Romans 4:18-25

¹⁸ Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the father of a crowd of nations according to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” ¹⁹ Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰ He did not vacillate in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God. ²¹ He was fully convinced that what God promised he was also able to do. ²² So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness. ²³ But the statement it was credited to him was not written only for Abraham’s sake, ²⁴ but also for our sake, to whom it will be credited, those who believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was sacrificed because we had transgressed and was raised because we had been declared righteous.

resurrection faith

Paul brings faith down from the clouds and anchors it in something concrete—something embodied in the life of Abraham. Faith is not vague optimism or religious sentiment. It is trust in God’s ability to bring life out of death. That is the essence of Abraham’s story.

When Paul describes Abraham’s faith, he does not point to Abraham’s courage, morality, or spiritual discipline. He points to Abraham’s confidence in God’s power to raise the dead. Abraham was not contemplating his own mortality; he was staring at the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Every natural indicator said the promise was impossible. Her body could not produce life. Yet God had promised that nations would come from her. Abraham believed that the God who calls things into existence could also bring life out of death. That is resurrection faith.

Then Paul turns to first‑century Rome. He looks at a community of believers—some Jewish, many Gentile—who faced their own impossible reality. Their Messiah had been crucified. Their hope had died on a Roman cross. But God raised him from the dead. And these believers dared to trust that resurrection. They believed that the God who gave life to Sarah’s barren womb had given life to Jesus’ lifeless body. Their faith was not abstract. It was resurrection-shaped, resurrection-rooted, resurrection-dependent.

This is the kind of faith God gives—and the kind he honors. It is the faith that looks at what is dead and trusts God to bring life. It is the faith that sees the impossible and believes the promise. It is the faith of Abraham, now alive in the people of Christ.

Lord, help us reflect the resurrection faith of our father Abraham.