Romans Chapter 4
To the Jews the good news of the gospel sounded like something entirely new. It appeared to be contrary to the Old Testament Law. This is why Paul asked, “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law” (Romans 3:31).
This objection to Paul’s preaching of the gospel of justification by faith is thoroughly set aside by the example of Abraham, who was regarded as the father of the Jews. If Abraham was justified by faith, then surely Paul’s teaching is neither new nor unfaithful to the faith of Israel in the Old Testament age. As we shall soon see, it was not Paul who had departed from the ‘faith of our fathers’ but the Jews.
Abraham Was Justified by Faith, Not Works (4:1-8)
The Scriptures make it clear that Abraham could not boast before God because he was justified by faith, not works: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).
If justification were on the basis of our works we would face several problems. First, man would have a basis for boasting. Surely this is wrong for we are created and saved in order to praise and bring glory to God, not to boast concerning ourselves. Second, we would then operate under a system of obligation, rather than under grace. Under grace God is free to give us what we do not, in and of ourselves, deserve, while under obligation, God must give us exactly what we deserve—and, who wants that? Third, it is contrary to both Old and New Testament Scripture, for in Genesis 15:6 we are told, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
A Gracious Method of Cost Accounting
Vs 8 is a quote from Psalms 32 and says that "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them."
The sins of the man who trusts in God are not reckoned to him, but are forgiven and forgotten by God. Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us—that is, it is put to our account—so our own deeds are not held against us.
The word “reckon” is an accounting term and it refers to the actual accounting of something either to our credit or our loss. When we are justified by faith, our sins are not reckoned against us, as they should be, but the righteousness of Christ is graciously put to our credit.
Abraham Was Justified While Still a Gentile (4:9-12)
That Abraham and David (and therefore all Old Testament saints) were justified by faith apart from works was a bitter pill to swallow for the Jews. At least the Jews could console themselves in the fact that Abraham was a Jew, and not a Gentile. If Abraham was saved as a Jew, then could the Jews not insist that every man must be saved as a Jew (cf. Acts 15:1f.)? Paul strikes this hope down by showing that Abraham was declared righteous while yet a Gentile.
The point which Paul is driving at is the universality of justification by faith and that it is not for the Jews only, but for Gentiles.
Was Abraham saved as a Jew or as a Gentile? Was Abraham declared righteous as one who was circumcised or as uncircumcised? Abraham, in Genesis 15:6, was declared righteous on the basis of faith fourteen years before he was circumcised (compare Genesis 15:6 with 17:24). Technically, then, Abraham was saved as a Gentile, and not as a Jew, for he did not enter Judaism by circumcision, nor did he have the Law to keep. What a blow to the Jew who maintained that one could not be saved without becoming a Jew by circumcision and keeping the Law (Acts 15:1)!
What, then, is the value of circumcision? If entrance into Judaism through circumcision does not in any way contribute to one’s justification, what good is it? Circumcision is not the source of one’s salvation, but the sign of it. It is a symbolic testimony to what has happened inwardly in the man who has been justified by faith.
The outcome of all of this is that Abraham is the ‘father’ of all who are justified by faith. He is the father of those who are justified by faith and have not been initiated into Judaism and of all believers who are also Jews. Being a Jew or a Gentile has no bearing on one’s justification, nor does the keeping of the Old Testament Laws and rituals. The only determining factor is one’s faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
God’s Promises Are Realized by Faith, Not by Law-Keeping (4:13-17)
Paul makes it plain that just as justification is attained by faith, so are the promises of God realized by faith. There would be no need for faith if men became heirs through the Law, and the promise would be null and void, for the only thing the Law can produce is wrath and condemnation (Romans 4:14, 15). So that God can work in accord with the principle of grace, and so that men may have confidence of experiencing the promises of God, it is based upon faith and not on Law (4:16). Since the blessings of God are based upon faith and not on Law-keeping, they are assured to those who are of the Law (Jews) and those who are not (Gentiles), through faith in Jesus Christ. Once again, Abraham is the father of us all, that is of us all who believe by faith in Jesus Christ.
Abraham’s Faith Is Like That Required by the Gospel (4:17-25)
Jules Henri Poincare, who in extolling the memory of his distinguished friend, uttered these terrible words: “It matters little what God one believes in; it is the faith and not the God that makes miracles.”
With this Paul does not agree, for he makes it plain that it is the object of our faith that makes all the difference between heaven and hell.
Abraham believed in a God Who could raise the dead. This is evident in his faith in the promise to have a son of his own loins and Sarah, for they were both as good as dead so far as producing children was concerned.
Abraham’s faith was in a God Who could create something out of nothing. So far as his chances of having a child, they were nil. He and Sarah were as good as dead. Yet Abraham trusted God to create something out of nothing, a son from an old man and a barren woman.
Abraham’s faith was one that did not dwell on the obstacles to faith but on the object of faith. In spite of tremendous human obstacles (contemplating his own body), trusted in God to do as He promised. His faith overlooked the obstacles and focused upon the object of faith, God. Because of this kind of faith, Abraham was justified before God.
It is the same kind of faith which God requires of men today. We must acknowledge ourselves to be just as helpless to enter God’s heaven by our own righteousness as Abraham was to become the father of a great nation. We must trust God to provide righteousness apart and in spite of us as Abraham trusted God to fulfill the promise of a son. So, also, we must trust in a God who has power over death and the grave. Abraham trusted in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v. 17). So we must trust in Jesus Christ Who was raised from the dead.
Now not for his sake only was it written that “It was reckoned to him,” but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:23-25).
So the kind of faith required of Abraham is precisely the same kind of faith required of men today. The Law is in no way set aside, rather, it is reaffirmed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s way of salvation has never been by works, and has always been by grace through faith.
This objection to Paul’s preaching of the gospel of justification by faith is thoroughly set aside by the example of Abraham, who was regarded as the father of the Jews. If Abraham was justified by faith, then surely Paul’s teaching is neither new nor unfaithful to the faith of Israel in the Old Testament age. As we shall soon see, it was not Paul who had departed from the ‘faith of our fathers’ but the Jews.
Abraham Was Justified by Faith, Not Works (4:1-8)
The Scriptures make it clear that Abraham could not boast before God because he was justified by faith, not works: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).
If justification were on the basis of our works we would face several problems. First, man would have a basis for boasting. Surely this is wrong for we are created and saved in order to praise and bring glory to God, not to boast concerning ourselves. Second, we would then operate under a system of obligation, rather than under grace. Under grace God is free to give us what we do not, in and of ourselves, deserve, while under obligation, God must give us exactly what we deserve—and, who wants that? Third, it is contrary to both Old and New Testament Scripture, for in Genesis 15:6 we are told, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”
A Gracious Method of Cost Accounting
Vs 8 is a quote from Psalms 32 and says that "Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them."
The sins of the man who trusts in God are not reckoned to him, but are forgiven and forgotten by God. Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us—that is, it is put to our account—so our own deeds are not held against us.
The word “reckon” is an accounting term and it refers to the actual accounting of something either to our credit or our loss. When we are justified by faith, our sins are not reckoned against us, as they should be, but the righteousness of Christ is graciously put to our credit.
Abraham Was Justified While Still a Gentile (4:9-12)
That Abraham and David (and therefore all Old Testament saints) were justified by faith apart from works was a bitter pill to swallow for the Jews. At least the Jews could console themselves in the fact that Abraham was a Jew, and not a Gentile. If Abraham was saved as a Jew, then could the Jews not insist that every man must be saved as a Jew (cf. Acts 15:1f.)? Paul strikes this hope down by showing that Abraham was declared righteous while yet a Gentile.
The point which Paul is driving at is the universality of justification by faith and that it is not for the Jews only, but for Gentiles.
Was Abraham saved as a Jew or as a Gentile? Was Abraham declared righteous as one who was circumcised or as uncircumcised? Abraham, in Genesis 15:6, was declared righteous on the basis of faith fourteen years before he was circumcised (compare Genesis 15:6 with 17:24). Technically, then, Abraham was saved as a Gentile, and not as a Jew, for he did not enter Judaism by circumcision, nor did he have the Law to keep. What a blow to the Jew who maintained that one could not be saved without becoming a Jew by circumcision and keeping the Law (Acts 15:1)!
What, then, is the value of circumcision? If entrance into Judaism through circumcision does not in any way contribute to one’s justification, what good is it? Circumcision is not the source of one’s salvation, but the sign of it. It is a symbolic testimony to what has happened inwardly in the man who has been justified by faith.
The outcome of all of this is that Abraham is the ‘father’ of all who are justified by faith. He is the father of those who are justified by faith and have not been initiated into Judaism and of all believers who are also Jews. Being a Jew or a Gentile has no bearing on one’s justification, nor does the keeping of the Old Testament Laws and rituals. The only determining factor is one’s faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
God’s Promises Are Realized by Faith, Not by Law-Keeping (4:13-17)
Paul makes it plain that just as justification is attained by faith, so are the promises of God realized by faith. There would be no need for faith if men became heirs through the Law, and the promise would be null and void, for the only thing the Law can produce is wrath and condemnation (Romans 4:14, 15). So that God can work in accord with the principle of grace, and so that men may have confidence of experiencing the promises of God, it is based upon faith and not on Law (4:16). Since the blessings of God are based upon faith and not on Law-keeping, they are assured to those who are of the Law (Jews) and those who are not (Gentiles), through faith in Jesus Christ. Once again, Abraham is the father of us all, that is of us all who believe by faith in Jesus Christ.
Abraham’s Faith Is Like That Required by the Gospel (4:17-25)
Jules Henri Poincare, who in extolling the memory of his distinguished friend, uttered these terrible words: “It matters little what God one believes in; it is the faith and not the God that makes miracles.”
With this Paul does not agree, for he makes it plain that it is the object of our faith that makes all the difference between heaven and hell.
Abraham believed in a God Who could raise the dead. This is evident in his faith in the promise to have a son of his own loins and Sarah, for they were both as good as dead so far as producing children was concerned.
Abraham’s faith was in a God Who could create something out of nothing. So far as his chances of having a child, they were nil. He and Sarah were as good as dead. Yet Abraham trusted God to create something out of nothing, a son from an old man and a barren woman.
Abraham’s faith was one that did not dwell on the obstacles to faith but on the object of faith. In spite of tremendous human obstacles (contemplating his own body), trusted in God to do as He promised. His faith overlooked the obstacles and focused upon the object of faith, God. Because of this kind of faith, Abraham was justified before God.
It is the same kind of faith which God requires of men today. We must acknowledge ourselves to be just as helpless to enter God’s heaven by our own righteousness as Abraham was to become the father of a great nation. We must trust God to provide righteousness apart and in spite of us as Abraham trusted God to fulfill the promise of a son. So, also, we must trust in a God who has power over death and the grave. Abraham trusted in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v. 17). So we must trust in Jesus Christ Who was raised from the dead.
Now not for his sake only was it written that “It was reckoned to him,” but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:23-25).
So the kind of faith required of Abraham is precisely the same kind of faith required of men today. The Law is in no way set aside, rather, it is reaffirmed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s way of salvation has never been by works, and has always been by grace through faith.