Romans 4.1-The Example of Abraham that Justification is By Means of Faith
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday December 13, 2007
Romans: Romans 4:1-The Example of Abraham that Justification is By Means of Faith
Lesson # 112
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:1.
Last evening we began a study of Romans 4 with an introduction and overview of the chapter.
Romans 4 continues the third major section in the book of Romans, which appears in Romans 3:21-5:21, which is divided into four parts: (1) Divine righteousness is imputed through faith in Christ (Romans 3:21-26). (2) Divine righteousness is available to both Jew and Gentile (Romans 3:27-31). (3) Justification by Faith: The Example of Abraham (Romans 4:1-23). (4) The Results of Faith (Romans 5:1-21).
Last evening we began a study of the third part, which presents Abraham as an example of a person in the Old Testament who was justified by means of faith in the Lord rather than by actions produced by obedience to the Law.
Romans chapter four is divided into seven sections: (1) Romans 4:1: The introduction of the subject of Abraham as an example from the Law that justification is by means of faith. (2) Romans 4:2-5: Genesis 15:6 confirms that Abraham was justified by means of faith in the Lord’s promise rather than by the works of the Law. (3) Romans 4:6-8: The example from the prophets where David was justified by faith and apart from observing the Law. (4) Romans 4:9-12: Abraham was justified by faith before he received the rite of circumcision. (5) Romans 4:13-17: The Lord’s promises to Abraham that he would be heir of the world preceded the giving of the Law. (6) Romans 4:18-22: Abraham became the father of many nations as a result of his faith in the Lord. (7) Romans 4:23-25: The fact that Abraham was justified by faith rather than circumcision or keeping the Law has relevance for Paul’s Christian readers and serves as a pattern of their own faith.
This evening we will note the first section that appears in Romans 4:1.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
“What” is the interrogative pronoun tis (tiv$) (tis), which asks a debater’s rhetorical question.
“Then” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction oun (ou@n) (oon), which denotes that what is introduced at this point is the result of an inference from Paul’s teaching contained in Romans chapter three.
“Shall we say” is the verb ereo (e)revw) (er-eh-o), which means, “to say” and is used with the interrogative pronoun tis, “what” in order to present a rhetorical question, which anticipates an objection from Paul’s Jewish audience and proposes an inference from the previous chapter.
“Abraham” is the proper name Abraam ( )Abraavm) (ab-rah-am), which refers to the father of the nation of Israel, who was a believer whom God established a covenant with that is called by theologians, the “Abrahamic Covenant.”
The story of Abraham is recorded in Genesis 11:27-25:11.
Abraham was born around 2161 B. C. in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans (Gen. 11:31) and his father’s name was Terah (Gen. 11:27) and he also was born in Ur.
He was a prophet of God according to Genesis 20:7.
Abraham had two wives with his first being Sarah according to Genesis 11:29 and his second was Keturah according to Genesis 25:1-6.
Sarah bore him one son, the son of promise, Isaac (Genesis 21:1-4) from whom came Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel.
The nation of Israel descended from Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob.
Keturah bore Abraham six sons (Genesis 25:2) and through Jokshan, Abraham had two grandsons and three great-grandsons (Genesis 25:3), for a total of five children of Jokshan and through Midian, Abraham’s fourth son through Keturah, he had five grandsons (Genesis 25:4).
These sons that Keturah bore Abraham formed one branch of the Arabs.
He had a son through his concubine Hagar and his name was Ishmael, who was the progenitor of one branch of the Arabs. (Gen. 16; 17:20; 21:13; 25:12-18).
Therefore, Abraham was the progenitor or father of the Jews and the Arabs since both these groups descended from him through his wives, Sarah and Keturah and his concubine, Hagar.
His name was originally Abram, which means “exalted father,” but was changed by God in Gen. 17:5 to Abraham after God had established His covenant with him.
The name Abraham means “father of a multitude,” and this he was indeed though he and his wife Sarai were childless up until the time that Abraham was hundred years old (Gen. 21:5).
Abram was a fairly common name in those days and means, “exalted father” or “my father is exalted.”
It was given to him by his father Terah to honor the moon god Nannar, which Terah worshipped and not the God of the Bible.
On the other hand, the name Abraham means, “father of a multitude” and became a declaration of God’s purpose and of His covenant with Abraham, which God would accomplish by making Abraham prolific so that not only populous nations but also kings would be among his descendants.
Abraham is one of the heroes of faith and in Hebrews 11:8, he is mentioned as the fourth member in God’s Hall of Fame.
Hebrews 11:8, “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going.”
Romans 4:11 says that he is the “father of all them that believe” thus indicating that he is the progenitor of all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, which would of course, include Christians.
Abraham is called in Scripture “the friend of God.”
James 2:23, “And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘and Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,’ and he was called the friend of God.”
There were seven crises in the life of Abraham, which tested his love for the Lord, his faith in the Lord and his obedience to the Lord.
(1) God commanded Abraham to leave behind his parents as recorded in Genesis 12:1 and Hebrews 11:8.
(2) God commanded Abraham to live among the Canaanites as an alien (see Genesis 12:1-8; Hebrews 11:9-10).
(3) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to choose between living in the land of Canaan, trusting that the Lord would take care of him even though there was a famine in the land or leave the land of Canaan and go to Egypt.
(4) Abraham had to separate from his nephew Lot as recorded in Genesis 13:5-18.
(5) God commanded Abraham to send away Ishmael whom he loved dearly as recorded in Genesis 17:18-21 and 21:12-14.
(6) Abraham’s faith was tested in that he had to wait twenty-five years for the birth of Isaac and had to trust that God could deliver on this promise even though he and Sarah were biologically unable to have children together because of their advanced age (see Romans 4:18-22).
(7) God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac after he waited so long for him to be born (Genesis 22:1-19; Hebrews 11:17-19).
Abraham is also the recipient of covenant promises from God as recorded in Genesis 12:1-3, 6-9; 13:14-18, 15:6, 18-21; 17; 22:15-18.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
“Our” is the personal pronoun hemeis (h(mei$), which indicates that Paul is identifying with his Jewish audience since the word is a reference to Paul and his fellow Jewish countryman as indicated by the prepositional phrase kata sarka, “according to the flesh.”
“Forefather” is the noun propator (propavtwr) (pro-pa-tohr), which denotes that Abraham is the progenitor or founder of the Jewish race or he is their ultimate ancestor.
“Flesh” is the noun sarx (savrc) (sarx), which refers to the genealogical or biological or racial descent of the Jews.
Some expositors connect the prepositional phrase kata sarka, “according to the flesh” with the verb heurisko, “has found” and some with the expression ton propatora hemon, “our father.”
The former would mean that Abraham discovered something by “human effort” whereas the latter would distinguish Abraham’s biological fatherhood with his spiritual fatherhood.
The former would be in keeping with what Paul says in Romans 4:2 that if Abraham was justified by works, then he would have something to boast about before God.
The latter would be in keeping with what Paul says in Romans 4:11, in which he mentions Abraham’s spiritual fatherhood in contrast to his biological fatherhood that is mentioned in Romans 4:1.
Therefore, it appears that Paul had both in view when he used this prepositional phrase.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
“Has found” is the verb heurisko (eu(rivskw), which means, “to learn an eternal spiritual truth from an experience.”
Therefore, the word means that Abraham learned an eternal spiritual truth from his own experience with the Lord.
The eternal spiritual truth that is in view is of course that Abraham was declared righteous by the Lord as a result of his faith in the Lord and not as a result of actions produced by obedience to the Law.
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
The specific experience that is related to this eternal spiritual truth is recorded in Genesis 15:6 and cited by Paul in Romans 4:3.
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
The perfect tense of the verb heurisko is an “intensive” perfect emphasizing a present state produced by a past action.
Therefore, the present state refers to the state of Abraham being knowledgeable regarding the eternal spiritual truth that justification is by means of faith in the Lord.
The past action was the Lord imputed to Abraham divine righteousness as a result of Abraham exercising faith in the Lord to deliver on His promise of an heir and that his descendants would be innumerable even though he was childless at the time as recorded in Genesis 15:2-5.
In Romans 4:1-3, Paul employs “hypothetical syllogism.”
In Romans 4:2, he says that “if Abraham was justified by works, then he has something to boast about.”
The major premise is that, if a man could be justified before God by his own human efforts or own merits, then he has ground for boasting in himself.
The minor premise is that Abraham, as a man, was justified by actions produced by obedience to the Law.
The necessary conclusion would be that Abraham therefore has something to boast about.
The major premise is true in that if a person could be justified by works, then he would in fact have something to boast about, because he would have merited his own salvation.
But, as Paul goes on to demonstrate, the minor premise is not true.
Consequently, the conclusion is untrue in that Abraham did not have anything in himself to boast about before God.