Romans 4.5-Justification is Never By Means of Meritorious Actions but Faith in Jesus Christ
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday January 10, 2008
Romans: Romans 4:5-Justification Is Never By Means of Meritorious Works but Faith in Jesus Christ
Lesson # 116
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:1.
We are currently engaged in a study of Romans chapter four, in which Paul presents Abraham as an example of an Old Testament saint who was justified by means of faith in the Lord rather than by observing the Law.
Thus far, have noted the following:
In Romans 4:1, Paul introduces the subject of Abraham to support his teaching that justification is by means of faith and never by means of obedience to the Law.
Romans 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?”
In Romans 4:2, Paul presents a hypothetical situation that if Abraham was justified by means of meritorious actions, then he would have reason for boasting but never in the judgment of God.
Romans 4:2, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.”
In Romans 4:3, Paul explains the reason why Abraham was never justified by means of meritorious actions and had no basis for boasting in the judgment of God.
This passage teaches that Abraham was justified by means of his faith in the Lord to fulfill His promise of numerous descendants even though at the time, Abraham was childless.
God credited and regarded Abraham’s faith in Him as righteousness.
Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
Last evening we studied Romans 4:4 in which Paul employs an illustration from human affairs of a laborer who works hard and receives his wages as what is due him rather than as a gift.
This illustration amplifies Paul’s point that justification is by means of faith rather than attempting to earn one’s own salvation by means of one’s own merits.
Romans 4:4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.”
This evening we will study Romans 4:5 in which Paul writes that justification is never by means of a meritorious system of works or actions but rather by means of faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that rejects the idea of working hard for one’s salvation and stands in direct contrast to the idea of working hard for one’s salvation.
In Romans 4:4, Paul reminded his Jewish audience that when an employer gives the workman his pay, it is not regarded as a gift, but rather as a legal obligation which the employer is bound to discharge.
In the same way, in the spiritual realm, if the sinner could earn salvation by actions produce by obedience to the Law or meritorious actions then God would be indebted to man and obligated to give him salvation.
Salvation then would not be a gift but rather what God owes the sinner.
Thus, the sinner wouldn’t need to thank God for his salvation.
Therefore, the Jew who thinks he can earn his salvation by observing the Law or by some meritorious system of works would not need to thank God for salvation since he would have earned it.
Thus, if the Jew could be declared justified because he was circumcised or by observing the Law, then salvation would not be based upon God’s grace policy but rather what is due the Jew.
Therefore, in Romans 4:5, Paul presents a contrast to the idea of earning one’s salvation based upon one’s own merit.
“To the one who does not work” refers to a hypothetical case of no particular sinner rejecting the idea of attempting to be justified on his own merits but rather trusts in the merits of Jesus Christ and His spiritual death on the Cross.
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
“But” is the “adversative” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces a statement that presents the doctrine of justification by faith in Jesus Christ and stands in direct contrast to the idea of working hard to earn one’s salvation.
The first use of the conjunction de introduces a statement that directly contradicts the idea of working hard to earn one’s salvation.
The second use of the word introduces a statement that presents the actual doctrine that stands in direct contrast to the idea of working hard to earn one’s salvation and refutes it.
“Believed” is the verb pisteuo (pisteuvw), which refers to the non-meritorious system of perception of placing one’s “trust” or “confidence in” Jesus Christ as one’s Savior.
In Romans 4:5, the verb pisteuo refers to making the non-meritorious decision “to trust” or “place one’s absolute confidence in” the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and His substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross in order to receive the gift of divine righteousness that results in God the Father declaring the sinner justified.
It is not enough to say that you believe in God since even the demons believe in the existence of God.
James 2:19, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”
God the Father has decreed that the object of faith for salvation and justification is the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself taught that He is the only way to the Father.
John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
“In Him who justifies” is composed of the preposition epi (e)piv), “in” and the articular accusative masculine singular present active participle form of the verb dikaioo (dikaiovw) (dik-ah-yo-o), “Him who justifies.”
The verb dikaioo refers to God declaring the sinner, whether Jew or Gentile, as righteous as He is as a result of God crediting to that person His Son’s righteousness, the moment they exercised faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.
In these passages, this word dikaioo refers to the doctrine of “justification,” which by way of definition is a judicial act of God whereby He declares a person to be righteous as a result of crediting or imputing to that person His righteousness the moment they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Consequently, God accepts that person and enters that person into a relationship with Himself since they now possess His righteousness.
It is a once and for all declaration, which never changes or can be rescinded since God is a perfect Judge who because He is immutable, always makes perfect decisions.
In Romans 4:5, the member of the Trinity that is doing the justifying is not the Father but rather the incarnate Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ since the presence of the preposition epi and the verb pisteuo are emphasizing the object of faith for the sinner who seeks to be declared justified in the judgment of God.
Therefore, the verb pisteuo, “believes” and the prepositional phrase epi ton dikaiounta ton adebe, “in Him who justifies the ungodly” emphasize the object of the sinner’s faith, Jesus Christ, rather than the Father who renders the decision to justify the sinner when they exercise faith in His Son.
The Lord Jesus Christ justifies the sinner in the sense that the sinner is declared justified by the Father based upon the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ and His spiritual death on the Cross.
The Lord justifies the sinner who exercises faith in Him in the sense that it was His spiritual death that purchased the entire human race out from the slave market of sin (1 Tim. 2:6; Mark 10:45; Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rev. 5:9).
Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”
The Lord Jesus Christ justifies the sinner who exercises faith in Him since it was our Lord’s spiritual death that propitiated or satisfied the righteous demands of a holy God that are sins be judged (Rom. 3:22-26; 1 John 2:2; 1 John 4:10).
1 John 2:2, “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”
The Lord Jesus Christ justifies the sinner who exercises faith in Him since it was His spiritual death that reconciled the entire human race to God (2 Cor. 5:18-21; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:20-22; 1 Pet. 3:18).
Romans 5:10, “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”
The Lord Jesus Christ justifies the sinner who exercises faith in Him since it was our Lord’s spiritual death that redeemed mankind from the curse of the Law.
Galatians 3:13, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us -- for it is written, ‘CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE.’”
The Lord Jesus Christ justifies the sinner who exercises faith in Him since He fulfilled perfectly the righteous requirements of the Law that demanded absolute perfect obedience.
Romans 10:1-4, “Brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”
Therefore, in Romans 4:5, the verb dikaioo refers to the Lord Jesus Christ justifying the sinner who exercises faith in Him by means of His impeccable life and substitutionary spiritual death on the Cross of Calvary.
Romans 4:5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.”
“The ungodly” refers to the unbeliever, i.e. unregenerate humanity.
“His faith” refers to the unregenerate person who places his faith in Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.
The noun pistis refers to the non-meritorious system of perception of placing one’s “trust” or “confidence in” the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the object of faith for salvation and justification since His spiritual death on the Cross as an impeccable person redeemed sinful mankind from the slave market of sin, satisfied the demands of a holy God that human sin be judged, reconciled the entire human race to God and fulfilled the righteous requirements of the Law.
The object of faith is Jesus Christ on the Cross as indicated as indicated in Romans 3:22 and 26.
Paul omits Iesous, “Jesus” but is clearly implied from Romans 3:21-26 that the object of faith must be Jesus Christ.
“Is credited” is the verb logizomai (logivzomai) (lo-gidz-o-my), which not only expresses the idea of “crediting something to someone” but also “to consider a thing as something else.”
As was the case in Romans 4:3, in Romans 4:5, the word is used with the prepositional phrase eis dikaiosunen, “as righteousness.”
Together, these three words indicate that God the Father “credits and regards” the sinner’s faith in Jesus Christ “as righteousness.”
Therefore, the verb logizomai not only denotes the doctrine of imputation but also justification since the latter means that God acknowledges His righteousness in the sinner as a result of imputing His righteousness to the sinner when the sinner exercised faith in Jesus Christ.
“As Righteousness” is composed of the preposition eis (ei)$) (ice), “as” and the accusative feminine singular form of the noun dikaiosune (dikaiosuvnh), “righteousness.”
In Romans 4:5, the noun dikaiosune refers to the righteousness of God in the sense of His perfect “virtue” and “integrity,” which is imputed to the sinner the moment they exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
The preposition epi expresses “equivalence” meaning that the sinner’s faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior is credited and regarded “as tantamount to” or “the equivalent to” divine righteousness.
Paul is not saying that faith is equivalent to God’s righteousness but that it would “treated as such” or it would be “considered or regarded as such” since God the Father imputes His Son’s righteousness to the sinner the moment they exercise faith in His Son as their Savior.