Sunday, March 8, 2020

Second Sunday of Lent

Sermon Text: Romans 4:1-8, 13-17

"[1] What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? [2] For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. [3] For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ [4] Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. [5] And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, [6] just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: [7] ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; [8] blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’ [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 to 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, [17] as it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations’ – in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the death and calls into existence the things that do not exist."

Sermon Theme: "Righteous by Faith, Not by Works"