Romans 4 - Are You Going to Go to Heaven When You Die? Do You Want to Be Sure?

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All quotes are taken from David Guzik's, Enduring Word Commentary, unless otherwise Noted. 

Abraham Justified by Faith

Paul spent a fair amount of time in Romans 3 explaining that the righteousness we have obtained has been given to us by Christ and we receive it through faith. Since no one is righteous, Jesus became God's righteousness for us. Paul, then reflects back on the father of the Jewish faith, Abraham. Paul states that Abraham was also justified by faith alone, as it says in Genesis 15:6, 

 “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

So you see that faith in God's promises came before God gave the Law to Moses. Before Sarah and Abraham had any children, God promised him that he would have as many descendant as stars in the sky. Abraham believed it would be as God said it would be. 

Then, Paul points to the fact that Abraham was circumcised after he believed God in faith. He uses this as the basis that faith can be given both to those who have been circumcised (the Jews) and those who have not been circumcised (the Gentiles). He describes circumcision as a seal of the righteousness he received through faith. Circumcision didn't give him faith, it was a sign of it. 

So what is the difference between faith in the Old Testament and in the New Testament?

By this we understand that there are not two ways of salvation – saved by works through law-keeping in the Old Testament and saved by grace through faith in the New Testament. Everyone who has ever been saved – Old or New Testament – is saved by grace through faith, through their relationship of a trusting love with God. Because of the New Covenant we have benefits of salvation that Old Testament saints did not have but we do not have a different manner of salvation.

It must have been a shock for the Jewish readers of this letter to see that Paul called Abraham the father of uncircumcised people! Faith, not circumcision, is the vital link to Abraham. It is far more important to have Abraham’s faith (and the righteousness imputed to him because of it) than it is to have Abraham’s circumcision.

Paul uses the language of being "an heir of the world". If obeying the Law was what was needed to be an heir then the promise meant nothing. As Paul says in Galatians 2:21 to the church in Galatia whose error was legalism, 

"I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

In this sense grace and law are the exact opposites. Grace is receiving a gift you didn't earn or merit. It is completely God's doing. The only way you can receive this gift is by trusting the One who gave it to you. 

The Law is all about getting what you deserve. If you keep the Law you are rewarded. If you don't keep it you are punished. It is all based on the effort of the person.  The problem is in order to be completely righteous you need to keep the Law every time. Both in the things you do and the things you don't do. Because of our sinful nature we could never come close to achieving this.   

Abraham was the first person to have faith, and therefore he is the father of faith. Anyone who is faith is part of Abraham's offspring and inheritors of everything God promised. 

Our inability to keep the law (our transgression) means that it becomes essentially a vehicle of God’s wrath towards us, especially if we regard it as the principle by which we are justified and relate to God.

To speak technically, we are not saved by faith. We are saved by God’s grace, and grace is appropriated by faith.

This is why we say we are, "Saved by grace through faith." Grace is what we need and faith is how we get it. Faith is the means by which we receive grace. Grace is God's gift to us, which is what Jesus did on the cross for us not counting our sins against us, but freely justifying us before God. 

"The promise can only be sure if it is according to grace. If law is the basis of our salvation, then our salvation depends on our performance in keeping the law – and no one can keep the law good enough to be saved by it. A law-promise of salvation can never be sure."

It might seem like I am making this point over and over again, and you are right. Hundreds of Christians I talk about still talk as they are counting on going to heaven because they are a good person. How can you know if someone is relying on faith or the law to be saved? 

Ask them the question, "Are you going to go to heaven when you die?" If they say something like: "I hope so", or "I think I am a pretty good person", or "It is up to God to judge", you know they have not fully understood we are saved by grace through faith. 

If you believe in God's promise of salvation through the grace he gave us in Jesus Christ, which we can access by faith, you have nothing to doubt. If you trust in God's promises either he is going to keep them or not, but it is not up to you. But we know God is a promise keeper. He has never gone back on one promise yet. If he did he would be a liar. 

So if someone were to ask you if you were going to go to heaven you could say, 

"Yes I am because of the grace God has freely given me in Christ, which I believe and receive by faith."

Ultimately our faith is based on two historical events. The crucifixion and the resurrection. Did Jesus really die an innocent death on a cross? Did Jesus really rise from the dead after three days in the tomb? 

If the answer to these two questions in yes, then everything God has promised you through Christ is true. You can be 100% sure that you are going to heaven, because of what God has done for you in Christ!

If you are not sure if you are going to heaven, ask God to give you the faith to believe in what Jesus has done for you. Pray to God expressing the fact that you realize that you could never earn your salvation because of you sin, but you accept the grace he has given to your through Christ. 

If you truly do this in your heart you will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is a down payment guaranteeing your future inheritance.