Romans 4: The Faith of Abraham

How does someone who the Bible describes as dead in trespasses and sins, who is hostile to God, and not able to please God, able to place their own trust in God?

They must be enabled by the Spirit of God.

Abraham Believed God

Genesis 12:1–4 NASB95

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Hebrews 11:8 NASB95

By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Galatians 3:6 NASB95

Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

What does it mean that it “counted” to him as righteousness?

λογίζομαι: to determine by mathematical process, to take into account. It is an accounting term.

Old Testament Proof:

Genesis 15:4 NASB95

Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”

Genesis 15:6 NASB95

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

God owes us nothing. We owe God everything. What God does mercifully for one, he has NO obligation to do for the other who does not deserve it to begin with.

Romans 9:14–15 NASB95

What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

In other words, it isn’t unjust of God to have mercy on one man but not on me.

The Lord does not take our sin into account BECAUSE of Christ:

Psalm 32:1 NASB95

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered!

II. Justification is a Gift vv. 9-12

At Paul’s writing, spiritually speaking, there were two types of people: circumcised and uncircumcised. Jew and Gentile. We call them believers and unbelievers, regenerate and the unregenerate. This has nothing to do with racism whatsoever.

The gift of justification was not only for the Jew.

Abraham was Righteous by Faith before he was Circumcised

Righteousness was not counted to Abraham as the result of work he had done.

Abraham is the Father of those who are not merely circumcised, but of those who walk in the footsteps of the same faith Abraham walked in.

The Jerusalem Conference

Acts 15:1 NASB95

Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

Acts 15:2 NASB95

And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue.

III. Abraham was Granted the Promise Through Faith vv. 13-25

The promise was not through the law for the law had not yet been given.

The Law Nullifies Faith

Galatians 3:18 NASB95

For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.

Hebrews 9:15 NASB95

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

High Definition Commentary: Romans Romans 4:9–25

The Promise: The law promotes knowledge of sin, and thus was never intended to produce anything besides wrath.

Why? The law produces nothing but wrath, as it was designed to do. It reveals God’s character to a sinful world in order to convict people of their sin.

A recipient of a promise has to trust the one making the promise. Trust = Faith.

Faith is Required if Grace is the Cause

Romans 3:24 NASB95

being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

Ephesians 2:8–10 NASB95

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Galatians 3:8–9 NASB95

The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.

These things were not written for Abraham’s sake but for ours.

Jesus died for our transgressions and was raised for our justification

Romans 10:9–10 NASB95

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

1 Corinthians 15:17 NASB95

and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.

High Definition Commentary: Romans Summary for Romans 1:18–4:25

Paul’s primary objective in this section is to establish that everyone, Jew and Gentile alike, faces the wrath of God, which has been revealed against impiety and ungodliness (1:18–19). “Everyone” includes pious Jews who believe they are somehow exempted; they, too, are guilty of the very things they preach against (2:1–9). In chapter 3, Paul tackles the issue of whether there is any advantage to being a Jew if everyone is under God’s wrath. His initial positive answer in 3:1 gives way to a more sober answer beginning in 3:9. In 3:21–26 Paul outlines the new righteousness that has been revealed, one that is intended for everyone—not just those who keep the law. Just as God’s wrath levels the field for both Jew and Gentile, so too does this righteousness brought about by Jesus’ death and resurrection. As a result, no one has any basis for boasting, and pride is completely removed since justification is made available only by grace through faith in Christ. Abraham’s experience proves that this has always been God’s plan. Now that he has addressed the question of God’s wrath, Paul resumes the themes of 1:16–17 regarding the practical implications of gospel and its power of salvation to all who believe.

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