Romans 4 (Part 3): Faith in the God Who Quickens

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Part 3 of 4 • ⏱️ 2-Min Read

Passage: Rom.4:16-22

Scripture Focus:

"Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be." (Rom.4:18)

Today's Lesson
Paul now shows us what faith actually looks like when it has nothing in the flesh to lean on. Abraham was about a hundred years old, and Sarah's womb was dead. His body was as good as dead, and the promise of a seed had no natural possibility left to it. The text says he considered this, meaning he did not ignore the facts. Faith is not pretending the obstacle is not there. Abraham looked squarely at his own dead body and Sarah's dead womb, and then he looked at the promise of God, and the promise won. He staggered not at the promise through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. Notice what made him strong. It was not the strength of his own believing, as though faith were a force he generated. He was fully persuaded that what God had promised, God was able also to perform. His confidence rested on God's ability, not on his own capacity. This is the God he believed in, the God who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were. That is the kind of God faith rests on, one who creates reality by His word and raises life where there is only death. And because Abraham believed, it was imputed to him for righteousness. Faith does not produce the promise. Faith receives the God who makes the promise, and the righteousness is credited on that basis alone.

⚙️ Grace Truth & Identity
Your righteousness is imputed on the same principle, not because your faith is strong, but because the God you believe is able to perform what He has promised. You rest on His ability, not your own.

💡 Core Takeaway
Abraham was fully persuaded that God was able to perform what He had promised, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. (Rom.4:21-22)

💬 For Meditation & Walk
Where are you measuring your faith by how strongly you feel, rather than by the ability of the God who promised?

⏭️ Up Next:
Tomorrow in Romans 4, we see that Abraham's justification was written for our sake too, secured through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord.

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