Exposition of Romans 4:1-8

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Challenge

Internalize the word: our church family has challenges each month that help equip us for our mission and keep us focused on the task God has called us to. We are focusing this month on internalizing God’s word. This includes memorizing Scripture to the extent you are able, but it is primarily focused on meditating on the word so that it dwells richly within you, enabling you to give timely answers to the people God brings your way.

Reading Assignments

Romans 4:9-17

Everything Set Right By Faith

Go Live: Smile: Pause

I hope you have all come hungry for God’s word because we have some really rich treasures to unpack this morning.

Our lesson today tells the story of how God is going to set to right everything that has been broken by sin. All the suffering we see in this world that comes from the darkness of evil; all the pain we see in this broken world that comes from the corruption that was inflicted upon God’s creation by sin; God is setting everything right. But even more than this, we discover today that the way God is setting everything right through faith has been God’s plan all along.

Far from being God’s plan-B now that the righteousness of the law has failed, faith has always been the means by which God sets right all that has gone wrong when people doubted him and rebelled against his way.

So the extraordinarily good news that Paul is unpacking for us from the gospel is that there is a way for deeply broken people to be really set right with a truly holy God. In Jesus we find the means to reestablish our trust in God through his unfailing love.

Exegesis

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Now we will benefit from some brief exegesis so that we can understand how this wonderful news is told to us. We want to understand the author’s original intent so that when we draw our living applications from God’s word, we are doing so as truly enlivened by God’s word!

Romans 3:31 CSB

31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? Absolutely not! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

You’ll notice as you read this section from 4:1 through verse 25 that 3:31 functions something like a hinge upon which Paul closes off one discussion and opens the next. This verse doesn’t set the theme of the next section as much as it states the underlying principle that transitions us forward. And as Paul swings open the door to this next section, he poses a rhetorical question that he uses to set the stage for his subordinate propositional statement in verses 3-4. You may recognize this setup because it functions much the same way that 1:15-16 set the stage for Paul’s thesis in 1:17, which then launch his first subordinate proposition statement in 1:18 that propelled the first two arguments forward.

Then the question Paul poses in 4:2 sets one of the major themes of this section, and indeed, of the gospel itself, and builds directly off the rhetorical question of 3:27.

Romans 3:27 CSB

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By one of works? No, on the contrary, by a law of faith.

My last exegetical comment is that we should observe an important shift in Paul’s rhetorical style from the use of logical arguments to illustration. Paul’s prior movements have been logical arguments, which are used to engage opposing perspectives in order to establish the validity of one’s own position. Illustrations, however, are used to explain the meaning and function of one’s argument.

And what kind of illustration is Paul going to use to launch this section with? A case study on Abraham. This case study is how Paul drives home the continuity of God’s redemptive plan for humanity from the very beginning; the righteousness of God that has been revealed in the good news of Jesus is not, in fact, some kind of last-ditch effort to redeem people. The Law hasn’t failed in its design. Actually, faith has been God’s plan all along and attested by the law and the prophets.

Romans 3:21 CSB

21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested by the Law and the Prophets.

You’ll see this point made in 3:21. So there is a sense in which 4:1–12 provides the validation for this claim. But even more than this, we now learn that this kind of righteousness is explicitly connected to God’s promises to Abraham.

Abraham Justified By Faith

Now that we see how Paul is swinging open the door to this section by using Abraham as an illustrative case study on the righteousness that comes by faith, let’s take a closer look at our text.

Romans 4:1 CSB

1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?

“What then” (“Τί οὖν”) (v. 1): You’ll recognize the logical conjunction “οὖν” by now, which “serves to continue the narrative after an interruption or digression.” The difference is that this phrase is in question form, meaning that Paul is asking a rhetorical question to make a point. He draws his point here all the way through the previous arguments to his thesis in 1:17 on the righteousness of God that is revealed through faith. And the rhetorical point that he is making here is that Abraham has found something greater through faith than what was given by Moses through the Law. So Abraham becomes a linchpin in Paul’s argument concerning how righteousness in God’s presence has come to humanity quite apart from the Law.

“Will we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh” (v. 1): Although you may recall from our study in Matthew’s gospel how much more emphasis first-century Jews put on Moses than Abraham, Paul rather sees Abraham and David as the central figures of the Old Testament. Not only is Abraham the forefather of the Jewish people by physical descent, but he is also the one to whom the promises of God’s grace were first entrusted.

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By introducing Abraham as “our ancestor according to the flesh”, Paul lays the groundwork for chapters 7-8, where he develops a flesh vs. spirit dichotomy, where flesh stands in opposition to faith. But the big idea for this section is Abraham’s discovery regarding faith and righteousness.

“Has found” (v. 1): By asking his audience to think about what Abraham has found in trusting God, Paul intends to help us discover the point that Abraham’s standing before God was based on God’s grace from the very outset. Even more than that, Abraham’s standing with God was determined by this same grace from then on.

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I think it’s useful here to understand how Paul’s case study engages his audience. There was an idea at the time that even though Abraham did not have the law, he was still righteous and kept the Law because God had already written the Law on his heart. We see this kind of argument in 2 Baruch 57.2. But Paul has already shown how no one keeps the moral law of God that has been written in their consciences (2:1, 12).

The deliberative nature of Paul’s case study on Abraham is clear: Paul is using this case-study on Abraham to establish and promote a new kind of community and value system. Abraham turns out not only to be the forefather of the Jewish people by physical descent, but also of Gentile Christians by spiritual descent through faith. And this “faith” becomes the basis for Christian unity since we all are united by faith in Christ as Abraham’s heirs.

Romans 4:2 CSB

2 If Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about—but not before God.

“If Abraham was justified by works” (v. 2): At this point many casual readers make a critical mistake by reading this case study on Abraham with reference merely to personal salvation. Many read this section as simply being about how we are individually saved through faith. And, although Paul’s point undoubtedly has clear implications for our personal relationship with God, it is not primarily offering some kind of personal soteriology.

So I think we’ll benefit from an illustration offered by N.T. Wright:

Imagine a four-year-old boy who has lost his parents in a terrible war. He is old enough to understand, and to grieve, but nothing like old enough to fend for himself. Some distant relatives take him in for a while, but are unable to keep in permanently for lack of space and resources. So he’s put up for adoption only to wonder what will become of him.

Then one day a couple without children of their own ask to adopt him. His emotions are strongly mixed. He’s naturally excited to finally have a home with people who seem loving, but at the same time he’s worried. What sort of people are they? Where exactly do they live? What sort of life do they have? In short, what kind of family is he about to Join?

This is the natural question that Paul is asking at this point considering what he has said in 1:5, 15, 17, and 3:21–31. What kind of family are Christians becoming part of through faith in Christ when they are adopted as God’s children by the Holy Spirit?

So, when we read chapter three as though it were simply about how individual sinners are justified by grace through faith, without reference to God’s promises to Israel, to the covenant, and to justifying the claim that the believer is now part of God’s covenant through faith, then this excursion in chapter four into Abraham comes as quite a surprise. Why would Paul suddenly want to talk about Abraham? Paul’s point is actually about how Abraham is the forefather of God’s people through faith, by which an entirely new community has been realized by God’s promises, through which, and in which, God will finally deal with evil and set the whole world right.

“He has something to boast about” (v. 2): So if Abraham was made righteous by his works, then of course salvation is something to be earned. Those who are saved, then, actually do have something to boast about since they have brought salvation about by the valor of their own works.

This way of understanding righteousness by our works leads to an entirely different kind of community and system of values. It produces pride. And this is in direct contrast to the humility and meekness that typifies the kind of community that is based on the righteousness of faith in God.

In other words, one of the distinguishing characteristics of any community that is based on the good news of Jesus will be humility. But those that are based on their own works will be characterized by pride. And we find this to be true, don’t we? Regardless of the theology we profess, what we truly think always comes through in the end. Not only will works-based righteousness rob us of our joy, but anyone who believes themselves to be righteous based on this paradigm will become prideful.

Yet, this kind of boasting is opposite to what God wants from us:

Psalm 51:17 CSB

17 The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. You will not despise a broken and humbled heart, God.

“But not before God” (v. 2): Paul adds this point, however, to remind those who might still be thinking this way that even based on this paradigm, they still do not have any standing before God upon which to boast. What has all their work done to elevate them in God’s sight?

Such thinking is still evidently useless.

Romans 4:3 CSB

3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness.

“For” (“γὰρ”) (v. 3): We haven’t encountered one of these since 3:28. So we want to remember that these γὰρ clauses are logical conjunctions that are used to give the reason for the previous proposition. In other words, the point made by the prior rhetorical questions is demonstrated by this point.

“What does the Scripture say?” (v. 3): In times of moral and spiritual confusion like ours, the truth of God brightly illuminates our path and gives us the decisive clarity we need to navigate our journey through this life. Paul looks to Scripture because he believes that God’s voice is clearly heard from Scripture, which breathes out his living and enduring will from start to end.

And I believe this is what we need to recover today:

Psalm 119:105 NASB 2020

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Psalm 119:130 NASB 2020

130 The unfolding of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

And this is why we put so much effort into unfolding God’s word, because we believe God has spoken with such wisdom as to be able to illuminate our every spiritual need. We believe God’s wisdom is able to give us purpose and lead us into the fullness of life.

So to answer the questions Paul has just raised, he turns to God’s word to answer just what kind of family Christians are adopted into through the righteousness that comes by faith.

“Abraham believed God” (v. 3): Paul quotes directly from Genesis 15:6 to show that Abraham was set right with God through his faith. Paul is emphasizing the basis of Abraham’s response to God; he believed God.

What we understand from Abraham is that he did not bring about but a fraction of the things that were promised to him. Yet, even though there was no way for Abraham to see how God would fulfill his promises, he trusted him to do so.

And so we begin to understand faith:

Hebrews 11:1–2 CSB

1 Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen. 2 For by this our ancestors were approved.

Abraham was not set right with God because he went out and fulfilled the promises God made, and in fact, when Abraham tried to take these promises into his own hands he actually made a mess of things, didn’t he? Instead, God approved of Abraham on the basis of his faith, that he believed God.

This returns us back to the heart that God is looking for:

James 4:5–6 CSB

5 Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? 6 But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Abraham did not argue with God. He did not negotiate for better terms. He believed him and looked for God’s hand to confirm the promises that he made.

“And it was credited to him for righteousness” (v. 3): So we come to another juncture where I believe a critical mistake is made in what is often referred to as “imputed righteousness”, which is the idea that Paul has in mind the idea that Christ’s righteousness counts in place of Abraham’s, or for that matter, in place of our righteousness. While I’m not disputing "imputed righteousness” because I think it is established by texts like 1 Corinthians 1:30, I think Paul has something else in mind here.

An exchange is being made between Abraham’s faith and his righteousness. The former stands in place of the latter so that the “rightness” of his actions are approved, not based on the actions themselves, but based on his faith in God. And this makes sense of Abraham’s life, who was not rebuked for any unbelief when he tried to have an heir through Hagar. Why? Because, even though his actions were misguided, they were based on how he reasoned out God’s promises by faith.

Therefore, Abraham has no reason to boast in himself because it is by the great magnitude of God’s grace that he is set right with God despite his own shortcomings and failure.

Now we understand what James meant when he develops some depth to our understanding of the righteousness that comes by faith. James argues that faith is naturally responsive. What happens when you believe something is that you act upon it. So James would argue that professions of faith that are unaccompanied by their natural responses are dead and spiritually equivalent to unbelief!

James 2:20–23 CSB

20 Senseless person! Are you willing to learn that faith without works is useless? 21 Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works in offering Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was made complete, 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.

For failing to understand either of these two authors, Christians have sometimes made the grave mistake of setting these two writers against each other, when they are, in truth, developing the same doctrine of righteousness by faith, even drawing on the same exact Scripture!

Now we are going to accelerate a little bit and take the remaining verses in strides.

Romans 4:4–5 CSB

4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.

“Now” (“δὲ”) (v. 4): We are well acquainted with this logical conjunction by now, which is a logical conjunction that extends and continues the previous thought. So we want to read these verses in light of what we have just unpacked.

“To the one who works” (v. 4): Paul returns to the paradigm of righteousness by works. We see this return and rebuttal many times through Paul’s letter because he is writing about the “righteousness of God that is revealed from faith to faith” (1:17). So, he’s going to address the person who is either still arguing for righteousness by works, or, as is so often the case, the person who is functioning on the basis that you are good if you do good and bad if you do bad.

“Pay is not credited as a gift” (v. 4): We want to be certain to understand how this connects to his previous argument. Paul has just argued from Genesis 15:6 that God credited Abraham with righteousness based on his faith.

This contrast is vitally important to the kind of righteousness that Paul is calling Christians into. Remember, this group of believers in Rome are a small band who recently lost their key leadership when the emperor exiled all Jews from Rome. They are faced with the question of what kind of people they want to be in light of who God is. What is the right response to these things?

The righteousness that comes by faith says they should trust God even though they can’t see their way to victory on their own. The righteousness that comes by works says they are doomed to fail because they are small and weak, and will never be able to accomplish the great mission that God has given to them.

Paul is challenging how they conceive of being right in God’s sight so that they will be free and empowered to partner with him in advancing the Kingdom of God through the power of the gospel.

“But as something owed” (v. 4): By contrast, this credit is invalid if righteousness is earned. God would not simply be giving Abraham righteous standing, he would have earned that standing. In this way, Paul’s case study on Abraham refutes the idea that we can be righteous in God’s sight based on our works by showing that Abraham was given that standing by God’s grace.

“But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly” (v. 5): Now in contrast to the one who earns their place, Abraham stands in as a representative of those whose responsive faith believes God, and are set right with him on the basis of his grace.

In this way of understanding righteousness, the emphasis is not placed on the works themselves, but on one’s relationship with God. He becomes the one who is both righteous, and who makes us right.

Romans 3:26 NIV

26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

This leads us to the essential principle of the Christian understanding of righteousness by faith.

“His faith is credited for righteousness” (v. 5): I want to emphasize this principle because I believe this is the principle upon which all Christian ethics and community are predicated. Why do you do the things you do and live the way you live? Why do we worship God the way we do? What is the basis for our fellowship and harmony with one another as fellow Christians?

In many cases, and I think this is much to our shame, we revert back to the paradigm of righteousness by works. We go to Scripture to find a proof text to allow us to do what we already wanted to do, or to live the way we already wanted to live. Or we try to extrapolate laws and regulations for our worship where God is looking for the kind of worship that comes from the “spirit and truth”.

No other principle in Scripture has more profound impact on the kind of community and way of life that we will be than the principle that our faith counts for righteousness. By this principle I can be one with people who give very different answers to life’s critical questions so long as those answers are responsive to God’s word. I can love my fellow Christians despite our differences because I know that their faith is credited for righteousness. And I know that “the judge of all creation will do what is right” (Genesis 18:25; Romans 3:6).

David Celebrates Faith

Paul provides one last illustrative case study, this time from king David.

Romans 4:6–8 CSB

6 Likewise, David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin.

“Likewise” (“καθάπερ καὶ”) (v. 6): This phrase is intended to give an illustration for the last point. Some translations better render this “just as” (NASB/ESV) or “so even” (NET), which shows that Paul means to illustrate this principle by which we are counted righteous in God’s sight.

“David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless acts are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the person the Lord will never charge with sin” (v. 6-8): How does God count us righteous based on our faith apart from our works? Just as David, arguably one of the three most important characters in the Old Testament, says; righteousness is the blessing that is given to us by God’s grace.

First, God forgives our sins and covers them by his love.

Second, he does not charge us with our sins.

This broadly composes the parameters of what Christians think of as “God’s grace”. Where we went astray, God gathers us back to himself by forgiving our wayward sins. Where we have done wrong, God refuses to hold those sins against us, but, instead, covers our sins in his love.

Now I recognize that this immediately raises several questions and objections. Is Paul saying we can just sin all we want because of God’s amazing grace? Are we free from all moral constraints because the law is no longer the means by which we are made righteous?

These are important questions that Paul will deal with shortly, but, for Paul, they are not the most important questions. In fact, there are several prior points needed for our consideration before we deal with these questions. And so we will take these questions in the order that Paul decides to deal with them.

Our Sins Are Forgiven By God’s Grace

Instead, I believe Paul is calling forward the ancient wisdom of God for our salvation, and this is what I want to focus on for right now:

Proverbs 16:6 NIV

6 Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.

God’s plan to deal with the evil we see that has been brought upon this world through our rebellion against him was always to do so through his faithful love. Although he would be right to charge us with sin, and condemn us all, he has chosen instead to forgive our sins through Jesus Christ.

What this means is that God’s love is given and personally realized through the person of Jesus Christ. We cannot repeat the essential mistake of our past rebellion by thinking that we can demand the love of God on our own terms, just like we tried to have life on our own terms. The way of Christ is the narrow way in which “God is both righteous and the one who sets us right again.”

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