Here’s a simple Bible Study I did just in my journal:
Romans 4:KJV 17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Romans 4:NIV 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
- Abraham received a promise from God: “I have made thee a father of many nations”
- Abraham put his trust in God “in whom he believed”
- Getting to know God’s character and ability a little better: He gives life to the dead and calls things that be not as though they were
Romans 4:KJV 18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Romans 4:NIV 18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
- When there was no reason in the natural for Abraham to believe he went ahead and believed God anyway
- God told Abraham, “look at the stars, so shall your offspring be”
- Because he believed and continued to believe he now has become what was promised: the father of many nations
Romans 4:KJV 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Romans 4:NIV 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
- If he had considered his own body he would have become weak in his faith
- If he had considered the fact that he and his wife had been trying for years to have a child but Sarah was fruitless – it seemed her womb was dead.
Romans 4:KJV 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Romans 4:NIV 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
- Abraham did not give up. He still counted what God had said as bigger, stronger, more important than what he saw with his eyes.
- He gave the prize of his faith, the prize of his attention, the prize of his judgment to the promise God spoke to Him rather than giving all that to the circumstances
Romans 4:KJV 21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Romans 4:NIV 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
- Fully Persuaded
Romans 14:23 whatsoever is not of faith is sin.
Hebrews 11: 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What Has God Promised You?
Be Fully Persuaded!
Joseph Barlow 