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Apple PodcastsRomans 3-4: Account Paid In Full
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Podcast Introduction
Our reading today is Romans 3-4. After that I’ll have a comment or two about the chapters we’ve read. And I’ll tell you about my favorite spot. A place where I am both relaxed and invigorated, and how that feeling relates to today’s scripture. And then, there’s the “On This Day In Church History” segment.
Thoughts on Romans 3-4
Do you have a favorite place? Someplace on the planet that you think about when you wish you could just get away from it all? Someplace where you are both relaxed and excited at the same time?
For me, that place is a little campsite in the Yosemite wilderness. It’s a place nestled in where the Merced river takes a gentle 90 degree turn on its way down to the Yosemite valley. I love to sit, in my mind’s eye, just at that corner, amidst the pine trees, as the Stellar’s Jays call out and the occasional brown trout jumps out of the gently flowing water chasing a mosquito for dinner. Since it is in the wilderness, this spot is well away from the crushing crowds of tourists who never leave the paved paths of the valley. Only backpackers get to see this area. It’s a peaceful spot, and oh so exciting at the same time because so relatively few get to enjoy this place.
That’s how I feel about Romans, chapter four. Peaceful and excited. I love to read this chapter. The excitement comes first, for me. How can you *not* be excited to read, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Account Paid In Full
Wait. What? All he did was believe God, and God credited him with righteousness??? Really? You mean old Abe didn’t have to go slay a dragon or kill 100 bulls or starve himself for a month or, or, or? He just believed God?
Yeah. That’s it.
You say that can’t be right. Surely he did something. Nope. Listen. “Now to the one who works, his pay is not credited due to grace but due to obligation. But to the one who does not work, but believes in the one who declares the ungodly righteous, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
Abraham’s faith was credited as righteousness. Not his work, because that would have been a payment of obligation.
Well, you heard the chapter. Paul went into a fair amount of detail…all of it good. And it is all so exciting to see that it is not works that earns righteousness.
And that’s a good thing, keeping in mind what Paul wrote in chapter three. You know, where he said, “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one.”
Sort of sounds hopeless doesn’t it?
But back here in chapter four, we get the good news that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. What’s good about that? The closing sentences tell us, “ But the statement *it was credited to him* was not written only for Abraham’s sake, 24 but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was given over because of our transgressions and was raised for the sake of our justification.”
This is the part of the chapter that gives me peace. I’m excited that God’s plan for man is so incredibly generous. Believe and be righteous. I find infinite peace in the knowledge that this lavish grace is extended to you and to me. When we really begin to grasp this truth, there is nothing that can steal your peace.
Link to Yesterday’s Show
I posted the video trailer of season 1 of The Chosen yesterday. Here’s the link.
Today’s Bible Translation
Bible translation used in today’s episode: Ch. NET, NKJV
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This is the award winning podcast where Steve Webb, the O.G. Godcaster and host of the Lifespring! Family of Podcasts, invites you to join him as he reads through the entire Bible in a daily Sunday through Saturday, fifteen to thirty minute show. Each episode features a reading, followed by a short commentary.
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In the morning!
Been a long time NA listener and friend of Adam’s when we both lived in Austin. I’m really enjoying reading the Bible with you, Steve. Great reading, so many audio bibles are unlistenable!
I’ll email some original Christian folk songs your way, and hopefully it will ‘impued’ with value for value righteousness. (Instead of…you’ve got karma! Perhaps, you’ve been impued!
As for a friendly good faith critique, I know it’s a beautiful passage but I think Your understanding and summary is a bit narrow and one sided. The Roman’s and certainly the Orthodox don’t view it as “your faith saves you”. I encourage you to visit some podcasts at Ancient Faith Radio on the matter or some articles at OrthoChristian for a more nuanced understanding. For example when exactly is Paul quoting Genesis? Genesis 15. Why doesn’t Paul allude to Abraham’s earlier faith? Why not point to something in Genesis 12 for example? Yes, his faith makes him righteous, but was Abraham not a man of active faith via works? And we just need to look at other Scripture passages: Ephesians 2:8-10 or Roman 13:8-20 or the obvious from James, faith without works is dead. The majority of people in the Church from the time of Jesus onward did not read Romans through a reformed lens. You’re in the historical minority. This is fine! But perhaps something to at least point out to the listener.
Thanks Mike, for your thoughtful comment! I apologize for the slow response. I have been plagued with a pretty severe headache for the last week or so, and my ability to concentrate has been hindered.
I appreciate your kind words Mike, and happy that you are enjoying the podcast. I look forward to hearing your music!
In regards to faith vs works. I have a good friend who is a Dove Award winning Christian singer/songwriter. We had a conversation some time ago in which he said, “A lot of Christians think that every ‘Christian’ song needs to be an entire Sunday school lesson.” In other words, they think that every nuance of a topic needs to be included in the song. The truth is that not every song lends itself to this kind of detail. Even the Psalms limit themselves to a specific area of focus. Sometimes David writes as if God has deserted him and there is no hope. Does that mean that he really thought that life was hopeless? Should *we* think that way when we read these Psalms? Of course not. To understand the totality of David’s beliefs about God, we need to read all of his works.
If you continue to listen to the Lifespring Family Audio Bible I think you will see that you and I are very close in our belief regarding faith vs works. In a nutshell, I believe that we are saved solely through faith. However if I profess faith in Christ, but my life does not yield any of the fruit of the Spirit, I do not have a real faith…it is dead. I will even go so far as to say that I never truly believed.
Here is an example I use to illustrate my understanding of faith vs works: When I married my wife, I vowed to love only her. I vowed to do whatever was in my power to give her a good life. Every day since then, I have made it my job to fulfill that vow. I look for ways to help her, to do things that will make her smile, to provide for her. I do these things not because I have to earn her love, but simply because I love her. What I do for her naturally flows from that love. Had I made those wedding vows, and then ignored every one of them and even ignored my wife, did I really mean it when I spoke them? Extremely doubtful.
When we accept Christ, when we *really* accept Him, the Holy Spirit begins a work in us that changes us. We begin to display the Fruit of the Spirit. Not by our efforts, but simply by living. An apple tree does not have to *try* to grow apples. An apple tree grows apples because it is an apple tree. In the same way, a Christian displays love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control in his or her everyday life, as the Holy Spirit lives in them and changes them. It’s not an overnight change, of course. But as one yields the the Spirit’s voice, the changes do take place.
So to sum up Mike, I believe that Jesus did *everything necessary* for my salvation. I contribute nothing to the equation, except me. I cannot even take credit for having the faith to accept him. Hebrews 12 says that Jesus is the “author and finisher” of my faith. I believe Him because He gave me the faith in the first place! Did I have a choice to respond to the faith? Yes. But now we’re getting into the predestination question. Maybe another day for that topic. 🙂
Over the year I will cover these points as they come up in our reading of Scripture. I just don’t do it every time, for the same reason my songwriting friend doesn’t give an entire Sunday school lesson when he writes a song.
Mike, I do very much appreciate your comments and I hope you will comment again.
God bless you!