Romans 4-Abraham Justified by FAITH

ROMANS 4
Abraham Justified by Faith

1What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? 2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. 3What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. 5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. 6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7”Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”

9Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had faith while he was still uncircumcised

13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. 14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, 15because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

16Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father to us all. 17As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations”. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

18Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be”. 19Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. 22This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” 23The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, 24but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.


The principles that most profoundly stick out from Romans 4 are:
-Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness
-Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation (this tells me that wages are credited due to God’s laws of labor, reaping and harvesting, but have nothing to do with being righteous)
-Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations. (he believed when all facts pointed in the other direction away from hope)


Four motivations for a life of believing God:
-Incomparable power (Eph. 1:19)
-The pleasure of God (Heb. 11:6a)
-Reward (Heb. 11:6b)
-God will often act according to our faith (Matt. 9:29)

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3) God is obviously very intent on our receiving the concept because He not only stated it originally in Genesis 15:6, but He also said it repeatedly in Romans, then again in the Books of Galatians and James. God is never one to waste words. Any repetitions are to be considered paramount.

Genesis 15:6 “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

How do we know this applies to us???
Romans 4:23-24 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Beth offers a great analogy:
“I grew up believing that a person’s goodness is what pleased God most. By the time I was in early adulthood, I already had so many acts of unrighteousness credited to my account that I thought I would have to live to be one hundred without a single mistake to tip the scale toward God’s approval. Some of us have so much defeat in our past that we feel that we lost the race before we knew it started. Imagine two teams coming out to the basketball court to play a game. One team lost its previous game by 45 points. The other team won, so it enters the game with no strikes against it. Now picture the new game beginning with the scoreboard reading “0 to 45”. Many of us have felt so defeated by our last round that we feel as if we’ll never win. Therefore, we play like losers. Every person God created has an innate need to feel that some way exists to win. That is what Romans 4:23-24 is all about.

Not our righteous acts but our faith are credited as righteous. According to Isaiah 64:6, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and alike the wind our sins sweep us away.”

How do I free myself from the cycle of defeat?
I choose to believe God. He said I was forgiven. That I was beautiful to Him. That He had a purpose for my life. That I was a new woman. I no longer had to carry my old baggage or turn to my old comforts. That Christ Jesus took on my unrighteousness so that I could be the righteousness of God in Him (see 2 Cor. 5:21). That His all-surpassing power was within my jars of clay (see 2 Cor. 4:7)

2Corinthians 5:21 “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:7-10 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

The only thing that makes us heirs and seeds of Abraham is our belief in Jesus Christ as our Savior, and the only thing that makes us righteous is our faith. No works or deeds, just belief and faith.

1 Peter 1:7
These have come so that your faith- of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire -may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

What has a greater worth or value than gold?? MY FAITH….YOUR FAITH

Righteous acts motivated by legalism: NO VALUE
FAITH: More value than gold