Romans 4:19-21 ( NKJV )
And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Our basic thought for this week has been that righteousness, the removal of guilt control in our lives, was obtained by Abraham through faith in God and not by keeping a law. Behavior is important. Paul is not saying it is alright to disregard the commandments of God because we are don’t have to keep the law to be right with Him. On the contrary we will find next week that behavior is important but for different reasons.
In appropriating his promise of being the father of nations, Abraham took certain steps outlined in Romans 4. Our promise of freedom from guilt and right standing with God can be accessed through these same steps. Although I have preached many messages on this chapter, we just want to take a few moments here to list these steps and make a few pertinent comments.
We began with Rom. 4:17-18 and we found that step one was to fill our mouths with the promise. When we speak the Word of God out of our own mouth it creates something within us that nothing else can. Prov. 28:18 tells us the importance of our words. Use them to create faith not destroy it. Second Abraham hoped against hope. One of the things that makes this story such a clear example of the function of faith is just how naturally impossible his situation was. He was too old for children. His wife never could conceive. In the face of this he chose to put his hope in God. Although there may be impossibilities in your life or emotions, with God nothing is impossible.
In these next three verses we see possibly the most important element that will produce victory in faith. He did not consider the impossibility of his situation and he did consider the promise of God. Consider has two shades of meaning here. To consider something means you give it relevance to the situation. He did not see the condition of his body or of Sarah’s womb as relevant to the situation. In light of the promise of God their age was simply not a factor. They did, however, consider the promise of God to be the determining factor.
Secondly, to consider means to look at intently. He refused to focus his attention on the impossibility. He did not spend his time trying to figure out how a 100 year old man could have children. He did not spend time wondering why God hadn’t moved sooner. He did consider the promise of God. I believe he thought about it. If he had written it down, he read it. I believe he spoke this promise continually. He had changed his name to reflect the promise, so every time he heard “Abraham” he heard the promise.
Finally we see that he did not waver. This does not mean that he never had moments of doubt or questions. It does mean that he remained consistent in what he considered and what he did not. He fought back the doubts with the promise. He continued to give glory to God. This is a major key. When we praise God for what He has done it builds our strength to believe what he will do.
The end result of all these steps was that Abraham became fully persuaded that what God had promised He was also able to do. What does fully persuaded mean? Completely convinced. God can and will do what He has promised. How did Abraham get there? By putting the promise in his mouth, by accepting that what is naturally impossible is possible with God, by not considering the impossibility but by continually considering the promise of God and by being consistent by giving glory to God through it all.
Take the promise of righteousness and apply these same steps. Look at Romans 3-6. Read 2 Cor. 5. Read Hebrews 9-10. Think about them. Consider them. Speak these promises out of your own mouth. When you feel like you don’t measure up, consider the promise instead. When you feel rejected, go back to Romans 8 and see what God thinks of you. You didn’t get to where you are now in a day and the feelings won’t change in a day, but they will change. Finally, remember, give glory praise and worship to God. He deserves it no matter how you may feel. One day you will look back and se that the new creature in Christ has come to full maturity in your life.
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