Today is one of the most significant days in church history. Not because it’s the pagan holiday where kids dress in costumes and collect candy, but today is the day that the protestant reformation began, this October 31, 1517. But the story of the reformation began much earlier, years before, when a young man named Martin Luther was on his way home from law school classes and a storm broke out. Lightning struck within feet of where the young Martin Luther was walking, sending him to the ground. Luther cried out in the only way he knew how, “St. Anne, save me, and I’ll commit to the monastery!”[^1] Though misguided, God heard his prayer, and Luther was faithful, committing himself to becoming a monk because he believed that is what saved him that night.

Luther thought that he would find answers in the monk life, but instead he ended up having more questions. You see, at this time in church history, it was at the height of Roman Catholicism, a works-based salvation that didn’t allow the Bible to be interpreted into the common language of the day, with all sorts of things that were added to the Christian faith in order to put control measures on the population of the people. Luther knew in his spirit that things weren’t right, but he hit his breaking point one day when there was a man named Johann Tetzel who was out raising funds for a new building.

In a system called “indulgences” a Catholic person could donate to the church in order to release a loved one from purgatory sooner. Now, neither indulgences nor purgatory are in the Bible. They were added to the system of religion to take advantage of the people who didn’t have access to the Bible. You can read about them in the Catechism of the Catholic Church even today, along with other things, but that’s not the point of today’s message.[^2] But Johann Tetzel was riding around from town to town, saying, “As soon as the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs!”[^3]

This teaching did not sit right with Luther, so he went back to study his Bible. He landed on Romans 1:17:

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.
–Romans 1:17

As it turned out, there was no such thing as purgatory, there was no such thing as indulgences. There was no reason to have any intercessor other than Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5), and there was no reason that anyone couldn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Luther’s mind and heart were blown, and he realized that God’s purpose for him was to expose the truth, that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone (Ephesians 2:8–9).

Luther wrote 95 statements, all directed straight to the Catholic church and its abuse in taking advantage of people who did not know Scripture because it wasn’t available in the language that they spoke. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 statements to the door of the Catholic cathedral in Wittenberg, and the result was his death warrant.[^4]

His friends captured him, thankfully, and took him to a hideout, where he spent the rest of his life translating the Bible into a readable language and teaching people the truth of Scripture, that we’re saved by grace through faith.[^5] Luther was instrumental in letting the world know that salvation isn’t a guessing game, that Christianity is not a system built for an elite few to understand. That in Christ, we are a priesthood of believers with direct access to God the Father (1 Peter 2:9; Hebrews 4:16), and that if the Bible doesn’t say something, it doesn’t apply to the Christian life.

When we turn to this next passage of Romans, remember this. Because as time progressed for even the Jewish people, they began to misunderstand the promises of God and the covenant, or the unbreakable promise that God made, which is not by works, but through faith. The same thing can happen to Christians today. We get so caught up in outward appearances that we forget about the miracle that is our inside transformation and the gift of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ezekiel 36:26–27).

Now brace yourselves, we’re about to read the word circumcised together 12 times, but then that’s it. These first four verses are making one point: Faith precedes our works; the outward sign of your salvation is your works, but those come from the inward miracle of your transformation in Christ. Christ changes us on the inside. What we do by faith is what shows on the outside.

Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say, Faith was credited to Abraham for righteousness. In what way, then, was it credited—while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised. This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.
–Romans 4:9-12

Remember that the context of this letter to the Romans was that you had multitudes of Christians who had become Christians in other places, most likely in Jerusalem and in the cities where Paul had been planting churches, and they had made their way to Rome where they were surrounded by lostness and pagan idolatry. But then, through a change in emperorship, masses of Jewish people who were once exiled by Emperor Claudius were moving back into Rome under the next emperor, Nero, who was welcoming them back (Acts 18:2).[^6] Nero was also the most egregious persecutor of Christians.[^7] If you were a Christian in Rome during this time, you were being confronted not only by the pagan culture and persecution, but by Jewish legalism coming from people who claimed the same God as you, but were telling you that you were wrong about being saved through faith. The Jewish people had a physical sign for being Jewish: circumcision. This was a thing that God told them to do starting in Genesis 17, but the Jewish people were missing the point that the outward sign of being God’s people is something that follows the inward sign: faith (Genesis 17:9–14; Deuteronomy 30:6).

We can get caught up in this today. Many Christians are caught up in the outward appearance of salvation, while there is no faith in the promises of God. We can wear a cross on a necklace, we can put a bumper sticker on our car, we can post Bible verses on our social media, we can sit in church out of obligation, read our Bibles because it’s the “right” thing to do. But if we don’t have a personal relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, we aren’t really saved (Matthew 7:21–23). Remember it’s possible to look alive on the outside, but be dead on the inside (Matthew 23:27–28).

For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
–Romans 4:13

The entire purpose of the law in the Old Testament, that’s the 613 laws you find in the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy,[^8] their entire purpose is to point us to our need for a Savior (Galatians 3:24). That there is only one way to attain righteousness, and it isn’t by becoming an expert in the law, it is by becoming a child of God, and that is through faith in Christ (John 1:12).

If those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made empty and the promise nullified, because the law produces wrath. And where there is no law, there is no transgression.
–Romans 4:14-15

The reason that the law produces wrath is because it is impossible to keep the whole law. And if you break one law, you’ve broken them all (James 2:10)! Trying to attain righteousness on our own is a highway straight to hell. We cannot do it. That’s why Jesus came to save us, because we are helpless on our own (Romans 5:6).

This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace, to guarantee it to all the descendants—not only to the one who is of the law but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all.
–Romans 4:16

Remember how our passage tonight started out. Abraham’s outward sign of salvation followed his inward sign of transformation. It’s the same for us. You ever hear that old saying in business “fake it till you make it”? That might work when you’re in a sales presentation, but it will not work when you stand before the great white throne of judgment (Revelation 20:11–15). There is no faking it when it comes to God. You either have faith in Him and have surrendered your life to him, and you’re an heir to His promise (Galatians 3:29), or you do not have faith in Him, and you’re separated from Him for eternity (2 Thessalonians 1:9). Two types of people.

As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.
–Romans 4:17

We live right now in an overwhelmingly dead state. Want to know what I’m talking about? Wear a pro-life t-shirt to the grocery store and see what happens. When these Roman Christians were reading this letter in 57 AD,[^9] do you think they knew what it was like to live in a dead state? Think about how hard it is for us, but much worse. Multiplied by 1,000. These Roman Christians didn’t get dirty looks at the grocery store, these Roman Christians were executed for what they believed. Any commonsensical person would see that to be a Christian in Rome during this time was the most nonsensical thing a person could ever want to do. But they did it, and Christ’s church multiplied because of their obedient faith.

While it’s tempting for us to think, “oh, maybe I’ll move to the Bible belt, it would be more comfortable to be a Christian in a small town Kansas than it would in Denver.” It might be. But God has placed you here for a purpose (Acts 17:26–27). The only way we are going to be able to transform this dead state we’re living in is through our faithful obedience to Christ and His call to reach our city with the gospel (Matthew 28:19–20). We won’t change this state with politics, we certainly won’t change it by leaving. We won’t change it by standing on the sidelines complaining about how awful it is. The only hope for true, lasting change, is to be the change. To create a place we want to live in, not that we want to flee from, we need to bring the hope of Jesus to our city. What would it look like to live like those Roman Christians? To put it all on the line for the sake of the gospel? How blessed are we that we aren’t expected to give up our lives like those Roman Christians. We just need to be willing to give up our comfort and maybe a little bit of our pride by stepping into an uncomfortable space and spreading the gospel with a world that so desperately needs it. We get to be part of that! God could do this all without us, but how awesome that he lets us be part of it (2 Corinthians 5:20)! We have a choice to make. Will we go through the motions of Christianity or will we truly live out our faith? Do we want true, lasting change in our city or are we okay with the evil of this world taking over. Think about the life you want for your kids, for your family 5 years, 10 years, 20 years from now. Let’s do something now to help create that life. Let’s build together. Let’s build a life where Christ is at the center of everything we do (Colossians 1:18).

He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be. He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body to be already dead (since he was about a hundred years old) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
–Romans 4:18-20

I know that I’ve really knocked on Colorado in this message when I’ve compared it to Rome, so I want to take a minute to remind us why we’re here. For one, there is no other state that displays God’s glory like Colorado. Look at the mountains here, the sunsets here, the weather here, and you see God’s glory everywhere (Psalm 19:1). There is no other place I want to raise my children than here. God has transformed each and every single one of us from death to life (Ephesians 2:4–5). Look at Abraham’s example: he knew his body was dead, but he did not waver in unbelief, he knew God’s promise was true, he was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God.

because he was fully convinced that what God had promised, he was also able to do.
–Romans 4:21

We have to believe that God’s plans are perfect. That God has us here for such a time as this (Esther 4:14), for such a purpose that is His, to turn this dead place to life. Abraham believed that. We believe that. Do you know how we came up with the name Our City Church? In a similar situation as Abraham’s, a similar situation as these Roman Christians, there was a time when God’s people were exiled to a Godless place called Babylon. When God spoke to them through the prophet Jeremiah, He said, “Be faithful to the city where I’ve exiled you, when it thrives, you will thrive” (Jeremiah 29:7). We have to believe that with all that we’ve got. We have to trust that God is going to work through us to transform our city. We have to completely trust the promises of God.

And then we do, we live by faith. We see the outcome of our faith, especially when it feels like that faith goes against conventional wisdom:

Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.
–Romans 4:22

God’s scoreboard is not based on accomplishment. Your outward signs of works are only the reflection, the outflow of your faith in Christ and His promises (James 2:18). Faith was what made Abraham righteous, and faith is what makes you righteous.

Now it was credited to him was not written for Abraham alone, but also for us. It will be credited to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
–Romans 4:23-24

This changes everything. When life is hard, which it will be hard, believe me (John 16:33), we rest in God’s promise to deliver us who believe in Him. When you’re at odds with your spouse, when you’re at odds with your children, at odds with your employer, at odds with your neighbor, you have eternal security (John 10:28–29), knowing that this life you’re experiencing is only a small blip on the horizon of eternity (James 4:14). At the end of the day, we’re here to preach the message of reconciliation to God that is through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:18–19). Let that reflect in our character, in our friendships, in our marriages, in everything that we do. The only way we’re going to make our city a better place for our children and our grandchildren is by being messengers of this good news of Jesus Christ that transforms lives through the work of the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5).

Christ’s people have survived through all sorts of turbulence. Just as Martin Luther was on the run for his life because he was proclaiming the truth of Christ’s grace and our salvation through faith, God’s people have always had an opponent who has tried to extinguish the flame (1 Peter 5:8; Matthew 16:18).

Even recently I heard the story of a family that was completely broken by sin. Five children, multiple mothers and fathers, drug addiction, brokenness, abuse. I got to hang out with a man this week who is a leader in a church in Dallas, and he crossed paths with this broken family and felt the Holy Spirit calling him to help. He and his wife began taking the children into their home through the foster system, leading to adoption. One by one, they adopted the children of that family, and prayed constantly for their mother. Besides the stories of redemption for each of those children, as the years went by, one day, the daughter led her mother to Christ and that mother stepped into a service at the church where Scott is a pastor. She was baptized and now serves as a faithful member at the church that stepped in to care for her children in a time of desperation. The picture I saw was of her baptism, it took until her children were adults, but that entire broken family was reconciled through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24), and God has redeemed the time (Joel 2:25). Stories like this are happening in churches across our country, they’re happening at this church. The gospel message of Jesus Christ is alive and well. Let’s take up the mantle, and share this message, this is the only way we can transform our city, is by the power that is in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sin (Romans 1:16).

He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
–Romans 4:25

Jesus Himself put it this way: As Moses himself lifted the serpent in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up (John 3:14). That was a moment where God’s people were facing certain death, and the only way to live, was to look, and live (Numbers 21:8–9). All we have to do is proclaim this message: look at Jesus; put your faith in Jesus, and live. And just as He was raised, we are raised in the likeness of His resurrection (Romans 6:4–5).

Do you believe God can transform lives? What are you doing to share this message of hope with those God puts in your path?