The Example of Abraham

Paul laid out some deep theology in chapter 3. He ended the chapter by expounding on the doctrine of justification by faith. In chapter four he gives an example of justification by faith to prove his point. This would get the Jews attention because of how important Abraham was to the Jewish people.

We might wonder why Paul is spending so much time correcting the Jews. Remember, in the early church the Jewish people had an upper hand:

1) The church was made up primarily of Jewish people.

2) All of the Apostles were Jewish.

3) The Jewish Scriptures were essential to the faith and were known by Jewish people. Gentiles were new to the faith and most knew very little about the OT Scriptures.

Jewish believers could rise to the position of teacher more easily because they knew the OT. Correcting the teachers and their doctrine was very important in the early church, as it is today.

v. 1 “according to the flesh” What did Abraham do as an unsaved person to become saved?

Abraham was a pagan. His father worshipped idols and it’s assumed he did as well (Joshua 24:2). God called Abraham to leave his homeland in Mesopotamia and go to a land He would show him. I’m not going to spend my time listing Abraham’s accomplishments. There are many. Truth be told, he committed some sins too.

Paul wants to know what work he did that earned his salvation. What work was he justified by.

v. 2 If he was justified by works, he has a right to boast.

Paul clarifies that Abraham could not boast before God because, as he will show, Abraham was not justified before God. Many Jews had elevated Abraham to an unhealthy place. Paul sets the record straight.

No one can boast before God of their own accomplishments.

v. 3 Paul now appeals to Scripture. This is always the question we should ask “What does the Scripture say?”

Doesn’t matter what:

Society says

Professor says

White House says

Science says

The celebrity says

What matters is what Scripture says.

Paul quotes Genesis 15:6.

God told Abraham He was going to make a mighty nation out of his biological son. Abraham believed the Word of God and God made Abraham righteous.

Some might point to James 2:24:

and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

Paul and James are not contradictory to one another.

Paul was speaking of how one is justified- faith.

James is speaking of the evidence of justification-works.

The two cannot be separated. Works is always the result of true saving faith.

Paul makes a clear and compelling case. The Hebrew Scriptures clearly say Abaraham was justified by faith. He was not saved by his works.

Paul establishes that the very first Jew was justified by faith.

v. 4 He makes a simple point here. If salvation is a gift it cannot be earned. A gift is given freely by definition. If you work to receive something it is your wages.

Could you imagine working hard all week. On payday your supervisor announces the company has gifts for everyone. You open the gift and the only thing inside is your paycheck. You think “This isn’t a gift. I earned this.”

That’s the point Paul is making. You can’t have it both ways. Either salvation is a gift, or it is earned. It cannot be both.

v. 5 “the one who does not work” There is no work we could do that would obligate God to save us. When we recognize that we cease to depend on works for salvation. We become one “who does not work”.

As long as we think we deserve to be saved we will not be saved. The person who is saved is the one who stops depending on his works and trusts solely in Jesus.

“but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly”

Notice when we are justified, we were ungodly. God isn’t waiting and watching for us to arrive. He instantaneously makes the ungodly righteous. Two things:

Only ungodly people are made righteous.

Righteousness is only available through faith.

In order to become righteous the ungodly person has to abandon any hope in their own works.

“to the one who does not work” does not mean we don’t strive to live godly lives. It means we don’t do so to be saved.

“counted as righteousness” counted= reckoned, credited. This goes back to our message from this morning. We are justified because the righteousness of Jesus is credited to our account. We access that righteousness through faith.

All people, including Abraham, are ungodly until they place their faith in Christ. When they do that the righteousness of Jesus is credited to them. Theya re justified.

v. 6 Paul is going to use another beloved Jewish man to prove his point.

Paul argues that David made the point of justification by faith in Psalm 32. David was a man after God’s own heart. Yet his righteousness did not justify him. In fact, Psalm 32 is David’s response to his sin surrounding Bathsheba.

v. 7-8 Paul quotes David from Psalm 32:1-2. We see a fleshing out of justification by faith. It includes:

“lawless deeds forgiven”

“Sins covered”

“the Lord will not count his sins”

When David confessed his sin to Nathan, Nathan replied by saying:

“The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” (2 Sam 12:13)

To be saved our sin must be put away. Where is it put? It is put upon Christ. His righteousness is put upon us, our sin is put upon Him.

The sin of the believer is put away forever. It was put upon Christ and Christ paid the price of it in full.

What a blessing it is that our sin is not counted against us! Christ’s righteousness is credited to us!

v. 9 Paul has a question. He has given two Jewish examples. It wouldn’t be difficult for Jewish people to believe great men like Abraham and David were counted righteous by their faith. Perhaps that blessing extended to their descendants. But what about the uncircumcised? What about the Gentiles?

v. 10 Paul wants to clarify when Abraham was declared by God to be made righteous.

Was it before or after he was circumcised?

In Jewish vocabulary “uncircumcised” was equivalent with Gentile. Paul explains that Abraham was not circumcised when God declared him righteous. All one had to do was read the Scripture to see that.

In Genesis 15 God declares Abraham righteous through faith.

In Genesis 17 Abraham is circumcised. This was about 14 years later.

Remember, Abraham is the first Hebrew. He is saved as an uncircumcised man. Therefore, Abraham has a kinship with the Gentiles. They were just like him. Justification by faith is not only for the Jews. It is for the Gentiles. Abraham relates to both Jew and Gentile.

v. 11 We learn a couple of things about circumcision here:

1) It was a sign. Something tangible, a proof. A symbol that identified the Jewish race.

2) A seal. It authenticated the faith Abraham already possessed.

Paul says Abraham was circumcised as a seal for the righteousness he possessed before he was circumcised. His circumcision was to show everyone else that righteousness comes as a result of faith. To put it in laymen’s terms, he got circumcised because he was saved.

Look closely at the second half of verse 11. The delay in Abraham’s circumcision was by the providence of God. He was circumcised so many years after his salvation so that the Gentiles would know they are saved in the same way he was.

v. 12 Both Gentile and Jew have a common ancestor in Abraham (Gal. 3:14). Abraham is the father of both circumcised and uncircumcised believers.

“merely circumcised” The act of circumcision doesn’t save. What matters is they are walking in the footsteps of the faith Abraham walked in.

What is important is that we live out our faith. Religious works like circumcision are easy. They should not give us any security unless they are coupled with obedience to God’s Word. If our heart is not transformed no religious work will help us. Our works should flow from our salvation.

Abraham is not only a Jewish example of saving faith. He is a Gentile example as well. He teaches us that salvation is by faith and it leads to an obedient walk.