What do you think about saving faith in Jesus?
Part 2
By Travis Moody
In Romans 4:18-21 says, "Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations,
according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own
body already dead (being about a hundred years old) or the deadening of Sarah's womb. He did not stagger at the
promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what God
had promised, He was also able to perform."
God promised Abraham a son. Even though he was 100 and Sarah was 90, and even though their ability to
conceive a child was "contrary to hope"; Abraham still believed what God had told him. BUT the fact that Abraham
believed what God had told him did not get him the son that God had promised him. There was still something to be
done. Abraham had to show that he believed God by action upon his faith.
So, how did Abraham demonstrate his faith when he was promised a son in his old age? He had sex with Sarah,
and thereby he acted upon his belief. He could not have "just" believed and still had a son; he had to act upon his faith
through sexual relations with Sarah. In vs. 18 the bible says"...in hope believed, so that he became the father of many
nations..." We know that the word "believe" here, does not simply mean an acceptance of facts, as if Abraham just
believed what God had said. If it did mean that, then Sarah would have become pregnant and given birth to a son
because Abraham believed that he would receive a son.
Well, it is obvious that a man cannot just believe that his wife will become pregnant and by that belief alone make it
so. Remember, what the bible says in Gen. 15:4, "And behold the word of the Lord came to him saying, 'This one shall
not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." Thus, the son of promise was not
divinely conceived. He came from Abraham's own body; hence sex with Sarah was the means by which she became
pregnant. So, this work of having sex with Sarah was not a work of man - God said that it must happen in order for the
promise to be fulfilled. Yes, Abraham did believe God, but he had to act upon that belief in order for the promise to be
fulfilled. So then, if the word "believed" does not mean to just accept the facts, then what does the bible mean when it
says "believed" as talked about in Rom. 4:18?
One can be said to have believed, when one has faith plus works. This fact is made very clear in Acts 2:44, "Now
all who believed were together, and had all things in common." In this context, who is Luke talking about when he says,
"all who believed?" He is referring to the same people mentioned in vs. 37. These people believed what Peter said
because the bible says that they were cut to their hearts. If the people did not believe what Peter said they would not
have been cut to the heart. Does the bible call these people believers after they believed in vs. 37? NO. It is only
AFTER they perform the works of God commanded by Peter in vs. 38 that they are called believers in vs. 44. Only after
they had believed or had faith in vs. 37 and performed the works commanded by Peter in vs. 38 does the bible THEN
call them believers in vs. 44.
This is also seen in Acts 16. The Philippian jailer, asked Paul and Silas in (vs. 30), "... Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?" The answer he received was (vs. 31-32), "So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be
saved, you and your household.' Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house." So,
Paul told them that if they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ that they would be saved. Does the bible say that they
believed after that verse? NO. It was on AFTER they were baptized in (vs. 33) ("...And immediately he and all his family
were baptized.") that the bible THEN says in vs. 34 and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household." So
here again, when the bible says that someone believed, it is referring to people who had faith plus works!
So, the same is true in Rom. 4:18 when the bible says about Abraham, "in hope believed, so that he became the
father of many nations..." which is really saying, "in hope [ had faith plus works] (believed), so that he became the father
of many nations..." Then, after he had works working together with his faith in vs. 18-21, the very next verse says, "And
Therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness."
The word in Greek for "therefore" is dio (dee-o') which means: through which thing, that is, consequently: - for
which cause, therefore, wherefore. So, the bible says..."for which cause"
it was accounted to him for righteousness. For what cause? The cause just mentioned-the fact that Abraham acted
upon his faith. But, further notice, this fact is illustrated in the Old testament as well.
In (Joshua 6:2) the bible says, "And the Lord said to Joshua: See I have given Jericho into your hand, its King, and
the mighty men of valor." So the Lord told Joshua that he had given Jericho to him. It was a gift. The Lord gave it to
him, just in the same way that the Lord gives us the gift of salvation.
However, in Joshua's case, the Lord added conditions to receiving the gift in (vs. 3-5). "You shall march around
the city, all you men of war; you shall go all around the city once. This you shall do six days. And seven priests shall
bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark. But the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times
and the priest shall blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when
you hear the sound of the trumpet that all the people shall shout with a great shout: THEN the wall of the city will fall
down flat. And the people shall go up every man straight before him." So the Lord gave them the city, but they had to
comply with the stipulations that the Lord placed on the gift.
AFTER they performed the works that the Lord added to receiving the gift, THEN the Lord gave them the city: (Heb.
11:30) "By faith the walls of Jericho fell down AFTER they were encircled for seven days." Yes, it fell by faith but it was
only AFTER the stipulations were met.
Likewise, salvation is a gift from God, but the Lord has put stipulations on receiving it. There are works that God
requires of us in order to be saved. After we comply with those works, the it can be said that we are saved by faith.
Remember (James 2:17), faith must have works in order to be a living faith. In (Mk. 16:16) the bible says, "He who
believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
So, even the Lord himself says that belief/faith is not enough. He says that a man who believes AND is baptized will
be saved---faith plus works!. Just like James, Hebrews, and Joshua talks about.