Unashamed Reading Plan – W4D2
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 4 | Day 2
Prayer
Allow some silence for your soul to catch up with your body. Thank God for time to spend with Him and ask Him to meet with you.
Bible Reading: Romans 4:13-25
Read these verses three times slowly.
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Reflection & Questions
Yesterday, we saw that Abraham and David were both saved because of their faith, showing that this has always been the way of salvation. Paul continues to talk about the importance of salvation by faith and there are perhaps two lines in these verses that deserve special attention.
The first is that “the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.” There’s a beautiful reasoning behind God’s salvation gift through faith. He wants it to be guaranteed. He doesn’t want His people wondering – “did I do enough?”, “am I good enough?” or “perhaps I’ve crossed the line now and it will be taken away?”. God wants them to know they are saved. There’s no guarantees in following the law. There’s only guarantees in a gift by faith. What an amazing thing that God set up salvation by faith so that we would know for sure.
The second line worth of attention is about Abraham’s faith. Paul writes, “ he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” This is an excellent definition of faith: “Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Faith is about believing a promise, and believing in the power of God to fulfill that promise. In Abraham’s case, this was trusting God’s promise that God would provide him a son when he was in old age. For us, this is trusting that when God says He will save us, He will save us. We fully lean on Him to do what He has promised and what we could never do.
- What word or phrase sticks out to you from these verses? Why?.
- What have you learned about salvation by faith in Romans so far? How does this challenge and encourage you?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Bible Reading: Romans 4:13-25 (selected verses)
Read these verses three times slowly.
It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith…the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all.
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Reflection & Questions
Today we learn a little more about this faith of Abraham. There are two verses in particular that are important in today’s reading.
First of all, it is the verse that has the word “guarantee” in it: “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.” What’s cool about this verse is that there’s a beautiful reason behind God’s salvation gift through faith. He wants it to be guaranteed. He doesn’t want His people wondering – “did I do enough?”, “am I good enough?” or “perhaps I’ve crossed the line now and it will be taken away?”. No – we don’t have to worry about whether we have obeyed good enough or if we didn’t do enough to earn our salvation. God set it up so we would know for sure that if we had faith and believed, we would have salvation!
We also get a picture of Abraham and how strong he was in his faith. “He did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” He. Was. FULLY PERSUADED!! He KNEW that God’s word was true and that He would fulfill His promise. In Abraham’s case, this was believing that God would provide him a son even though he was already an old man. For us, this is trusting that when God says He will save us, He will save us. We fully lean on Him to do what He has promised and what WE could NEVER do.
- Have you ever wondered about whether you were “good enough” to be a Christian? What does today’s reading tell you about that?
Pray
When you pray today, think about how great it is that salvation and forgiveness of sins is a guaranteed thing for anyone who believes in it. Thank Jesus that He died on the cross so that you could have that guarantee.
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Questions?
Ed Applegate
