Like Him We Rise | The Work of Faith

Where is your faith today?
 Are you trying to prove you are good enough for God?
 Do you feel like you have to earn your place with Him?
 What if the relationship you have with God was never meant to be earned?
 
 The good news of Jesus Christ answers that question with grace. The gospel tells us that salvation does not come from our performance but from trusting the One God sent to save us. Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that forgiveness and righteousness could be given as a gift. This good news becomes the foundation that steadies our souls and gives us something solid to build our lives on.
 
 Romans points us to Abraham, a man who simply believed God’s promise and was counted righteous. That same promise is open to you. When you place your trust in Jesus, God forgives your sin and credits Christ’s righteousness to you. You do not have to earn your way into God’s love. Faith in Jesus opens the door to grace, forgiveness, and a new life with Him.
 
 Scripture: Romans 4:4 to 5
 “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.” Romans 4:4
 “However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:5
 
 Belong at First Pres by taking the first step: join us for worship on Sundays in person. firstprescos.org/belong

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the First Praise Sermon Podcast, where each week we dive into Scripture, wrestle with truth, and discover how faith intersects our lives. God's word meets us where we are, challenging, shaping, and calling us into something greater. No matter where you are on your journey, you belong here. And we're praying that this sermon might help you take a next step in faith towards Jesus. Hey, let's dive into today's message together.

SPEAKER_01 0:31

The gospel can change everything. The Lord can transform your life. When you understand what Jesus has done for you, when you put your trust and your faith in him, you can have an utter, utterly new life, a new trans a transformation of your life. It can happen. And it's happening here in our community of faith. It's happening. This is a mission to reach Colorado Springs for Christ. That's what you're a part of today. And as we as we worship God and as we hear and understand his word, the gospel, Jesus is drawing us into fellowship with Him and to saving faith with Him. That's what we're celebrating. We are studying Romans, Romans 4 today. And so I really do encourage you to open your Bibles. We're at Romans 4, and we're going to read Romans 4, 1 through 12. And it's going to feel a little bit like jumping in on the back half of an argument. Because it's jumping in on the back half of an argument. But we're going to study together and learn and hear the gospel. And as we open our scriptures, let's pray. Jesus, you promise. Not only did you promise your disciples, wherever two or three are gathered, there I am. So we know you're here with us. We can sense your presence and we love you, Jesus. You also promise that your word is a living word. So send your Holy Spirit to bring this word to us in living ways. Help us to hear your voice, Jesus, in your word, so that we can believe and live. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Romans 4, 1 to 12. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? If in fact Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God. But what does Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God, who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them. Is this blessedness only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We've been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised or before? It was before. And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised, who not only are circumcised, but who also follow in their footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Where is your faith? Where is your faith? Do you remember who did the halftime show at the Super Bowl? Somebody remembers, yeah. If you were at uh at Ash Wednesday service, Pastor Greg mentioned this. There was a star, um a rock star. Sorry. I'm so old. There was a star named Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny. And as uh as Pastor Greg said, Mr. Bunny, and that was about the laugh that he got for that joke. Uh Mr. Bunny, he came to the microphone at one point and he said, I'm here because I believed in myself. I believed in myself. We thought, hmm. You know, and then we watched the Olympics play out, the Winter Olympics, and all these Olympians did great things and had great accomplishments. And a lot of them came forward, and I remember one Olympian saying, I'm here because I believed in myself. Whatever you want to do, believe that you can do it, and you will. I thought, hmm. Believing in myself, and how important is self-confidence? I mean, how critical is it that we do have some, you know, self-confidence that to get over the things that we have to get over to get things done that we need to get done? Yeah, we need self-confidence, absolutely. I believe in myself. Others of the Olympians came forward and said, I'm here because my parents believed in me. And how important is that? To have people that believe in you and support you and will sacrifice and push you along towards your vision, your goal. I believed, I'm here because my parents believed in me. Where's your faith? And still others, they came forward and said something, um, they actually hear this a lot more on the football field, like after the Super Bowl, after the national championship, college football. There are players, but Olympians said this too, who would say, I need to start by giving it up to the big guy upstairs. Did you hear anybody say that? I want to start by giving it up to the big guy upstairs. And I think we're getting closer. Right? Because that's pretty good, you know. At least there's an acknowledgement. But it's it sort of sounds like God is like this great coach, like God is this is a super successful consultant, and I told him what I needed to accomplish, and he really helped me get there. So I just want to say, I want to give it a. And then we're always grateful when there's there's someone who's able to express genuine faith and trust in God, and just say, I'm so grateful. I'm thankful for today. I'm thankful to God. Where is your faith? Myself, others? Some kind of faith, like faith is a vague thing, sending out into the universe. Where is your faith? Today in our series, um, uh, like Him We Rise, as we're studying Romans, today we want to talk about the work of faith. The work of faith. Where is your faith? Jesus and his disciples one time were caught up in a storm. They were going across the Sea of Galilee, and the storm was so bad the boat was about to sink. Jesus was sleeping in the boat. And here's how Luke picks up the story. He said, The disciples went and woke him, saying, Master, master, we're going to drown. He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters. The storm subsided, and all was calm. And then he turned to them and he said, Where is your faith? Where is your faith? He asked his disciples. And in fear and amazement they said to one another, Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, they obey him. Who is this? Jesus said, Where is your faith? And when he asked that question, he wasn't asking, Do you have faith? Because we all do. We're all believing in something, we're all trusting in something. We all he was asking something else. In fact, when he asked, where is your faith? he was asking two questions at once. Number one, he was asking, what is the object of your faith? What are you putting your trust in? What are you putting your hope in? Not just do you have faith, but where are you resting that faith? Where is your faith? But you know, he was also sort of asking, hey, do you know how to use your faith? When it's time to use your faith, are you able to rely upon it or have you lost it? Where is your faith? It's time to get it out. When it's raining, you know, you say, Where is your umbrella? When when you're in trial and struggle, you say, Where is your faith? Get it out, use it. You see? The work of faith is this. Jesus said to his disciples, Jesus said once in John 6, 29, the work of God is this. Say this with me. To believe in the one he has sent. Where is your faith? The work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent. Folks, if our faith is anywhere else than in Jesus Christ, if we go through life not knowing where to place our faith or how to rely upon it, when we will go through life trying to satisfy false expectations, trying to get things out of false gods, false promises that will never come to pass if we do not know where to put our faith. Where is your faith? Believe in Jesus Christ. Believe in him, put your trust in him, the one whom God has sent. We're picking up in Romans 4, and Paul has been educating the church because this church came from two different backgrounds. You had people coming into the church in Rome who were Jewish background believers. They were children of Abraham, children of the covenant. And then you had people coming into the church in Rome who were Gentile background believers, who were not Jewish, they were Romans or Greeks or barbarians, and they were coming into the church by faith. And Paul was trying to explain to them look, we're all one, we're all on the same footing. And the way he did that was to explain very clearly, we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3.23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We all have. Same. You, you, this team, that team, we're all the same. And, he said, we have one Savior. One Savior, Jesus Christ, verse 24. All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Jesus is God's one who's been sent. Jesus is God's plan to forgive and to redeem. Jesus is God's plan to be a just God who can also forgive the unjust and the ungodly. How can he do it? Only through the mission of Jesus. And so we're one people with one Savior. One people with one Savior. And we're saved by faith in him. And the question is, is there an example? Is there some kind of an illustration of this? Paul says yes. In fact, there is. Look at Abraham. Verse 1. What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? Now, half the church saying, Abraham, as an example of being saved by faith? No way. Abraham is our forefather according to the flesh. This is the beginning of the covenant. And as long as we're descended from him in the genetic line of Abraham, we're part of that covenant. We're in. We're the people of God. Is that how salvation happens? God did make a covenant with Abraham and with his children, his children's children. He said, I'm going to be yours. You're going to be mine. Yes. But how was Abraham saved? Look at verse 3. This is our verse today, church. I want you to read this aloud with me. Set this in your heart. What does Scripture say? Abraham believed God. And it was credited to him as righteousness. Abraham believed. Who? God. He believed. Where's your faith? Now this comes from Genesis 15. The Jewish background believers in the Roman church, they would have been shocked to hear that Abraham had anything to do with being saved by faith. Abraham was saved by keeping the covenant with God. And Paul says, no, no, no. Watch this. Abraham was saved by faith. He says, look what happened. Back when Abraham was Abram. Did you know he had an earlier name? His name was Abram. And he was waiting, in that time he was waiting for the promises of God to be fulfilled in his life. God had promised that he would be the father of nations, and that he would have offspring, that he would have descendants, and that, and all these promises. And here's Abram waiting for these promises to be fulfilled, and they're not coming, they're not coming, they're not coming. And then along comes Genesis 15. And let's just read what happened. After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. But Abram said, Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless, and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, You've given me no children, so a servant in my household will be my heir. Then the word of the Lord came to him. But a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir. He took him outside. He took him outside. Look up at the sky and count the stars. If indeed you can count them, then he said to him, So shall your offspring be right. Nice promise. I've heard this, Lord. It's a great sentiment. It's not happening. Did you see what happened? The word of the Lord came to him. And then he, the word of the Lord, he took him outside. Could that be Jesus? I wonder. And Abram. Abram wrestled and struggled. I've heard this before. You haven't fulfilled it. I've been waiting and waiting. I've been watching and praying. And Abram, in all of his struggle, he turned. And who did he turn to? He turned to the word of the Lord, who was talking to him face to face. And he believed. Verse 6. Abram believed who? The Lord. And he credited it to him as righteousness. Credited it to him. Is that easy to say? Easy for you to say. Credited it to him. Yep? You got it over here. Credited it. Well, why? Why does it have to be credited to him? Well, because it's not righteousness. It has to be counted as something that it isn't. It's not full righteousness. It's not full holiness. But God's going to count it as that. God's going to take this little faith, this little notion of trust that Abraham has in the Lord, and he's going to credit that to him as if he had never disobeyed the word of God in a moment in his whole life. Righteousness. He's crediting it to him as righteousness. Abram believed. And it's God who decided. This notion of faith is something I'm going to credit as righteousness. We pick up Romans again. Verse 4. Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. See? Is this just a I did what I did and I get what I get? This is fair pay for a fair day's work. This is a fair wage for what I put in. If that's the case, then there's no talk of credited ads. There's no change in the register. You just get what you get. You get what you earned. But however, verse 5. However, to the one who does not work, but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. You see, it happens. It happens. Abram believed, and it's God who decided to take that notion of faith, that seed of trust, and credit it to Abram as righteousness. It happens? Yes, it happens. God can do that? God's free to do that? Yes, he can, and it's beautiful. Has anyone else experienced it? Yes. Who? David. Verse 6. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin, the Lord will never count against them. David could not make up for his sins. He could not make up for the things that he had done wrong. He could not earn his righteousness or his reward. He was lost in his sin. And yet he believed God and God forgave his sins. He credited it to David. Abraham and David. You can't come up with two more defining figures in the history of Judaism. This is what it means to be a part of the people of God in Judaism. Both of them were saved by faith. They believed God. And it was credited to them as righteousness. Believe the promise. Believe the word of the Lord. Look the word of the Lord in the eyes and trust him. And God is able to take that belief and register it in the believer's account. As if the believer has obeyed every holy impulse, has never turned from the word, has never made a mistake. It's all wiped clean. And you are named not only forgiven, but righteous by the work of Christ. God can do that. Yes, he can. Yes, he can. And verses 11 and 12. If you're walking with us through this, boy, a lot of talk of figuring out what is the what are these groups, the circumcision group, the non-circumcision group, these all this talk. Verses 11 and 12. Let me just explain. Abram now, now he goes through an external ritual. And so he is circumcised. This is an external sign and seal of the righteousness that's happening inside by grace through faith. An external sign and seal. For us, church in the Christian church, this is baptism, baptism, an external sign and seal of an internal faith and righteousness that comes by grace. And so this happened to Abram. And this is when he gets his new name. His new name, he's no longer called Abram, he is called Abraham. A new name. A new name for a new life. It's an external sign and seal of an internal relationship with God, where he's been made new. For us, that's baptism. Colossians 2 says this, and you have received circumcision. You were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. You were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in, say it with me. It's not there yet. You have been circumcised. You were also raised to them through. Where are we? Keep going. Oh, yeah. You have been buried with him in. There we go. We got it. Baptism. I'm about to jump in myself. See, baptism, external sign and seal of an internal relationship with God by grace that has made you new. How was Abram saved? He was saved by faith. How was David saved? He was saved by faith. How are you saved? You're saved by faith. And by faith in who? In believing in the one he has sent. The work of God is this: believe in the one he has sent. Put your faith in Jesus Christ. Believe in him and you will be saved. Do not believe in him, and you stand condemned already. Do you know that? Do you understand that? Do you know how it works? Do you know how to exercise your faith? Where is your faith? Do you know how to put your faith in Christ? Do you know how to pull that faith out when you need it in the struggle? Do you know how to trust in that faith with all your life? Do you know that? I ask you that. Because. Well, Paul wrote this because he wanted the church united. He wanted us all to understand we're all one. We've all sinned and fallen short. And we all have one Savior in Christ. I challenge you with this question this morning, right now, because here's the thing. People sit in church year after year. They come and hear the gospel year after year. I've been preaching the gospel since I was about 17 years old. I've been preaching the gospel from this pulpit for 10 years. And here's what I experience. Time and time again, people come to me. They've lost a loved one. Death has come. They're facing death themselves. And what do they say? They say, Tim, I'm not sure I'm going to get in. I just don't think I'm good enough. I don't think I'm good enough. And what needs to be said in that moment is not always appropriate to say. And so I'm going to say it right now. You ready? I'm going to help you out. Let me help you out from the pulpit right now. Brother? Sister? I'm going to tell you the truth. You are not good enough. Abraham was not good enough. David was not good enough. Paul was not good enough. You're not good enough. I'm not good enough. You need to set good enough aside. It isn't about good enough. You're not going to be measured on good enough. You need to take the idea, the whole notion of good enough and package it up and chuck it out the window. And you need to throw your hope, your trust, your faith, your belief on his one and only Son. Believe in Jesus Christ. Verses four and five are a choice. Look at them again. Romans 4, 4 and 5. Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift, but as an obligation. You know what that verse is? That is a wage verse. How do you want your relationship with God to be? Do you want it to be verse 4? Verse 4 is what you've earned, that's what you get. If you've earned it, you'll receive it. Whatever you've done, that's what you'll receive. A wage relationship with God. Is that how you want your relationship with God to be? I want to get what I deserve. Romans 4, 5 is a second choice. However, you don't have to be in a wage relationship with the Lord. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God, who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. Which relationship do you want? How do you want it to be with God? You want the wage or do you want the gift? The gift requires one thing. You see, it was it was those God can credit to the ungodly, God who saves the ungodly. Well, I have to admit that that's me. And when I admit that that's me, all that's asked, the work of faith, is to put your faith and trust and belief in the one he sent, in Jesus Christ. Now you can put good enough aside. You can throw it away. Because you have been forgiven and redeemed not by what you've done, but by what Christ has done on your behalf. Forgiven. It's paid, made righteous. How can it be? How can it happen? How is God able to credit you with righteousness when you've when you've you've you've fallen off, you've sinned, you're you're you're you're steeped in sin, you're steeped in the curse. How can it happen that God can forgive the ungodly? Well, look again at Abraham in Genesis 15, and you'll see what happens. God makes this covenant with Abraham. He says, believe in the promise. And if you come to the end of that chapter, we're all saying, how? How? How? God says, Abraham, we're going to have a covenant now. A covenant in the ancient world was a promise marked and sealed and guaranteed by blood. And so to make a covenant, you'd take sacrificial animals, you'd cut them in two, you'd lay them out, you lay them out, half here, half there, and you'd create this path of blood. And you'd walk down the path of blood, this bloodied path, and you would say to the person that you're making the covenant with, you would say, in effect, look, I'm making you a promise. And if I don't keep my word, if I don't do just as I've said, let it be unto me, as it is to these animals, these sacrificed animals. I promise. God said, Let's make a covenant. Abram, you prepare it. He prepared it. And then in Genesis 15, we read this when the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared, the presence of the Lord. And passed between the pieces. Abram had fallen asleep and woken up to a vision. The Lord is here, the Lord is present, the Lord is with me. The blazing pot, the presence of the Lord, it passed between the pieces. And on that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram. God said, We're going to have this covenant. I'm going to be your God. You're going to be my son forever and ever for eternal life. Nothing can separate us. Nothing will separate you from my love. I'm going to hold on to you no matter where you turn, no matter what mistakes you make. We're going to have this covenant. We're cutting a promise. And if there's blood to be shed, the blood will be mine. How can it be that God is both just and the forgiver of those who are unjust, of those who are unrighteous? How can it be he sent his son Jesus Christ as an atoning sacrifice of blood? That the promise that could not be kept by us, the penalty was paid by him. He paid. Let it be unto me. He paid for our sin. Your sin was forgiven in Christ. That means you're no longer on the hook. You no longer, oh, it's been paid by Jesus Christ. Forgiven. And then Jesus took all of his righteousness, all of his holiness, all of his justice, all of his goodness, all of his rightness, all of his sacrifice, all that he is, his whole character, and he credits it to the believer. He credits it to you. You're righteous, you're forgiven, and you're righteous in Jesus Christ. Amen. On the basis of what? You're asked to do one thing: believe in the one He has sent. We're going to pivot to the sacrament of baptism, where this faith has an outer marker. Before we do that, I just want to ask us to pray. In fact, I want to get you to stand up. Would you just stand up where you are? We don't take a minute. In a room like this, there's a lot of people in this room, and I know that you've you've believed this, you've trusted this, you've walked with Jesus for years and years and years. But in a room like this, there are those who are exploring Christianity, maybe hear and hearing things that you haven't heard before, maybe understanding things that you haven't understood before. Let me explain to you the truth of the gospel. Because of what Jesus Christ has done, you can have new life today from the very inner being, from your soul. You can be a new man, a new woman, and all that is past can be forgiven, and the righteousness of Christ can be put over you. And you won't be measured by good enough. You'll be measured as Christ, as God sees his own son, Jesus. That's how he sees you. I want us to pray, and I just want to give you a moment to say to Jesus, I want to put my faith in you. So let's open our hearts in prayer. Jesus, you're so good to us. Thank you for this covenant. Thank you for spilling your blood, for holding on to us when we couldn't hold on to you. Help us with this work. It isn't even a work, it's something we receive. Help us. Help me to believe. I want to invite everyone in this room to follow me in a prayer, to follow me as you make this prayer to the Lord. All pray, repeat the words after me, but you turn them to the Lord and open your heart to Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for your sacrifice. You paid the penalty, and I am forgiven. You made the sacrifice, and I am your righteous child. Forgive me my sins. Walk with me in love. Lead me into your home, your eternal kingdom and new life. In Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 33:11

Amen. Hearing God's word is just the beginning. What connected with you? What challenged you today? Maybe it's surrendering something, stepping into community, or simply trusting Him more deeply. Whatever it is, don't leave it for later. Act on it today. We're praying that this message moves you closer to Jesus. And we'd love to walk with you in that journey and answer any questions you've got. Connect with us by visiting firstpres.org. Hey, if today's message encouraged you, take a moment and subscribe so you never miss an episode and share it with someone who needs to hear it. Check in next week and we'll continue to grow in our faith together. See you next time.