Sermon Tone Analysis

Romans 4:1-8.

"Justified".

Safe Haven Community Church.

Sunday September 25th, 2022.

Romans 4:1-8.

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just 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; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

(ESV)

Do you really believe that God will keep His promises to you? Have you ever felt that God has forgotten you?

When God made a covenant with Abraham, it was more than just a few legal terms pasted on a piece of paper.

God chose to take full responsibility for Abraham's destiny.

God guaranteed His commitment to him, unconditionally.

As Christian believers, we also benefit from the Abrahamic Covenant.

How?

It guarantees our justification (Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

(2001).

Practical Illustrations: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians (p.

78).

Leadership Ministries Worldwide.)

The doctrine of how a sinner can become right with God, in Christianity known as justification.

Every faith system except Christianity, discusses various ways in which good works will appease a deity or the fact that there is no deity to appease.

Only the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is a God who is infinitely holy, requiring perfection to order to satisfy His wrath.

Since all of humanity is inherently sinful, the question must be asked about how one can therefore be justified before such a God.

The theological reality of substitutionary atonement, where Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, alone can satisfy the wrath of God is a controversial one.

How is it that faith in Christ satisfies God's wrath?

Is this a form or cosmic child abuse or a religious fiction invented by people to satisfy their consciences?

To get this answer wrong is to be eternally mistaken.

The entire fourth chapter of Romans is devoted to Abraham, whom Paul uses as an illustration of the central biblical truth that people can become right with God only by faith in response to His grace, and never by works.

Verses 6-8 pertain to David, but Paul is simply using David as an illustration to substantiate what he is teaching about Abraham.

By using Abraham as the supreme scriptural example of justification, or salvation, by faith alone, Paul was storming the very citadel of traditional Judaism.

By demonstrating that Abraham was not justified by works, the apostle demolished the foundation of rabbinical teaching-that people are made right with God by keeping the law, that is, on the basis of their own religious efforts and works.

If Abraham was not and could not have been justified by keeping the law, then no one could be.

Conversely, if Abraham was justified solely on the basis of his faith in God, then everyone else must be justified in the same way, since Abraham is the biblical standard of a righteous person.

In Romans 4:1-8, the Apostle Paul explains how one is justified, or in a right standing with God, by faith alone.

Using the ultimate example why human works do not save, he explains how: 1) Abraham Was Not Justified By His Works (Romans 4:1-2) 2) Abraham Was Justified by His Faith (Romans 4:3-5), 3) Justification Brings Blessing (Romans 4:6-8)

To understand how a sinner is justified, we must understand how:

1) Abraham Was Not Justified By His Works (Romans 4:1-2)

Romans 4:1-2 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God (ESV)

Paul begins by asking, What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?

He was asking, in effect, "Because we agree that Abraham is the peerless example of a justified man in God's sight, why don't we look at him carefully in order to determine the basis of his justification?"

In this context what then is the equivalent of therefore, tying the discussion of Abraham to all that Paul has said in the preceding chapter.

After asserting that both Jew and Gentile are justified by faith (Rom.

3:30), the apostle brings Abraham into the picture because he knew that this greatest of Jewish patriarchs, their forefather according to the flesh, was used by the rabbis as the ultimate example of one being justified by works.

Paul will demonstrate that, to the contrary, Scripture clearly teaches that Abraham was saved by his faith alone.

Abraham was the human forefather of God's first covenant with His chosen people.

He was therefore, according to the flesh, the human standard of a genuine Jew and of a man who is right before God.

The whole Hebrew race came from his loins, and what was true regarding his relationship to God must therefore be true of all his descendants.

Abraham's name meant "father of a multitude" (cf.

vv.

16-18).

His original name, Abram, meant "exalted father."

(Utley, R. J. (1998).

The Gospel according to Paul: Romans (Vol.

Volume 5, Ro 4:1).

Marshall, Texas: Bible Lessons International.)

Not only was Abraham the model for Israel, but later rabbis considered him the model Gentile convert to Judaism and affirmed his and Sarah's witness to Gentiles.

Those who appealed to the model of Abraham often appealed to his works, with faith among them (Keener, C. S. (2009).

Romans (p.

63).

Eugene, OR: Cascade Books.).

Please turn to Genesis 12

According to the flesh refers first of all to physical lineage.

But in this context it also suggests human effort in regard to justification.

Paul has already asserted that Jew and Gentile alike are justified by faith (Rom.

3:30) and in Romans 4:2 he refers to the traditional Jewish idea of Abraham's justifying himself by good works.

Therefore, according to the flesh could refer to reliance on human works.

Abraham's works according to the flesh did not produce boasting but produced shame and confusion.

(McGee, J. V. (1991).

Thru the Bible commentary: The Epistles (Romans 1-8) (electronic ed., Vol.

42, p. 77).

Thomas Nelson.)

Yet, the blessing contained in Genesis 12 explains the covenant relationship that God had with Abraham, and what is promised to his lineage:

Genesis 12:1-3 Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

(ESV)

* God's invitation to Abram challenges him to abandon the normal sources of personal identity and security: his family and country.

To obey, Abram must trust God implicitly; all human support is largely removed.

The promised outcomes are conditional on Abram's obedience (Crossway Bibles.

(2008).

The ESV Study Bible (p.

71).

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.)

* Abraham therefore is the picture of faith.

In coming to Christ, one must abandon identity in self-merit and earthly security.

This involves repenting of sin and trusting in God through the meritorious work of Christ for eternal life.

If one has done this, obedience will evidence that repentance and faith.

In a hypothetical syllogism, Paul says in verse 2, For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about.

The major premise is that, if one could be justified before God by human efforts, then there is a ground for boasting in that effort.

The minor premise is that Abraham, as a man, was argued by some to be justified by works.

The necessary conclusion would be that if this all be true, Abraham therefore has something to boast about.

The major premise is true: If one could be justified by works, they would indeed have something to boast about, because such would have merited their own salvation.

But, as Paul goes on to demonstrate, the minor premise is not true.

Consequently, the conclusion is untrue.

Abraham did not have anything in himself to boast about before God.

No one is justified by his works (if Abraham was not, who could be?) (Morris, L. (1988).

The Epistle to the Romans (p.

195).

Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans; Inter-Varsity Press.).

Illustration: HAVE you ever gotten a letter in the mail from a credit card company telling you that you've been prequalified?

These letters will usually tell you that you can spend five thousand dollars because they've already checked you out and decided you would be a good customer.

Now, this is just a ploy.

They are just trying to get you to spend money so that they can charge you interest.

God has also prequalified us for righteousness.

Unlike the trickery involved with the credit card companies, He has prequalified us by already applying the righteousness of Christ to our accounts.

Our balances have already been paid.

(It's not been paid because of the works that we would or have done, but solely on the work of Christ on our behalf).

(Evans, T. (2009).

Tony Evans' book of illustrations: stories, quotes, and anecdotes from more than 30 years of preaching and public speaking (p.