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ROMANS 4
Amazing Grace, How Very The Sound!
We saw last time that mankind is hopelessly, helplessly lost. His sin is universal, criminal, and he is culpable by his actions. Both Jew and Gentile are under God’s wrath, and both will face eternal consequences at the Judgment bar of God. “There is none righteous, no not even one!”
Now finally, just when we feel there is no hope, excuse or way out, Paul introduces the way to salvation.
Righteousness Through Faith
Romans 3:21-23
But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Just as great and massive doors swing on very ordinary hinges, so dramatic changes in Scripture often hinge upon this very common phrase, “But now…”
After painting such a black, cloudy picture of the human condition, the sun now breaks through. God has a plan for our salvation. The first thing Paul mentions about this salvation is that it is FREE. It is not of man’s devising, but of God’s grace.
Romans 3:24
…and (we) are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
After struggling for centuries without success to measure up to God’s standards as revealed in the law, salvation by faith alone has come. And it is free. Paul uses three metaphors regarding the death of Jesus Christ on the Cross to bring home this marvelous truth. The first is a courtroom metaphor:
Courtroom:
“(we) are justified freely by his grace…” The word “justified” comes from a Greek word meaning “acquitted through being declared righteous.” It’s a courtroom word where a defendant is acquitted of all charges.
The second metaphor Paul uses is that of redemption:
Slave:
“…through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Redemption comes from a word meaning, “to release on payment of ransom,” or “to purchase in the market.”
The underlying thought is of a slave-market. The subjects of redemption are “sold under sin” (Rom 7:14) and are under sentence of death (Jn 3:18, 19; Rom 3:19) and the purchase price is the blood of the Redeemer who dies in their stead (Gal 3:13; 2Cor 5:21; Mt 20:28; Mk 10:45; 1Tim 2:6; 1Pet 1:18).
And the last metaphor Paul uses to explain our salvation is:
Ritual Sacrifice:
“God presented Him as a propitiation by his blood…” (vs.25). Propitiation comes from a word meaning, “an atoning victim.” We see here a guilty person from whom the wrath of God has been removed due to one who was sacrificed in his stead.
Why did God have to do this?
Romans 3:25-26
…to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
God sent His Son to die in our stead because He is a God of justice. Sin HAD to be atoned for. It could not remain unaddressed in God’s moral universe. God had brought a just sentence of death on all mankind, for all have sinned. He then provided a sinless sacrifice by sending His Son to atone for our unrighteousness.
The cross displays both the monstrosity of sin, and the need for God to address it with finality.
“Where is boasting then? It is excluded.”—vs. 27 No one can stand boasting before a bleeding Savior.
“By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith.” Salvation by faith destroys man’s pride.
Romans 3:28-30
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.
The God of our salvation is the God of all men, not just the Jews.
Romans 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.
Righteousness by faith is the fulfillment of the law. The law came to lead us to grace through faith!
Chapter 4
Romans 4 is the great chapter on salvation by faith alone. Many claim to believe in salvation by faith, but not salvation by faith alone. John Phillips writes, “The word ‘alone’ is the watershed which divides the Catholic from the Protestant, the religionist from the man of faith, and it was the watchword for the Reformation. The religionist believes in salvation by faith, but not by faith alone; he believes in the value of the blood of Christ, but not in the value of that blood alone; he accepts the fact that Christ is the Mediator between God and man, but not that Christ is Mediator alone; he acknowledges the authority of the Scriptures, but not their authority alone.”
Paul demonstrates that salvation is by faith alone apart from the slightest scintilla of any work or merit of man.
Abraham Justified by Faith
Romans 4:1-2
“1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about— but not before God.”
Abraham was not justified by works, or he would have had room to boast about his accomplishments. Rather, Abraham was justified when he believed God by faith.
Romans 4:3
3What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Let’s read the Genesis account:
Genesis 15:5-6
Then He (God) brought Abraham outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’ 6 Abraham believed the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Paul next makes the point that if salvation were something that we earned, then it comes as an obligation on God’s part, not a gift.
Romans 4:4
Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
But no, salvation by grace through faith is a gift, and never comes as an obligation on God’s part.
Romans 4:5
However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
David Celebrates the Same Truth
Romans 4:6-8
David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.’
Remember, the word “impute” means “to take an inventory, to add to your account.”
David had discovered a way to have his sins not only forgiven but forgotten; not only covered but cancelled.
This is why God says through Isaiah the Prophet:
Isaiah 43:25
I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.
Next, once again Paul addresses the kingpin of the Jews’ religion—circumcision.
Romans 4:9-12
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. 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, 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.—vs. 9-12
The Jews had put all of their faith in religious ritual. But Paul is saying, “Religious rites don’t save, not even circumcision. Circumcision had been the sign of the Abrahamic covenant” (Gen 17:7-14). In Paul’s day, many of the Jewish Christians taught that salvation was impossible apart from this ritual, and they wanted all Gentile believers to observe it.
Paul called these teachers “Judaizers” and he detested their insistence that we must mingle works with faith to be saved (Gal. 2:1-14). Nowadays we still cling to the belief that we must observe certain rites or rituals in order to be saved. Some believe that belonging to particular church is necessary to salvation, or being baptized a certain way, or taking communion on a regular basis, and so forth.
But Paul blows all of this totally out of the water by pointing out that Abraham was declared righteous by God before he was circumcised! Abraham was a justified man 14 years before the rite of circumcision was imposed (Gen. 15:6; 17:10).
Next, Paul points out something that we are all beneficiaries of. God’s promises to Abraham and his descendants were not tied to their keeping a law, or ritual, or anything. God’s promise was of grace—to be believed and received by faith.
When we place the relationship between God and humans on a legalistic basis, we invite the wrath of God. A mutual understanding of requirements means that both parties must carry them out perfectly to avoid conflict. Failure invites penalties.
Knowing the weakness of human nature as He does, God knows that relationship with Him must be founded on something else.
“He remembered that they were but flesh,” the Psalmist writes, “a passing breeze that does not return.”—Ps. 78:39
So God’s plan was that we would be redeemed by placing our faith in Christ’s finished work.
Romans 4:13-17
It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14 For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15 because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”
This incredible statement about the nature of faith—that it sees what is not yet here, and calls out to something before it arrives—is referring to Abraham’s belief that, even though he was too old in the natural to father children, God would yet bring it to pass:
Romans 4:18-25
18 Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead— since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.