Yay friends we are so happy that you are here! SO SO HAPPY!! 😀❤️😀
I have to be honest that this chapter has been SO challenging for me. Although I have really enjoyed reading it, studying it, listening to it, listening to podcasts about it, reading study notes about it. I HAVE REALLY LOVED IT!! BUT I’ve just had such a hard time putting it all together! I guess I just want to say so much, and there is so much history that I’ve been challenged with how to pull all my thoughts, what I’m learning, and what feels like is REALLY IMPORTANT theology together, and then trying to make it relevant for teenagers.
SO LET’S try something new!! LESS ABOUT ME, and Let’s talk about you! 😆
How do you feel about your time in God’s Word lately? Have you spent much time with God over the past couple weeks? What are you learning from Romans chapter 4?
And, I’m not asking you to judge you, as the reminder from Romans 8:1, that Lord-willing we will read together in a few weeks, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.“; but, I’m asking because I want to encourage you, and I too want to be encouraged too!
We have to encourage one another to pray against the stumbling blocks in our life. Maybe something is preventing you from getting into God’s Word and making time for Him. Maybe for others like myself this week, you are spending time with God, but are still having a hard time understand the things God’s Word is supposed to be teaching you, or maybe struggling putting those things into practice. And, maybe there are a bunch of other things going on with friends, health, school, depression, anxiety, stress, or all of this combined?!?!!
So for now let’s just give ALL of these “things” to the Lord.
Let’s call upon the one who sees us in our sin, in our sadness, in our joy, in our silliness, in our frustrations- and still loves us SO MUCH!
SO let’s PRAY!! And seek God and HIS WORD TOGETHER!! He is SO MUCH BIGGER THAN ALL OF OUR STRUGGLES AND SHORT COMINGS!!
Ask in Prayer
Lord Jesus, please help us to seek You and Your Word with Your understanding. Open our eyes, heart, and mind to know You. Help us God to cast all of our sin and struggles to You. Thank you for ALL that You provide daily for us. AND THANK YOU GOD for your relentless love. Lord please reveal yourself to us through Your glorious Word. And, please God teach us how we can serve You and those around us better! In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
B is for BIBLE
ROMANS CHAPTER 4: Abraham Justified by Faith.
For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. (3-5)
Romans 4:3-5 tells us that Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith and not because of HIS work, but because his FAITH IN GOD who forgives sinners!!
Praise God!
These 3 verses Romas 4:3, 4 & 5 MEAN SO MUCH – BUT THEY ARE ALSO SO SIMPLE!!
As we step into INVESTIGATING GOD’s Word, and as I’m going to attempt to try to explain some of the “MUCH” first, but then I really pray that the Lord will help me to focus on the simple.
INVESTIGATE. God, People, Self, Point to Jesus. Other verses come to mind?
- Who is Abraham?
We first learn about Abraham, and actually his name was Abram at the time when we 1st meet him in Genesis 11: 26.
***And, this is the reminder that the entire BIBLE is the Word of God, which is Jesus, and that’s why Paul is talking about Abraham and about his faith in God, and Paul, through the Holy Spirit is explaining what this means for our relationship with Jesus Christ! The whole Bible goes together, and tells one story, and we cannot forgot that!***
So, in Genesis 11:31 we read that Terah is the father of Abram. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there. Genesis 11:31
Then in Genesis 12 we read that God appears to Abram, “The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
“I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.” Genesis 12:1-4
Oh praise God for this very important passage in Scripture. The John MacArthur study Bible says, “This passage is the promise whose fulfillment extends all through Scripture.” This is called the Abrahamic Covenant, and it’s an everlasting covenant that contains 4 elements. 1. seed (descendants) 2. land 3. nation 4. divine blessing and protection.
The NIV Life Application Study Bible says. “When God called him, Abram moved out in faith from Ur to Harran and finally to Canaan. God then established a covenant with Abram, telling him that he would found a great nation. Not only would this nation be blessed, God said, but the other nations of the earth would be blessed through Abram’s descendants. The people of Israel, the nation that would come from Abram, were to follow God and influence those whom they came in contact. But the greatest blessing of all is that through Abram’s family tree, Jesus Christ was born to save humanity. Through Christ, people can have a personal relationship with God and be blessed beyond measure.“
AMEN!!!
This is WHY all of this is so IMPORTANT!!!
Do you guys know the children’s church song, “Father Abraham, had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham. I am one of them, and so are you. So let’s just praise the Lord.” I loved learning this song in church serving in kids ministry.
Abraham is the father of faith, the Father of the nation of Israel, and in the Gospel of Matthew he is listed as the first father in the Genealogy of Jesus Christ!
If we go to Matthew 1:1-2 We can read The Genealogy of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!
1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in Romans 4, is bringing it back to our Father Abraham, who is the great great great father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to show us now and the jews and christians at the time, that Faith was always the thing that counted people righteous, and not works.
And we first see this in Genesis 15:6 where Moses, inspired by God tells us that “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”
SO, I think this is why I feel the weight of this passage. Because not only through these verses do we see God’s promise of descendants, land, nation, and eternal blessings, which I don’t even feel equipped to unpack all of that at this time. (Although I can clearly see that many things that are happening in the world currently hinge on these passages in the Bible. Which is also why we TRULY NEED TO ENCOURAGE EACH OTHER to keep diving into GOD’s WORD, and truly become disciples/ leaners, because if we just keep sitting back and letting others tell us things instead of reading it for ourselves, and lazily sitting around scrolling just to be entertained we are going to miss what is clear before our eyes! THE BIBLE IS REAL, GOD’S HISTORY IS TRUE, AND HIS WORD WILL BE FULFILLED). So, I rightly feel the weight of this passage, because we are diving into the overall arching theme of the ENTIRE BIBLE!
But, praise God as I’m writing this now, the Lord reminds me of this:
But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 19:14
Jesus wants even little children to come to Him, So we don’t have to understand every part of History and even His Word to understand the heart of God.
As we look back at Romans 4, we see in verse 6, Paul talks about King David, another pillar in the Jewish faith.
Romans 4:6-8: “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered, blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Paul is actually quoting what David wrote about in Psalm 32:1-2, and he wrote this after his awful episode of adultery, and murderous cover up found in 2 Samuel 11. This is truly awful stuff!
But, Paul is bringing it up here, because David is sharing that firsthand he knows true blessing come from being forgiven of sin, and having faith in the only God who can do so, Jesus Christ!
So you might say, wait? David didn’t know Jesus. That was before his time. Wait wasn’t David Jesus’s great-great grandfather?
Well,
- We talked about this last time in Romans 3:25-26 “For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.” Because Jesus is part of our triune God, those who were looking ahead to the Messiah in faith, God included them in the forgiveness of sins when He died on the cross!
- Jesus Himself points this out to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41-46, and quoting David from Psalm 110:1: Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?” They replied, “He is the son of David.” Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, Sit in the place of honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’ Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.
So David had faith in His Messiah, that when he repented of the WORST of sins, that he was forgiven.
Abraham was counted righteous by his faith, not by works. Which is a great thing for him and for us, because we can read ahead to Genesis 16, to see how our father of faith Abraham also fell into the trap of sin and doubting God’s word:
“Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.” Abram agreed to what Sarai said. So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.” Genesis 16:2-4
So this makes my heart so sad. How many times in our life do we in our impatience and fear turn to our own devices, our own control, our own comfort instead of turning to the Lord for His patience, His truth, and His timing? AND WE MESS IT ALL UP?
IS IT COMFORTING knowing that even our pillar of faith in God, Father Abraham, doubted God’s promise or maybe the means by which God would deliver His promise. And, this lack of faith/ trust in God’s word led to a TERRIBLE compromise in his marriage and this led to drastic consequences not only for their marriage but for generations!
YET, PRAISE GOD!! We are reminded that for Abraham, for David, and for ourselves nothing catches God by surprise. God’s plan continues to go on exactly how God has planned, despite our failures. And praise Jesus, we are counted righteous by our faith in the one who forgives our sin. Jesus Christ!
So I have to ask you another question. Have you yet realized that you need a Savior?
Jesus can’t save someone who doesn’t need to be saved!
Jesus himself pointed this out in Mark 2:17
And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus came to save SINNERS! Which our last session Romans 3:23 reminded us that we all are! For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23
Okay there is still so MUCH to say, but I know we are running out of time. But, we have to quickly touch on this last point because, it’s so important!
CIRCUMCISiON. 😂 LOL. I’m actually not going to get into the details of that. You can ask your parents.
But, I will focus on what I think is the point of this very important piece of scripture.
Because of Abraham’s faith HE WALKED IN OBEDIENCE into the things God was calling him to do. (This is similar to baptism today!) This was definitely IMPERFECT obedience, as Abraham clearly messed up at times as we just read in Genesis 16, (and I want to quickly point out that things like seeking God and His word would have possibly prevented him from making those mistakes), but Abraham CLEARLY stepped out in obedience to his faith. He moved to a new land, He walked in obedience to have him and his household circumcised in Genesis 17, and we haven’t even touched on how He trusted God in taking his son to be sacrificed in Genesis 22 (and we definitely will have to unpack that more on another day). But the point is that FAITH by God’s grace, the gift of faith that counted him righteous, justified him before our Holy God, and this FAITH lead to Him walking in Obedience.
So, as we move into DWELL. We have to think how does our faith lead us to obedience?
Dwell on God’s Word then apply it to your life!
So how does faith lead us to obedience?
Let’s go to God’s word! The connections in His Word are so amazing!
“So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was shown to be right with God by his actions when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. So you see, we are shown to be right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.” James 2:17-24
TRUE FAITH leads to obedience to God’s WORD. These are our deeds!! Going back to Romans 4:3. We know we aren’t saved by our works, or saved by the law. But if we aren’t changed by our faith, there probably isn’t a TRUE FAITH AT ALL!
SO before we get into HOW our faith in JESUS should impact how we should and should not celebrate Halloween 🤣. I want to quickly share the connection of Martin Luther and Halloween. And this is the Martin Luther of the Reformation, not Martin Luther King Junior. Although he was named after him (and this would be another wonderful history lesson for another day!) But, October 31st is an important day, because that is the day that Martin Luther in 1517, in Wittenberg Germany posted his 95 theses against the Catholic church, you can read a great history lesson on it here, but I’d love to point out that Luther’s faith was completely changed when he finally read Romans 1:17, after a long period of the Bible being kept away from people. In Luther’s day, the Catholic religion hds become entrenched in believing they had to punish themselves, and do many works to earn God’s forgiveness, and righteousness. They were even being taught they could pay the church indulgences for forgiveness. So when Luther finally read these words from the Bible:
HIS LIFE AND HEART WERE DRASTICALLY CHANGED. This is mostly likely the point when Martin Luther was saved! When he realized that the free gift of justification to have a right relationship with a Holy God was by God’s grace through faith and not by works!! Wow what a powerful thing God’s Word did! For Him, and for a generation of Believers! For us today!!
Engage in Prayer
Praise God for these VERY important life changing words that we are studying today!! Who knows by YOU studying God’s word, how it will not only impact your life, can impact a generation of believers!!
I pray that we will not take God’s Word or even this study for granted. Because to have the opportunity to read God’s Word, and engage in a study together is A GIFT! And we truly should thank the Lord for gifting it to us!
“For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. 12And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, 13while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. 14He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.” Titus 2:11-14
“Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying, and I want you to insist on these teachings so that all who trust in God will devote themselves to doing good. These teachings are good and beneficial for everyone.” Titus 3:3-8
Let’s pray!
Dear Lord thank you for Your Word and for this study. Thank you for all these precious souls seeking You! Help us to know you better and that because of You grace and the gift of faith that we have in You that we can share Your love and hope to the World. Amen
🎃🎃🎃 🎃🎃🎃 HALLOWEEN 🎃🎃🎃 🎃🎃🎃
Halloween!! Yes, Halloween!! I know this can be a controversial topic in some Christian homes. Answers in Genesis does a good job in the this article here giving a brief Halloween history and asking us how as Christians we should handle it. So, I definitely recommend checking out this important history. Also, Allie Beth Stuckey did a great job sharing her thoughts on Halloween here (make sure you ask your parents permission before you checking out her video on YouTube.)
I won’t spend too much time on this, but I will quickly share that in the past, Halloween has been a holiday that our family has really enjoyed celebrating together. When the kids were younger, we loved dressing them up and taking them trick-or-treating. And, as they got older we thought of it as a great way to connect with friends, our community, and hoping to be a light for the Lord by doing fun things at our house on Halloween. And while, I still think there are certainly FUN and redeemable things to do on Halloween (like going to a Church Harvest party or gathering with friends depending on what you are doing). Something about Halloween HAS been shifting in my heart. I’m not sure if it’s that our culture seems to be getting darker so the decorations we see seem to be growing more violent, dark, demonic, and the celebration of death seems to be growing; or, if its purely something going on in my own heart, in addition to raising 3 teenagers, but likely it’s a combination of many things.
With that said I’d love to point out a few things that can speak to how as Christians we are supposed to live as a followers of Christ Jesus every day, which of course includes Halloween. And, let’s keep in mind ALL that we just learned that we are saved by WHAT?? GRACE THROUGH FAITH IN JESUS. Not by works. BUT that faith leads to WHAT? obedience to His word.
- We are ALWAYS called to be holy!
So, in all that we do, whether it’s on the day of Halloween, or any random day, ALL we do should be for the Glory of God as we seek to be more like Him. So this is a great reminder for us to check ourselves in all the activities we engage in, outfits we wear, and conversations we have etc. (And, the reminder we will fall short of God’s standard over and over again- which is why we need to lean into Jesus through His word, prayer, and repentance daily! And also, not put ourselves in our minds better than others by the way we think we obey the law better.)
2. Jesus tells us to be a LIGHT in the darkness!
- For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light. Ephesians 5:8
3. Don’t be like the world – Be transformed!
- Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2
- Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 1 John 2:15
4. Don’t practice Witchy things.
And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. Deuteronomy 18:10b-12a
5. Death shouldn’t be celebrated. Death is the enemy!
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26
Our lives as Christians are supposed to look differently than the world’s, we are supposed to be the aroma of Christ, and like our October discipleship question reminds us:
What are you holding on to that is preventing you from growing in your relationship with Jesus? And what are you willing to give up to follow Christ?
There might be things that “we like doing” or “have done in the past” that CHRIST IS NOW CALLING US TO GIVE UP, to be more like Him. The parties we use to throw or go to, the outfits we wear or maybe want to wear, or even the decorations we have might need to change as we grow and seek Christ.
And, I’m not saying we have to give up Halloween, but maybe? But I am saying there might be things in the way that we celebrate that might need to change as we continue to pursue Jesus. And, this goes for ALL areas of our lives, not just Halloween. WE SHOULD BE CHANGING TO LOOK LESS LIKE OURSELVES AND MORE LIKE JESUS CHRIST.
Remember when the disciples started following Christ, Luke 5:11b tells us … they left everything and followed him.
SOOOOOO,
Is God calling us to give up skimpy costumes, or evil ones?
Is God calling us to take a look at HOW we are celebrating? Are we celebrating death? Is what we are doing dark, evil, or demonic in anyway?
Is God calling us to give up playing games like fortune telling or the ouija board, or watching horror movies?
What does God’s Word say?
As a Christian the way we celebrate Halloween or any activity SHOULD BE different than non-believers, because our aim in life should be to glorify and serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
It’s a reminder we are called to be a light always (but of course we are going to do this imperfectly. SO we should give ourselves grace, and certainly should hold this grace out towards others.) And I pray that as we seek the Lord through prayer and reading His Word, He will guide each of us in the steps we should take to look more like Him.
And lastly, I want to be clear. We are saved by God’s grace through faith! WE NEVER WANT TO ADD ANYTHING on to the GOSPEL message! So we also need to be careful in how we judge others and make sure we aren’t adding legalism to the Gospel message. Some people might have stronger convictions on what is imagination, theatrical, or entertainment. And, it’s very important that we are seeking God’s Word for our convictions, and also on how we love on others with truth and grace.
6. We are saved by Grace through faith not by works!
Christianity is a matter of the heart not just a list of don’ts.
And, praise God for His TRUTH
“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin.” (Romans 4:7-8)
…Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. (Romans 4:13)
.. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. (Romans 4:23-25)
Next up Romans 5!! Yay we got this!! 💪🏻🙏🏼📖
Abiding Together in Christ 