Romans 4: Message of promise

Captain Alice Nunn reminds us that salvation comes through faith alone.

Key text

• Romans 4:13–25

Paul writes the letter of Romans to a Church that feels like a real mixed bag of people trying to do life together. From new believers, trying to get their head around the gospel of Jesus, to Jews who have returned to a very different Rome from that they had been expelled from.

People are no longer bound by the old covenant but to a new covenant fulfilled by Christ. All are living together in one place, doing life together and trying to find a new way of being together. It is in this context that Christians encounter big problems and hostility from the Roman culture around them, especially where the worship of many gods is a major way of life.

Against this complex background, which seems like a melting pot, Paul writes the powerful words we read in our study passage. The message is simple, yet profound and life-transforming – the promise of salvation ‘comes by faith’ (v16).

Pause and reflect

• Consider this invitation to know Jesus through faith alone.

We do not earn God’s love – being beautifully created in his image is enough. There is nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less than he already does.

Paul seeks to educate and encourage the Church to get their head around the good news that every person is invited into the Kingdom of God. The heritage of Abraham being a father of the faith is not only for the Jews; the Gentiles are included too. Mixing groups of people together with different expectations and experiences is complicated, therefore Paul seeks to bring clarity of old laws being fulfilled in Jesus – what that means for them all now.

I cannot help but think that we are still having some of these same conversations among believers. I grew up where adults in church would be very judgemental about things such as tattoos, wearing the right clothes, knowing the songs, making noise in worship services – the list goes on! I have seen what an impact this sort of attitude has on people – it pushes people away. If that is their only place to hear about Jesus, it can push them away from learning more about Jesus too. We live with the consequences of many people leaving the Church because they feel like they don’t fit in or cannot live up to expectations that are usually people’s judgements, not God’s.

We are a real mixed bag of people in The Salvation Army, especially in our corps. I say that with real love for how wonderfully created each person is. From the guy who last week came out of prison, and now has a deep desire to turn his life around, to the older women who are physically unable to do what they used to but pray each day faithfully. I am struck by the deep joy that Jesus is for each one of them. Their experiences of life are completely different, yet each one is invited to know the love of God and the transforming power of Jesus.

With the Spirit’s help we may model this kind of Kingdom acceptance, so that more and more people can experience the love of God for themselves. I see how messy it can be when we embrace all; however, I also see the deep joy of celebrating the diversity of God’s creation in us.

Pause and reflect

• What barriers might newcomers experience in your fellowship?
• This week, how might you share the love of Jesus within your church fellowship and community outside?

I love that Paul uses the example of Abraham, the father of all Abrahamic faiths and the father of all nations, who was not perfect. This gives me hope and comfort. It is a beautiful reminder that God uses imperfect people in amazing ways to bring about God’s glory. I wonder if you might find it helpful too?

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations even before Abraham had a single child. As time went on, there seemed little hope of this promise being fulfilled. Abraham became old and his wife seemed barren, so they even tried to take matters into their own hands through him taking another wife (see Genesis 16:1–4). Yet the promise of God remained (see Genesis 18:1–15).

Later, when Abraham allowed God to be glorified and put his faith in God alone, the promise that he would be a father of all nations was fulfilled (see Genesis 21:1–13).

God worked through a person who decided to put their faith fully in God, even though they were imperfect and got it wrong sometimes.

Pause and reflect

• Do we need to be reminded that God can use us too?
• Can we identify ways in which God has used us beyond our imagination?

I cannot help but be reminded of where we started in this passage – salvation comes through faith. It is the faithfulness of God that saves, redeems, restores and renews. It is ‘through faith alone’ – nothing we can earn or do. We have to accept God’s invitation to live by faith. When our faith is small, we are encouraged once again to consider God’s faithfulness, which we can look to and lean into.

The lyrics of a song by John Gowans mean so much to me. They have really helped me when I have needed to be reminded that I can always come back to God. Perhaps meditating on these might help you too.

Don’t assume that God will plan for you no more,

Don’t assume that there’s no future to explore;

For your life he’ll redesign, the pattern be divine;

Don’t think that your repentance he’ll ignore.

For his love remains the same,

He knows you by your name…

(SASB 490)