“God’s Righteousness Illustrated in Abraham” Pt 2

INTRODUCTION

THIS MORNING we continue our study of the FOUR ASSERTIONS Paul makes about Abraham’s justification:

I. Abraham was NOT Justified by WORKS! - (4:1-8)

II. Abraham was NOT Justified by CIRCUMCISION! - (4:9-12)

III. Abraham was NOT Justified by the LAW! - (4:13-17a)

IV. Abraham WAS Justified by FAITH! - (4:17b-22)

CONCLUSION: Abraham’s Faith and Ours! - (4:23-25)

(READ TEXT - Romans 4:9-25 - PRAY)

I. Abraham was NOT Justified by WORKS! - (4:1-8)

I encourage you to visit our website: www.scfnwa.com to watch last week’s message.

II. Abraham was NOT Justified by CIRCUMCISION! - (4:9-12)

In these next four verse, Paul continues his pattern of ASKING and ANSWERING QUESTIONS concerning CIRCUMCISION!

1. Paul’s QUESTIONS - (vv.9-10a)

FIRST QUESTION: WHO are the RECIPIENTS that “…faith was credited” TO? - (v.9)

“Is this blessing only for the circumcised, then? Or it also from the uncircumcised?”

SECOND QUESTION: HOW and WHEN, or under what CIRCUMSTANCES was “faith credited as righteousness”?

In (v.10) he asks and answers the question: “…while he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised.”

It only takes SIMPLE MATH, as well as the historical account from Genesis to answer this question!

Genesis 12:4 CSB

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran.

(Genesis 12-14) records a number of events in his early travels.

Genesis 15:1 CSB

1 After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield; your reward will be very great.

Genesis 15:6 CSB

6 Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

It was AFTER this event that Sarai gave her Egyptian slave Hagar to Abram in order to “…build a family” (Genesis 16:2)!

Genesis 16:3 CSB

3 So Abram’s wife, Sarai, took Hagar, her Egyptian slave, and gave her to her husband, Abram, as a wife for him. This happened after Abram had lived in the land of Canaan ten years.

Genesis 16:16 CSB

16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to him.

THIRTEEN YEARS later, God establishes Covenant Circumcision and changes his name to “Abraham!”

Genesis 17:1 CSB

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.

Genesis 17:24 CSB

24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when the flesh of his foreskin was circumcised,

There were at least FOURTEEN YEARS (twenty-nine years according to the Rabbis) between the time Abraham was “credited righteousness” and his circumcision!

2. Paul’s BLUNT ANSWER - (v.10b)

“…It was not while he was circumcised, but uncircumcised.”

3. Paul’s EXPLANATION - (vv.11-12)

FIRST, circumcision is the “sign” (from σημεῖον - ‘token, signal, miracle’) of the Covenant between God and Abraham!

Genesis 17:11 CSB

11 You must circumcise the flesh of your foreskin to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and you.

SECOND, circumcision is the “seal” (from σφραγῖδα - ‘certification, validation, proof, evidence of genuineness’) “…of the righteousness that he had by faith while still uncircumcised.”

STOTT - “Indeed, it was not only a sign to identify them; it was also a seal to authenticate them, as the justified people of God. Thus Abraham received two distinct gifts of God, justification and circumcision, and in that order.”

THIRD, according (vv.11b-12),

Romans 4:11–12 CSB

11 …This was to make him the father of all who believe but are not circumcised, so that righteousness may be credited to them also. 12 And he became the father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had while he was still uncircumcised.

Again, from STOTT, “Although according to the Jews Abraham was ‘the great dividing point in the history of mankind’, according to Paul Abraham through his faith became ‘the great rallying point for all who believe, whether circumcised or uncircumcised’. For where circumcision divides, faith unites.”

III. Abraham was NOT Justified by the LAW! - (4:13-17a)

Three Reasons:

1. Because the PROMISE is NOT through the LAW but through FAITH! - (vv.13-14)

(v.13) BEGINS with, “For…” which identifies this as a GROUND—the reason the previous statement—(v.12) is TRUE!

What is the “PROMISE”?

Romans 4:13 CSB

13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would inherit the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Genesis 17:4–6 CSB

4 “As for me, here is my covenant with you: You will become the father of many nations. 5 Your name will no longer be Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful and will make nations and kings come from you.

Genesis 22:17–18 CSB

17 I will indeed bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the city gates of their enemies. 18 And all the nations of the earth will be blessed by your offspring because you have obeyed my command.”

(v.13b) - A NEGATIVE/POSITIVE: “…was NOT through the law, BUT through the righteousness that comes by faith.”

(v.14) - If the LAW makes us “heirs”, then “…faith is made empty and the promise nullified.”

2. Because the LAW PRODUCES WRATH! - (v.15)

HOW does the Law produce wrath?

Paul will address this in greater detail when we get to chapter 7. For now consider the following explanation:

Romans 7:7–11 CSB

7 What should we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But, I would not have known sin if it were not for the law. For example, I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, Do not covet. 8 And sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind. For apart from the law sin is dead. 9 Once I was alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life again 10 and I died. The commandment that was meant for life resulted in death for me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.

3. Because the PROMISE is by FAITH, according to GRACE, it is AVAILABLE TO ALL! - (vv.16-17a)

Not only is it AVAILABLE, it is “…to guarantee (βεβαίαν - ‘sure, firm, stable, secure, steadfast’) it to all the descendants”

With the end result that, (v.16b) - “…He is the father of us all.”

Paul will later write to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:4–6 CSB

4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

This all is the FULFILLMENT of both the PROMISE of God and the WORD of God!

(v.17a) - “As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations…”

IV. Abraham WAS Justified by FAITH! - (4:17b-22)

Paul moves from the PRIORITY of Abraham’s faith to its REASONABLENESS!

And what makes Abraham’s faith reasonable is the DIRECT OBJECT of his faith!

Romans 4:17 CSB

17 “…in the presence of the God in whom he believed, the one who gives life to the dead and calls things into existence that do not exist.

“What is Paul talking about?”

The PREGNANCY and subsequent BIRTH of his son, Isaac!

Romans 4:18 NA27 w/GRAMCORD, Int.

18 Ὃς παρʼ ἐλπίδα ἐπʼ ἐλπίδι ἐπίστευσεν…

Lit. - ‘Who against hope in hope believed…’

WHAT was the CHALLENGE to hope that he “…in hope believed?”

(vv.19-21) - To put it bluntly, his 100 year old body and Sarah’s 90 year old womb!

WHAT did he do? - SEVEN THINGS (beginning in v.18):

(v.18a) - “He believed…”

(v.19a) - “He didn’t weaken in faith…”

(v.20a) - “He did not waver in unbelief…”

(v.20b) - He “…was strengthened in his faith”

(v.20c) - He “…gave glory to God”

(v.21a) - “because he was fully convinced…”

(v.21b) - “…he was also able to do” (NASB95) - “…able to perform.”

Isaac, the son of promise, was NOT miraculously conceived!

A 100 year old man and a 90 year old woman, we’re talking about a couple older than our Great-grandparents had a baby, because they believed God’s promise!

(v.22) — “Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.”

CONCLUSION: Abraham’s Faith and Ours! - (4:23-25)

The story of Abraham’s faith was written “…for us!” It was written so that you and I would also believe—place our trust in the person of Jesus, who “…was delievered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.”

I want to close this message with the words of Jesus—the object of our faith:

John 5:21–27 CSB

21 And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants. 22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. 25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted to the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has granted him the right to pass judgment, because he is the Son of Man.