Romans 04

Justification by faith - getting right with God, being acquitted in his court, being forgiven for our sins, being declared righteous and having the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and our sins imputed to him, (not becoming righteous, but being counted as righteous while we are still sinners), and all this by faith alone - that is what the first eight chapters of Romans are mostly about. For the apostle Paul, it was the heart of the gospel message. The book of Romans is the fullest, most systematic, most extensive effort of the apostle Paul to put his message in writing. And it is all structured around the great truth of justification by faith.

Abraham - an example of salvation by grace apart from works for Gentiles from the Old Testament.
David - an example of the joy of having sin forgiven.

The main object of this chapter is to show that the doctrine of justification by faith was found in the Old Testament and applied to both the Jew and to the Gentile.

Abram was the first Hebrew. He “crossed the river” and came into a land promised by God. He was different from the local people, so they referred to him as “Hebrew” meaning “from across the river.” God promised Abram that he would become the father of many people, that kings and other nations would come from him. His name was changed to “Abraham,” meaning the “father of many nations.”

Abraham believed the promises of God (the land, the blessings, children and heirs). This is the definition of faith – believing the promises of God. Righteousness is defined as “doing the right thing.” What is the right thing? Answer: believing what God has said.

While not obvious in the New Living Version, but very obvious in the KJV, the key word in Romans chapter four is "reckoned" (apologizes) (verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 22, 23, 24). It means to charge to one's account, to credit something to someone's financial account. Abraham believed God would do what He said He would do. God transferred righteousness to Abraham's account. Works earns a wage; believing receives a gift.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all the promises that Abraham would have a heavenly seed as well as earthly seed. Abraham believed God's promise about the seed and was justified.

An example of salvation by faith not works from the Gospels: Take the thief on the cross. He had no time to get down and reform his life or even get water-baptized. He was a dying sinner, and some plan of salvation was needed which would be as quick as lightning in its operation - and it was!.

Paul’s greatest conflict was continually with legalists; they were his chief opponents. The Jews represent legalism. And many Gentile Christians today take up the defense of the law, seeking to lead Christians back under the Law of Moses. They say it is necessary to keep the Ten Commandments in order to be saved or add requirements to faith - DO instead of BELIEVE. This is just a denial of the sufficiency of the finished work of Christ.

Grace is NOT by:

• works (Verse 4)
• circumcision (Verse 10)
• the law (Verse 13)

We left off last time at Romans 3:28-30: So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. After all, God is not the God of the Jews only, is he? Isn't he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and there is only one way of being accepted by him. He makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

(1) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What were his experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith?

• The connection of this verse with the preceding train of reasoning is obvious. Paul had taught that we are justified by faith; as well in confirmation of this doctrine, as to anticipate an objection from the Jew, he refers to the case of Abraham: ‘How was it then with Abraham? How did he obtain justification?’ Paul proposes to decide the question by reference to a case about which no one could doubt. All admitted that Abraham was justified. The only question was, How?
• Chapter 3 opened with the question suggested by the argument of chapter 2: Then what's the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision? Chapter 4 re-opens the question, this time focusing attention on Abraham.
• Matthew 3:8-9: Prove by the way you live that you have really turned from your sins and turned to God. Don't just say, 'We're safe -- we're the descendants of Abraham.' That proves nothing. God can change these stones here into children of Abraham.
• John 8:39-44: "Our father is Abraham," they declared. "No," Jesus replied, "for if you were children of Abraham, you would follow his good example. I told you the truth I heard from God, but you are trying to kill me. Abraham wouldn't do a thing like that. No, you are obeying your real father when you act that way." They replied, "We were not born out of wedlock! Our true Father is God himself." Jesus told them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, because I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me. Why can't you understand what I am saying? It is because you are unable to do so! For you are the children of your father the Devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth. There is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies
• Romans 9:6-8: Well then, has God failed to fulfill his promise to the Jews? No, for not everyone born into a Jewish family is truly a Jew! Just the fact that they are descendants of Abraham doesn't make them truly Abraham's children. For the Scriptures say, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted," though Abraham had other children, too. This means that Abraham's physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. It is the children of the promise who are considered to be Abraham's children.

(2) Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted him? If so, he would have had something to *boast about. But from God's point of view Abraham had no basis at all for pride.

• Jews supposed Abraham was justified by works or the works of the flesh.
• *boast: He picks up the issue of boasting that he dealt with in Romans 3:27-28: Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

(3) For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous."

• Paul is referring us back to Genesis chapter fifteen. God appeared to Abraham one clear night and showed him the sky full stars. The sky was full of glory with stars blazing from horizon to horizon. God said, "If you can number the stars, you can number your descendants. They will number far more than all the stars of heaven." The Apostle Paul said, "Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness". Abraham believed God.
• Genesis 15:1-6: Afterward the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, "Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great." But Abram replied, "O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don't even have a son? Since I don't have a son, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. You have given me no children, so one of my servants will have to be my heir." Then the LORD said to him, "No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own to inherit everything I am giving you." Then the LORD brought Abram outside beneath the night sky and told him, "Look up into the heavens and count the stars if you can. Your descendants will be like that -- too many to count!" And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD declared him righteous because of his faith.
• Genesis 17:1-7: When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to make you into a mighty nation." At this, Abram fell face down in the dust. Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations! What's more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram; now you will be known as Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them! "I will continue this everlasting covenant between us, generation after generation. It will continue between me and your offspring forever. And I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
• Abraham received the gift of righteousness 430 years before the Law was given to Moses.
• If it was Abraham's works that brought him justification, then Abraham could boast in his works. He could say, "I left my home, I left my family on the other side of the Euphrates River, and I journeyed not even knowing where I was going, just waiting for God to show me. And I was willing to offer my son." He could have boasted if he was justified by his works, but he could not have boasted in God; he would have had to have boasted in himself. Why? He just believed in God, that is what God accounted for righteousness.

(4) When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive.

(5) But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.

• King James Version: But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is* counted for righteousness.
  • *counted for or reckoned = the Greek word logizomai, which itself is related to our English word “logic.” Logizomai is essentially a bookkeeping term. It means “to credit to one’s account.” It’s what happens when you deposit money in the bank. If you bring a $1000 check, the teller credits your account with one thousand dollars. In the same way, if you write a check for $250, the teller debits your account by that amount. In this context, the word means to “credit one’s account and to treat accordingly.” So, you have a ledger sheet in heaven. You have all assets and no debts - because of what Christ did and your faith in Him. The debit side of the ledger (sins) has been wiped clean! Unfortunately, many "christians" imagine instead a ledger book of their good works on one side and their sins on the other side and hope that the works outweigh the sins! We’re always more sinful than we are good.
• Verse 5 is perhaps the most important verse on justification by faith alone in all the New Testament because it brings us to the very heart of the gospel.
• The great English preacher, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, said : “If some of you plume yourselves with the notion that you are righteous, I pray God to pluck those fine feathers off you and make you see yourselves, for if you never see your own nothingness, you will never understand Christ’s all-sufficiency. Unless you are pulled down, Christ will never lift you up.”
• If God doesn’t want our “works,” what does he want from us? He wants us to trust him. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. In the New Testament, faith, trust, and belief all come from the same general root word meaning “to lean wholly upon,” as when you lie down on a bed, resting your whole weight upon it. We are to trust God so completely that we take him at his Word regarding our salvation.
• Faith is not a work that “merits” salvation. Faith cannot save us unless our faith is based upon the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins.
• God isn’t impressed by your outward performance. Why? Because God doesn’t look on the outside; he looks on the heart. When he looks inside your heart, he sees why you do what you do. He sees the greed, the anger, the manipulation, the fear, the ruthlessness, the unkindness, the power plays, the shady deals. He also hears the secret thoughts you think when you know no one else can hear you. He listens while you mumble under your breath. He knows how you lust for power and fame and glory. Nothing is hidden from him. You can’t fool God by your performance. He judges your motives, not just your actions.
  
• How strong must their faith be?
  • Mark 9:24: The father instantly replied, "I do believe, but help me not to doubt!"
  • Matthew 17:20: "You didn't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
  • Matthew 15:27-28: "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even dogs are permitted to eat crumbs that fall beneath their master's table." "Woman," Jesus said to her, "your faith is great. Your request is granted." And her daughter was instantly healed.
  • Matthew 8:13: Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go on home. What you have believed has happened." And the young servant was healed that same hour.

(6) King David spoke of this, describing the happiness of an undeserving sinner who is declared to be righteous:

• Abraham and David and all the Old Testament saints were justified before God because they put their faith in the promised Messiah of Israel and Saviour of the world. The Lord Himself said to the unbelieving Jews, “Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced as he looked forward to my coming. He saw it and was glad."" (John 8:56).
• Psalm 51:4: Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.

(7) "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.

(8) Yes, what joy for those whose sin is no longer counted against them by the Lord."

• In the Old Testament, the sin was covered by the blood of the lamb. After Jesus, the sin was completely done away with by the blood of the perfect Lamb (Jesus Christ).
• David in connection with Bathsheba, had coveted, committed adultery, and murdered, breaking 3 of the 10 commandments. His seduction of Bathsheba and his camouflaged murder of Uriah exposed David to the death penalty on two counts, and according to the strict letter of the Mosaic law, there was no hope for him. David cried in another of the penitential psalms, born in this same period: Psalm 51:16-17 “You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it. The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise.”. Out of this experience, however, David learned two vital truths concerning salvation, truths which he wrote in Psalm 32 and which Paul picks up here to further his argument: Psalm 32:1-2: A psalm of David. Oh, what joy for those whose rebellion is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!

(9) Now then, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too? Well, what about Abraham? We have been saying he was declared righteous by God because of his faith.

(10) But how did his faith help him? Was he declared righteous only after he had been circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? The answer is that God accepted him first, and then he was circumcised later!

• Abraham was circumcised 14 years after he believed the promise! The Jewish people thought that circumcision was what made a man acceptable to God. We have many today who think that baptism is what makes a man acceptable. Neither circumcision nor baptism does. Abraham was a Gentile when he believed the promise of God! The sign of the covenant came years later.
• Barclay says, “To a Jew a man who was not circumcised was, quite literally, not a Jew, no matter what his parentage was.” He goes on to quote an ancient Jewish prayer, “Blessed is he who sanctified his beloved from the womb, and put his ordinance upon his flesh, and sealed his offspring by the sign of the holy covenant.” If a Gentile wanted to convert to Judaism, he had to do three things: 1. Be baptized 2. Offer a sacrifice 3. Be circumcised. The point to grasp is that to the Jews circumcision was far more than a ceremony; it was the point of entrance into a living and true relationship with God.
• All Paul is saying is that Abraham's faith before he was circumcised was counted as righteousness to him. Also, in I John 5:1 "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too." Also, in I John 5:12 " So whoever has God's Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life." We find in both these Scriptures that it is not whether you are Jew or Gentile, but where you have put your faith (in the Son of God)
• Ephesians 2:8-11:  God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.

(11) The circumcision ceremony was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous -- even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are made right with God by faith.

• Abraham was circumcised at age 99 (Genesis 17:11)
• Philippians 3:3-9: For we who worship God in the Spirit are the only ones who are truly circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us. Yet I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! For I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So I am a real Jew if there ever was one! What's more, I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. And zealous? Yes, in fact, I harshly persecuted the church. And I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault. I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God's law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
• Colossians 2:9-17: For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. It was a spiritual procedure -- the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to a new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. So don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself.

(12) And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

• There is something else to be seen here; circumcision, like any other religious rite, is significant only in terms of the reality which it symbolizes, and yet carnality is so strong in man that he is inclined to think of rites or sacraments as meritorious; keep the sacraments and earn merit. It is a device by which an entrenched hierarchy may protect its vested interest, but there is nothing biblical, Christian or Jewish, about it.

(13) It is clear, then, that God's promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God's law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith.

• Galatians 3:18: For if the inheritance could be received only by keeping the law, then it would not be the result of accepting God's promise. But God gave it to Abraham as a promise.
• Abraham was:
• the father of the uncircumcised!
• first the father of the Gentile!
• reckoned righteous before he was a Jew!
• reckoned righteous before Ishmael was born.

(14) So if you claim that God's promise is for those who obey God's law and think they are "good enough" in God's sight, then you are saying that faith is useless. And in that case, the promise is also meaningless.

(15) But the law brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

(16) So that's why faith is the key! God's promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham's. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

• Acts 15:4-21: When they arrived in Jerusalem, Paul and Barnabas were welcomed by the whole church, including the apostles and elders. They reported on what God had been doing through their ministry. But then some of the men who had been Pharisees before their conversion stood up and declared that all Gentile converts must be circumcised and be required to follow the law of Moses. So the apostles and church elders got together to decide this question. At the meeting, after a long discussion, Peter stood and addressed them as follows: "Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. God, who knows people's hearts, confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he gave him to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he also cleansed their hearts through faith. Why are you now questioning God's way by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the special favor of the Lord Jesus." There was no further discussion, and everyone listened as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles. When they had finished, James stood and said, "Brothers, listen to me. Peter has told you about the time God first visited the Gentiles to take from them a people for himself. And this conversion of Gentiles agrees with what the prophets predicted. For instance, it is written: 'Afterward I will return, and I will restore the fallen kingdom of David. From the ruins I will rebuild it, and I will restore it, so that the rest of humanity might find the Lord, including the Gentiles -- all those I have called to be mine. This is what the Lord says, he who made these things known long ago.' And so my judgment is that we should stop troubling the Gentiles who turn to God, except that we should write to them and tell them to abstain from eating meat sacrificed to idols, from sexual immorality, and from consuming blood or eating the meat of strangled animals. For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in every city on every Sabbath for many generations."
• 2 Timothy 1:9: It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began -- to show his love and kindness to us through Christ Jesus.

(17) That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, "I have made you the father of many nations." This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who brings into existence what didn't exist before.

• His faith rested in the God of the resurrection - connecting us to Christ's resurrection.
• James 2:20-24: Fool! When will you ever learn that faith that does not result in good deeds is useless? Don't you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did -- by his actions. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: "Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous." He was even called "the friend of God." So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

(18) When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him. God had also said, "Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars," even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible!

• Hebrews 11:8,17-19: It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. ... It was by faith that Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice when God was testing him. Abraham, who had received God's promises, was ready to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, though God had promised him, "Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted." Abraham assumed that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. And in a sense, Abraham did receive his son back from the dead.
• Galatians 3:6-9: In the same way, "Abraham believed God, so God declared him righteous because of his faith." The real children of Abraham, then, are all those who put their faith in God. What's more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would accept the Gentiles, too, on the basis of their faith. God promised this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, "All nations will be blessed through you." And so it is: All who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

(19) And Abraham's faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children.

• Faith facing the impossible!

(20) Abraham never wavered in believing God's promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

• One of the goals of our growth in Christ is that our faith will grow stronger day-by-day, year-by-year.

(21) He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised.

(22) And because of Abraham's faith, God declared him to be righteous.

(23) Now this wonderful truth -- that God declared him to be righteous -- wasn't just for Abraham's benefit.

(24) It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead.

(25) He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

• Abraham looked forward and believed what God was going to do through Christ’s death and resurrection; we look back and see what the God of resurrection has already done! Everything we have and are is ours by the grace of God. We believe in the Christ who was “delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.” All the promises of our faith center around the empty tomb!
• Only through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus can man be justified. It was by faith that Abraham and David and all the Old Testament saints were saved; and it is by faith that you and I and every redeemed sinner shall see God, and dwell in His presence forever. 
• When? About twenty-five years before Paul sat dictating this sentence in the house of Gaius. There were at that moment about three hundred known living people, at least, {1Co 15:6} who had seen the Risen One with open eyes, and heard Him with conscious ears. From one point of view, all was eternal, spiritual, invisible. From another point of view our salvation was as concrete, as historical, as much a thing of place and date, as the battle of Actium, or the death of Socrates. And what was done, remains done.

NOTES:

• Unless otherwise noted, the scripture version used is the New Living Translation, copyright 1996, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois.
• Disclaimer: Source material for this study has been gleaned from many different sources. I have attempted to acknowledge these sources at romansoverview.blogspot.com/2012/12/romans-references.html