ROMANS 4
OPENS WITH ABRAHAM AND DAVID DEMONSTRATE RIGHTEOUSNESS APART FROM WORKS
PAUL POINTS FIRST TO Abraham is declared righteous through faith IN THE LORD.
Verses 1-3 tells us Abraham was NOT justified by works, but declared righteous THROUGH faith in The Lord.
"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness."
What then shall we say...
In building on the thought begun in Romans 3:31 Paul asks the question, "Does the idea of justification through faith, apart from the works of the law, make what God did in the Old Testament irrelevant?"
What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found...
In answering that question, Paul looks at Abraham, and points to ABRAHAM, the most esteemed man among the Jewish people of his day - THEN AND NOW.
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about...
If ANYONE could be justified by works, they would have something to boast about. Nevertheless such boasting is nothing before God (but not before God).
This boasting is nothing before God because even if works could justify a man he would still, in some way, FALL SHORT of the glory of God, told to us in Romans 3:23.
This boasting IS NOTHING because before God, every pretense is stripped away and it is evident that NO ONE can really be justified by works.
For what does the Scripture say?
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION AND AN IMPORTANT TRUTH...MANY THEN AND NOW TODAY TEACH THAT ABRAHAM EARNED HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS THROUGH HIS WALK AND HIS WORKS BEFORE GOD.
BUT THAT IS NOT THE TRUTH..
The Old Testament does not say Abraham was declared righteous because of his works. Instead, Genesis 15:6 says that Abraham believed God and it WAS ACCOUNTED to him for righteousness.
Paul makes it CRYSTAL CLEAR: Abraham's righteousness did NOT come from his performance of good works, but from his belief in God. It was a righteousness obtained through faith.
Generally, the Jewish teachers of Paul's day believed that Abraham was justified by his works, by keeping the law. Ancient passages from the rabbis says: "We find that Abraham our father had performed the whole Law before it was given" and "Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord." The rabbis argued that Abraham kept the law perfectly, even before it was given, in that he kept it by intuition or anticipation.
BESIDES THE JEWS, THERE ARE MANY RELIGIOSITIES TODAY THAT FALSELY TEACH, FALSELY TWIST GOD'S WORD THE SAME....AND DECEIVE THEIR FLOCKS BY SAYING AND TEACHING AND PREACHING THAT SALVATION IS NOT COMPLETE. THAT JESUS BEGAN THE WORK OF SALVATION, BUT THAT HE DID NOT COMPLETE IT. THAT THEY MUST EARN THEIR SALVATION THAT CAN BE LOST OVER AND OVER AGAIN....ONLY BY WORKS AND FOLLOWING RELIGIOSITY RULES CAN SALVATION BE EARNED.
THEY POINT TO ABRAHAM AND SAY SEE...SINCE GOD DOES NOT CHANGE...WE DO HAVE TO EARN OUR WORKS...OUR SALVATION.
BUT THE Apostle Paul STANDS AND FIRMLY CORRECTS THIS FALSE IDEOLOGY. HE REMINDS WHAT GOD DOES SAY IN GENESIS. AND IT DOES NOT SAY that Abraham was made righteous in all of his doings, but God accounted Abraham as righteous. Our justification is not God making us perfectly righteous, but counting us as perfectly righteous. After we are counted righteous, then God begins making us truly righteous, culminating in our resurrection.
DID YOU KNOW "Counted" is logizomai. It was used in early secular documents; 'put down to one's account, let my revenues be placed on deposit at the storehouse; I now give orders generally with regard to all payments actually made or credited to the government.' Thus, God put to Abraham's account, placed on deposit for him, credited to him, righteousness … Abraham possessed righteousness in the same manner as a person would possess a sum of money placed in his account in a bank BY SOMEONE ELSE.
AND REMEMBER SOMETHING IMPORTANT HERE AS WELL Genesis 15:6 DOES NOT tell us how other men accounted Abraham. Instead, it tells us HOW GOD accounted him. Moses [in Genesis] does not, indeed, tell us what men thought of him [Abraham], but how he was accounted before the tribunal of God.
AND THIS IS AN IMPORTANT LESSON FOR US TODAY...DO NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT MAN SAYS OR BELIEVES OF YOU...ONLY WHAT JESUS CHRIST THINKS OF US MATTERS, AMEN!?
AND REMEMBER TOO....that THE LORD'S righteousness is also more than the absence of evil and guilt. It is a positive good, meaning that JESUS does not only declare us innocent, but righteous TOO.
Verses 4-5 tells us a CLEAR distinction made between GRACE AND WORKS.
"Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,"
Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace...
The idea of grace stands COMPLETELY OPPOSITE to the principle of works; GRACE has to do with receiving the FREELY GIVEN GIFT of God, WORKS has to do with earning our merit before God.
WUEST comments on "charis", the ancient Greek word translated grace: "Signified in classical authors a favor done out of the spontaneous generosity of the heart without any expectation or return. Of course, this favor was always done to one's friend, never to an enemy … But when charis comes into the New Testament, it takes an infinite leap forward, for the favor God did at Calvary was for those who hated Him."
Not counted as grace but as debt...
A system of works seeks to put God in debt to us, to have God owe us His favor because of our good behavior. In works-thinking, God owes us salvation or blessing because of our good works.
CONTRARY TO WHAT SOME SAY, BELIEVE AND TEACH...God isn't praising laziness here.
MURRAY says it well..."The antithesis is not simply between the worker and the non-worker but between the worker and person who does not work but believes."
But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness...
Righteousness can NEVER be accounted to the one who approaches God on the principle of works. Instead it is given to the one who believes on Him who justifies the ungodly.
Him who justifies the ungodly...
This is who God justifies - the ungodly. We might expect God would only justify a godly man but because of what Jesus did on the cross, God can justify the ungodly.
It isn't as if God is happy with our ungodly condition. We are not justified because of our ungodliness, but despite our ungodliness.
MORRIS says it well..."The paradoxical phrase, Him that justifieth the ungodly, does not suggest that justification is a fiction, whether legal or of any other sort, but that it is a miracle."
Just as Abraham believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness, so our faith is accounted for righteousness. This was NOT some special arrangement meant for Abraham alone. We can enter into this relationship with God also.
By this we understand that there are NOT TWO ways of salvation - saved by works or law-keeping in the Old Testament, and saved by grace through faith in the New Testament AS SOME FALSELY BELIEVE, TEACH, AND PREACH.
Everyone who has ever been saved - Old or New Testament - is saved by grace through faith, through their relationship of trusting love with God. Because of the New Covenant we have benefits of salvation that the Old Testament saint did not have, but we do NOT have a different manner of salvation.
Verses 6-8 Paul tells us David and the blessedness of justification through faith.
"Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
Just as David also describes...
King David of the Old Testament KNEW what it was like to be a guilty sinner; he KNEW the seriousness of sin and how good it is to be truly forgiven. He KNEW the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. If David were judged on works alone, the righteous God must condemn him. Nevertheless he knew by experience that blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.
LENSKI says it well..."No sinner, and try he ever so hard, can possibly carry his own sins away and come back cleansed of guilt. No amount of money, no science, no inventive skill, no armies of millions, nor any other earthly power can carry away from the sinner one little sin and its guilt. Once it is committed, every sin and its guilt cling to the sinner as close as does his own shadow, cling to all eternity unless God carries them away."
To whom God IMPUTES (THAT MEANS FREELY GIVES) righteousness apart from works … blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin...
David agrees with Abraham regarding the idea of an IMPUTED righteousness, a goodness that is GIVEN, NOT EARNED.
DID YOU KNOW...MANY PAST AND PRESENT DAY FALSE IDEOLOGIES DENY AND OMIT THE IMPUTATION OF CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS TO US. YET DO YOU NOTICE PAUL TELLS US 10 TIMES IN THIS CHAPTER ALONE...THAT RIGHTEOUS OF ALMIGHTY GOD IS FREELY GIVEN TO US THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. WE CAN NEVER EARN IT!
AND REMEMBER KING DAVID SAYS in Psalm 32:1-2, David speaks of the blessedness, not of the one who is justified through works, but of the one who is cleansed through imputation. This is centered on what God places upon us (the righteousness of Jesus), not on what we can do for God.
Verses 9-12 tells us Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised; therefore he was not counted righteous because he was circumcised.
"Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised."
Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? If we are counted righteous by God because of faith, not because of circumcision (or any other ritual), then the blessedness mentioned in Romans 4:7 can be given to the uncircumcised Gentiles by faith.
How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Abraham was counted as righteous in Genesis 15:6. He did not receive the covenant of circumcision until Genesis 17, which was at least 14 years later. Therefore his righteousness WAS NOT based on circumcision, but on faith.
The faith which he had while still uncircumcised...
In fact, Abraham, the father of all those who believe, was declared righteous while he was still uncircumcised! How can anyone then say, as some did in Paul's day AND DO TODAY, that Gentiles must be circumcised before God declares them righteous?
For the Jewish people of Paul's day, the significance of circumcision was more than social. It was the ENTRY POINT for a life lived under the Law of Moses: IN GALATIANS 5:3.."And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law."
That he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised … who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised...
The Jews of Paul's day wanted to USE circumcision to declare that they were the TRUE descendents of Abraham. Paul insists that to have Abraham as your father, you must walk in the steps of the faith that Abraham walked in.
AND DID YOU KNOW..."Our father Abraham" is an IMPORTANT phrase, one that the ancient Jews jealously guarded. They did not allow a circumcised Gentile convert to Judaism refer to Abraham as "our father" in the synagogue. A Gentile convert had to call Abraham "your father" and only natural born Jews could call Abraham "our father." Paul throws out that distinction, and says that through faith, all can say, "our father Abraham."
AND THINK ABOUT IT....It must have been a SHOCK for the Jewish readers of Romans to see that Paul calls Abraham the father of uncircumcised people! Faith, not circumcision, is the vital link to Abraham. It is far more important to have Abraham's faith (and the righteousness imputed to him because of it) than it is to have Abraham's circumcision.
Verses 13-15 tells us God's promise to Abraham was based on the principle of faith, NOT law or works.
"For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression."
For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law...
AND SOMETHING ELSE IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER....Since ALL God's dealings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob happened BEFORE the giving of the Mosaic Law, we CAN NOT say they were based on the law. Instead, they are based on God's declaration of Abraham's righteousness through faith.
NEWELL says, "Faith is the ground of God's blessing. Abraham was a blessed man, indeed, but he became heir of the world on another principle entirely - simple faith."
For the promise … through the righteousness of faith...
The law cannot bring us into the blessings of God's promises. This is not because the law is bad, but because we are unable to keep it.
Because the law brings about wrath...
Our inability to keep the law (our transgression) means that it becomes essentially a vehicle of God's wrath towards us, if we regard it as the principle by which we are justified and relate to God.
SOME HAVE ARGUED....How can Paul say, where there is no law there is no transgression? Because "Transgression is the right word for overstepping a line, and this for breaking a clearly defined commandment. Where there is NO line, there is NO actual transgression.
There is sin that is not the "crossing of the line" of the Law of Moses.
SIMPLY PUT, The root of sin isn't in breaking the law, but in breaking trust with God; with denying His loving, caring purpose in every command He gives. Before Adam sinned he broke trust with God - therefore God's plan of redemption is centered on a relationship of trusting love - faith - instead of law-keeping. When we center our relationship with God on law-keeping instead of trusting love, we go against His whole plan.
Verse 16 tells us Justification according to grace, through faith.
"Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all."
It is of faith that it might be according to grace...
Faith is related to grace in the same way works is related to law. Grace and law are the principles, and faith and works are the means by which we pursue those principles for our relationship with God.
IN OTHER WORDS, we are not saved by faith. We are saved by God's grace, and grace is appropriated by faith.
It is of faith...
Salvation is of faith, and nothing else. We can only receive salvation by the principle of grace through faith. Grace cannot be obtained through works, whether they be past, present, or promised because by definition grace is given without regard to anything in the one who receives it.
SPURGEON says, "Grace and faith are congruous, and will draw together in the same chariot, but grace and merit are contrary the one to the other and pull opposite ways, and therefore God has not chosen to yoke them together. He will not build with incongruous materials, or daub with untempered mortar. He will not make an image partly of gold and partly of clay, nor weave a linsey-woolsey garment: his work is all of a piece and all of grace."
So that the promise might be sure to all the seed...
The promise can only be sure if it is according to grace. If law was the basis of our salvation, then our salvation would depend on our performance in keeping the law - and no one can keep the law good enough to be saved by it. A law-promise of salvation can NEVER be sure.
But also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all...
If our relationship with God is according to grace (not circumcision or law-keeping), then that relationship is for those who are of the faith of Abraham, even if they are not of his lineage.
A Gentile could say, "I am not a Jew, I am not of the law; but I am of the faith of Abraham," and he would be just as saved as a Jewish believer in Jesus would be.
The father of us all...
The fulfillment of the promise in Genesis 17:4-5 is found not only in Abraham's descendants through Isaac, but especially in his role as being the father of us all who believe - and those believers come from EVERY nation under heaven.
Verses 17-18 tells us The life-giving power of the God Abraham believed in.
"As it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed; God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be."
So that he became the father of many nations...
Even as it took a supernatural life-giving work to make Abraham the physical father of many nations, it also took a supernatural life-giving work to make him the spiritual father of many nations.
God's life-giving power is demonstrated in the manner in which He can give life to the dead and call those things which do not exist (such as our righteousness) as though they did (by counting us righteous).
AND PAUL WANTS US TO REMEMBER SARAH....If God could call the dead womb of Sarah to life, he can call those who are dead in trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) to new life in Jesus.
This life-giving power was accomplished in Abraham as he, contrary to hope, in hope believed. The life-giving power was evident both naturally and spiritually.
Abraham's example also helps us to understand the nature of faith.
1. The conception of Abraham's son Isaac was a miracle, but it was not an immaculate conception.
2. Abraham's faith did not mean that he did nothing and just waited for God to create a child in Sarah's womb.
3. Abraham and Sarah had marital relations and trusted God for a miraculous result.
This shows us that faith does NOT mean doing nothing, but doing all with trust and reliance on God and His miraculous work.
AGAIN SPURGEON says it well, "All true believers, like Abraham, obey. Obedience is faith in action. You are to walk in the steps of the faith of father Abraham. His faith did not sit still, it took steps; and you must take these steps also by obeying God because you believe him. That faith which has no works with it is a dead faith, and will justify no one."
Verses 19-22 tells us THE CHARACTER of Abraham's faith.
"And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."
Not being weak in faith...
Abraham's faith was strong but it was also strengthened. He was strengthened in faith.
The idea seems to be that Abraham was strengthened in his faith; but Paul could also mean that Abraham was strengthened by his faith - certainly both were true.
Spurgeon knew that ministers and preachers especially needed to be strengthened in faith. He sometimes shared his own struggles in this area from the pulpit, but wanted to make it clear that his struggles in faith should never be indulged: "Whenever, dear hearers, you catch any of us who are teachers doubting and fearing, do not pity us, but scold us. We have no right to be in Doubting Castle. Pray do not visit us there. Follow us as far as we follow Christ, but if we get into the horrible Slough of Despond, come and pull us out by the hair of our heads if necessary, but do not fall into it yourselves."
SPURGEON ADDS, "I do not think we shall have many conversions unless we expect God to bless the word, and feel certain that he will do so. We must not wonder and be astonished if we hear of a dozen or two conversions, but let the astonishment be that thousands are not converted when they hear such divine truth, and when we ask the Holy Spirit to attend it with divine energy. God will bless us in proportion to our faith. It is the rule of his kingdom - 'According to your faith so be it unto you.' O God, give thy ministers more faith! Let us believe thee firmly!"
PAUL AND SPURGEON SPEAK AGAINST THE RELIGIOSITIES OF THEN AND TODAY...WHICH LEADERS AND TEACHERS AND EVANGELISTS ARGUES BY SAYING WHATEVER THEY SAY AND PREACH AND TEACH AND BELIEVE, WHETHER IT IS BIBLICAL OR NOT, IF THEY SPEAK IT, BELIEVE IT, AND TEACH IT, IT IS WRONG TO CALL THEM OUT, IT IS WRONG TO CORRECT THEM...WE SHOULD BE UNITED, AND ACCEPT WHAT ALL RELIGIOSITIES AND THEIR NEW AGE REVELATIONS AND REVISIONS PREACH, TEACH, AND SAY....
PAUL AND SPURGEON SAY JUST THE OPPOSITE...
IF WE DO ((NOT)) PREACH THE PURE WORD FOR WORD TRUTH OF JESUS WORD...DO NOT QUIETLY ACCEPT IT, OR BELIEVE IT....KNOW GOD'S WORD...SEEK THE TRUTH OF IT FOR YOURSELF...AND IF ANY DEVIATES BY ONE JOT OR TITTLE FROM GOD'S WORD...SPEAK THE TRUTH TO THEM IN LOVE, AND SEEK TO PULL THEM BACK FROM THE SLIPPERY SLOPE INTO HELL..JUST DO NOT FALL IN WITH THEM.
He DID NOT consider his own body, already dead...
Abraham, in faith, did not look to circumstances (his own body and the deadness of Sarah's womb) but he looked at the promise of God.
In Romans 4:19, there is textual uncertainly as to if we should read he considered his body as good as dead or if we should read he did not consider his own body. Either is possible, though the second seems a better choice.
He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief...
His faith did not waver; and it gave glory to God. Though it was a huge challenge, Abraham remained steadfast in faith.
Being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform...
Abraham's faith came because he had been fully convinced of God's ability to perform what He has promised.
Is your God too small? The God of Abraham was able to perform what He had promised, and Abraham was fully convinced of this.
Some people don't come to Jesus - or go further with Him - because they are NOT fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Sadly, many think, "It is fine for them but it won't work for me."
This thinking is a devilish attack on faith, and must be rejected.
This kind of faith sees the work of God done. It sees the work of God done in the immediate (Isaac was born in fulfillment of the promise) and in the eternal (it was accounted to him for righteousness).
Verses 23-25 tells us Abraham's justification and our own.
"Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification."
It was not written for his sake alone...
It wasn't only for Abraham's benefit that God declared him righteous through faith; he is an example that we are invited to follow - it is also for us.
Paul's CONFIDENCE is glorious...
It shall be imputed to us who believe; this wasn't just for Abraham, but for us also.
Who believe in Him who raised up Jesus...
When we talk about faith and saving faith in Jesus, it is important to emphasize that we mean believing that His work on the cross (delivered up because of our offenses) and triumph over sin and death (raised because of our justification) is what saves us.
There are many FALSE-FAITHS that can never save, and ONLY faith in what Jesus accomplished on the cross and through empty tomb CAN save us.
1. Faith in the historical events of the life of Jesus will NOT save.
2. Faith in the beauty of Jesus' life will NOT save.
3. Faith in the accuracy or goodness of Jesus' teaching will NOT save.
4. Faith in the deity of Jesus, and in His Lordship will NOT save.
Jesus died BECAUSE OF OUR OFFENSES, but was raised up because of our justification.
The resurrection has an essential place in our redemption.
WHY?
Because it demonstrates God the Father's PERFECT SATISFACTION with the Son's work on the cross, proving that it was in fact a perfect sacrifice made by One who remained perfect, even though bearing the sin of the world.
Delivered up because of our offenses...
The ancient Greek word translated delivered (paradidomi) was used of casting people into prison or delivering them to justice. "Here it speaks of the judicial act of God the Father delivering God the Son to the justice that required the payment of the penalty for human sin."
In this chapter, Paul has clearly demonstrated that in NO WAY does the Old Testament contradict the gospel of salvation by grace through faith in the New Testament. Instead it is in FULFILLMENT of the Old Testament, and Abraham, justified through faith, is our pattern.
THIS CHAPTER OF ROMANS PAUL SPEAKS TO ALL THOSE WHO SAID/SAY, THE OLD TESTAMENT IS IRRELEVANT...IT HAS NO PURPOSE IN OUR CHRISTIAN WALK TODAY. IT IS JUST AN ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORY OF THE OLD WORLD. THEY SAY/SAID IT DOES NOT SPEAK TO US TODAY...AND SHOULD NOT BE STUDIED.
PAUL PUTS TO REST THOSE ARGUMENTS, IF NOT OUT RIGHT LIES.
PAUL PUTS TO REST ((ALL)) THE RELIGIOSITIES THAT DECLARE WE ARE NOT SAVED BY FAITH BUT BY WORKS EARNED THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO THEIR RITUALS, RULES AND POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE.
PAUL PUTS TO REST ALL THE RELIGIOSITIES THAT DECLARE THAT JESUS BLOOD AND SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS ONLY BEGAN THE WORK OF SALVATION BUT DID NOT COMPLETE THE WORK OF OUR SALVATION ON THE CROSS.
PAUL SHOWS US IN GENESIS AND UP TO HIS PRESENT SAY, THAT FAITH IS FREELY GIVEN BY GOD, THAT GRACE IS UNMERITED FAITH IN ALMIGHTY GOD THEN AND NOW.
WITHOUT GOD'S FREE GRACE, AND WITHOUT COMPLETE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST NO ONE IS NOR CAN THEY BE SAVED