I have a trivia question for all of you shoppers out there. Are you ready? What policy does Costco and Nordstrom have in common? Does anyone know? To the best of my knowledge both companies have an unconditional return policy. This policy permits the customer to return a purchase at any time. I have known employees from both companies and I have been shocked at some of the stories they recount. At Costco, for instance, customers routinely purchase a lawn mower in the spring and then return it in the winter for a full refund. Some of the customers don’t even bother cleaning up the lawnmower before bringing it back! At Nordstrom there are customers who will buy suits or formal dresses and then return them years later. This is astounding to me! It amazes me that there are customers who are brave enough to make such returns. It also amazes me that these companies continue to honor such a policy. Obviously, Costco and Nordstrom are unusual companies. In fact, they are the exception to the rule. While they do many other things well, what sets them apart from their competition is that they honor their word.

The message of the Bible is that God honors His Word. He keeps His promises. He is a covenant-keeping God. In doing so, God demonstrates that He has no rivals and is set apart from His creation. In Romans 4:18-25, Paul continues to demonstrate these truths through the story of Abraham. If you have entered into a relationship with God, like Abraham, God has granted you His unconditional love. This comes by grace, through faith. These eight verses describe the nature of faith. We might summarize these verses like this: “Faith faces facts.” This takes place in two primary ways: (1) Faith believes God’s promises. (2) Faith believes God’s works.

[In 4:18-22, we will see that...]

1. Faith believes God’s promises. In 4:18, Paul writes, “In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, ‘so shall your descendants be.’” The point of this verse is that, in spite of the odds, Abraham believed God’s promise that he would become “a father of many nations.” Paul writes, “In hope against hope he believed.” The word “hope” is used 53 times in the New Testament (36 of those usages come from Paul). “Hope” is one of Paul’s favorite words. He uses the term 13 times in the book of Romans, which is more than any other New Testament book. Since the word “hope” is used so frequently, it is important we understand what it means. The biblical concept of “hope” is not wishful thinking; it is a confident certainty. In this context, Abraham believed God’s promise that he would have many descendants.

In 4:19-21, Paul explains what he meant when he said that Abraham, “In hope against hope he believed.” In 4:19, Paul writes, “Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.” The fact that Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 (Gen 17:17) seemed to throw a monkey wrench into God’s promise. In the Genesis account, Moses records that Sarah was “worn out” (Hebrew text) and Abraham was “old” (Gen 18:12). To make matters even worse, Sarah had never had a child and Paul calls her womb “dead”! Think of what it would mean for a couple approaching the century mark to be told that many nations were yet to spring forth from them when they had never had a single child together. There was no way this couple was going to have one child, let alone that many nations would come from them. Yet, Abraham received a promise from God and was willing to bank on that promise that only God could fulfill.

Isn’t that incredible? Even though Abraham knew all of the overwhelming obstacles, he trusted in God to do as He promised. His faith overlooked the obstacles and focused upon the object of faith, God. This is a reminder to us that justification comes when we come to the end of ourselves. Look again at 4:19: “without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead.”

Abraham acknowledged that he and Sarah were unable to reproduce. Their bodies were “as good as dead”! In the same way, God wants those without Christ to acknowledge that they are spiritually “dead.” He wants men and women to recognize that, unless He steps in, they are without hope. This is a perfect picture of salvation. God also wants those of us who are in Christ to recognize this same truth. This means acknowledging that we are dead in and of ourselves. We need Christ to live the Christian life. This means we begin to realize that we can’t do it on our own. If you are like me, you know it is all too easy to focus on performance more than on Jesus Christ. Yet, the Bible teaches that fruitful Christian living doesn’t come by trying. It comes by trusting Christ to express His life through us. Is there something you are trying to do in your own strength?

Verses 18 and 19 should also bring to the forefront of our minds that faith might have to face immense difficulties and challenges. This was the case with Abraham. Yet, in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, Abraham committed himself to God’s ability. Right now, you may be having marriage difficulties or job stresses. Why not renew your commitment to look to the Lord and trust in His ability? Whatever you are going through today, you can simply confess: “Lord, I can’t, You can, please help!”

Paul continues to demonstrate that “Faith believes God’s promises.” In 4:20-21, Paul writes, “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” The Genesis account indicates that Abraham did doubt and did waver in unbelief, or so it would seem. The question arises then, since Paul was obviously aware of the Genesis account, how do we reconcile his statement with Genesis? Paul may be simply focusing on the time from the initial giving of the promise, in Genesis 12, to the point that Abraham was justified by faith in Genesis 15:6. At that time, when God appeared to him and reiterated the promise, Abraham did not waver in unbelief. More likely, Paul could be referring to the overall character of his faith. While he had struggles like all of us, in the end he could be said to be a man who “did not waver in unbelief.” This should encourage us. God is more gracious than most of us think He is. Aren’t you glad? I sure am.

Paul writes that Abraham “grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” What caused Abraham to be “fully assured”? In 4:20, Paul says that Abraham “grew strong in faith.” The verb translated “grew strong” literally means, “to make powerful.” This verb is from the same root as the word “power.” Now look at 4:21: Abraham became “fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.” The phrase “He was able” is a translation of the word “power” or “ability.” In other words, Abraham’s faith was empowered by contemplating God’s power! The more Abraham looked at who he was and who God was, the more empowered or “fully assured” he became that God was able to do that which He had promised. This is how we can rise above the tests and trials of our lives—by believing in an all-powerful God.

Before moving on, we must ask the question: How can our faith “give glory to God”? When we were going through the candidating process with Emmanuel, the church put us up a few times at The Guesthouse Inn in Tumwater. My boys loved staying there because there was an indoor swimming pool and they love to play in the water! During our stays, we would try to spend as much time as we could in the pool. My favorite activity was to see if I could get Joshua (then three) to jump from the edge of the pool into my arms. I would hold out my arms and exclaim, “Jump, I’ll catch you; I promise.” Now, let me ask you an obvious question: At that moment, how can Joshua make me look and feel good? Answer: By trusting me and jumping into my arms. When he takes that leap of faith he makes me look strong, wise, and loving. But if he refuses to jump, shakes his head, and runs away from the edge of the pool, he makes me look bad. It appears like Joshua is saying, “My daddy can’t catch me or he won’t catch me or it’s not a good idea to do what he tells me to do.” And all three of those responses make me look bad. However, whenever Joshua would trust me and jump, in spite of his fear, he would give me glory.

When we believe God and take Him at His Word, we make Him look as good as He really is. In one sense, we can’t “give God more glory,” but we can glorify Him by showing off His greatness in our lives. We give glory to God when we trust Him to do what He has promised to do—especially when all human possibilities are exhausted. Faith glorifies God. That is why God planned for faith to be the way by which we are justified.

Another interesting note: In 4:20, there seems to be a deliberate contrast between Abraham’s “giving glory to God” and the unbelief of men, as described in 1:21: “For even though they knew God, they did not honor (Lit. “Glorify,” [see marginal note in NASB]) Him as God, or give thanks.” While these unbelievers became increasingly darkened in their understanding of God and of reality (1:21-22), Abraham saw God and life ever more clearly (4:19-21). This is what happens when we learn to live faithfully. We glorify the Lord in the process and cultivate a big view of God.

In 4:22, Paul concludes the story of Abraham when he writes, “Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness.” This is another citation from Genesis 15:6. Paul referred to this same verse in 4:3. These two quotes serve as bookends. In quoting this verse, Paul brings to a conclusion all that he has said up to this point, beginning in 1:18: Man is a sinner and he will not be justified by works of the Law but by faith. Abraham is the classic example of this truth and he stands as the father of all those who so believe.

[We have just seen that "Faith believes God's promises," now we will see in 4:23-25 that...]

2. Faith believes God’s works. In 4:23 and 24, Paul applies these truths to his readers when he writes, “Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.” When Moses was penning the book of Genesis, I’m sure he never understood the full significance of the statement made in Genesis 15:6. This verse simply reads: “Abraham believed the Lord and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Abraham believed that God could resurrect both his and Sarah’s bodies. We believe that God resurrected Jesus and will one day resurrect us as well. God planned from the very beginning that Abraham might be a model for the entire world and for the rest of human history. He is the model of what biblical faith should look like.

In 4:25, Paul again focuses on the necessity of believing in the works of God. This crucial verse reads, “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.” Please notice that Jesus was “delivered over because of our transgressions.” It was because of our sin that Jesus had to die. Paul has used various words for sin throughout his letter so far. He has spoken of “ungodliness” and “unrighteousness”; he has spoken of “sin” and “sins” and “lawless deeds.” Then in 4:15, he spoke of the way in which the Law turned “sins” into “transgressions.” This word “transgressions” is the strongest word of all. It means sin that is deliberate, sin that crosses the line, where God has said, “No entry.”

We have all been guilty of “transgressions.” There was our pride, our covetousness, our greed, our impurity, our envy, our jealousy, our anger, our selfishness, and our laziness. Yet this verse tells us that “justification” has been provided for the entire human race through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the good news of Easter. Jesus’ resurrection confirms our salvation. It’s the divine guarantee that Jesus’ death satisfied the payment demanded for sin. If you’ve received Jesus Christ as your Savior by faith, His resurrection is a guarantee that your salvation is secure.

This past December our church purchased three new computers for the staff pastors. We purchased them at Costco because they were affordable and because Costco offers an unconditional return policy. After purchasing the computers, my brother reminded me that I needed to keep the receipt just in case anything went wrong with one of them. He said that if I had the receipt, I could return any of the computers and Costco would give me a brand new one, no questions asked. Receipts are valuable, if not essential. You know how important it is to get a receipt when you make a major purchase. If there is a problem with the product or if a dispute arises about whether you actually bought the item, your receipt proves your purchase and authorizes your claim to have the problem fixed. The receipt shows that the payment for the product was made and accepted. Jesus’ resurrection serves the same purpose for us. It is God’s “receipt.” When Jesus cried, “It is finished!” on the cross, He was announcing that the price for sin had been paid in full. We can spend eternity in the presence of God through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Right now, will you place your faith in Jesus Christ alone? Faith faces facts and the facts today are that Jesus Christ loves you and wants you to place your faith in His promise and work. Will you do so?

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Copyright © 2001 Keith R. Krell. All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, C 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.

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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries®, 2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044, www.timelessword.com

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
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