THE GOSPEL OF GOD
Meditations in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans
THE PRIORITY OF FAITH

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THE blessedness which we meditated upon last time is the ‘Righteousness which we receive by faith’. This is a righteousness that is imputed to us by God, and a righteousness worked by Christ in his life and death. This is a perfect righteousness, and through it being reckoned as ours by God’s sovereign grace, we are declared by God to be without sin and totally just in his sight.

In verses 9-12 of chapter 4 of Romans Paul is concerned to show the priority of faith in our salvation. There is a fatal tendency in all of us, and in churches, to replace faith in some measure by something else, so that our salvation, our being accounted righteous in God’s sight, is attributed to something other than faith. The Jews replaced faith by their religious pedigree and the rite of circumcision. This tendency is always a move to return to works that we do in order to be saved, rather than simple trust in the work of Jesus for us and on our behalf. There comes with this tendency to replace faith with some work or other, the entrance of some exclusiveness, so that people are excluded from the Gospel and God’s love.

Paul seeks to deal with this problem in the verses before us by showing the priority of faith. By faith Paul means trust in Jesus, and does not mean a work we exercise which then merits some reward. Paul uses the life and faith of Abraham in order to make this point.

SACRAMENTS SUBSIDIARY TO FAITH

Circumcision in the Old Testament was the sacrament in the Jewish church which has been replaced in the New Testament for the sacrament of Baptism. This is clear from the fact Paul calls circumcision the ‘seal of the righteousness which we have by faith’. Baptism is the seal of our salvation, just like circumcision. Both circumcision and baptism are God’s sacrament to give his people the assurance that they are blessed with the gift of righteousness which saves us.

The argument that Paul uses to prove the priority of faith over circumcision is the fact that Abraham was credited by God as righteous in his sight by faith, and not by circumcision, and in the fact that circumcision came after Abraham had believed. Abraham believed the promise of God of salvation through the coming of the ‘seed of Abraham’, which would be the birth in the future of the Messiah and Saviour from the family and line of Abraham. Because he believed this promise he was placing his trust in this promise, and so in the salvation that the promised ‘seed’ would work and provide. In this way Abraham’s faith was credited to him for righteousness, and Abraham was accounted just and sinless in God’s sight thereby.

Circumcision came after this trust Abraham had exercised, and in no way changed the means by which Abraham was righteous in God’s sight. So faith is the priority, and it is through faith we are saved, by grace and not by any works that we do or may do. In fact Paul is clearly stating that, although sacraments and other things in the life of the church are important, they do not provide salvation. They are not given to provide salvation but for some other reason. All that is needed for us to be accounted just before God is God accounting us righteous and without sin as we trust in Jesus Christ, whom God has set forth as the Saviour of the world. Faith is not only first, but the only requirement for salvation.

This priority of faith is seen clearly in the case of the penitent thief who died on a cross beside Jesus at the crucifixion. We read the history in St. Luke 23:40-43. This thief knew he was a sinner deserving of judgement, and in his need he turned to Jesus and just placed himself in trust into the care of Jesus. This trust is expressed in his words in Luke 23:42 - "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom". This thief had a trust in Jesus as one who was able to save him, and in Jesus as God and King. The thief knew he had nothing he could do to save himself from eternal death. Nor did this thief have anything with which to bargain with Christ. His trust was an empty handed plea for mercy. Immediately Jesus responded with the words "Today you will be with me in paradise".

The thief had worked nothing. He had no time to be baptised or circumcised. He could perform no religious duties. He had no time to do anything for himself. He could only place his trust for salvation in Jesus. This faith brought complete blessedness. He was given an immediate place in heaven with Christ. By this we can see that immediately he trusted in Jesus, his sins, all of them, were forgiven. He was pronounced completely righteous in God’s sight. This must be so because if their had been any sins remaining the thief could never have been allowed into heaven. In the book of Revelation we are told that nothing that defiles in any way, however small, can enter the Kingdom of God.

It was by faith alone that this dying thief was saved, and so we may be sure that our trust in Jesus will be likewise blessed. Like the thief we shall have eternal life, because through faith we are accounted righteous before God forever.

THE PLACE OF SACRAMENTS

There has always been a danger that sacraments, which are visible to the eye, and to which we can come and take an active part in, will supplant faith as the means of our salvation. This happened in the Jewish church. The Jews looked on circumcision as that which secured salvation for the Jews, and secured God’s favour. It was believed that you could not be in God’s favour unless you were circumcised, and this meant that circumcision came to be believed in as the work to be done to secure God’s eternal favour.

This attitude towards circumcision was confirmed to the Jew by the fact that when circumcision was instituted by God in Genesis 17 it was given by God when God made his everlasting covenant of grace with Abraham, and was confirmed by God by promising that Abraham would have the son necessary for the promise of Messiah being born to be realised. Further God said in Genesis 17:14 that any male who was not circumcised had broken the covenant with God, and was cut off from God’s people - in other words was separated from the salvation from sin and death.

In the Christian church the same danger has happened. Baptism has become for many the means of beginning salvation and Holy Communion is seen as the means whereby salvation is carried on and established. By this, those he have such a belief, have returned to trust in their religious activity for their salvation and acceptance before God. Being baptised is the necessary work to get on the road to being saved, and attending Holy Communion becomes the work we do in order to continue in salvation and finally perfect it. This is an over simplification of the problem, but for clarity’s sake it puts the danger of this attitude clearly.

Paul is urgently showing in the verses we are studying, that the sacraments come after faith, and that therefore faith has the priority, and it is faith alone that saves.

Having said this, we have to ask the question - what is the place of the sacraments in the scheme of salvation? There is no doubt that in the bible it is simply trust in Jesus Christ that brings us into the blessing of the forgiveness of all our sins; but there is also no doubt that the sacraments are by divine institution, and have a very important role in salvation. But what is this role?

Paul indicates what it is in verse 11 where he tells us that circumcision was given as a seal of the righteousness which we already possess through faith and which is given through faith. When we turn back to Genesis 17 we see that circumcision was to establish, that is to strengthen and confirm, the covenant God had made already to Abraham that those who believe the promise made to Abraham would be accounted righteous in God’s sight. Here is the clue about the purpose of the sacrament. Sacraments are to strengthen and confirm the faith we have. Sacraments are to be visual drama to set forth the promise of salvation in Christ. Baptism is to assure the believer that God’s promise of being accounted just before God by faith in Christ is a true promise, and that God will stand by the promise and never renegue upon the promise. Baptism is God’s seal to assure us of the certainty of his word and promise. Holy Communion, in a similar manner, is to confirm our faith. This sacrament is a drama showing forth Christ’s death which he made to atone for our sins, and so assuring us that we are saved by that death, and our faith in Christ is not in vain. Christ is present at every celebration of the Holy Communion as he was at its institution in the Upper Room. He is present spiritually. The minister is Christ’s servant dispensing the bread and wine, and as the bread and wine is received, Christ’s speaks to the believing heart with the blessed words, you are forgiven - you are righteous - you are just before God, because I have died for you and paid the price of all your sins.

The priority of faith is again confirmed. We are not saved by the sacraments, but only by trust alone in the Saviour. Further the sacraments have no confirming or assuring efficacy or benefit unless we come to them with the same trust in Christ. It is as we believe the promise and believe in Christ, that the sacrament seals to us the blessings they portray. It is a deepening of our continual faith in the Saviour.

SALVATION IS OPEN TO ALL

The moment the Jew gave primacy to circumcision as the action by which favour with God is secured, that moment salvation became exclusive, and only possible for the Jew and those who became Jews. All the Gentile world was excluded. This was a denial of the original covenant God made with Abraham which Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness. When God reaffirmed his covenant with Abraham at the time when it was sealed by circumcision, God promised Sarah a son in order to fulfil this covenant, and God promised "I will bless her and surely give you a son by her. I will be bless her so that she will be the mother of nations." Here is the confirmation of the covenant God gave Abraham in Genesis chapter 12 and which Abraham believed and was accounted righteous before God. God declared and promised in Genesis 12:3 "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you".

In the gracious purpose of God, salvation has always been for all without regard for nation or culture. Salvation is open to all, and certain for all, only if it is by faith in the promise of God in Christ. Paul is at pains to establish this in the verses before us in this sermon. Paul assures us that Abraham is the father of all who believe whether they are circumcised or whether they are not circumcised. It is open to all who believe regardless of any sacrament or religious work, so that all may have the opportunity to be saved. The only condition that is made is that a person follows in the footsteps of Abraham, and have the same faith as Abraham had. Paul says that a person must "walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised."

CONCLUSION

Here is the wonder of the grace of God. God knew and knows that we fallen sinful creatures are entirely unable to do any work that its meritorious before God. We cannot be saved from sin, Satan, death and hell if we are left with anything we have to do in order to possess a saving righteousness before God. It is God in his grace, mercy and love, who has promised to save us freely through Christ, if we will only trust his promise and trust ourselves to Christ as our Saviour, and live in that trust all our days.

By this wonderful grace of God salvation is free to all who will believe and receive it. There is a wonderful security also in this free and gracious gift. Because it is free and a gift, it must be certain and we may be sure we are saved. God’s promise in Christ must be certain because Christ has done a perfect and complete work in order to save us. This work is now complete, and if we are trusting in the Saviour, he will most certainly bring us to his glory in heaven, because God must accept us for the sake of his one and only well-beloved Son.

Let us lean on Jesus in confident trust. Let us surrender ourselves into his hands and place ourselves under his Lordship. Here is safety and joy. Here is eternal salvation and the certainty of everlasting glory.