May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring--not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 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 things that are not as though they were (Romans 4:16-17)

In Christ's name and to his glory, dear friends: You can see on the card that today we hear of Life by faith. Last week we heard of our victorious Savior, Champion over Satan, defeating Satan in the wilderness. We heard that through the obedience of the God-Man Jesus we are made righteous and holy before God. Today we see how what Christ has done and won for the world becomes our personally through faith. Let's look at what God tells us today about faith and then we will look at the life that he gives us through faith. LIFE BY FAITH.

Faith is an important word on the pages of God's book. Faith and its synonyms-believe, trust, repent-occur over 500 times from Genesis to Revelation. Faith is such a common concept, yet it is often misunderstood. Many speak of "faith" without any mention about in what/whom ones faith depends. But faith is like a container, like a cup. What's in the cup is most important. Every cup holds something, but we must make sure of what is in the cup. A cup could carry poison to my lips or it can carry pure water to my lips. Faith is trust, and everyone trusts in something. One might have faith in his own ability, but that's not the faith that gives life. The faith God speaks of in Scripture is the faith that trusts what God says. Today we hear that Abraham "believed God"-he trusted in the words and promises of God. That's the faith that gives life-trust in what God has promised us, to do for us, in Scripture.

God helps us appreciate another aspect of faith when in this Romans reading we hear: Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace (4:16). Even we have trouble grasping what faith is, we do know for sure what grace is. Grace is undeserved love. Grace is God doing for us. Grace is God giving and we being the ones to whom he gives. Now the Apostle says, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace. Do you grasp that? Faith equals grace. Faith and grace are the same. When we hear we are saved by grace-all God's doing, it means the same as we are saved by faith-all God's doing.

Our early Lutheran pastors trying to teach the hearts and minds of people about faith, what faith is, what this grace-faith from God does for us, compared faith to a hand. Our hands come from God; they're a gift. So is faith. It is by grace you are saved through faith-and this not from yourselves-it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Hands grasp things. I pick up a cup. So does faith. Faith is grasping something. Saving faith is to grasp Christ. And just as God gave me a hand to grasp the cup, so God gave me faith to grasp Christ. And just as I do not praise my hand when it grasps but praise my God who gave me a hand, so I do not praise faith (as wonderful as it is), but praise my God who gives faith. Hands can be neglected. We might let them get dry, cracked, unprotected in the cold; and then they become weakened and don't work right. We might neglect the faith God gives us and it too may become weakened. So God urges us-stay near the Word. Remember your Baptism. Take my body and blood in the Sacrament. Faith comes from hearing the message (Romans 10:17). Our hands perform their tasks even without our thinking. Every time I pick up the cup I don't have to mentally say, Now hand, grab that, bring it up to my lips, tip it, etc. So faith works even when we aren't thinking of it. Since God has given us faith we cry out to him in need, hope in him in every aspect of life, praise him for all he does for us.

The more one considers faith, this simple but wonderful and complex gift from God, the more one realizes that even in the spiritual part of our lives, we just fail to appreciate what God has done and is doing for us. Even our mediation, praise and worship falls short and is tainted with sin. As Isaiah wrote: All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away (64:6). How blessed we are to live by faith-to cling to Christ when our sins mount up in front of us.

So that is faith, now let us also consider briefly the life that is ours by faith.

In verse 17 of the Romans reading we hear that when God gives us faith it's the miracle of a resurrection of sorts. God...gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Death is separation, and our sin has separated us from our God. All people are dead in sin, separated from God as long as sin of any kind or of any degree clings to them. But Christ has sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. When God gives us faith, the hand that grasps, then we have personally what Jesus won for the world. Our sin is gone. God has brought us from the land of the dead to the land of the living. We have life. Jesus said: I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24).

This is the life that is ours by faith. We have forgiveness and therefore are one with God, members of his family, rather than separated from him. This life is enjoyed now. For now our existence is not one of doubt and worry, but full of hope and joy. We have hope even in trouble for our God has said: When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze (Isaiah 43:2). God will bless us even in difficulties so we have hope and courage always. We know what lies ahead of us. In my father's house are many mansions...I am preparing a place for you...I will come take you there (John 14). And so our lives are not fraught with the fear of death. The Apostle described this life saying, dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Corinthians 6:9-10).

So is your life, for you live by faith.       Amen.