The Character of Faith

In Romans 4:17c-25 Paul describes the nature of saving faith by providing two examples of faith credited as righteousness. 1) Abraham's faith is a saving faith: A) because he believes in a God who makes the dead live (v. 17c), calls into existence things that don't currently exist (v. 17d), makes and keeps promises (v. 18); B) Because his faith bore fruit: he did not weaken in his faith in spite of his circumstances (v. 19), he did not waver from believing in the promise (v. 20a), and he grew strong in his faith (v. 20b) as he gave God glory (v. 20c) and as he believed in God's power (v. 21); C) Because his faith was credited to him as righteousness (v. 22). The second example of faith credited as righteousness is, a New Covenant believer's faith is saving faith: A) if he/she is an heir to the promise made to Abraham (vs. 23-24a), and B) if his/her faith is counted as righteousness because he/she believes in Abraham's God who makes the dead live (v. 24b), because his/her trespasses are forgiven through Jesus (v. 25a), and because his/her justification is provided through Jesus (v. 25b).