Faith-Ro4

Romans 4 – Abraham was justified by faith!

FAITH – Faith is to believe that God is there for us – He is all powerful and will do as He sees is best and in line with His promises.  Have faith that God is unlimited in time and space – that God will act in our best interest – that God will conform us to His will and purpose – therefore, all we need to do is trust (faith) Him.

John MacArthur wrote this statement:  “Every false religion of the world-whether a heretical branch of Christianity, a highly developed pagan religion, or primitive animism-is founded on some form of salvation by works.  Without exception, they teach that, by one means or another, man can become right with deity by attaining righteousness in his own power.”

That statement sets the scene for our discussion to follow from Romans chapter 4.  This is a composite of information taken from the MacArthur Commentary and the Life Application Commentary.

 

Romans 4:1-5(ESV)
¹What then shall we say was gained by^Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 
²For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 
³For what does the Scripture say?^“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 
⁴Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 
⁵And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 

Abraham is an example of what faith is all about.  Abraham discovered about faith and righteousness as it is to be for us.  Despite Abraham’s spiritual imperfection, he always came back to the Lord in faith, and God honored that faith by continuing to renew his promises to Abraham.    His motivation here was “trust”!  We need to realize that we are saved by ‘faith’ not works or any merits on our part.  We were not chosen because we have anything that we can offer God, but God choose us for His purpose and glory. 

Verse 2 states that “Abraham could not boast that he was justified by works as that was not possible for us to barter with God.”  To say one is justified by works would be to place God in our debt because we have succeeded in meeting any specific requirements.   We would be meaning that I have earned it and thus deserve it.  However we fail to recognize the depth of human sinfulness and with a disregard for the holiness and majesty of God.  Trying to earn God’s favor would come from pride or misunderstanding but neither is the right path toward righteousness.

It was the ‘pride of the Jews’ that got them in trouble as they considered themselves special people chosen by God.  They thought they had a special status that granted them His blessings.  Instead they failed to see that the law was only to point out the error of their ways, not the way to God’s presence.  Following the law would not earn them ‘salvation’ for they needed to humble themselves as being sinful and disobedient to God.   They need to have ‘faith’ in God’s provision, Christ Jesus.

 

WHAT is faith?

Faith comes down to simply a factor of what do we believe?  The Holy Spirit enlightened Abraham’s mind and heart to recognize the true and only God, and enabled him to respond in faith.  God was involved.  God took the action.  God directed the man Abraham to come to an understanding of Him. 

It is when we believe in God for who He is and what He is, then we demonstrate we have faith.  A faith in God with full belief that God will carry things out as He states He will.  Abraham did not earn a right standing with God but instead it was his faith that was really an affirmation of his response to God’s promises.  Abraham took God’s word for it when God said he would make him the father of the nations. 

“Faith is never the foundation or the purpose for justification, but only the cannel through which God works His redeeming grace.   Faith is simply a convicted heart reaching out to receive God’s free and unmerited gift of salvation.”   So it wasn’t because of Abraham’s faithfulness or righteousness that God choose him, but that God made that choice and counted him righteous.  It came down to the fact that Abraham took God at his Word and acted accordingly.  He believed that God would do as He stated.  Even though Abraham never did live to the completion of that promise, he believed that it would occur as God said He would do it.  To believe is to have faith.  This faith is the requirement for God to justify us as ‘righteous’. 

“God only saves the person who does not trust in his work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly.  Until a person confesses that he is ungodly, he is not a candidate for salvation, because he still trusts in his own goodness.  That is what Jesus ment when He said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:32).  Those who are righteous in their own eyes have no part in God’s redemptive work of grace.”  (John MacArthur)

Romans 4:3(ESV)
³For what does the Scripture say?^“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 

Quote:  Life Application Commentary:

Romans 4:3 states that Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.  Therefore, his faith credited to him righteousness and thus a child of God.  The moment that we stop trying to be good or pretend to be good and simply submit ourselves before God’s mercy, he responds by saying, “Now, that’s good?”

WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE SAY?

If our defense of the faith relies too heavily on our own thinking, we will fail. Too often we have our unanswered questions or doubts simply because we have failed to find out what God’s Word has to say. For the believer, the Bible is the most immediate source of authority. We must realize that we have not honestly or carefully responded to a question or problem until we have asked, “What does the Scripture say?”

 

Romans 4:4 (NASB95)

         4      Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.

This verse speaks of ‘wages’ and in comparison today it would be if someone works for an agreed price, then they are expecting to be paid after the work is completed.  The employer would pay the employee for the work he did as he earned it.  Those wages would not be a gift as he earned them.  However, God states that He gives us ‘salvation’ as a gift.  This wouldn’t be a free gift if God is under obligation to use it as payment for good works or some other personal endeavor we might do. 

Since it is not earned, then ‘faith’ is critical for us as Christians.  We are to believe and our behavior is to reflect that belief.  We trust in God’s unconditional love rather than on a performance of works.  If to be considered ‘righteous’ was based on works, than it would be given as wages not as a gift.  God is not our employer or we his employee.

 

Romans 4:5 (NASB95)

         5      But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Can be said:  Faith is reckoned as righteousness.  It is expected that the justified person is no longer wicked, but justification is not based on good or evil actions.

SAVING FAITH

When some people learn that they are saved by God through faith, they start to worry. Do I have enough faith? they wonder, Is my faith strong enough to save me? These people miss the point. It is Jesus Christ who saves us, not our feelings or actions, and he is strong enough to save us no matter how weak our faith is. Jesus offers salvation as a gift because he loves us, not because we have earned it through our powerful faith. What, then, is the role of faith? Faith is believing and trusting in Jesus Christ and reaching out to accept his wonderful gift of salvation.  (Quote:  Life Application Commentary)

 

Romans 4:6 (NASB95)  –  David confirms the same thing that God Credits righteousness apart from works.  Thus forgiveness of sin is done by sheet grace. 

         Romans 4:6      just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

 

THE JOY OF FORGIVENESS

King David was guilty of terrible sins—adultery, murder, and lies—yet he experienced the joy of forgiveness. We too can have this joy when we:

•     stop denying our guilt and recognize we have sinned,

•     admit our guilt to God and ask his forgiveness, and

•     let go of our guilt and believe God has forgiven us.

This can be difficult when a sin has taken root and grown over many years, when it is very serious, or when it involves others. Remember, Jesus is willing and able to forgive every sin. In view of the tremendous price he paid on the cross, it is arrogant to think that any sins are too great for him to cover. Even if your faith is weak, your conscience is sensitive, and your memory haunts you, God’s Word declares that sins confessed are sins forgiven (1 John 1:9).  (Quote:  Life Application Commentary)

 

Romans 4:7–8 (NASB95)

            7      “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN,

      AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.

            8      “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”

PAINFUL PASSAGES

The idea of being rewarded by God for our good acts has a certain appeal, especially during those times when things are going well. But sooner or later, every person experiences loss, confusion, and failure. Some of these painful passages are:

•     Watching adult children turn away from their upbringing

·         Enduring the death of a spouse or other loved one

•     Having financial reversals

•     Experiencing illness and pain

•     Losing a job

•     Growing old

At these times we lose control over the circumstances and outcomes in our lives. And that’s when we need God’s grace. In our times of weakness we are acutely reminded of how desperate our position would be if we actually were required to earn God’s acceptance. For believers, difficult experiences can be opportunities to renew an awareness of God’s grace.  (Quote:  Life Application Commentary)

 

Romans 4:9-17(ESV)
⁹Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 
¹⁰How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 
¹¹He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 
¹²and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
¹³For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 
¹⁴For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 
¹⁵For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
¹⁶That 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 the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 
¹⁷as 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. 

 

 

V.9 – Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness

REMINDERS

Rituals did not earn any reward for Abraham; he had been blessed long before the circumcision ceremony was introduced. Abraham found favor with God by faith alone, before he was circumcised. Genesis 12:1–4 tells of God’s call to Abraham when he was seventy-five years old; the circumcision ceremony was introduced when he was ninety-nine (Genesis 17:1–14).

Ceremonies and rituals serve as reminders of our faith, and they instruct new and younger believers. But we should not think that they give us any special merit before God. They are outward signs and seals that demonstrate inward belief and trust. The focus of our faith should be on Christ and his saving actions, not on our own actions.  (Quote:  Life Application Commentary)

 

It is important to note that Abraham was credited as righteousness before the convenient of circumcision.  Reading Genesis 17:11 will show in Scripture that circumcision was a sign (v.11 a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith).  It was a symbol of the righteous standing that God had already bestowed on him.   Genesis 17:11 (NASB95)  And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.

Romans 4:13-17 – that Abraham did not receive the promise through the law.  Instead the law had a purpose of showing man’s sins, not redeeming them.  God promised that He would create a nation from him and he believed even if having no children then and for some years in the future.  Romans 4:17 (NASB95)  v.17      (as it is written, “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS HAVE I MADE YOU”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

God merely give circumcision to the nation of Israel as a rite in a binding law to the Jews.    Circumcision was a racial physical sign as a mark of identity for His people.  It was also a mark of God’s covenant that sat Abraham and his descendants apart as His uniquely chosen people.  It was also a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he, that is, Abraham, ad while uncircumcised.  When this was done it was to remind God’s people of God’s righteousness that Abraham had and all other believers then and today are to have.  It pointed to the fact that God wanted to circumcise or to place His authenticating seal upon His people’s hearts, not simply their bodies.  The goal was the circumcision of the heart as Deuteronomy 30:6 brings out:

        Deut. 30:6      “Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.

The symbol of the Passover was a collective symbol of deliverance – Circumcision is an individual symbol of justification – Communion would be a collective, corporate symbol of our relationship to Christ – Baptism would be an individual symbol of it.

 

 

Quote:  Life Application Commentary:

The God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. Paul switches quickly into a description of God. Abraham and Paul believe in the same God, so what is the character of the God in whom they believe? Paul answers this question because believers need to have a clear understanding of the God being trusted. Paul’s words here may seem awkward to us, but they were very familiar to the Jews. He is not introducing a new concept of God; this was the very same God whom the Jews had always worshiped. Paul’s explanation of the God in whom Abraham trusted is consistent with how the Jews had always understood God, a fact that Paul makes clear here. God is Creator—the giver and sustainer of life. He can bring the dead back to life, and can bring into existence what previously did not exist (see also Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6).

Here are four examples of God’s life-giving power:

1.    Abraham’s body and Sarah’s womb conceived in old age (Romans 4:18–21 ).

2.    God reversed Abraham’s intention of sacrificing Isaac (Hebrews 11:17–19).

3.            God made Abraham the father of many nations (Romans 4:17).
4. God raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 4:23–25).

God has demonstrated his power. We know he can do the impossible!

Abraham’s faith was tested a number of times. Each response was a step of faith. Some of these steps were not what we would call big tests, but together they establish a picture of Abraham as a man of genuine faith. After the last test, God said, “Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12 niv). Note that these “steps” are not “works” in that they earn God’s approval; rather, they are the natural outworking of the inward faith that God counts as righteousness.

Abraham’s faith-step can have applications for us:

Reference/Step	Application
Genesis 12:1–7—At God’s direction, Abraham left Ur and Haran for a destination unknown.	Do I trust God with my future? Is his will part of my decision making?
Genesis 14:17–24—Abraham gave a tithe of loot to the godly king of Salem, Melchizedek, but he refused the gift from the king of Sodom.	In my dealings with people, am I careful to give proper honor to God and refuse to receive honor that belongs to him?
Genesis 15:1–6—Abraham trusted God’s promise that he would have a son.	How often do I consciously reaffirm my trust in God’s promises?
Genesis 15:7–11—Abraham received the Promised Land by faith, though God warned him the fulfillment would not come for many generations.	How have I demonstrated my continued trust in God during those times when I have been required to wait?
Genesis 17:9–27—At God’s command, Abraham circumcised every male in his family.	In what occasions in my life have I acted simply in obedience to God?
Genesis 18:22–33—Abraham prayed for Sodom.	Am I a person who cares for people in spite of their sinfulness?
Genesis 20:1–17—Abraham admitted to wrongdoing and took the actions necessary to set things right.	When I sin, do I tend to cover up or admit my fault? When needed, do I accompany my apology with restitution?
Genesis 22:1–12—Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.	How have I demonstrated that I will not allow anything in my life to come before God?

 

As Adam’s children we have	As God’s children we have
Ruin (5:9)	Rescue (5:8)
Sin (5:12, 15, 21)	Righteousness (5:18)
Death (5:12, 16, 21)	Eternal life (5:17, 21)
Separation from God (5:18)	Relationship with God (5:11, 19)
Disobedience (5:12, 19)	Obedience (5:19)
Judgment (5:18)	Deliverance (5:10–11)
Law (5:20)	Grace (5:20)

 

The point is that Abraham’s faith was not a leap into the dark or one made with an irrational decision.  He deliberately choose not to place confidence in his senses or experience.  Abraham choose to place his confidence in God and His word.  Abraham only had God’s word to hang on to for the promises given him.  With that he left his home and went where God told him to go.

Romans 4:18-25(ESV)
¹⁸In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told,^“So shall your offspring be.” 
¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 
²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 
²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 
²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 
²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 
²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 
²⁵who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Romans 4:21(ESV)
²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 

 In our walk with God it starts with that personal commitment of a decision within ourselves.  We make the choice to trust (faith) in God’s direction for our lives and purpose for life itself.  We then enter a relationship with God in not doubting His power and faithfulness.  There is no need to doubt God because He can fulfill his promises.  As Abraham made mistakes in this life, so will we.  We face obstacles, we deal with our weaknesses, and we just plain ‘sin’.   Yet we, like Abraham need to look to God, obey him and wait for God to keep His word.

 

ARE YOU FULLY OR PARTLY CONVINCED?

With the world seemingly packed with new idols and pagan ideologies, believers find themselves more and more in Abraham’s place. So we must remember the character of this God whom we trust. And we should ask ourselves, “At what points in my life are my convictions about God’s power and faithfulness being put to the test?” Our trust in God will be demonstrated in these and other areas:

•      Knowing that God’s forgiveness is complete

•      Believing that life extends beyond this one, in heaven or hell

•      Being convinced that our life has significance

•      Believing that our individual acts of service are meaningful

•      Being confident that our needs will never exhaust God’s love

•      Knowing that our future is safe in God’s protection

•      Trusting that God will watch over our loved ones
(Quote:  Life Application Commentary)

 

V. 24 “But also for us…”  Romans chapter 4 has an underlying message concerning the ‘trustworthiness of God’s Word”.  It is for thosewho believe in him.  This account is to help us learn how God relates with us and how He fulfills His promises. 

Abraham had to simply trust in God, to believe His word, to follow His direction.   Abraham died not living in the reality of the promise that God made him.  Yet he lived in belief that it would occur. 

Romans 4:25 (NASB95) –   He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

Being ‘justified’ comes from the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  It is a gift of God to provide such a rescue from the sinful world.  Without it we would be under the commendation of death for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23(ESV)
²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

 

Romans 6:23(ESV)
²³For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Faith as an acrostic might look like this:

F – facts

A – agreement

I – internalization

T – trust

H – hope

 

Faith is not a mystery!  The mystery would be that God only ask that we put our faith in Him for salvation. We cannot work out our salvation.  We cannot buy God.  We cannot do enough to warrant everlasting life on our own.  Salvation of the Bible is simple thing, however, man has made it a stumbling block as it requires them to humbly trust in God and not their works. 

In the closing of this discussion I’d like to with a couple paragraphs from John MacArthur Commentary about what happens with people doing ‘works’ to please their own desperate desire to take charge of their life.  They don’t want to trust God, they want to earn it and receive it as an award.  They can now feel they deserve such gift and are really in control.  They don’t want to depend on an unseen God. 

It is a terribly sad and oppressing experience to visit Catholic holy sites such as the Shrine of Guadalupe in Mexico. The shrine is built over the place where Mary supposedly appeared on one occasion. In the hope of her interceding for them with her Son, Jesus Christ, every year myriads of pilgrims crawl on their hands and knees for a quarter of a mile or so to the shrine. They then enter and light candles, one for each friend or relative for whom they seek to reduce the stay in purgatory.

Some years ago a missionary to India visited my office and showed me a recent copy of the major English-language Indian news magazine. The feature story was on a great Hindu religious festival called Maha Kumbh Mela, which is celebrated every twelve years at the confluence of the Ganga (Ganges) and Yamuna rivers, called the fabled waters of the Sangam. It is claimed to be the world’s largest single religious event.

Disregarding the difficult journey, the great expense, and the chilling waters, multitudes of the faithful are drawn to the celebration. Caste and economic class are temporarily set aside. The festival is led by a group of stark naked holy men who lead a procession of millions of pilgrims down to the water. Fakirs sit on beds of nails and walk over broken glass and lie down on hot coals. A common sight is to see worshipers taking long knives and piercing their tongues in order to sentence themselves to eternal silence as a way to appease their myriad gods. Some worshipers will stare at the sun until they are blinded. Others intentionally cause their limbs to atrophy in gestures of worship. One man had held his arm upright for eight years. Although his arm muscles had long since atrophied, his uncut fingernails had continued to grow and descended some two and a half feet below his hands.

One Hindu holy book declares, “Those who bathe at the conflux of the black and white river, the Ganga and the Yamuna, go to heaven.” Another sacred writing says that “the pilgrim who bathes at this place wins absolution for his whole family, and even if he has perpetrated a hundred crimes, he is redeemed the moment he touches the Ganga, whose waters wash away his sins.”

At this festival the waterfront is lined with countless shaving booths, in which the devoted strip themselves bare and have every hair on their bodies shaved off, including their eyebrows and eyelashes. Every shaved hair is collected and all the hair is then thrown into the filthy water. Hindu writings assure pilgrims that “for every hair thus thrown in, you are promised a million years residence in heaven.”

The article closed with the comment: “Millions who come with spiritual hunger depart with peace in their hearts and renewed faith.”

What a hellish, damning deception of Satan! But it perfectly illustrates the works-centered systems of religion that men create under Satan’s inspiration, all of which seek to convince people that they can be made fight with God and guaranteed a place in heaven by performing certain rites and ceremonies. Some religions are much more sophisticated and humanly attractive than others, but all share the common false belief in works righteousness in some form or the other. The natural man instinctively believes that somehow he can make himself right with God by his own efforts.

Continuing his assault against works righteousness and establishing that Abraham, the supreme example of a godly man, was saved by faith rather than by works (Rom. 4:1–8), Paul next establishes that Abraham was saved through God’s grace and not by being circumcised or by keeping the law. His argument was that if Abraham, the greatest man in the old dispensation, was saved through faith by God’s grace, then every other person must be justified on the same basis. And, contrarily, if Abraham could not be justified by being circumcised or by keeping the law, then neither could any another person.

In Romans 4:9–17 Paul demonstrates three closely related truths: Abraham’s justifying faith did not come by his circumcision (vv. 9–12); it did not come by his keeping the law (vv. 13–15); but rather it came solely by God’s grace (vv. 16–17).