RIGHTEOUS FAITH
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Second Sunday in Lent, Year A
Analysis by Peter Keyel
1What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our ancestor according to the flesh? 2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but as something due. 5But to one who without works trusts him who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as righteousness.
13For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation.
16For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the father of all of us, 17as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”) – in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
From Wikimedia Commons
“Faith will carry us through the hard times, too. Even more so, it will energize us, and give us the strength to keep going.”
Author’s Note: In Zoomer (Gen Z) terms, we could describe all of today’s readings as “Promise-maxxing”. If you look hard enough, you can find some small sins within the texts. But compared to other parts of the Bible, the law is minimal in all four of our readings. We combine several power passages in today’s readings, culminating in John 3:16. The weird part is that this happens during Lent, when we focus on the path of Christ to the cross for our sakes. But perhaps it is not so weird when we consider the lectionary is for Christians who have already come to Christ, yet still live in a fallen world – and still commit sins that need forgiving!
DIAGNOSIS: Doing Righteousness
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem) – Hard Life
Paul appeals to Abraham in his argument for salvation by faith apart from works. Paul tells us how Abram trusted God and left his home to wander (cf. Genesis 12-1-4a; 15:6). Jesus tries to explain this to Nicodemus, who came to Jesus “by night” in light of the risks of being exposed (John 3:1-17). Even the Psalm cheers God’s ability to protect us from evil (Psalm 121). And most of us would agree with Paul here.
There doesn’t seem to be any major problems here. Or are there?
Yet while Paul extols Abraham as a promise-truster, he and Sarai went into Egypt because “there was a famine” and they were hungry (Genesis 12:10). They didn’t have a lot of choices, and they made some hard decisions.
Even if our lives, we find that circumstances can make it a hard life. Sometimes we get stuck with hard choices, too. They may be driven by external hardships, disease or internal doubts and sins. Can we help how we feel? Maybe we could control our hunger now with a GLP-1 agonist like Tirzepatide, but that wouldn’t stop us from starving. And all of these decisions and challenges weigh on us.
Maybe it’s an external hardship like the famine during Abram’s time. Maybe it’s chronic disease like Paul’s thorn. Maybe we have Nicodemus’s midnight doubts about salvation. Or it’s our screw-ups making things worse. Any way we slice it, life is hard for many reasons.
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem) – Fear
Abram feared dying – either from famine, or from Pharoah, or from never having descendants. If we read more of Abram’s story, Abram and Sarai go into Egypt, where Abram and Sarai lie to save Abram’s life, and Sarai becomes the Pharoah’s concubine (Genesis 12:10-20). Later, Abram has a son with Hagar instead of Sarai (Genesis 16:1-4). Abram would even despair of God’s promise (Genesis 15:2-4). In our reading, Paul may seem to have glossed over these specifics in Abram’s life.
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem) – Dead and done
Moreover, Paul is keenly aware of our deepest truth that needs remedy: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
When does it end? In the words of several songwriters, including Warren Zevon and Bon Jovi, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead”. Trying to carry the weight of the world slowly crushes us. The long-term problems, the failures, it all builds up, even when these actions are not of our own doing.
As Paul says, “the law brings wrath” (Romans 4:15). We see God’s wrath at play in the world and against us, and it may feel overwhelming. No matter how righteous we are or live, we cannot fix the world, or turn God’s wrath aside.
PROGNOSIS: Being Righteousness
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution) – Alive and beginning
But Paul also knows the God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (v. 17), and traces the “Seed” of that promise to Jesus the Christ. Christ crucified and risen is God’s solution to the truth of our sin and all its necessitating wrath. God’s promise, as Paul lays out, is making sinners righteous apart from the law. It is not our doing righteousness that saves, but being made righteous through Jesus’ death and resurrection. John’s Gospel also makes this explicit (John 3:16-17).
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution) – Faith
Hence, Paul lifts up how it is that Abraham is the “father of many nations” (v. 16). Abraham was given faith by God, despite his failings, and “it was reckoned to him as righteousness” (v. 3). Faith fills us. Faith frees us from our hunger in ways GLP-1s cannot. It is that faith that sustains Abram through the hard times. That faith is what Paul highlights. The Psalm for the day lifts up God’s ability to sustain and protect us.
Faith will carry us through the hard times, too. Even more so, it will energize us, and give us the strength to keep going.
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution) – Live hard
That energy and strength enables us to make the most of our lives – and for others who need hope in the midst of death. Abram gets through the famine, gets his land, and is blessed with a nation for which he may never have imagined in the fullness of faith. The message of the gospel still rings out in Paul’s letters. Nicodemus would come to this faith beyond all his own darkness, taking faithful risks even when the disciples had fled to rooms with closed doors (John 19:38-42).
What are we going to do with our divine energy? What hardships will we push through? Who will we help? How will we witness to what God has done for us in Jesus?
