Title: The Reality of Faith
The substance of faith (Romans 4:13-25)
Abraham
Why did such a person become Israel's greatest ancestor? Of course, he is also the ancestor of the Muslim people, not just Israel. In connection with the topic Paul is now referring to, we can ask this question: Why was Abraham justified by God? Why did God promise to leave the world to Abraham and his descendants? You shouldn't take these questions and these topics too much religiously. You have to think more realistically. Saying that we inherit the world and being recognized as righteous are directly related to our concrete lives.
To inherit the world means that our lives are historically guaranteed, and to be justified means to be connected with the reality of life. Let's put aside the historical issues and think a little more about life issues. Bible writers viewed God as the Source of life. We are born into this world, and everything that sustains this life is the act of God. Perhaps some would say that evolution, not God's creation, is the essence of life. The debate between creationism and evolution is meaningless here. These are not issues that should be put in the same place and debated. It's a matter of different categories, much like a soccer player loving a woman and competing to win a soccer tournament are two different things.
limits of the law
In any case, the Bible writers considered that an essential element of human life's survival was a connection with the One who initiated it. If that connection is lost, you lose your life. Losing a connection is a sin. The reason Christianity teaches us to admit our sins and repent is because that is the way to connect with God, the source of life. What is the opposite of sin here? of. Our connection with God is by righteousness.
The Israelites began to keep the ‘law’ in order to obtain this righteousness. They thought they would become a righteous people by keeping the law that Moses was said to have given to him from God on Mount Sinai. The Old Testament is the law to be obeyed in order to be righteous. What is the law? Of course, on the surface, you can say that these are all kinds of religious rules and norms, including the Ten Commandments. Rules that detail what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath. In fact, the law of Israel may not be the best of many ancient codes of law. For example, the Sabbath. What better way to liberate man than to give one day a week to rest unconditionally? The Sabbath law required rest for slaves, foreign workers, and even livestock.
The law to secure human righteousness was kept as the standard that sustained Israel for thousands of years, but the results were not very favorable. Look at today's verse 15. “Without the law, there is no breaking the law. If there is a law, it is a violation of the law, which inevitably results in the wrath of God.” Laws, no matter how good they are, destroy human life. This is the fundamental limit of the law. The law is similar to our positive law. One is a religious law and the other a secular law, which works equally well in human life in terms of ‘law’. Korea also has many laws, including the Constitution, the Criminal Procedure Law, the Family Law, the Labor Law, etc. The law is the compulsory regulation requested by the society. But can it really build up the individual and society as a whole? How many lives has the National Security Law costed? Of course, I am not a forensicist. However, the law is only a minimum stabilization device to protect a society composed of heterogeneous groups, and there is a fundamental limit to creating personal and social significance.
Justification of Lee Shin
Paul now approaches the question of righteousness in terms of faith, not law. Paul mentions this fact several times in today's text. Verse 13b reads: “It was a promise made by God, not because he kept the Law, but because God saw his faith and recognized him as upright.” See also 16a. “Therefore, God sees the faith of a man and makes him heir.” Verse 22 says: “God saw this faith and recognized Abraham as the upright man.”
Human actions cannot be the basis for salvation. It is a fact that we feel deeply in our daily life. Look at our thoughts, our words, and our actual actions. This includes not only what is clearly shown as unscrupulous, but also what is hidden inside, even what appears to be good on the outside. We usually do good to look plausible. Such good deeds can create a toxic odor at any moment and destroy people's lives. It looks like a scene from a fairy tale called <The Long Legs Man>. It is the story of a girl who lived in an orphanage. The girl discovered hypocrisy in the local councilors who visited the orphanage every holiday and gave gifts. The kind of attitude you're doing because the fact that you're helping poor children helps elections. The way we live is also slightly different, but there is not much difference here. No human action can bring about salvation, which is an absolute life event. Abraham's actions are no exception here. If he had only seen his deeds, God could not have recognized him as a righteous man.
According to Paul, God saw Abraham's faith and justified him. What the hell is action and what is belief? It is true that we cannot be justified by human works, as explained earlier, but being righteous by faith is not so simple. Of course, on the surface, it is very simple to know what faith is. It is acknowledging that Jesus is the Messiah and following Him. This statement is basically correct. However, once you enter the world of faith, it is not so simple. Some people believe in Jesus because of their desire to go to heaven when they die, others because of the expectation that their disease will be healed, and others because of the desire that their business will go well or their children will prosper. Some people say that they believe in order to live a good life and to be comforted by an anxious heart. What the hell is belief? What is the essence of belief? We should pay more attention to the explanation of today's text.
God of Creation
Abraham believed in God. But God is the Creator. Abraham believed in God the Creator. Are you disappointed that the answer is so simple? Don't assume that this answer is too simple, and don't be disappointed in advance. See verse 17b. “He believed in God, who gives life to the dead and makes things that do not exist.” The God Abraham believed in is the One who gives life to the dead and makes things that do not exist. He is the creator of life from death, and creation from nothing. Perhaps you will say to yourself, “Like Abraham, I believe in such a Creator God.” Yes, it's good to believe so. So believe in it and buy it. However, we should not be vaguely thinking about what this belief is.
First, ask yourself this question. “Am I thinking deeply about the source of life? Am I entrusting myself to the source of life?” Today we have no interest in life. We do not think about that life that is only possible by the hand of God. Instead, we focus only on what we ourselves will produce. It's similar to how musicians don't think about the music itself and only focus on their achievements with the music. Are mothers raising young lives really engrossed in the origin of life phenomena? The church, too, spends its heart only on expanding itself rather than on life. Under these circumstances, it would be a lie to say that today's Christians believe in a God of creation. Such belief is the law. This is the law to confirm the fact that one's faith is good.
Paul explains Abraham's faith in connection with the birth of Isaac. Abraham and his wife Sarah were already biologically incapable of bearing children. To borrow the expression from verse 19, it is said that Abraham's body became as good as that of a dead man. But Abraham did not lose ‘hope’ and did not ‘doubt’ God’s promises. Verses 21 and 22 say: “And he was sure that God was able to fulfill what he had promised. God saw this faith and recognized Abraham as upright.”
Some people take these Bible stories literally. They say that it is faith that an infertile couple does not lose hope about having a baby, or that it is faith that pushes forward even though there is no prospect of business. Of course, Abraham believed that his descendants would carry on, even in desperate circumstances. However, the important thing here is not the descendants themselves, but the actions of God. The point is that we have not lost our hope that God will make life possible in His own unique way. This is the cornerstone of righteousness. To entrust one's life, destiny, and future to God's actions, not our own.
Jesus' Resurrection
According to Paul, this faith of Abraham is the same as our faith in God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. The God who “made things that do not exist” raised Jesus from the dead. It is the act of God that Jesus, who actually died and was actually buried in the earth, obtained ultimate life just as Isaac was born through the bodies of Abraham and Sarah, who seemed like dead bodies. In this passage, the question of how the dead can come back to life is meaningless. Of course, the dead cannot come back to life. The testimonies of people who have gone to heaven after death are not so reliable. Christianity is not a fanaticism that destroys the history of science. We are people who see the true life of this world from a whole new perspective, just like Abraham did. A new perspective begins with God's action, that is, God's saving action, the Lord of life. We believe that the life event that will take place at the end, when God the Creator will complete the world, happened to Jesus.
Paul declares in verse 24: It means that God recognizes not only Abraham but also us today who believe in this fact as righteous people. Everything else in our lives is incidental. Paul called it excrement. No matter how we live our lives, focus our whole soul on the God who raised Jesus from the dead. That is the reality of faith.