Theology for Everybody: Romansنموونە

Faith sees reality, and then it sees God above reality. Faith trusts that God has a way of helping us navigate what would otherwise be a fearful future. God knows the future and can reveal it to His children who follow Him by faith. Our hope is in Jesus, our trust is in Jesus, and our faith is in Jesus. He rules and reigns over everything.

Fear is what happens when we look to the future and see more than we can handle. To overcome fear, we must look back to remind ourselves of all the times God was faithful to do the supernatural in the past. Our remembrance gives us hope that He will do the same in the future.

Paul says our faith is in a faithful and supernatural God who has proven Himself faithful. The apostle then offers seven case studies where God did unbelievable things to give us hope that He can still do unbelievable things in our lives and in our day:

1. Our God can make mothers out of the barren and the virgin. "For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith" (v. 13). Sarah was a 65-year-old barren woman. She waited 25 years to have Isaac when she was 90! Sometimes God waits until it’s hope beyond hope, until the only possibility is a miracle, and then He does the supernatural. Through Sarah’s womb came the nation of Israel and Jesus Christ, born to a virgin, Mary. Mary was a young girl with a mature faith. She believed God’s Word, even though it seemed impossible. Sight believes in the seen and natural; faith believes in the unseen and supernatural. If God could bring us Jesus through a barren elderly woman and a young virgin, then He can do whatever He wants to do.

2. Our God trades rebellion for righteousness. "For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression" (vv. 14–15). Trespassing is unknowingly wandering over a boundary line. Everyone has trespassed at some point. Transgressing, however, is worse; it is knowingly stepping over a boundary line. God’s law is like a fence with a “no trespassing” sign posted on it. God gives us clear boundaries between right and wrong, good and evil, and obedience and disobedience. This boundary marker includes our conscience and His Word. We sinners have all ignored the sign, hopped the fence, and transgressed God’s law. The question is not, “Are we rebellious?” The question is, “Where are we rebellious?” What boundaries of God’s moral law have we transgressed? Whether morally, sexually, physically, financially, or in any other way, we have all rebelled against God. Paul mentions God’s wrath. How do we move from being unrighteous to righteous in God’s sight?

The answer is Jesus. Jesus lived the perfect life that we could not live. He never crossed one of God’s boundary lines. Jesus died the substitutionary death and paid the penalty for sin that we should have paid. And Jesus rose to give us the gifts we could not earn: righteousness, the forgiveness of sin, and eternal life. If you trust Jesus, then even though you’ve been rebellious, you are declared righteous in the sight of God. The most important thing about you is what you think about Jesus. The most important decision you will ever make is whether you decide to belong to and believe in Jesus Christ. (Continued on Day 100 ...)

Today’s Reflection

What unbelievable things have you seen God do in your life?