Romans 4.6-David Was Justified By Faith Apart from the Works of the Law
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Romans: Romans 4:6-David Was Justified Apart from the Works of the Law
Lesson # 118
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 4:1.
We are currently engaged in a study of Romans chapter four.
As we noted in our introduction and overview of Romans chapter four, in Romans 4:1-8, Paul calls two witnesses to the stand to testify to the fact that the justification of the sinner is by means of faith apart from observing the Law.
According to Jewish jurisprudence, a question was settled by two or three witnesses.
Deuteronomy 19:15, “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.”
Therefore, Paul calls two witnesses from the Old Testament to testify that justification is by means of faith apart from observing the Law, namely “the Law and the Prophets,” which he mentions in Romans 3:21.
In Romans 4:1-5, Paul presents Abraham as an example from the Mosaic Law whose story is recorded in the first book of the Law, Genesis.
Paul quotes Genesis 15:6, which emphasizes that Abraham was declared justified by means of his faith in the Lord.
Then, in Romans 4:6-8, he presents David as an example from the Prophets.
On the day of Pentecost, Peter attested to the fact that David was not only a king but also a prophet from God (See Acts 2:29-30).
Thus, in Romans chapter four, Paul presents incontrovertible evidence from the Old Testament Scriptures that justification by means of faith has always been the method by which God saves the sinner.
Therefore, his gospel message of faith in Jesus Christ is not a new method of salvation but the same method that was used in Old Testament dispensations (Compare Romans 1:2 with Romans 3:21).
By way of review, we 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.
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.
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.
Then, in Romans 4:4, 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.
In Romans 4:5, 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.
Sunday morning we studied Romans 4:6-8 in which Paul presents David as another example of an Old Testament saint who was justified by faith rather than by observance of the Mosaic Law.
To reinforce his teaching that justification is by faith in Jesus Christ rather than observing the Law, Paul called to the witness stand the Mosaic Law, which records the example of Abraham who was justified by faith and not by observing the Law.
Now, in Romans 4:6-8, Paul calls to the witness stand, the Prophets, which record the example of David who was justified by faith as evidence by the fact that he broke the Law.
On Sunday, we noted that David was justified by faith as manifested in the fact that the Lord forgave him of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite.
This evening we will begin to note this passage in greater detail by studying Romans 4:6 in which Paul teaches that David was justified by faith apart from the works of the Law.
Let’s read Romans 4:1-8 and then concentrate on verse 6.
Romans 4:1-8, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”
In Romans 4:7-8, Paul is quoting Psalm 32:1-2, which David wrote after he confessed to God his adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite.
Psalm 32:1-2, “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.”
Let’s look at Romans 4:6 in detail.
Romans 4:6, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
“Just as” is the comparative conjunction kathaper (kaqavper) (kath-ap-er), which emphatically marks the comparison between Paul’s statements regarding justification by faith in Jesus Christ in Romans 4:4-5 with his statements in Romans 4:6-8 regarding the forgiveness of sins that David received from the Lord.
Therefore, kathaper emphasizes that crediting divine righteousness to the sinner through faith in Jesus Christ resulting in justification is “equivalent” to God not crediting sin to the sinner, thus, it is “equivalent” to receiving the forgiveness of sins.
In Philippian 3:6, Paul states that he was a Pharisee and in Acts 22:3, Paul says that he trained under the greatest Rabbi in Israel of his day, Gamaliel, who taught in the famous Hillel school.
Under Gamaliel, Paul learned the rabbinical interpretative principle called gezerah shavah called analogy in which situations where the same word occurs in two passages of Scripture, the sense in one may be carried over to explain the meaning in the other.
In Romans 4:5, Paul used the verb logizomai to teach that Abraham’s faith in the Lord was imputed or credited and regarded as righteousness apart from observance of the Law.
Now, in Romans 4:6, Paul uses logizomai again but this time to teach that David who broke the Law did not have his sins credited to him since he was justified like Abraham by faith.
So Paul is saying that not only Abraham was justified by faith apart from the works of the Law but “in fact, in the same way,” David also was justified by faith apart from the observing the Law.
This emphasizes that instead of God imputing or crediting sin to David, God imputed or credited His righteousness to him, thus he experienced the happiness of being forgiven by a holy God for the terrible crimes he committed against Him.
“Also” is the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which is used to introduce an additional Old Testament saint who was justified by faith in the Lord apart from observing the Law.
Romans 4:6, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
“David” is the proper name Dabid (Dabivd) (dab-eed), whose name in the Hebrew means, “beloved.”
Unlike Abraham, David was under jurisdiction of the Mosaic Law.
In his life, David was guilty of breaking the Law in that he not only committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of one of his most loyal soldiers but he also got her pregnant.
To cover this up, he attempted to get Uriah drunk so that he might have sex with Bathsheba but he was such a man of integrity, that he refused citing that his fellow soldiers could not be with their wives.
Finally, David had his military commander put Uriah in the thick of a battle so that he might easily be killed.
This terrible failure of David is recorded in 2 Samuel 11.
God ordered the prophet Nathan to confront the king as recorded in 2 Samuel 12.
Not only did Nathan rebuke David and announce to him that he would be disciplined by the Lord but he also informed David that his sins were forgiven.
2 Samuel 12:13, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said to David, ‘The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.’”
David speaks of this forgiveness in Psalm 32:1, which Paul quotes in Romans 4:7-8.
Psalm 32:1-2, “{A Psalm of David. A Maskil.} How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”
That David was justified by faith and not by keeping the Law is manifested by the fact that he broke the Law.
Thus, Paul uses David as an illustration that justification is by means of faith apart from the works of the Law.
The fact that David was justified by faith in the Lord and received the forgiveness of his sins rather than by observing the Law permitted David to recover from his great failures and to grow to spiritual maturity.
Even though David committed these terrible sins of murder and adultery, “he died in a ripe old age, full of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place” according to 1 Chronicles 29:28.
Romans 4:6, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
“The blessing” is the noun makarismos (makarismov$) (mak-ar-is-mos), which refers to the gift of salvation that produces happiness.
“On the man” is the noun anthropos (a*nqrwpo$) (anth-ro-pos), which is used in a generic sense for a human being without reference to sex or racial background and is equivalent to “a person.”
“God” is the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to the Father since the Son provided divine righteousness by becoming a human being and experiencing spiritual death on the Cross and the Spirit reveals this righteousness to the sinner through the gospel.
“Credits” is the verb logizomai (logivzomai) (lo-gidz-o-my), which means, “credited” indicating that the Father “credits” His righteousness to the unregenerate person as a result of exercising faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 4:6, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
“Righteousness” is the noun dikaiosune (dikaiosuvnh), which refers to the righteousness of God in the sense of His perfect “virtue” and “integrity,” which is imputed or credited to the sinner the moment they exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
“Apart from works” is the improper preposition choris (xwriv$) (kho-rece), which is employed with genitive case of the noun ergon, “works” indicating the sinner is justified “independently of” or “without any connection to” the actions produced by obedience to the Law as a system of merit.
The sinner is never justified before God by means of actions produced by obedience to the Law since the presence of the sin nature renders man powerless to be perfectly obedient, which the Law requires.
Therefore, the human race does not have the capacity to obey the Word of God perfectly, which a holy God requires in order to be accepted into a relationship and fellowship with Him.
In Romans 8:3, Paul explains that God sent His Son to fulfill the requirement of the Law because obedience to the Law could not save humanity because the human race does not have the capacity to be perfectly obedient to the Law.
Romans 8:3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh.”