Understanding Belief | Romans 4:13-25

We’ve been hammering the belief nail each week for a while, asserting that it is the only way in which people can be saved and find life in Jesus. Yet it can still be a nebulous idea. We’ll clarify by examining its substance, process, and enemy in this passage.*

Belief’s Substance
…fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (v.21)

Belief’s substance is confidence in God. Just as we have confidence to travel bridges and overpasses without stopping to inspect the structures each time, belief is confidence in God that enables us to move forward based on the direction he gives.

People were saved before Jesus was born by such faith (Hebrews 11). People are saved now by such faith. Old Testament people had broad, vague promises to believe; we have precise, specific promises to believe. Old Testament faith had the seed; New Testament faith has the bloom. BC faith navigated by stars, AD faith navigates by GPS, and both find Jesus.

To demystify belief a bit, picture a rope bridge (I know, too many bridge analogies). Trusting a rope bridge enough to travel it requires two types of decision. First, one must decide if the bridge itself is trustworthy. Once on it, one must decide if each step is trustworthy. All these decisions are based on the same structure.

Similarly, Christian belief involves two types of decision. First, one must look at the gospel and decide if it is trustworthy. Then, as they step onto it in faith, they face the daily, ongoing steps of faith associated with following Jesus. So, yes, believing in Jesus saves us. But believing God’s promises to provide for us, guide us, discipline us, etc. are part of that same structure. You can’t say you trust a rope bridge but not its individual slats; and you can’t say you trust the gospel but not its myriad implications for daily living.

Back to the original question, how does one grow strong in faith? The same way one grows confident in a rope bridge: put weight on it.

The word translated glory in this passage carries the idea of weight. It’s acknowledging that the subject is solid, weighty. Abraham grew strong in faith as he gave glory to God. We grow strong in faith as we give glory to God by listening to what he says in his word, thinking through it, trusting it, and finding that it hold firm when we put our full weight on it.

To waver is to waffle back and forth in indecision. Distrust stalls us out and keeps us from moving forward. But let’s be honest. There are plenty of good, logical reasons to distrust God’s promises.

Most of the promises God gave Abraham had to do with making babies. Abraham was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and his wife, Sarah, was barren. Those are good reasons to distrust a promise of having children. Just like there are many promises you and I know we should believe but have good reason to distrust. BUT, even though there may be good reasons to distrust God’s promises, there is no reason to distrust God himself.

Note that all this faith and belief is primarily in God, not his promises (reread verse 24 if you don’t believe me). It’s getting to know God that engenders faith, not just his promises. It is the God behind the promises that evokes confidence. And it is distrust in God that wars against faith.

Faith says the bridge may look shaky, but if God built it, God loves me, and God asks me to cross it; I’ll trust it fully.

One concern I have for people at our church is that many are in love with the bridge. We sit in pews and look at the bridge every week. We tell friends about the bridge. We wear t-shirts with a picture of the bridge printed on it. Yet for all our devotion to the bridge, we never walk across it.

It is possible to love Jesus, look at him all the time, tell friends about him, put Jesus fish on our cars; yet never trust him with our salvation or with our daily lives, never crossing from death to life, from slavery to freedom.

Get to know God. Hear what he says. Put your trust in it. I promise you’ll find that it holds firm, even under the weight of our shortcomings and questions – it holds firm. And move forward based on the promises of Jesus and the Bible.

1.       Read verse 14. Why would faith be null and God’s promise void if adhering to the law were required?

2.       What causes you to waver concerning God’s promises?

3.       How might your life change if you became more fully confident in God? What would putting more “weight” on God look like for you?

4.       Share an experience that caused you to grow stronger in your faith.

5.       Is there a difference in trusting God’s promises and trusting God himself? Explain.

6.       How can we serve one another in light of this passage?

7.       How can your group pray for you this week?