Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

When it comes to life, you’re either going to live by fear or by faith. Abraham, the father of our faith, did not know God. Still, God showed up unexpectedly and told Abraham to leave everything—his ungodly father, his godless government, his family, his business, his economic security, etc. and go “to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). Abraham didn’t even have the Bible as we do today. Still, he did have a word from God. Sometimes all it takes is just one word from God. If you believe and obey it, it changes and unlocks your whole life and your future destiny.

There’s a time when God speaks, and then there’s a time when God acts. In the middle, after He has spoken and before He has acted, that’s the time of faith. That’s where we trust Him until we see Him show up to do what He says He would do. And as we trust, we worship.

One of the great statements of what faith is in the Bible is in Romans 4:20–21: "No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised."

Faith is trusting in what God says (His Word) until we see what God does. When God says something, faith trusts He will do it until we see it. In Romans 10:17, this connection between faith and God’s Word is again made: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” The more you are in Scripture, the more faith grows in you. This explains why Bible reading and study, along with sitting under the Spirit-anointed preaching of God’s Word, are food for your soul to strengthen your faith.

In Romans 4:18, Paul writes, “In hope he [Abraham] believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So shall your offspring be.’” When you believe the possible is possible, that is hope. When you believe the impossible is possible, that is hope beyond hope. For example, a healthy, young married couple believing they can have a baby is hope, but when Abraham and Sarah, who were barren and old enough to be great-grandparents, waited 25 additional years to have a baby, that is hope beyond hope. Hope beyond hope is supernatural hope; hope beyond hope is the God factor.

Today’s Reflection

Are you living by fear or by faith?