, he had no job. An opportunity came to take a job in Lusaka, but he said no because “my God is able to provide. I want to stay with my church where I can grow.” He stayed, God provided, and he’s still here. God has been faithful.

Brother Willem had a similar situation. He wanted to stay with his church when a job was offered elsewhere. He stayed, God provided, and now he’s even happily married. God provides when you trust Him.

But we’re not willing to trust in the goodness of God. Many times people say, “Pastor, pray for a job,” then a company offers them a job where they have to work on Sundays and be permanently away from God’s people, and they say, “Praise the Lord, He provided!”

No, He didn’t. That’s a test. Not every open door is from the Lord. Satan opens doors all the time. You might open a door and find Satan behind it. Nothing that will take you away from the Lord is from the Lord, but you must trust.

“But this job pays well!” Can you trust that God is in control?

What is it in your life that you’re facing where you need to trust in the promises of God like Abraham? It took him 25 years. What do you need to trust the Lord for?

4. Biblical Faith Sets an Example for Others (verses 23-25)

Look at verses 23-25: “But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

Paul reminds the Romans that the words “it was counted to him as righteousness” were not just for Abraham, but for all of us. His faith is an example to us. All of us have faith in God without trusting in our own righteousness, just like Abraham did. Our faith is counted to us as righteousness, just like Abraham’s.

Abraham’s faith became an example, a pattern for us to follow. The whole chapter 4 is meant to be an example to readers. Abraham’s faith is to be an example, which is why Paul says it was “for our sake” also.

The Jews believed in salvation by works—by their own righteousness—but Paul uses Abraham, the father of the Jews, as an example of biblical faith: one that does not trust in his own righteousness, but in Christ alone.

Not only is he an example of saving faith, but also of sanctifying faith—he continued to believe for years after he initially trusted the Lord. He continued to believe against all odds. His faith becomes our example.

Let me ask you: Is your faith a faith that can be an example to others? Or are you a complainer? Are you someone who lacks faith, who cannot trust that the illness you have is under God’s control, and you’re complaining and discouraged?

Are you someone who cannot trust that God will provide, trying to find even unbiblical means to provide for yourself? Is your faith a bad example, or are you a person of faith? Are you walking in faith that can be replicated by others? Are you walking in such faith that your children can follow and say, “We don’t have a lot of money at home, but I know my dad trusts in God”?

Or are you a bad example of faith?

In verse 24, we’re told it’s by faith alone: “It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord.”

Have you believed in Jesus? If you have, is your faith great enough that unbelievers can see it and say, “I need to trust Jesus like he did”? Is your faith great enough in the promises of God that other believers feel encouraged?

Have you ever met believers who just encourage your faith? You spend time with them and feel unworthy even to be with them. Of course, they’re sinners too, but they encourage your faith.

I think of Ryan Shield. Every time I talk to Ryan, we joke about many things, but Ryan encourages my faith. He’s been persecuted by Somalis, with threats on his life and his family’s life, yet he’s serving the Lord. They’ll be here with us soon for a few weeks next month. Be praying for them. But he encourages my faith.

Some of you believers here encourage my faith. But there are times when I talk to a Christian and walk away feeling more discouraged than encouraged.

Do you have a faith that sets an example for others?

Conclusion

So that’s biblical faith. If you’re here without Jesus, remember that biblical faith is not by works. I appeal to you who don’t know—if you don’t know that you’ll be with Christ if you die today, remember that you cannot be saved on your own. Your faith will be counted to you as righteousness, just like Abraham’s.

But if you are a believer:

• Do you trust in God even when everything seems impossible?
• Do you believe that God is faithful to His promises?
• Is your faith an example to others?

I pray that this truth goes with us today.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the faith of Abraham that became an example to us, both for salvation and sanctification. We thank You, Father, for those here this morning who trusted in Christ and whose faith was counted as righteousness to them. We thank You, Lord, that You are faithful to Your promises.

Oh, Father, how many times we doubt that You can work on our behalf. We doubt that You’re powerful. We doubt, Lord, that impossibilities will actually come to pass. We doubt that our God is great and in control. Oh, Father, forgive us. I pray, forgive Your people.

In the name of Christ, I intercede for Your people this morning and for myself. I pray that You would forgive us for the times we don’t trust You. What a horrible, heinous sin it is to trust in men and not to trust in the promises of God. I pray this morning, forgive Your people.

I pray that we would be people who believe against all odds that God is able, that we would trust in Your promises, and that our faith will be an example to others—others around us and those who come after us.

Lord, I pray, speak to Your people. I pray that You would save those who need Jesus. And I pray that You would speak to Your people, Lord. Oh, Father, that You would speak to us to help us trust in You in everything in our lives, that we would not complain, that we would trust in the God of Abraham, who is also our God.

I pray all these things in Jesus’ name. Amen.