Good Works Won’t Work - Romans 4:1-25 | Lilac City Church
February 3, 2026
What part do our works play in salvation? It’s the question Jewish believers in Rome were asking. It’s the question you’re asking. And it’s exactly why Paul wrote Romans 4.
Using Abraham as the ultimate case study, Paul shows why good works won’t work to produce justification or hope.
Good Works Won’t Produce Justification (Romans 4:1-12) — If anyone could earn righteousness, it would be Abraham. But Paul quotes Genesis 15:6: ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Not earned—credited. Like an Amazon gift card: someone else paid, you receive. God justifies the ungodly—people who don’t deserve it, who can’t earn it, who come with empty hands saying, ‘Jesus, I need you.’ Even circumcision came 14 years after justification—it was a sign of righteousness already received, not the source.
Good Works Won’t Produce Hope (Romans 4:13-25) — The promise comes by faith, not law-keeping. Why? Because the law brings wrath, not success. If your hope depends on perfect obedience, you’re doomed. But the promise comes by faith so it may be by grace and guaranteed. Abraham was 100, Sarah was 90—both bodies ‘as good as dead.’ No natural way forward. But Abraham believed in the God ‘who gives life to the dead.’ Faith = ‘I trust you, and I need you.’ The same resurrection power that brought life from a dead womb raised Jesus from a dead tomb.
The bill has been paid. Stop trying to earn what’s already been credited to your account. Your righteousness is based on what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Romans 8:1: ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ Good works won’t work. But faith in Jesus will.
Using Abraham as the ultimate case study, Paul shows why good works won’t work to produce justification or hope.
Good Works Won’t Produce Justification (Romans 4:1-12) — If anyone could earn righteousness, it would be Abraham. But Paul quotes Genesis 15:6: ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Not earned—credited. Like an Amazon gift card: someone else paid, you receive. God justifies the ungodly—people who don’t deserve it, who can’t earn it, who come with empty hands saying, ‘Jesus, I need you.’ Even circumcision came 14 years after justification—it was a sign of righteousness already received, not the source.
The bill has been paid. Stop trying to earn what’s already been credited to your account. Your righteousness is based on what Jesus did 2,000 years ago. Romans 8:1: ‘There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.’ Good works won’t work. But faith in Jesus will.