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Context No. 1930 of 4322 · Romans

Context · Reflection

Romans 4:16-25: in context

16For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. 18Against hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.” 19Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. 22Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.” 23Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, 24but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.

Paul holds up Abraham as the model of faith. Against hope, Abraham in hope believed that he would become the father of many nations, as God had promised. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, as good as dead at a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb. Rather, looking to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, fully assured that what God had promised, he was able to perform. And this faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Paul's description of Abraham's faith is instructive precisely because Abraham faced real impossibilities. God had promised him countless offspring, and Abraham was a hundred years old with a body as good as dead, and Sarah was barren and past childbearing. The obstacles were real, and Abraham did not pretend they were not; he considered his own aged body and Sarah's deadness. But here is the key: he did not let the impossibilities weaken his faith. Facing the obstacles honestly, he nonetheless grew strong in faith, not by focusing on the difficulties but by looking to the promise and the power of God. He was fully assured that what God had promised, God was able to perform; and that assurance, fixed on God rather than on the obstacles, strengthened rather than weakened his faith. There is a pattern here for our own believing when we face what looks impossible. Faith does not require pretending the obstacles are not there; Abraham faced his squarely. But faith refuses to let the obstacles have the last word, and instead fixes its attention on the promise and the power of God. When we look only at the impossibilities, our faith weakens; when we look, as Abraham did, to the God who promised and his power to perform, our faith grows strong. The difference is not whether we see the obstacles, but where we fix our gaze: on the difficulty, which discourages, or on God, which strengthens. Abraham did not waver in unbelief by staring at his dead body and Sarah's barren womb; he grew strong in faith by staring at the promise of God, fully assured of God's power to keep it. And this is faith for us as well: not the denial of real obstacles, but the refusal to let them weaken us, fixing instead on the God who promised, whose power to perform is not limited by the impossibilities we face. Against hope, in hope Abraham believed, looking to God; and the faith that grows strong, even against real impossibilities, is the faith that fixes its gaze on the promise and power of God rather than on the obstacles.

When I face what looks impossible, do I let my faith weaken by staring at the obstacles, or can I do as Abraham did, facing the difficulties honestly yet growing strong in faith by fixing my gaze on the promise and power of God, fully assured that what he has promised he is able to perform?

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