It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

There was a story about a fishing vessel floating out in the frigid Bering Sea when a storm hit. A rogue wave washed a man overboard into the water. His cries were heard by shipmates who rightfully panicked and wondered how best to save this man who would soon cramp up and slip under the icy surface. While the others were deliberating about whether to lower a small boat into rough water or attempt to throw a floating ring a great distance, one sailer strapped on an emergency life vest and jumped into the water. He swam the distance, grabbed hold of, and held onto the drowning man just before he slipped under the water. For minutes, which seemed like an eternity, one man became the life-saving jacket for the other, both just barely staying afloat before the ship could turn and approach to rescue them both.

The main theme of today's passage in Romans is Paul's Spirit-led attempt to answer these very important questions: How can a person be saved? What is the best way to guarantee one's eternity is spent in heaven? Is there only one way to heaven, or will all roads eventually lead to the same place? Jesus answered a similar question asked of the Pharisee Nicodemus in John chapter 3 by telling him that he must be born again. After some confusion, Jesus clarified that this was a spiritual rebirth, not a physical one. But then the question remains: how, then, can a person be born again? What does being spiritually born again look like? Are we born again through works, keeping the law, or through performance? Does the law have the power to save you? Is it possible for a person to keep all 660 laws of the Old Testament and earn their right standing before God? Why give the law if there is no way to keep it?

Paul uses today's passage to talk through the implications surrounding such burning questions. Once again, he continues using the example of Abraham because He was well-respected, studied, and revered by all Jews. Paul explains again that God’s promise to Abraham was based on the principle of faith, not law or works. Since all God’s dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob happened before the giving of the Mosaic Law, we can’t say they were based on the law since the written law didn't even exist yet. Instead, they are based on God’s declaration of Abraham’s righteousness through faith. The same is true for us today. Salvation is based on God's declaration of our righteousness through our faith in Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be saved. But if it is only by faith, then what was the point of the Law? Why did God bother with Moses and Mt. Sinai? Those who were most opposed to what Paul was teaching were Jewish Pharisees, known as Judaizers, who often followed Paul from town to town and argued against everything he said. They made convincing arguments that all Gentile Christian converts needed to be circumcised and submit to Jewish law and customs, or their salvation would be null and void. They essentially declared that faith was useless and that salvation would only come through keeping the law, festivals, customs, and other Jewish rituals. This was a promotion of works-based salvation where a man could attempt to earn his way into God's presence. This was also a dangerous teaching that was potentially destructive to those seeking Jesus and the early church as a whole. The entire council of Jerusalem, described in Acts chapter 15, was centered around these highly debated issues of how a person can be saved.

Paul addresses the fact that there are many wrong ways to attempt salvation, but only one right way. Even today, as it was in the Roman Empire, there are many false Gospels, counterfeit Gospels, false saviors, and false faiths, but only one truth. Some would say your knowledge will save you, your works will save you, your balance of good deeds over bad, your enlightenment will save you, or your spiritual ladder climbing. But in all of these, the answer lies in you. Many false faiths can never save us, and only faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and through the empty tomb can save us. Faith in the historical events of the life of Jesus will not save you. Faith in the beauty of Jesus’ life and the spirituality he promoted will not save you. Faith in the accuracy or social goodness of Jesus’ teaching will not save you. Faith in the knowledge of the deity of Jesus and His Lordship will not save you. Only faith in what the real Jesus did for us on the cross will save us. The Law cannot bring us to the blessings of God’s promises. This is not because the law is bad but because we are unable to keep it. Our inability to keep the law (our transgression) is how we see where we have crossed the line of God's standard. Where there is no line, there is no actual transgression, so the line of the law is important in that sense. The law makes man’s sin clear by contrasting it with God’s holy standard, and in this way, the law had its use, and what was done on Mt. Sinai was not done in vain. The faith of Abraham did not sit still, and neither should ours. Faith takes steps, and you must also take these steps by obeying God because you believe in him. The issue here is the flow of what comes first and what comes next. Faith must come first, and then obedient steps flow out of that faith. It is not that obedient steps come first, and through that obedience, faith and salvation are earned. One makes us the source, and the other keeps God in his rightful place as the source. This understanding of salvation by faith is important not only for us today but for teaching the next generation as well. We can know and come to understand why Jesus had to come to Earth to be our life-saving device because we were powerless and could never save ourselves on our own.