Hi and welcome back to our study of Romans. Previously we had completed chapter 3. Paul was explaining to the Jews that faith in Christ upholds the law and that he was by no means trying to do away with Israel’s history.
Paul makes it abundantly clear that the law can never justify us. The only way to be declared righteous in the eyes of God apart from the law is through faith in Christ for all who believe.
Paul ends chapter 3 by affirming that this gift is readily available to everyone, to both the Jews and the gentiles. This gift cannot be earned, we don’t deserve it, yet if we come by faith we can receive it.
So we pick up our study with chapter 4. In this chapter Paul shows that the teachings of the Old testament agree with the gospel of the New testament.
Romans 4:1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?
This verse States that all Jews including Paul were descended from Abraham.
Romans 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
You would think that Abraham who fathered Isaac at age 100 would have something to brag about! But Abraham didn’t want bragging rights. He wanted to do what was pleasing in God’s sight. He wanted to trust and obey the Lord.
Romans 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.
Abraham’s faith put him in right standing with God, Genesis 15:6.
It doesn’t say that Abraham got his foot in the door by doing good works. Nowhere will you find any mention of Abraham’s good works gaining him favor with God. Not only was Abraham right with God, but he had a special place in God’s heart. As we read in James 2:23.
James 2:23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness—and he was called a friend of God.
I don’t know about you, but I want what Abraham had, a relationship that allowed him to be called the friend of God.
The alternative is not good as we read in,
James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
When you start getting chummy with the things of this world and your good works are to gain favor with others, you’re definitely not going to be called a friend of God.
The next two verses show the contrast between works and faith. Let’s look at verse 4.
Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
If you’ve got a job you expect to get paid for that job. So the work that you have performed deserves compensation. That money or compensation is what you are due. It’s your wages. That money isn’t a gift, you earned it. Now let’s look at the other side of the coin.
Romans 4:5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,
Salvation can’t be earned.
Salvation is not your compensation for your good works. You can bust your butt 7 days a week and put in 10 hour days doing works for the Lord and at the end of it all, if you haven’t put your trust in Him, you’re going to hear
And then will I declare to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Matthew 7:23
I pray that none of us ever hear that. My goodness, can you imagine going through life putting others ahead of yourself, giving of your time, money, and working to make this world a better place, only to find out at the end of it all, it meant nothing. Nothing.
If you’re not putting your trust in Him, who are you laboring for?
Is it for your own self satisfaction? Is it to leave a legacy that others will remember your name? Maybe you’re doing it, as an act of love. But who should be your first love? Who should always be first in your life?
Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
If you have that love, that passionate love, everything else manifests itself because of that love. Your works are a labor of love for the Lord. Not for your own gratification.
Paul now moves his attention to David and speaks of the attributes of his life in much the same way that he spoke of Abraham.
Romans 4:6-8 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. 7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.
Paul uses psalm 32:1-2 to make his case for David. In verses 7 and 8 there is no mention of works. It is only through the grace of God that David’s sins were forgiven. David stumbled in his walk with the Lord. He was a murderer and an adulterer. Yet by God’s grace those sins were not counted against him.
Now Paul turns his attention back to God’s chosen people, the Jews. He puts this next verse in there just to make sure that there is no doubt who God’s grace is for.
Romans 4:9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.
Paul is getting ready to end this debate about circumcision once and for all. Let’s read on.
Romans 4:10-11 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He 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,
Abraham was righteous in God’s sight before he was circumcised. That circumcision was an outward symbol of his righteousness. For those who believed by faith it wasn’t necessary to be circumcised to be declared righteous.
Romans 4:12 and 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.
Those that were of the lineage of Abraham should identify as his children. But the Pharisees stated that they were the descendants of Abraham. John 8:37. There’s a big difference between identifying as a descendant and a child. The relationship between a father and his son or daughter is much closer than those that are merely descended from him.
So to put everything in perspective, there was a time that Abraham walked by faith before his circumcision and there was a time that he walked by faith after his circumcision.
So based on that observation both believing Jews and gentiles can claim Abraham as their father and can identify with him as his children.
This is a good place to stop for today. I’d like to apologize for the delay in releasing this podcast. Other ministries have taken some of my time and I’ve fallen behind. But know this, even if I fall behind I will have another episode to put out. I want to be faithful to what the Lord has put on my heart. Thank you for listening and may God bless you and your family always.