Romans 4
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Romans 4:1-3:
1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” |
The implications of this insight are far reaching. It means that people were justified by faith in Old Testament times in a very similar way as under the Gospel. Granted, Abraham didn’t have all the details of the gospel, but he ended up putting many pieces of the puzzle together.
In no uncertain terms, the book of Genesis makes it clear that Abraham was justified by faith and not by keeping religious rituals or the details of the Law. More about that as the chapter unfolds. At this point simply notice how Paul is unpacking the doctrine of justification by faith from the book of Genesis. He was demonstrating what it means to be a Bible Scholar and how to build a biblical doctrine. Be diligent and follow his example. -Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter |
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Romans 4:5-6:
4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: |
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Romans 4:7-8:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. |
The issue of justification, the issue of imputation is at the heart of the Christian faith. There are very few questions in life that you can ask more significant than the question what makes a person right before God? What is it that causes God to accept a person, to embrace a person? What can cause you to be able to stand with confidence before the judgment of God? Those kinds of questions are significant, and there are very few questions more significant than those. Paul is addressing precisely that significant a question in the passage before us today. And, in fact, is elaborating on a point which he had already raised in Romans 4, verses 1 through 3. In Romans 4, verses 1 through 3, because he quoted Genesis 15:6, he had raised this picture, this term, this metaphor of reckoning or accounting or imputing by reminding us that Abraham believed, and it was reckoned or counted or imputed to him as righteousness. [SOURCE: Third Mill] |
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Romans 4:9-10:
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. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. |
Since circumcision was not the instrument of Abraham’s justification, circumcision had to serve a different purpose. Paul explains that circumcision merely served as confirmation that Abraham’s righteousness had come by faith: “He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (Rom. 4:11). It helps to understand the role of a seal. In the Bible, a seal served to confirm the validity and the authority of a message. So, in the book of Esther, we read about the King’s decree to allow the Jews “to gather and defend their lives, to destroy, to kill, and to annihilate any armed force of any people or province that might attack them, children and women included, and to plunder their goods…” (Esther 9:11). The king made several copies of this decree and sent it to every province by couriers mounted on swift horses (Esther 9:13-14). But, you might wonder, how would the people in the far provinces know with certainty that the real King had issued the decree? Might not a Jew, worried for his own life, have forged the documents to gain ability to protect himself and his family? Not at all! Why not? Because we read that the letters were “sealed with the king’s signet ring” (Esther 9:10). The king had a ring with a special emblem engraved in it. To certify the validity of a document issued in his name, he would pour a bit of wax on the document and press his seal in the wax before it cooled. This seal carried with it all the weight and authority of the king himself. So, if circumcision is a seal of the righteousness that Abraham had by faith, this means that circumcision served as the confirmation (with the full weight of God’s authority) that righteousness comes by faith. Circumcision was not the basis for making Abraham righteous; rather, circumcision authenticated God’s chosen means of justifying his people: faith. --Guard the Deposit |
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Romans 4:11:
11 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, |
So, Paul first established the proper grounds for Abraham’s righteousness, in order to open up a way for similar righteousness for “all who believe” (Romans 4:11), rather than just those who can claim Abraham as their ancestor “according to the flesh” (Romans 4:1). Paul will later make clear that the Gentiles are actually grafted into this vine through the faithful Jew, Jesus (Romans 11); but for now, Paul’s point is that such salvation comes through trust in God versus works or obedience, whether Jew or Gentile. Confession with the lips and belief in one’s heart are, once again, set in contrast to circumcision of one’s body and sacrifice with one’s hands. Both reconciliation and salvation are gifts from God given to human beings --who are all yet sinners. -Richard Boyce |
Romans 4:12-18:
12 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.
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.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 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
17 (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;
18 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.”
12 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.
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.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 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
17 (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;
18 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.”
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Romans 4:19-25:
19 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. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification. |
While Jesus will usher in eternal peace for His people at His second coming, the primary purpose of His first advent was to bring peace between God and sinners. Romans 4:25–5:1 explains that this kind of peace is rooted in Christ’s death and resurrection: “He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The sacrificial death of Christ transformed God’s enemies who were exposed to His wrath into God’s children who are sheltered by His love. This is why the song “O Holy Night” contains the lyric, “His law is love, and His gospel is peace.” It’s also why we can joyfully sing Christmas songs celebrating peace while news headlines describe a world filled with anything but. -Aaron Wilson |