Since the time of Moses the people had been living under the Law, which governed every aspect of their lives. Here comes Paul to tell them that the Law isn’t what will make them (or us) righteous. It is faith that will bring them (and us) to a right relationship with God. Paul tells them that this really isn’t a new idea, but has been around since the time of Abraham and Sarah.
The Jews considered Abraham and Sarah to be the founders of their race. As recorded, beginning with the twelfth chapter of Genesis, God called to Abraham and Sarah and told them to leave their people their country and go to where God would lead them. If they did that, God said, their descendants would become a great nation who would become a great blessing to all the people on earth. Though Abraham was 75 and Sarah was 65, and even though they had no children, they did what God had asked of them. Genesis 15:5 says that God promised: “…Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them…so shall your offspring be.” Verse 6 says, “Abram (Abraham) believed the Lord, and God credited it to him as righteousness.”
Paul will further remind the people that God blessed Abraham and Sarah and considered them righteous even before there was the Law, and before there was circumcision.
Romans 4:1-8
What then shall we say that Abraham and Sarah our fore parents discovered in this matter? If, in fact, Abraham and Sarah were justified by works, they had something to boast about–but not before God. What does the scripture say? “Abraham and Sarah believed God, and it was credited to them as righteous.” (Gen. 15:6) Now, when a person works, their wages are not credited to them as gifts, but as obligations. However, to the one who does not work but trust God who justifies the wicked, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed are those whose sin the Lord will never count against them.” (Ps. 32:1-2)
Paul reminds the people of their heritage. Abraham and Sarah did as God requested. They didn’t know where they were going or what to expect, but they took their chances on God. God asked them to do something and they did it. They acted on faith.
Let me pause here to make a couple of important points about faith. It’s all well and good to say, “Have faith and God will reward you.” But what if you don’t have the faith. You want to have it, but it’s just not there. You’re willing to do what God would ask of you, but you will be filled with fear and doubt even as you do what’s been asked of you. Will God still bless you (and credit it to you as righteousness), even if you don’t yet have this great faith I’ve been talking about? Lets look at Abraham and Sarah.
God does things on God’s time, not ours. When Abraham was 85 there was still no son, so Sarah suggested that maybe he should sleep with her servant and have children by her. He did, and she had a son Ishmael. But that turned out to be a mistake and caused nothing but problems.
When Abraham was 99 and Sarah 89, God again repeated the promise. Genesis 17:17 says “Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to himself, ‘Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of 90?’”
Abraham laughed at God’s promise that he’d be a father at 100. Does this sound like a man of great faith in God’s word? God has a great sense of humor, though. God did not take offense at Abraham’s doubts. As a matter of fact, God told Abraham that he would soon have a son that he would name Isaac. That was God’s joke. Isaac means “He laughs.”
The thing is, though Abraham may have had his doubts about what God was planning to accomplish through them, they did what God put in front of them to do. Even though they made mistakes and tried to second-guess God, God did not hold that against them. In spite of all their fears and doubts when God spoke they answered. They acted as though they had complete faith, and God considered their actions of faith as righteousness.
Paul draws a distinction between works and faith. If you work to earn wages, then you are entitled to those wages, they aren’t a gift. The employer is in debt to the worker, however, our relationship to God is not that of employer-employee. Faith is not a matter of labor but of trust. And God honors that trust. Regardless of the individual’s wickedness–God will credit their faith and trust as righteousness. That righteousness is a gift, completely unearned. God is never in debt to the individual–we are always in debt to God.
Paul says that even David recognized that God credits righteousness without regard to works and spoke of it in Psalm 32:1, 2, saying that those people whose sins are forgiven and cast away by God are happy and blessed. The Psalm also says that God will never count those sins against the sinners whom God forgives.
Romans 4:9-12
Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that “Abraham and Sarah’s faith was credited to them as righteousness.” Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after Abraham was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, Abraham is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And Abraham is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that Abraham had before he was circumcised.
In order for a male Gentile of Paul’s day to join the Jewish faith he had to do three things: Baptism, sacrifice and circumcision. The “Mark of the Covenant,” that is, the Jewish faith, was circumcision. In fact, we can think of circumcision as the beginning of the first covenant–the first law. Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17: 10. So circumcision was considered of utmost importance for those who would subscribe to the Jewish faith.
Paul asks, who is entitled to God’s blessing–those of the Jewish faith only (the circumcised), or can anyone receive it? Once again, Paul refers back to Abraham and Sarah and says, we’ve been saying that God accepted and blessed Abraham and Sarah because of their faith. When did God decide to bless and honor them? Was it after Abraham was circumcised or before? It was not after but before! The circumcision was only a kind of “Seal of approval” from god because of the faith he and his wife had shown before he was circumcised.
Actually, from the time God had called them and sent them traveling till the time Abraham was circumcised, they had been following God’s leading for 14 years. From this Paul draws the conclusion that Abraham and Sarah are the spiritual parents of everyone, those who are circumcised, as well as those who have never been circumcised. All would be considered justified by God as long as they followed the path of faith, just as Abraham and Sarah did before Abraham was circumcised (before they had received the covenant.)
Romans 4:13
It was not through the Law that Abraham and Sarah and their offspring received the promise that they would be the heirs of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
In Genesis 12: 2-3 God made Abraham and Sarah an incredible promise that their offspring would become a great nation, and that in time all families of the earth would be blessed because of them. At that time the Law did not exist, so this promise did not come to them because they followed any law, but because they trusted God and did what God asked them to do.
Romans 4:14
For if those who live by the Law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
If a person could earn righteousness by following the Law, then one wouldn’t need God and faith would be unnecessary. If God isn’t needed, then God’s promises are worthless.
Romans 4:15
Because the Law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
A very interesting point. If there is no law then there can be no lawbreakers. The purpose of the Law is not to bring peace and blessedness, but to bring anger and vengeance, punishment and retribution.
Romans 4:16-17
Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham and Sarah’s offspring–not only to those who are of the Law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham and Sarah. They are the parents of us all. As it is written: “I have made you parents of many nations.” (Gen. 17:5) They are our parents on the sight of God, in whom they believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
Paul says the promise that God gave Abraham and Sarah was given to them as a free gift (grace) in honor of their faith and trust in God. That same grace is guaranteed (Wow!) to everybody, not only to those of the Jewish covenant, but to everyone who has the dame faith and trust in God that Abraham and Sarah had.
Paul says everything depends upon faith. It is through faith we receive the grace of God. It doesn’t matter who you are, Jew or Gentile, homosexual or straight, everything depends, not upon following the Law, but upon your faith and willingness to let God be in charge of your life.
Remember when Jesus told the disciples how to pray he began by using the word Abba, which is most often translated as father. But the word really has a different connotation and is something akin to daddy. The inference is that we are God’s beloved children. When God made the promise to Abraham and Sarah, the word Paul used in the original language was Epaggelia, and is a promise given without terms or conditions. The inference Paul was making is that God’s promise was made out of love for us. God loves us unconditionally, not because of any merit on our part, but because of God’s generosity of heart. We are god’s children, and as children we are capable of breaking God’s heart, but no matter what, God will never let us go. We can’t earn that love. We can only accept it.
Romans 4:18-25
Against all hope, Abraham and Sarah in hope believed and so became the parents of many nations, just as it had been said to them, “So shall your offspring be.” (Gen. 15:5) without weakening in their faith, they faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about 100 years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet they did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but were strengthened in their faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what God had promised. This is why “It was credited to them as righteousness.” (Gen. 15:6) The words “It was credited to them” were written not for them alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
God know that this concept of God accepting us and loving us in spite of what we may do, can appear to be unbelievable or even ridiculous, so God did some unbelievable things to demonstrate the extent to which God’s love will go. God took a 100-year-old man and a 90-year-old woman and made them parents. Abraham and Sarah were realists–they knew that God’s promise to them was pretty fantastic–Sarah was past menopause, and it was a few thousand years yet to the creation of viagra. Yet, in spite of whatever doubts they had, they put one foot in front of the other and tried to follow God’s direction. And the more they did that, the more they sought God’s direction for their lives, the more their faith was strengthened. They were able to give glory to God as they more and more realized that God had the power to do what God had promised–that God was the one who makes all things possible–creating things from nothing and bringing life to what which has already died. This willingness to take God at God’s word is what God really wanted from Abraham and Sarah. (It’s what God really wants from you and me.) It was this willingness to trust, which brought them into a right relationship with God. Paul says what God gave to Abraham and Sarah, we who are their heirs, also receive the same thing. If we would but have faith, if we believe in Jesus–that Jesus died to atone for our sins and was raised from the dead–then God promises to justify us, to declare us innocent of all wrong doing, and God promises to us that this faith, not adherence to laws, will put us into right relationship with God.