Romans 4:9-15

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. 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, 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. ¹⁴ For 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.

In today’s passage, Paul continues his case study on Abraham,  the man of faith. Sadly, some theologians don’t believe that Romans 4 is of any benefit to modern Christians, since they think it only deals with Jewish arguments Paul was having at the time. I was disappointed to find my name sake, C.H. Dodd (a mildly famous, yet from my experience, not the most faithful theologian), saying, “(Chapter 4) has little interest and no weight for us…the whole exposition seems remote and unenlightening”.

I’ve got to heartily disagree. I’ve been finding great treasures in this chapter, as you’ll especially find in my last post on v1-8, but also here in 9-15.

Having stated clearly that Abraham’s righteousness was not a result of his works, since his works would be worthless in God’s sight – Paul continues by now asking whether Abraham’s righteousness came as a result of his circumcision, or through the obedience of the Jewish Law. The answer to both is a resounding ‘no’.

Paul asks whether the blessings of righteousness to the sinner (v8) comes to the circumcised or the uncircumcised (v9). To answer, he looks at Abraham. “How then was it (righteousness) counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? it was not after, but before he was circumcised” (v10). It’s a very simple arguement – he can’t have been declared righteous because of his circumcision, because he was declared righteous at the moment he believed and trusted God – not the few years later when he had the snip. They are different events. The later circumcision was merely a ‘seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised” (v11) Don’t be alarmed by the world ’seal’ – as though it were the basis of his assurance. Paul clearly states, (as the OT clearly states), that Abraham already had this righteousness by faith. It was his already by faith alone.

God designed the order of events like this for a very important reason. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised (Gentiles), so that righteousness would be counted to them as well – we can be fully assured of receiving the same righteousness by faith apart from circumcision or any outward Jewish practice because Abraham was treated like that, and God doesn’t change – and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith of our father Abraham had before he was circumcised (v11-12). God’s wonderful design means that Abraham is also the father of the holy Jewish people of the OT. They trace their roots back to him and the original circumcision – but we Gentiles of faith also trace our roots back to him. He truly is the father of us all!

But the real striking thing you might have noticed is that he is not the father of those who are merely circumcised. You can’t just be one of God’s people by cutting some skin. v12 makes that clear, and v13 continues that theme, “For 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.” vv14-15 echo chapter 3 in their horrible summary of life by law, “The promise is void“.

We must be people of faith, who do not work but trust him who justifies the ungodly. Look to Abraham for encouragement. And whatever you do – don’t look to yourself for salvation.

There be wrath down that path,

Matt.

Romans 4:1-8

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 believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ⁶just 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;
⁸blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

This passage should fill us with unimaginable joy. It’s a passage where a blessed person is talked about, and suddenly you realise, “What a second…that’s me!”. I hope to give you a joyous lift to your (perhaps) not so joyous day. I hope you want to praise God at the end with me in prayer.

Have you ever taken justification by faith for granted? I’ll answer for you – absolutely! – because nothing is easier than not responding appropriately to the mind-blowing truths of the gospel – that God has forgiven our sins, sins that deserved eternal wrath and fury – they are gone, and God’s very righteousness and perfection has been imputed and transferred onto us, and our sins and filth were imputed and transferred onto the crucified Christ (what love!), and we are now God’s children – and all of this, has come by nothing but our belief. It is easy to take that for granted. And moreover, it is so easy to forget just how many millions and millions who attend a church building week in week out have never heard that message – and never will.  See what has been granted to you! See it in all its magnificence! I want to yell this to all the church (and to myself), “DON’T TAKE JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH FOR GRANTED!” We should never be anything but broken hearted and endlessly thankful and joyful for it – but I don’t think it blows my mind anywhere near enough, most of the time. Let’s behold it now in this very simple and clear passage. This is what Romans 1-4, and the whole book is about.

Having beheld the beauty of the gospel message in the second half of chapter 3, I believe Paul writes this next little passage to show these great truths can be grounded in someone’s life.  He shows us Abraham, one of the most admired men in the OT, and makes very clear that he was a man of faith, not a man of works. “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” In other words, if Abraham had been a man who trusted in works, he may have had reason to be proud of that – but he shouldn’t have been before God. Works are simply not impressive to God. It’d be like doing a days work in an office, then triumphantly walking to the bosses’ office and declaring, “See Boss, I’ve completed a full days work! Check out how much I did!” The Boss will probably say, “Yes…that’s great. That’s why I’m paying you. Get out of my office and do it again tomorrow”. Paul uses this kind of analogy. “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.” Paul is saying, if you want to live under a system of works and law, then you’re deciding to be treated exactly as you deserve. God will pay you your dues. Of course, the wage we deserve is death (Romans 6:23). We need to be treated like we don’t deserve, and that means we can’t go by a system of works and self-righteousness or pride. We have to come to God and say, “I can’t earn salvation. I need grace.”

And here’s the amazing verse of grace, v5, “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” This is what needs to blow our minds. Those who do not work, but simply believe that God will declare innocent the guilty by faith in Jesus, will be saved. That’s the secret – it’s the only way for a humanity so depraved. Christians do not work, but believe. That is the heart of the gospel. It lifts the burden of sin and guilt off our shoulders, it fills us with joy, it sets us free from sin and death, it gives us the sure hope of eternal life. We should have bumper stickers on our car that say, “I don’t work, I believe”. Our faith is credited to us, counted to us as the very righteousness of God. Wow.

David knew just how good this was. If he could have seen a Christian, he would have said, “This is a blessed man”, for he said, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin”.

That’s me.

Heavenly Father, I take the gospel of justification by faith for granted so often. I am not amazed by your love, but what you did for me through Christ. You did this all for my salvation, all for your glory. How marvellous and wonderful is your love for me! And how depraved and pathetic is my love for you. Break my pride, may I not live a subtle life of working rather than believing. May I awaken to the joys of my salvation afresh each day. Renew me by your Holy Spirit to take great joy and peace in the blessings of forgiven sin you have granted me. Send me out with this message always on my tongue, that you might wash away the sins of many through the proclamation of your wonderful gospel. For Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen.

Hope your day is joyful from here on,

Matt.

 

Romans 3:27-31

²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. ²⁹Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, ³⁰since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. ³¹Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

It’s good to be back in the blogging chair. A quick (but hearty) thanks for still reading, despite my frequent lapses of commitment! I would love to know you’re still reading on, feel free to drop me a line in some way to let me know – that would be encouraging (You’d be hard pressed to match the keenness of my mum though, she’s my biggest blog fan going around. Take that Gen-Y!)

Well, we’re wrapping up Romans chapter 3. A quick recap of where we’ve come from.

Paul is writing to the Roman church, telling them that he is super keen to preach the gospel to them (1:15), because he’s not ashamed of it, in fact, he loves it because he knows it’s the power of God to save everyone simply by faith and nothing else (1:16-17). We then saw why the gospel is such good news, and why it’s so necessary to preach, because the wrath of God is being revealed against sinful humanity (v18). That’s bad, because God, the righteous judge, is going to give us the exact judgment we deserve, and that’s really bad (First half chp 2). After a brief look at whether Jews got out of this sticky scenario, he concluded that both Jews and Greeks were equally under sin and condemnation (3:9-10). But then, seemingly out of no-where, a righteousness of God for sinners appears apart from the law (3:21), it’s the glorious gospel of what Jesus Christ has done (3:22-25). God did it all, by his grace and mercy alone, and he did it all to vindicate his righteousness – God is first and foremost working for the glory of God. That’s where we got to.

What does this mean for us? What implications does this have? World changing ones. Massive. Everything changes.

Firstly, boasting is excluded (v27). Human self-righteousness, pride and power simply disappears off the radar. It’s irrelevant. We’re completely irrelevant. On what basis is boasting excluded? It’s because salvation is no longer based on a law of works, but “by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law”. Justification totally apart from works of the law. There’s no overlap! All our salvation comes from the merciful gracious hand of God, and nothing will save us but faith in God’s ability to do what he says he’ll do. Therefore, we should be broken-hearted, humble and thankful slaves of God! Why wouldn’t you want to be! Why go on boasting and holding on to our pride and not giving God all the glory, and all of our lives?! There’s no use, for boasting is excluded and irrelevant. Get honest with yourself and stop pretending you need to hold up some kind of appearance as a ‘holy Christian’ (I’m preaching to myself here!). Get on your knees as a sinner – there’s no shame in that! There’s great joy, for since boasting is excluded there is no other appropriate or truthful response to the gospel.

The second implication of the gospel is just as massive. Because justification is by faith alone, and since all boasting is done with, anyone of any age, race and religious background can be saved. Paul makes this clear in v29-30, “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes of Gentiles also.” Of course, God has always been the God of all people ever since the beginning of time. But can you see the point he is making here – “God is one”, and for those who come in faith, whoever they are, God responds the same way – he “will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith(v30)”. No difference. Salvation by faith is the greatest leveller ever known. It unifies the church above and beyond every single human predujice, racial disharmony or disqualification. That is unheard of in our world – you will not find that anywhere else.

As you can see, salvation by faith changes everything. It makes everyone who takes its path 100/100 in relationship with God, despite who they are. It makes everyone who takes its path worth 0/100 in comparison to God.

As you can see, God has worked everything to bring glory to none other than himself – He gets the glory, we get the grace (and the joy!).

Gloria in Excelsis Deo,

Matt.