"But to the one who does not work, but believes on Him who declares the ungodly to be righteous, his faith is credited for righteousness" (Rom 4:5, HCSB). "However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness" (Rom 4:5, NIV).
What are the things that bring you great happiness in life? What are the best things that you have in life? Likely they include persons and things about your life that delight you and bring you love, joy and peace. Good food does that for me, since I am a foodie. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that during my latest and current trip to Manila and Malaysia I gained 9 lbs (4 kg) in a month! It seems that I turn into a glutton whenever I go back to eating food that I ate growing up. I also love pets. Thus, I also loathe to hear about cruelty inflicted to animals who are virtually at the mercy of humans. It seems as though I still grieve inwardly whenever I think about losing both my dog and my cat. Surely the best things we have that bring us delight and joy are people close to us. After 33 years of marriage my favorite person is still my wife, who is my best friend and the person I would most rather be with...even if we annoy each other whenever we are together. Usually it is in fun and jest. At other times it is our unintentional highly annoying idiosyncrasies. I wrote this last year after 32 years of marriage. As a grandfather, it is such a delight to just see my grandkids pictures and videos on Facebook and Skype. I've also experienced good heath and success in life. Virtually all the things that brings me happiness and joy are basically free gifts. As Christian I realize that I deserve and earn none of them. If anything, I know that I deserve the opposite. I know that the countless blessings I experience are all entirely God's mercy and grace to me, freely given, especially His Son (Gal 2:20, MSG). God blessed me before I believed in Him. God continues to pour out his blessings upon my life after my conversion in 1980. The key verse Rom 4:5 fully resonates with me in that I did nothing but sin as an ungodly person (Isa 64:6; Gen 6:5), while God only blessed (credited) my life as though I lived a perfect life (2 Cor 5:21), which is anything but the truth.
What are the things that bring you great happiness in life? What are the best things that you have in life? Likely they include persons and things about your life that delight you and bring you love, joy and peace. Good food does that for me, since I am a foodie. I am embarrassed and ashamed to admit that during my latest and current trip to Manila and Malaysia I gained 9 lbs (4 kg) in a month! It seems that I turn into a glutton whenever I go back to eating food that I ate growing up. I also love pets. Thus, I also loathe to hear about cruelty inflicted to animals who are virtually at the mercy of humans. It seems as though I still grieve inwardly whenever I think about losing both my dog and my cat. Surely the best things we have that bring us delight and joy are people close to us. After 33 years of marriage my favorite person is still my wife, who is my best friend and the person I would most rather be with...even if we annoy each other whenever we are together. Usually it is in fun and jest. At other times it is our unintentional highly annoying idiosyncrasies. I wrote this last year after 32 years of marriage. As a grandfather, it is such a delight to just see my grandkids pictures and videos on Facebook and Skype. I've also experienced good heath and success in life. Virtually all the things that brings me happiness and joy are basically free gifts. As Christian I realize that I deserve and earn none of them. If anything, I know that I deserve the opposite. I know that the countless blessings I experience are all entirely God's mercy and grace to me, freely given, especially His Son (Gal 2:20, MSG). God blessed me before I believed in Him. God continues to pour out his blessings upon my life after my conversion in 1980. The key verse Rom 4:5 fully resonates with me in that I did nothing but sin as an ungodly person (Isa 64:6; Gen 6:5), while God only blessed (credited) my life as though I lived a perfect life (2 Cor 5:21), which is anything but the truth.
Gospel Credit or Gospel Justification or Salvation is (Romans by John Stott):
- Not by works (1-8).
- Not by circumcision (9-12).
- Not by law (13-17).
- By faith (18-22).
- For us (23-25).
I. Justification is Not By Works (1-8)
II. Justification is Not By Circumcision (9-12)
III. Justification is Not By Law (13-17)
IV. Justification is By Faith (18-22)
V. Justification is For Us (23-25)
Salvation or Justification is ("The Message of Romans, Leader's Guide" by Tim Keller):
- A gift (1-8): Abraham was given, "credited," righteousness, so salvation is a gift, not earned. (How Abraham was saved.)
- For all (9-17): Abraham's righteousness came before circumcision and the law, so salvation is for all, not some. (When Abraham was saved.)
- For us (18-25): Abraham's faith is a case study for us, so we can truly be his "children." (Why Abraham was saved.)
I. Justification is A Gift (1-8): It is credited (the Greek word is repeated 14 times in 11 verses). It is not by works.
In Romans 4, Paul begins to defend his teaching of "justification by faith" and "righteousness of God" from the OT (which he had already stated in Rom 1:1-2; 3:21). This was important because he is speaking to a congregation not only of Gentile Christians but of Jewish Christians. They grew up in their Jewish context with rabbinic teaching that would have directly contradicted what Paul taught in Romans 3. The rabbis would have a real disagreement with Paul about this doctrine of justification by faith. They taught clearly that Gods salvation, Gods election of His people was based upon merit; that our righteousness compelled Gods electing, saving choice of us in salvation, which is diametrically opposed to what Paul wrote in Romans 3.
Paul emphasizes again that this righteousness is not produced by us. It is an alien righteousness, a righteousness accomplished by Christ. But this righteousness is available to us by faith, whereby we are justified by faith. This has been witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Paul cites both Abraham and David in Rom 4:1-8. Such righteousness is not a righteousness produced by self, nor by our effort, nor by our obedience. Its not a righteousness of our works. It is the righteousness of Christ.
In Romans 4, Paul begins to defend his teaching of "justification by faith" and "righteousness of God" from the OT (which he had already stated in Rom 1:1-2; 3:21). This was important because he is speaking to a congregation not only of Gentile Christians but of Jewish Christians. They grew up in their Jewish context with rabbinic teaching that would have directly contradicted what Paul taught in Romans 3. The rabbis would have a real disagreement with Paul about this doctrine of justification by faith. They taught clearly that Gods salvation, Gods election of His people was based upon merit; that our righteousness compelled Gods electing, saving choice of us in salvation, which is diametrically opposed to what Paul wrote in Romans 3.
Paul emphasizes again that this righteousness is not produced by us. It is an alien righteousness, a righteousness accomplished by Christ. But this righteousness is available to us by faith, whereby we are justified by faith. This has been witnessed to by the law and the prophets. Paul cites both Abraham and David in Rom 4:1-8. Such righteousness is not a righteousness produced by self, nor by our effort, nor by our obedience. Its not a righteousness of our works. It is the righteousness of Christ.
Why did Paul choose Abraham as his main example of justification by faith (Rom 4:1)? John Stott explains: "There seem to have been two reasons for Paul's choosing Abraham as his main example. The first is that he was the founding father of Israel, 'the rock from which [they] were cut', the favored recipient of God's covenant and promises. The second reason is doubtless that Abraham was held in the highest esteem by the Rabbis as the epitome of righteousness and even the special 'friend' of God (2 Ch 20:7; Isa 41:8; Jas 2:23). They took it for granted that he had been justified by works of righteousness. For instance, 'Abraham was perfect in all his dealings with the Lord and gained favor by his righteousness throughout his life.' They quoted the Scriptures in which God promised to bless Abraham because he had obeyed him (Gen 22:15; 26:2), without observing that these verses referred to Abraham's life of obedience after his justification. They even quoted Gen 15:6 (Rom 4:3), in such a way as to represent Abraham's faith as meaning his fidelity or faithfulness, which was therefore meritorious. For example, 'was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness?'" John R. W. Stott, Romans: God's Good News for the World (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1994), 123.
Justification (righteousness, salvation) is credited (λογίζομαι [logizomai] {Rom 4:3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24} is repeated 14 times in 11 verses. "Credit" is an accounting term meaning "to count as." To "credit" something is to confer a status that was not there before. It signifies to put something in someone's account (Phm 1:18). The Jews of the time (including Christians without realizing it) thought that faith = obedience of the law. But Paul argues in several ways in Rom 2:2-4 why saving faith is not that:
- To say that faith is credited as righteousness means that faith in itself is not righteousness. Faith could not be an active accomplishment of good deeds. Faith is therefore something that is receptive. Faith is not a "work" that merits anything.
- If faith = obedience, then salvation is not a gift. And if it is not a gift, God would be obligated to save us (Rom 4:4). This runs counter to the whole tenor of the Bible.
- If faith = obedience, then we who are saved would be able to boast before God and others (Rom 4:2a), for we are the real authors of our salvation. But that is antithetical to the spirit and character of the great patriarch Abraham (Rom 4:1). Paul argues in Rom 4:2. that if Abraham was justified by works, then he had something to boast about. But Paul expresses the impossibility of such a conclusion — but not before God! In other words, the clear falsity of the conclusion shows that the premise (that Abraham was justified by works) is wrong.
- If faith = obedience, then the actual object of faith is you yourself and your abilities. It leads to boasting and pride (or to despair and self-hatred). But if faith = trust God's promise to save, then the actual object of faith is God and his ability. That leads to humility and confidence.
Many Jewish commentators find Paul's definition of faith perplexing. One writes: "Faith becomes a zealous obedience in the matter of fulfilling the law… [Paul's position] of absolute opposition between faith, on the one hand, and the law, on the other… has always been unintelligible to the Jewish thinker." (H.J.Shoeps, Paul, London: 1962) This may also be true of Christians who functionally think of faith as obedience to the word of God, when to Paul salvation is by faith apart from obeying the law (Rom 3:28; 4:5).
Abraham wasn't saved by just believing in God. Rom 4:3 says, "Abraham believed God." This is not a general belief in God that saves, but it is believing God when he promises a way of salvation by grace. Saving faith is not faith in God in general. You can have lots and lots of strong faith that God exists, that he is loving, that he is holy. You can believe that the Bible is God's holy word. You can show great reverence for God. Yet all the while you can be seeking to be your own savior and justifier by trusting in our works, our performance in church/religion, performance in moral character, performance as a parent, performance in vocation, etc. Our mindset is to put God in our debt through our "works" in the Christian life, as though God owes it to us to bless us, answer our prayers and save us.
Rom 4:5 scares some Christians because they think that it means Christians don't have to do any work. They are afraid that it will remove all effort and motivation from the Christian life. This is a misunderstanding of what Paul meant. In contrast, to the model of faith = obedience of the law, Paul gives us a model of faith = trust of God's saving provision. In Rom 4:5, Paul says that saving faith consists in (1) the cessation of one kind of trust and (2) the commencement of another kind:
- A saved person does not work (Rom 4:5a). This cannot mean that a saved person does not obey the law (Rom 3:31; 6:1-2). It must therefore mean that the saved person no longer trusts in obedience as a way to be saved. A Christian is one who stops working to be saved, not one who stops working!
- A saved person trusts God who justifies the wicked (Rom 4:5b). This means a Christian is one who trusts in God as having a way to save apart from our efforts and our obedience to the law.
In Rom 4: 5 "justification" and "credited righteousness" are the same thing. To be "justified" is to receive "credited righteousness." This is what Martin Luther called "passive righteousness" and what theologians call "imputed righteousness" (though some object to the word "imputation"). Stott explains:
- God credits to us faith as righteousness (Rom 4:3, 5, 9, 22).
- God credits to us righteousness apart from works (Rom 4:6, 11, 13, 24).
- God refuses to credit our sins against us, but pardons and covers them instead (Rom 4:7-8).
These 3 expressions are not precise synonyms, but they belong together in justification. Justification involves a double counting, crediting, or reckoning. Negatively, God will never count our sins against us. Positively, God credits our account with righteousness, as a free gift, by faith, apart from our works. Similarly, in God's work of reconciliation, God was "not counting men's sins against them" (2 Cor 5:19), but instead "made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor 5:21).
II. Justification is For All (9-17)
III. Justification is For Us (18-25)
In this chapter, Paul clearly demonstrates that in no way does the OT contradict the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. Instead it is in fulfillment of the OT, and Abraham, justified through faith, is our pattern.
In this chapter, Paul clearly demonstrates that in no way does the OT contradict the gospel of salvation by grace through faith. Instead it is in fulfillment of the OT, and Abraham, justified through faith, is our pattern.
References:
- Why Works Won't Work (Rom 3:27-4:12). Keith Krell.
- Claim God's Promise (Rom 4:13-25). Keith Krell.
- Abraham and David Demonstrate Righteousness Apart From Works: Study Guide for Romans 4. David Guzik.
- Bible Study Questions on Romans. David E. Pratte.
Questions (4:1-25):
- How does Paul's illustration of Abraham in chapter 4 follow chapter 3? Why do you think Paul chose Abraham as the prime illustration of justification by faith and not by works (Rom 4:1-5)?
- The word λογίζομαι (logizomai) is repeated 14 times in 11 verses in Romans 4 (Rom 4:3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24). What does this teach about justification, righteousness and salvation? Explain how Abraham's righteousness is due to faith alone and not works (Rom 4:1-5).
- Was Abraham saved by believing in God (Rom 4:3)? Is this a general belief in a God that saves us? Why? Why not?
- What does Paul mean by saying a Christian is "one who does not work" (Rom 4:5; 3:28)? Does it mean to not obey the law (Rom 3:31; 6:1-2)?
- How does Paul's definition of faith differ from that of many churchgoers/religious people?
- If God asked you, "Why should I let you into my heaven?" what would you say?
- What do you think are the general requirements for admission into heaven? Who gets in and who doesn't?"
- Why is forgiveness so critical (Rom 4:6-8)? How does it make you feel to know that your sins are forgiven. When did you first realize that Jesus had forgiven all your past, present and future sins? How can you communicate God's forgiveness to those who don't know what it means?
- Is how God dealing with sin in Rom 4:6-8 different from Rom 4:1-5? How is "God who justifies the wicked" (Rom 4:5) supported by David (Rom 4:6-8; Ps 32:1-2). Explain again "God credits righteousness apart from works." (Rom 4:6).
- How does Paul make his case in Rom 4:9-17 that salvation is not just for Jews, but for all?
- Why is justification by faith instead of by Law (Rom 4:13-17)? Have you experienced how "the law brings wrath" (Rom 4:15)? Has this helped you to rely by faith in Christ alone?
- How does Abraham (Rom 4:18-25) illustrate the difference between believing in God, and believing God (Rom 4:3)? What situation in your life seems impossible (Rom 4:18-19)?
- What kept Abraham from not wavering in unbelief (Rom 4:20)? When did Abraham struggle with doubt (Gen 15:3; 16:1-4)? How can his example help you strengthen your faith (Rom 4:19-22)?
- What did Jesus do to make our justification possible (Rom 4:23-25)? How important is the resurrection to your faith? How can you explain the importance of the resurrection to others?
Sinclair Ferguson's 5 sermons on Romans 4:
- Justification Always By Faith (1-8)
- Justification Signed and Sealed (9-12)
- The Grace Guarantee (13-17)
- Marks of Justifying Faith (18-24)
- Justified - So What? (4:20-5:1)
Martyn Lloyd-Jones' 9 sermons:
- Abraham Justified By Faith - Romans 4:1-3 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Justifying the Ungodly - Romans 4:4-8 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Faith Only - Romans 4:9-16 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- The Nature of Faith - Romans 4:18 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Salvation Guaranteed by Grace - Romans 4:13-17 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Faith Glorifying God - Romans 4:18-22 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Raised for Our Justification - Romans 4:22-25 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Delivered for Our Offences - Romans 4:23-25 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
- Believe God - Romans 4:18-25 AudioMP3 by Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Ligon Duncan's 6 sermons:
Justification by faith - getting right with God, being acquitted in his court, being forgiven for our sins, being declared righteous and having the righteousness of Christ, and our sins exchanged with Christ's righteousness (2 Cor 5:21), (not becoming righteous, but being counted as righteous while we are still sinners), and all this by faith in Christ - that is what the first 8 chapters of Romans are mostly about. For Paul, it was the heart of the gospel message. Romans is the fullest, most systematic, most extensive effort of Paul to put his message in writing, which is structured around the great truth of justification by faith.
- The Bible Says Abraham Was Justified by Faith! - Romans 4:1-3
- David Understood Justification by Faith - Romans 4:4-8
- Faith and the Covenant Sign of Circumcision - Romans 4:9-12
- Faith and the Law - Romans 4:13-15
- Faith, Grace and the Spiritual Seed - Romans 4:16-17
- Abraham's Faith and Ours - Romans 4:18-25
Justification by faith - getting right with God, being acquitted in his court, being forgiven for our sins, being declared righteous and having the righteousness of Christ, and our sins exchanged with Christ's righteousness (2 Cor 5:21), (not becoming righteous, but being counted as righteous while we are still sinners), and all this by faith in Christ - that is what the first 8 chapters of Romans are mostly about. For Paul, it was the heart of the gospel message. Romans is the fullest, most systematic, most extensive effort of Paul to put his message in writing, which is structured around the great truth of justification by faith.
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