Faith or Works?
Theme: A Journey with Abraham
Theme Verse: "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going." Hebrews 11:8 NIV
Readings: Romans 4:1-12
Memory Verse: "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. "Romans 5:1-2
Are we saved/brought into a right and personal relationship with God by faith in him or by "being a good person" (good things we do)? Jesus dealt with this question several times. He told the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector praying in the temple. The Pharisee was an active, religious person and the tax collector was hated because he was co-operating with the enemy (Rome) and generally collected a generous amount of money for himself as well as for the government.
The Pharisee "prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank you that I am not like all other men--robbers, evil doers, adulterers, -- or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth (tithe) of all I get.'"
The tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, "God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
Which prayer was pleasing and acceptable to God? Which man did God justify and bring into a right relationship to himself ?? Stop and ask, then look at Jesus' answer (Luke 18:9-14). In John 6:28-29 people s?? aid to Jesus when they came looking for him, "What are we to do, that we may be working the works of God? Jesus replied, 'This is the work that God asks of you: that you believe in the one whom He has sent."
As Paul says in Romans 4:2, "if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about", (but not before God) and in Romans 3:27-28, "Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle or works? No, but on the principle of faith, for we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law." (Romans 3:20) "For no human being will be justified in His sight by the works of the law since through the law comes knowledge of sin." The laws of God help us identify what is the will of God and what is sin and NO ONE can keep the law perfectly!
So God had to make another way because "all people, both Jews and non-Jews (Greeks) are under the power of sin,…No one is righteous, no not one"(Romans 3:9-10) "Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified (forgiven, put in a right relationship with God) by his grace (undeserved favor) as a gift through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." In anticipation of the saving work of Jesus, God reckoned to Abraham as righteousness his faith in God(Galatians 3:8). Abraham's righteousness was in believing and trusting in God and His promises, and he demonstrated this by acting on those promises (obeying). Since this took place long before Abraham and family were circumcised, he can be the spiritual "father" of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised who trust and obey God like Abraham did. (Romans 4:11) Many of the Jews of Jesus' time were using Abraham as an example of justification by works, keeping the whole law. That is why Paul shows that that is not true. (The context of Galatians and parts of Romans is some Jewish believers were following Paul around and telling new converts that they had to become Jews first before they could be Christians. The infant church settled this issue at the Council of Jerusalem [Acts 15] but that didn't stop these people from trying to convince Gentile Christians of their views.)
REVIEW: what is the meaning of circumcision? It was an outward and visible sign of the inward covenant God gave Abraham. It was part of what Abraham did to respond to God's covenant. The inward change was the real meaning--"circumcision of the heart", a surrendered heart, a heart undivided in loyalty, trust and obedience to God. This is an OLD Testament idea, not just a New Testament one.
REVIEW: What is faith? (Genesis 15:6) Abraham believed/trusted God and what he had promised even though he did not see all of it and only saw the promised son after many years. Hebrews 11:1 says "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." Is it ever hard to believe? Yes, often. That's when we say to Jesus, like the father who brought his demonized son to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief." When our faith is weak we ask God to make it strong and reaffirm out trust in Him.
Paul asks, "Is this blessing only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised who believe?" Word received: That is the point of studying My dealings with Abraham. I have blessed him because he believed Me and trusted Me, not because of circumcision or works. I want you to seek Abraham's walk and make it your own. I want you on the same journey of faith that Abraham was on.
NOTE: believe/trust here refer to trust in GOD, believing GOD and not just believing a fact about him. You can hold correct beliefs and not trust God himself. Neither does faith here mean "faith in faith" as in thinking that somehow everything is going to work out all right, but trusting in God's hand in the situation.
The result of this faith/trust/believing God is what the Memory Verse talks about. The result of being forgiven, justified, put in a right relationship with God is "peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ". Then we stand in a situation of grace (undeserved favor) with God. We are no longer enemies of God (Romans 5:10), at war with God, rebelling against him. God did it all. Forgiveness of our sins and being brought into a right relationship with God is a GIFT--a gift we receive by trusting in Jesus and accepting the gift. (2 Corinthians 5:19) "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us." (Notice that we are the ones that need to be reconciled to God not the other way around.) All we have to do is to accept and receive what he did and enter into it. Do we accept/receive/trust in what God has done and offered OR do we, like willful children, say, "I want to do it by myself?!?"
God made salvation so no one could boast. It is a gift to be received with thankfulness and joy. We are not saved by works but for works. (Ephesians 2:8-12 RSV) Sometimes people think that people in the Old Testament were saved by works. No! Paul repeats what it says at the beginning about Abraham, "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness." (Genesis 15:6) Being justified by faith in God eliminates the pride of human effort. Salvation is based on responding to God in faith and a relationship with him, not on our (imperfect) performance. Of course we have to learn to trust like Abraham -- in incremental steps. It is a relationship we grow into.
Note: "Credited to him"
Paul is using financial terminology to explain how salvation works. This is just another example of how differently God works than how we understand how things should work.
Have you ever tried to get a loan at a bank? First of all, you need collateral and you need to show proof you can repay. That is why it is so difficult for young people to get credit and when they do, it is for such a small amount. Then as you prove yourself you get more credit. But God’s accounting system is so very different. He opens the flood gates of heaven to even those infant, first time believers; the greatest gift anyone could receive (again John 3:16). We don’t start off with just a part of God’s goodness, but we are given His fullness. It’s not that it isn’t there; it is just that we can not fully understand. We know the banker will not give us more than we ask for, yet God gives us more than we deserve.
Teaching Ideas for Lesson 28
Please read the Study Guide first.
Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.
Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.
Make sure they know what happened in the lesson and the parable Jesus told. Get them to tell you.
Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
1.If you have good parents, do you have a good personal relationship with them because you always obey them or because they love you and you trust and love them and try to please them?? If they gave you a gift, is it because you earned it? If you did earn it, it is not a gift, it is a payment
2. Abraham trust God. That is what God wanted. God honored him for that. He wants us to do that too.
3. Salvation is a GIFT we can't earn no matter how hard we try because we keep doing bad things.
4. The Bible shows us how to act and what God likes us to do. We will always be happier when we follow what God says.
5. God calls us Abraham's children when we believe him and trust him.
6. "Grace" is getting something we don't deserve because we can't earn it.
SS lesson # 28: how to teach Teachers' word and reflections on Luke 18:9-14, May 3, 2005
Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men--extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14)
Word received: Look at the repentance of the Pharisee and the repentance of the tax collector. The Pharisee "turned" to himself, the tax collector turned to Me. Turn to Me as the tax collector did.
Repentance has the sense of turning around. The point of reference difference is God vs himself. This is ultimately where the whole issue of faith and works rests. The Pharisee is making himself the measure as he looks at others. (self-righteousness) The tax collector's measure is God Himself. On that standard he cries out for mercy.
The basis of Abraham's faith being counted as righteousness is because he made God the measure. He could trust God's word that He would do what He said He would.
Look at Paul in Romans 7. "For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do." That is, 'I'm not big enough to pull it off'.
WHAT IS YOUR MEASURE? Amos talks about God holding up a plumb line over Israel, His people. It is a builder's tool, a standard of measure that shows whether something is really vertical or leaning in some direction. In Amos basically God is saying I'm the One doing the measuring. The Bible is called "The Canon of Scripture". Scripture is the measuring stick by which other things are measured. The word "canon" in this context means measuring line, rule, or model. Today many in the church are saying, my measuring stick is my experience. That's where Torre crashed and burned before he became a Christian.
The tax collector knew God was doing the measuring. The Pharisee was doing the measuring by his own standards. This shifts the center of gravity in the faith/works discussion from whatever the person does to God Himself. If I'm the measure, it's not going to work. If God is the measure and I trust in Him and what He can do then it can work.
Another example is in the letter to the Church in Ephesus in Revelation 2:4. That church was and had been doing wonderful things BUT "I have this against you, you have left your first love (of Jesus himself)". They needed to REPENT, to turn back to their first love, not stopping their good deeds but letting Jesus be the center of their attention.
In some fundamental way, Abraham trusted God's measurement of things. He had no child, and had a barren wife, yet he trusted that He who promised was able to do it. We often use the word repentance. Now God has let us see into it more. One of the things we are to cry out for is repentance (for ourselves and for our church(es). What we are really asking for is that we will let God be the measuring rod in our lives. The issue in the Episcopal Church is what are we going to measure behavior by--our experiences or the Canon of Scripture and behind that God Himself.
Years ago we heard a sermon that told about an elderly woman who had given up reading the N.Y. Times for Jeremiah. She told her pastor, "The news is just as bad but the perspective is different." That is the big difference between the Pharisee and the tax collector.
If all our righteousness is "like filthy rags" then we need to cry out to God for his mercy and trust him. When we do this he not only adopts us as his children but he gives us the power to do things that please him. (I have a post card on my refrigerator that has blue scribbles on it--from our 2 ½ year old grandson, Alex. He did that work for us out of love and that makes us happy. God loves us when we trust him and try to please him.
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12)
Setting yourself or any other person as the measure gets in the way of repentance and wisdom.
Prayer: Jesus, please be the guide and compass, the measuring rod for my life. Thank you.
Possible object lesson: a yard stick.
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