Sermon Tone Analysis

Romans 4:9-17.

"Saving Grace"

Safe Haven Community Church.

Sunday October 16th, 2022.

Romans 4:9-17.

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?

For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.

10 How 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, 12 and 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.

13 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.

14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.

15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring-not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"-in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

(ESV)

Calling himself a "wretch" who was lost and blind, John Newton recalled leaving school at the age of 11 to begin life as a rough, debauched seaman.

Eventually he engaged in the despicable practice of capturing natives from West Africa to be sold as slaves to markets around the world.

But one day the grace of God put fear into the heart of this wicked slave trader through a fierce storm.

Greatly alarmed and fearful of a shipwreck, God lead him to a genuine conversion and a dramatic change in his way of life.

After some time, Newton began to write his own hymns, often assisted by his close friend William Cowper.

In 1779 their combined efforts produced the famous Olney Hymns hymnal.

"Amazing Grace" was from that collection.

Until the time of his death at the age of 82, John Newton never ceased to marvel at the grace of God that transformed him so completely.

Shortly before his death he is quoted as proclaiming with a loud voice during a message, "My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior!" (Osbeck, K. W. (1996).

Amazing grace: 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions (p.

170).

Kregel Publications.)

Newton realized that one is forgiven of their sins not because of the works that they do, but in spite of them because of God's grace.

Yet, apart from Christianity, every faith system is a desire to earn merit through human works.

The works-centered systems of religion that people create under Satan's inspiration, seeks to convince people that they can be made right with God and guaranteed a place in heaven by performing certain rites and ceremonies.

Some religions are much more sophisticated and humanly attractive than others, but all share the common false belief in works righteousness in some form or the other.

The unredeemed person instinctively believes that somehow they can make themselves right with God by their own efforts.

In Romans 4, the Apostle Paul continues his assault against works righteousness and citing the supreme example known to his audience of Abraham, who was the supreme example of a godly man, to show that he was saved by faith rather than by works (Rom.

4:1-8).

Paul is now establishing that Abraham was saved through God's grace and not by being circumcised or by keeping the law.

His argument was that if Abraham, the greatest man in the old dispensation, was saved through faith by God's grace, then every other person must be justified on the same basis.

And, contrarily, if Abraham could not be justified by being circumcised or by keeping the law, then neither could any another person.

In Romans 4:9-17 Paul demonstrates three closely related truths showing how Saving Grace is the only way to achieve eternal life.

He shows this first by proving that: 1) Abraham's justifying faith did not come by his circumcision (Romans 4:9-12); it did 2) not come by his keeping the law (vv.

13-15); but rather 3) it came solely by God's grace (vv.

16-17).

Saving Grace is the only way to achieve eternal life which can be seen in the fact that:

1) Abraham Was Not Justified by Circumcision (Romans 4:9-12)

Romans 4:9-12.

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?

For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.

10 How 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, 12 and 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.

(ESV)

Paul anticipated the question that Jews would be asking at this point in his argument: "If Abraham was justified by his faith alone, why did God demand circumcision of Abraham and all his descendants?"

Genesis 17:10-14 makes clear that the act of circumcision was a God-given mark of His covenant with Abraham and his descendants, the Jews.

It was on the basis of that passage that the rabbis taught, and most Jews believed, that obedience to that rite was the means of pleasing God and becoming right with Him.

But Paul uses that very passage to demonstrate that, to the contrary, Abraham was not made righteous before God by his circumcision but that when he was given the command of circumcision he had already been declared righteous.

That is why Paul begins by asking, Is this blessing then only for/upon the circumcised, or also/upon the uncircumcised?

For we say, "Faith was counted/reckoned to Abraham as righteousness." 10 How then was it counted/reckoned to him?

Was it before or after he had been circumcised?

The relevance of this basic truth for our own day is great.

Although few people, even Jews, now believe that circumcision brings salvation, countless millions firmly trust in some other form of religious ceremony or activity to make them right with God.

That is exactly the kind of power the Jews of Paul's day attached to circumcision.

And because they believed that what was true for Abraham in regard to justification was true of every person, especially every Jew, Paul continues to use that patriarch as his model.

Answering his own question about the time of Abraham's being declared righteous, the apostle declares that it was not after, but before he was circumcised.

The obvious chronology of Genesis proves it.

When Abraham was circumcised, Ishmael was thirteen years old and Abraham was ninety-nine (see Gen. 17:23-25).

But when Abraham was declared righteous by God (Gen.

15:6), Ishmael had not yet been born or even conceived (16:2-4).

When Ishmael was born, Abraham was eighty-six (see 16:16).

Therefore, Abraham was declared righteous by God at least fourteen years before he was circumcised.

Genesis 15:6 shows Abraham to be father of the uncircumcised in their uncircumcision, so long as they share his faith (Dunn, J. D. G. (1988).

Romans 1-8 (Vol.

38A, p. 210).

Word, Incorporated.)

The natural question to be asked, therefore, would be, "Why circumcision?

Why did God make that rite a binding law on all of Abraham's descendants?"

First of all, Paul says in verse 11, circumcision was a sign.

Abraham received the sign of circumcision.

Circumcision was the physical, racial mark of identity for His people.

Even under the New Covenant, Paul had no objection to a Jew being circumcised, as long as the act was seen in this light.

In fact Paul personally circumcised Timothy, who was only half Jewish, in order that Timothy might have better opportunity to witness to Jews near his home area who knew him (Acts 16:3).

Circumcision was also a mark of God's covenant, setting Abraham's descendants apart uniquely His chosen people, the Hebrews, or Jews as they became known during the Babylonian Exile.

Circumcision was indeed a "seal," a sign given to Abraham and his posterity, but a sign given to Abraham as a person of faith (Fitzmyer, J. A., S. J. (2008).

Romans: a new translation with introduction and commentary (Vol.

33, p. 381).

Yale University Press.)

Second, circumcision was a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith which he, that is, Abraham, while he was still uncircumcised.

In other words, every time circumcision was performed God's people were to be reminded of God's righteousness that Abraham had, and all other believers have, through faith, completely apart from circumcision.

Although they convey similar ideas, a sign points to something, whereas a seal guarantees it.

When an official seal was stamped on a letter or decree, for instance, its authenticity was guaranteed.

In that sense, circumcision was the authentication that God's covenant promises would be fulfilled.

It pointed to the fact that God wanted to circumcise, that is, place His authenticating seal upon, His people's hearts, not simply their bodies.

By giving Abraham the sign of circumcision, God was providing him with an "outward and visible authentication, ratification and guarantee, of the righteousness by faith which was already his while he was still uncircumcised" (Cranfield, I:236).

As such it served as a source of assurance to Abraham that God had truly accepted him and counted him righteous because of his faith.

Thus "to Abraham it was a guarantee of the trustworthiness of God's promise" (Hendriksen, I:150-151 as cited in Cottrell, J. (1996).

Romans (Vol. 1, Ro 4:11).

College Press Pub.

Co.).

Please turn to Jeremiah 9

Moses had declared in Deut.

30:6 "Moreover the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live".