John Chapter Three: The road to salvation – we study Paul's letter to the Romans: Romans Chapter 4

Documentation Published on 21 August 2024

The Road to Salvation – We Study Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chapter 4

The question about life from Abraham

Remember that the books and letters in the Bible were not originally divided into chapters and verses. Chapter 4 directly follows chapter 3 without any break or gap. Check out David Guzik's explanation of Romans 4 this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SN3sov_vMtw.

The belief and living it confirms the existence and value of the law. The question now is how Abraham could be justified. There was no law at this stage. See Genesis 15:6. Abram (his old name) believed in God, and this led to righteousness. This word "believed" indicates a very special relationship he had with God. The word "calculated" is an accounting term. Abraham was part of God's balance sheet of man. He does not see Abraham as a debit or debt, but, but as a credit, in the green, and something that has value, and a friend.

Abraham was very highly regarded by the Jews. He could have had something to brag about in front of people. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way in God's order. Think of Frank Sinatra's words "I did it my way". Your way is not sufficient, and it is not the right way either. However, God does not leave us as we are. His work in us is transformative and life changing - we are gradually changed from the broken image of a sinful person to the perfect image of Jesus Christ.

Verses 4 and 5 explain that if you work and get paid for it, it is not because the employer likes you, but because you did the work and therefore earned the salary. Do you ever thank your employer after your salary is paid? No. It is not necessary because you have done the work.

In God's order it works differently. Nothing you do can give you the reward, but what God gives you is grace and justification by faith. God owes us nothing. It is only faith through Jesus Christ that leads to our salvation. David understood this concept and he writes that those whose sin is forgiven are blessed and their sin is no longer imputed. See Psalm 32:1-2.

The question now is whether this promise applies to the circumcised (the Jews) or the uncircumcised (the Gentiles). We easily think of Abraham as a Jew, but at this stage circumcision had not yet been introduced and there was no law yet. (Verse 10). However, Abraham received the promise when he was still uncircumcised, and this means that the promise also applies to the Gentiles.

This promise is underlined in Genesis 17:5. The promise was that Abraham would be a father of many nations, not just the Jews. The problem, however, was that Abraham and Sarah did not have children together at that time. See Genesis 15:5. If you read verses 19 and 20, you may see some humour in it. Also look at Genesis 17:17. Abraham just laughed when you heard he was going to be the father of many nations. He looked at his old man condition and thought it was impossible. Sara did the same. See Genesis 18:12. Please read Genesis 15-18 to see the bigger picture.

Back to Romans. See verse 16 onwards. Faith is connected to grace. Works are bound by law. We cannot get our salvation based on the law, because the law still holds you responsible for everything you have done wrong. However, grace is what you got (God gave it to you) to turn what you did wrong (the debits on your balance sheet) into credits.

Because Abraham believed that God would do what He promised, he was justified by his faith. Abraham was called a friend of God (Isaiah 41:8 and James 2:23). At first his name was Abram ("honoured father") but he and Sarah had no children, except Ishmael, by Hagar. However, Ishmael was not part of the promise. Abram was already 86 years old when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16). However, God promised him that he would be the father of many nations (verse 17). All his life he had to live with the ridicule that he was not a father. Then God changed his name to Abraham ("father of many nations", Genesis 17:5) and Sarai ("princess") to Sarah ("mother of the nations") (Genesis 17:15). He was dead in the sense that he could not maintain the lineage, but now God gives life in Abraham and Sarah. See the wonder of verse 18. Think of the humour we talked about earlier. Now, however, Abraham realizes that God is serious. Look carefully at the section "believed against hope for hope"! Have you put all your hopes on the line when there seems to be no hope?

Verse 19 shows us something important. Abraham believed God, but he still had to do his part, even though he was almost 100 years old. Here there was no supernatural intervention in the sense of Mary's pregnancy with Jesus. Abraham and Sarah still had to do what needed to be done to conceive. On the contrary, Abraham's faith was strengthened even further (verse 20) because of the promise. How strong is your faith when everything seems to be against you? More than that, do you act actively to ensure that God's promises materialize in your life, or do you just sit back passively? We must learn to act in faith, not to be passive in faith. What God promises, He does (verse 21), but we must give our cooperation. However, this promise did not only apply to Abraham, but to all who believe.

Look carefully at verse 23. God's promises are not only for Abraham, but also for us. Abraham was declared righteous so that we can enjoy its benefits today. Just as life came from Abraham and Sarah's dead state (verse 19), life came from me and you as unbelievers when we came to faith. Abraham's faith has been realized through Jesus Christ in me and you. See Romans 4:23-25. What you and I must do is to place our faith in Jesus' resurrection from the dead. As life came from Abraham and Sarah, so Life came when Jesus was raised from the dead (verse 24).

The question is in which aspect of Jesus do we place our faith. Is it that He is the Son of God? That he was the best teacher of all time? Do you think that it is because he is the Creator (John 1:1-5)? None of this will save you, except this passage: "we who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered over for our transgressions and raised up for our justification." (verses 24-25).

Let's look at this carefully: You can believe anything until just before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it will not save you. There are many people who call themselves Christians, who actually do not believe that God raised his Son Jesus Christ from the dead. A good example is the Roman Catholics, and also anyone who carries a cross with the image of Jesus still on it. For them He never rose from the dead and is still on the cross. As a result, their faith is useless. The righteousness is only imputed (verse 24) "to us who believe" that Jesus "was raised for our crimes for our justification". There is no justification for unbelievers, simply because they do not believe in the resurrection and life of Jesus Christ. See Acts 23:6.

Conclusion

God's plan for your life is well worked out and there are no mistakes. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is what leads to your justification. Faith in God that as He raised Jesus from the dead, He also saves you from the death of sin, is necessary. He did it for a man of almost 100 years, and he can do it for you too. Do you have this faith today?

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The Road to Salvation – We study Paul's letter to the Romans

The question about life from Abraham

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