Romans 4 (and progress report)

Greetings in the Lord!

With this entry, I am officially caught up. I have found this study very challenging in many ways. It seemed that each week the memory verse section got longer. I struggle trying to select the 'best verses' to memorize when I could easily justify memorizing the whole thing. There is no legalistic rule to the amount of verses in each memeory passage, and if you're following along, please hide the Word the He puts on your heart. I simply try to capture the main theme of the chapter in 1-3 verses. So I took some time to recommit my goal for this study; not to memorize the enire Bible, but to memorize key passages in each of the chapters in the New Testament. The purpose:
1. Hide it (His Word)
2. Guard it (my heart)
3. Do it (not just keep it)
I want to fill my mind and heart with the Word of God so that I know Him, hear Him, and obey Him.
Taking a lesson from my childhood (thanks G.I. Joe) "Knowing is half the battle". The other half of the battle is THE battle; the one for my soul. The Enemy would rather fill my mind and heart with filthiness, wickedness, randomness, or even idleness.

"Therefore, put away all fillthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted Word, which is able to save your soul." (James 1:21)

With that, the entry for Romans 4.

The memory passage for this section is:
(I promise it will be shorter next week)
Romans 4:13-16
¹³ For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁴ For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. ¹⁵ For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. ¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,

The theme for this chapter is Rigtheous Faith of Abraham.

Paul solifies his case for salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ by going to the heart of Jewish heritage; Abraham. This chapter is full of rhetorical questions: 'What did Abraham do on his own?', 'Was Abraham circumcised or not when he received the promise?', 'Is the blessing then for just Jews or for all?'.

Then in 13-16 he nails it home. The law came after Abraham, and he was 'credited' righteousness through faith, apart fromt the law, and so can we. "That is why it depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on grace".

Verses 23-24 brilliantly conclude this thought:
²³ But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴ but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

A new feature in "His Word, my heart" is the inclusion of two thoughts for application:
1. How does this affect my worship?
2. How does this affect my discipleship?
This covers the thing I am created to do and the thing I am commanded to do.

So, how does this affect my worship?
Other than giving fresh meaning to the song "Father Abraham", I'm struck by the phrase in v16, 'rest on grace'. The Christian life is tireless and un-ending. We are gaurenteed trial and persecution while our true reward awaits us in heaven. And yet, while we 'toil and struggle' (Col 1:29) we can always rest on His grace. Not heritage nor position nor any work of my hands; only grace. Hallelujah!

How does this affect my discipleship?
One thing I have faced over and over again in discipleship is self-reliance. If I only try harder I can make myself sin less, make better choices and earn points with God. The Truth is that I can only trust in 'credited righteusness', as a gift from God. If I start there, then my 'obedience of faith' leads to a walk that honors Him and bears good fruit for Him.

May you rest in His grace as you walk with Him,

Ethan