Before we get into Chapter 4, it is critical to understand a bit about the faith and promise that Abraham received from God in the account in Genesis. In Genesis 15:4, God tells Abraham that his own son will be his heir. Two verses later, Scripture says that Abraham believed God. This one verse will be the basis of much of Paul's words in chapter 4 of Romans.
There are two things from the Genesis account that I find interesting about Abraham. Even though he believed God, he still tried to take matters into his own hands to "help God out." He slept with his wife's servant and she became pregnant. As the story continues, it is obvious to Abraham that God has other plans.
The second fascinating thing that I thought about a lot is from chapter 17. God comes to Abraham and says "walk before me and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you and may mulitply you greatly." I'm not sure what Abraham was thinking, but allow me to speculate based on his response. Abraham falls on his face. I can easily think of two other times in Scripture when men appeared before the Lord and fell on their faces (Isaiah 6 and John in Revelation).
When one is in the presence of the righteous God, the only response is muscle failure and a face plant. These men clearly saw the majesty of God and were overwhelmed by the contrast between God's awesomeness and their sinful, puny selves. I believe that Abraham's reaction was the same as these two men. Amazingly, God's response is the same each time. With Abraham, the next words out of God's mouth were the words that would establish God's covenant with Abraham (who was still Abram until this meeting)! God tells Abraham to be blameless, Abraham falls on his face, and God makes a promise and gives Abram the name Abraham or "father of a multitude."
Abraham got it. He realized the impossibility of God's command to walk blameless before Him. He realized his sinfulness and utter dependence on God. Once he came to that point, God was able to establish His covenant with Abram based on Abram's faith apart from any works that Abram did.
This is where we will venture into Romans to find Paul speaking of the father of our faith, Abraham. The main idea of chapter 4 is this:
Abraham was justified and made righteous by his faith. His faith led to the realization of the promise of God that he would be the father of many nations. As Paul will explain, the family of God hinges on Abraham believing God's promise.
Abraham Justified by Faith (v. 1-12)
After concluding in chapter 3 that we should uphold the law even though man is justified apart from it, Paul focuses his efforts on Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh. What was gained, Paul asks, by Abraham? How was he justified? Surely there must have been some works involved! Not according to Scripture. Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 in verse 3. "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."
The idea of believing God really intrigued me during my study. There are a few verses that I'd like to look at that expand on this idea of believing God. Later on in the chapter, Paul will expand specifically on the idea that Abraham believed God (v. 18-22).
Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'whoever believes will not be in haste.'
Isaiah 28:16
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life.
Whoever believes in Him is not condemed, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
John 3:14, 15, 18
Notice that without belief in the proper One, believing really doesn't matter. To the one who believes God, justification results. Righteousness results. Eternal life results. The promise is guaranteed.
In verses 4 and 5, Paul restates the fact that works do not save. Verse 4 should bring a couple of previous thoughts to mind. First off, justification is a free gift (3:24). Secondly, by works of the law no man will be made righteous (3:20). If someone is working towards salvation, he will receive his wages, but they become his due not a gift. Paul will address this specifically in chapter 6 when he says "the wages of sin is death."
Thanks be to God that as Christians, we understand that we belong to a different category. We aren't putting our hope in the works of the law. We are putting our hope in Jesus Christ and believing God when He says that eternal life is knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. Verse 5 restates this idea. "And to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness." This is Abraham. This is all of us who put our faith in Jesus Christ. It is a belief that requires faith. It is a belief that requires understanding that we are ungodly and need a righteous man to take the penalty of our sin on Himself. Only God can do that and He has!
Thinking about this really made me think about what believing in Jesus Christ really looks like. When is our belief "enough" to truly belong to the Kingdom of God? How do we determine that we really believe? To me, I am starting to see how much each and every decision will reflect one way or another what I believe. Let me just cut right to the chase. If I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins, I will have joy. I will have peace. I will have contentment. I will long to know Him more. I will feast on His Word daily. I will fellowship with Him in prayer. I will rejoice in suffering knowing that it makes me more like Him. I will gladly give up anything of this world for a better glimpse of my King. I will gladly sacrifice my very life for the sake of the Gospel.
Am I at that point in my belief? Some days I am. Some days I can rest in Christ and see a consistency of devotion to Him. Some days I seem to fail with each step I take. Thankfully, the truth is that God is faithful and the work He is doing in my life will be accomplished.
I challenge you to consider how you are living and compare it to what you say you believe. Are you defeated? Do you have low self esteem? These things should not exist in a child of God! Don't allow satan to bring you down. Believe Jesus when He says that He came to give us life in abundance! Believe that.
Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
1 John 5:10, 11
Do you have the testimony in you? If you said yes, if you haven't already, start acting like it.
Verses 6-9 reference the words of David in Psalm 32:1, 2. The first verse of the Gospel of Matthew lists Jesus as the son of Abraham and the son of David. Paul is building the credibility of his argument by quoting another divinely-inspired author of the Old Testament. Abraham and David, two Old Testament giants, were both shown to believe that God justifies the ungodly.
David writes "blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin." Those are the words of a man who understands the reality of human nature and the awesomeness of God's grace!
The remaining verses (v. 9-12) of this section deal with the Jew vs. the Gentile, the circumcised vs. the uncircumcised. Paul asks "is this blessing only for the Jew?" Was this faith counted to Abraham before or after he was circumcised? It was before he was circumcised.
Paul breaks down circumcision like this:
-It is the seal of the righteousness that was counted to Abraham through his faith.
-Abraham became the father of the uncircumcised by faith.
-Abraham became the father of the circumcised who also walk by faith.
One man became the father of faith for all who believe both Jew and Gentile. Paul proves this through the Old Testament Scriptures. How important it is to understand how the New and Old Testaments fit together and provide one cohesive message of hope for mankind.
There is only one thing left for Paul to do before he moves his focus to glorious reality of new life in Jesus Christ. He must show that not only was Abraham justified by faith but the promise of God was also accomplished through his faith.
The Promise Realized Through Faith (v. 13-25)
Paul transitions from talking about being justified by faith to speaking in regards to the promise of God to Abraham. Paul begins by saying that the promise was made through the righteousness counted to Abraham by his faith. Just as salvation doesn't have anything to do with the law neither does the promise.
In verse 14, Paul again reminds us that no one is righteous through the law, and if the law was the origin of the promise, faith would not mean anything and the promise certainly wouldn't matter. It has to be like this: saved by grace through faith (justified/made righteous) then receive the promise. That is how it worked with Abraham and how it works with us too.
Verse 15 brings us back to the fact that the law brings the wrath of God against everyone. I'm not sure the second half of the verse specifically means this, but it brought a thought to mind. I can see how this verse could be another contrast of the law versus grace. "Apart from the law, there is no transgression." If faith justifies us and makes us righteous, God has said that he will separate our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. That's grace!
Verses 16 and 17 are heavy.
That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, 'I have made you the father of many nations'--in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.
Praise God! Because the promise of God does not depend one iota on our flesh, it can be guaranteed to all who walk by faith in Jesus Christ! There is only one adherent to the law, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood for our sins. We can rest assured that God will fulfill His promise to us because Jesus Christ was the once for all sacrifice that paid the debt of sin. Our father, Abraham, gave life to the Jew and the Gentile because of his unwaivering faith. That is the power of God, plain and simple.
That is the power of God that "gives life to the dead and calls into existence things that do not exist." I'm reminded of 1 Corinthians when Paul takes it a step further to say that God brought to nothing things that exist in the world by things that do not exist in the world. Isn't the power of God amazing?
As I considered this idea more, a question came to my mind. Was faith one of those things that didn't exist that God called into existence? It definitely wasn't required in Eden when God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. Abraham was the father of faith. And faith is a free gift of God. I don't really have an answer, but it definitely is something I am now curious about!
It also strikes me that the promise was made in the presence of God. This isn't some promise to take out the trash that you make with your mom. This promise didn't lack eye witness validation. This promise was made in the presence of God who knows all and sees all. We can have complete confidence in this promise.
Verses 18 through 22 are Paul's expansion of the text "Abraham believed God." This was not a wavering belief. It wasn't half-hearted. It was 100% belief in God's decree.
In verse 18, Paul gives the specific promise "so shall your offspring be." In hope against hope, Abraham believed. He was 100 years old and Sarah was barren and too old. And yet Abraham believed God. Verse 19 restates it. Abraham believed God even when he considered how weak and frail he was. Verses 20 and 21 are the grace of God in action:
No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised.
No distrust. Abraham believed God. He didn't waiver. Abraham believed God. He grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. Abraham believed God. He was convinced that God was able to do what He had promised. Abraham believed God.
I find it interesting how Abraham grew strong in his faith. It was by giving glory to God. Praising God, rejoicing in the Lord, and being awestruck by God's awesome power are how we grow in faith. We don't question God and grow strong. We believe God and then see Him use us for His work! I'm reminded of Matthew 19:26 when Jesus tells His disciples that it would be easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a right man to enter Heaven. He says that it is impossible for man, but that all things are possible with God. That's believing God and that is what Abraham did.
Why was faith counted to Abraham as righteousness? Because he believed God! Believing God should take on a deeper meaning for all of us after examining Paul's expansion on the phrase.
Paul concludes the chapter by saying that the words "it was counted to him" were not only for Abraham's sake but for our's as well. Just as Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness so will our faith in Christ be counted to us as righteousness! Believe God. Believe that He raised Jesus from the dead and believe that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life and took on the sin of the world so that we might become the righteousness of God.
Believe God. The results are divine.
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