Is Our ‘Faith’ Creative?

Is Our ‘Faith’ Creative?

Romans 4:17

Theme: God operates in our lives through real faith in Him, but He does not grant us creative or positive confession abilities!

Relevance:  Positive confession is the belief that speaking specific words can force God to grant health or wealth. This is unholy magic, a misleading human invention, and NOT biblical faith rooted in submission to God’s sovereign will. Such ‘creative powers’ do not belong to believers.  

Introduction:

When thinking on Romans 4:17, it is vital we remember God has the utmost power to give life to the dead and treat future or unfulfilled promises as absolute certainties. Clearly God makes dead things alive. He “quickeneth the dead” drawing attention to His power over physically death and His ability to refresh the elderly, “dead” bodies of Abraham and Sarah so they could have a child. Summarily, GOD “calleth those things which be not as though they were” indicating He speaks of future events or unseen realities as if they are already done because He cannot lie and His word never fails. In addition, we must avoid misusing this passage and other similar ones, because it points out that God is faithful. It is NOT a mere human “name-it-and-claim-it” formula where people can speak physical objects or wealth into existence through positive confessions.

Entirely Romans 4:16-21, reads, “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, ¹⁷ (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. ¹⁸ Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. ¹⁹ And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: ²⁰ He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; ²¹ And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.”

Romans 4:16-21, shows God’s promises are received through faith and grace rather than human law or effort, the ultimate example is Abraham’s unwavering trust in God against impossible likelihood. Unfortunately, this passage has been misused to teach ‘believers’ a form of position confession coupled with the use of ‘abracadabra.’ God never intended this passage be used in this way!

Message:

Please fasten onto God’s implication from this important passage:

1. Grace Should be Matched with Certainty (Rom. 4:16). God’s promise depends on real faith so it can rest entirely on God’s unearned favor (grace). Such faith guarantees the promise to all of Abraham’s spiritual descendants—both Jews under the law and Gentiles who share his faith.

Paul pointed to Abraham along with the subject of circumcision to convey the fact that rites of religion cannot make one righteous before God. He does this by carefully noting when and why Abraham was circumcised.   Accordingly, Romans 4:9-10, Abraham received the rite of circumcision some fourteen years after he was justified by faith. Obviously, the rite had nothing to do with his salvation (Gen. 15:6; 17:10).  Paul also showed why Abraham was given the rite of circumcision. It was not to confer righteousness upon him, but to confirm the righteousness he already had.  It was an outward symbol of an inward reality.  Abraham became the father of all who are counted righteous by faith alone regardless of circumcision or not. 

We are afforded a description of two things that faith does for us in relation to God and the biblical definition of faith as found in Hebrews 11.  Faith can bring us into God’s favor and family as taught in Romans 4:16. It is through faith we are linked to the unmerited favor of God. Resultantly all believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are the spiritual children of Abraham and members of the family of God. Faith can also be described as a kind of sixth sense which functions to make tangible and real the unvarnished truths of the unseen world.  The writer of Hebrews defined faith in Hebrews 11:1 saying, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It enables believers to fully recognize and appreciate the blessings of God. 

2. The Power of God is Key to Understanding this Passage (Rom. 4:17): Abraham believed in a God who “quickenedeth the dead” (brings life to the dead) and calls things that do not exist as though they already did. Faith focuses on God’s creative power, not physical limitations. It is imperative we note God never shared this creative power with mere people!

The faith of Abraham was an intelligent faith according to Romans 4:17-18; it was focused on the omnipotence of Almighty God and not on the deadness of his body. Truly it is intelligent to place our faith in a God who can raise the dead and create a mighty universe. Before God gave Abraham the promise “so shall thy seed be” he directed his attention to the stars and thus His vast creative power as strong support to Abraham’s faith.  Beloved, it is simply smart to believe a faithful and powerful God.

• God … gives life to the dead and calls things that are not (lit., “the nonexisting things”) as though they were (lit., “as existing”).
• Identifying God in this way obviously refers to God’s promise in Genesis 17 following the statement quoted above that Abraham and Sarah would have a son of promise when Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 (Gen. 17:17, 19; 18:10; 21:5; cf. Rom. 4:19). That he would be the ancestor of many nations seemed impossible in his and Sarah’s childless old age.^[1]
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        3. Hoping Against Hope is a Conscientious Choice to Believe God (Rom. 4:18): Abraham had no natural reason to expect a child, yet he              chose to believe God’s word that his descendants would be as numerous               as the stars.

• Abraham is the father of us all in the sight of Him (God) whom he (Abraham) believed, even God who gives life to the dead and speaks of things that do not yet exist as already existing. To understand this description of God, we have only to look at the verses that follow. God gives life to the dead—that is, to Abraham and Sarah, for although they were not dead physically, they were childless and beyond the age when they could have children (see 4:19). God calls those things which do not yet exist as already existing—that is, a numberless posterity involving many nations (see 4:18).^[2]
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    4. Facing Reality Without Weakening Stemmed from A Trust in Truth (Rom. 4:19): Abraham did not ignore the facts—he knew his own   body and Sarah’s womb were past the age of childbearing—but he did not let those physical deadness obstacles override his trust in God.

He trusted God’s promise of descendants despite his own advanced age of nearly 100 and the lifelessness of Sarah’s reproductive capacity. He did not weaken in his faith or waver through unbelief though most people would have understood perfectly because he would have been justified in doing so. Instead, he remained fully persuaded, supremely convinced that God had the power to do what He promised! Beloved, it was this very thing that God credited to him as righteousness.

5. Unwavering Conviction Is How Abraham Demonstrated Real Faith (Rom. 4:20-21): He did not stagger or doubt God’s promise through unbelief. Instead, he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God because he was fully persuaded that God had the power to perform what He promised.

Salvation by grace and through faith is to be experienced by us all in the same manner as Abraham. Note at least three aspects covered under this section in Romans 4:23-25. First, salvation by faith is to be experienced by us for the same purpose according to verses 23 and 24. Secondly, it is to be practiced according to the very same process as demonstrated by verse 24b.  Lastly, it is to be practiced on the same principle as stated in verse 25.  Thus, as God counted Abraham as ‘righteous’, he does the same for us who believe.  Like Abraham had to trust God for the impossible regarding children at his old age and despite his dead body, we too must believe an impossibility—the resurrection of Christ. Something many still view as unbelievable and impossible.  Then lastly, salvation is the same in the Old Testament and the New.  It is based on the principle of the saving grace of God made available to us by faith.  In many respects, we enjoy the very same type of salvation as Abraham.

o   The apparent impossibility that the promise would ever be fulfilled didn’t stagger him. God had said it; Abraham believed it; that settled it. As far as the patriarch was concerned there was only one impossibility, and that was for God to lie. Abraham’s faith was strong and vibrant. He gave glory to God, honoring Him as the One who could be depended on to fulfill His promise in defiance of all the laws of chance or probability.

o   4:21 Abraham did not know how God would fulfill His word, but that was incidental. He knew God and had every confidence that God was fully able to do what He had promised. In one way it was wonderful faith, but in another way it was the most reasonable thing to do, because God’s word is the surest thing in the universe, and for Abraham there was no risk in believing it!^[3]

Conclusion:

After thinking through these observations, we can safely conclude God operates in our lives through real faith in Him. This is the basis of His extraordinary salvation! He is supremely willing and able to still do just this in the life of every repentant sinner! Can He the great Creator-Redeemer work in your experiences? However, God does not grant us creative or positive confession abilities! This passage nor any other teaches this radical idea of ‘speaking something we want badly into existence’.  Putting the title ‘faith’ on such practices or ‘claiming it in Jesus’ name’ does not justify this behavior, it only multiplies the confusion. The entire notation is sensual, ignorant of scripture, carnal, and rooted in works of the flesh! Giving it a spiritual name does not in any dimension sanitize this wrong behavior!

Finally, there are three preliminary remarks concerning the principles of eternal security that account for the disapproval of this teaching to many sincere people.  The first thing to note is there are several warning passages in the Bible which seem to imply losing our salvation in the book of Hebrews. In some cases, these passages address those who only profess to be saved but really are not. Secondly, some believe that the doctrine of eternal security is dangerous because it promotes loose living. However, believers have no license to sin and our union with Christ gives us the power to break away from sinful practices.  The third important observation is the difference between a believer’s standing and state. Our standing is always perfect and static, but our state is always changing and progressive.  These three considerations and brief explanations should subdue any reservations to honestly consider the Bible on eternal security. 

Again, positive confession or speaking specific words like ‘abracadabra’ cannot force God to grant health, wealth or any other desirable! This is a mere human invention and is NOT biblical faith anchored in submission to Almighty God’s sovereign will.

 

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^[1] John A. Witmer, “Romans,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 454.

^[2] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1694.

^[3] William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1695.