Romans 4

Romans 4  •  7 min. read  •  grade level: 9
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Romans 4 takes the Jew back to the two great roots of blessing in the history of his nation, Abraham and David, to prove these two points. What shall we say then, that Abraham our father according to the flesh hath found? For if Abraham was justified by faith, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God! But what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness. Abraham then was justified by faith according to Genesis 15 before God, not by works. He was justified by works, too, as we read in James 2, but not before God, it was therefore before men (James 2:1818Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: show me thy faith without thy works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. (James 2:18)). Now to him that works the reward is not reckoned of grace but of debt, God would be the debtor to man, on such a ground as that! But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness. It was on that principle Abraham was justified. What has David to say about it? He describes God’s imputation of righteousness without works in the words (Psa. 32:1-21<<A Psalm of David, Maschil.>> Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1‑2)), Blessed is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins have been covered, blessed is the man unto whom the Lord will not reckon sin! I lay hold on God’s righteousness in justifying the ungodly. Righteousness is imputed to me; my iniquities are forgiven, my sins covered, and sin will never be imputed to me! Here righteousness imputed is identical with forgiveness of sins, the covering of iniquities, and the non imputation of sin; thus the future safety of the believer is secured, as well as the past. This the quotation shows. It is applied to an ungodly sinner who trusts in Jesus and His blood by the righteousness of God! The ground of it is the blood of Christ as we have seen in Romans 3. My sins are forgiven, my iniquities are covered, sin will never be imputed! Oh, dear reader, may you lay hold of this wonderful simple truth, for God says it in His Word!
But then, secondly, if Abraham and David were justified by faith, does this extend to the Gentiles? When was Abraham justified? Before circumcision or after circumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision; says the apostle; Abraham was justified at least thirteen years before his circumcision took place (comp. Gen. 15 and 17). He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all that believed though uncircumcised, and the father of the circumcision, not merely to those who were outwardly circumcised, but who also walked in the steps of Abraham as having faith. Thus, Abraham was the father of faith both to Jewish and Gentile believers. He was a believer before he was circumcised, God was his God then, why then should not the Gentile have the blessing, and what had the law to do with it? He was justified by faith in God’s promise, and the promise that he should be the heir of the world came before circumcision.
Romans 4:1313For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. (Romans 4:13). Promises were what specially characterized God’s dealings with Abraham, and this was a directly opposite principle to that of law. If they on the principle of law be heirs, then faith is made void, and the promise of none effect, because the law works wrath, for where no law is, there is, no transgression; there was sin, but not transgression. A man might drive across a wooden bridge recklessly, well, there is lawlessness; but if a law is passed imposing a fine against any one crossing at a rate quicker than a walk, the lawlessness becomes transgression, and the wrath of the judge comes down on the offender. Thus the law works wrath; and where there is no law there is no transgression, therefore, it is on the principle of faith that it might be by grace, so that the promise might go to all the seed, not merely to those under law, that is, the Israelites, but to all believers alike as having faith. Abraham is the father of us all, according to the word in Genesis 17, I will make thee a father of many nations, before the God whom he believed, who quickens the dead, and calls the things which be not, as though they were.
Here in Abraham’s faith another principle comes in, it is not simply the blessing of forgiveness, and of non imputation of sin, but of heirship, and of a God of resurrection who quickens the dead. Abraham believed in a God of resurrection who said to him, pointing to the heavens, “So shall thy seed be.” He considered his body dead being one hundred years old, he fully owned, too,* the deadness of Sarah’s womb, but was fully persuaded that a living Isaac would be raised up out of Sarah’s dead womb, because God had promised it. Righteousness was imputed to him He looks at an object outside of himself to God who shows him the stars, and says, so shall thy seed be. Secondly, he reckons his body dead, and trusts God who quickens the dead. He is reckoned righteous.
Here God is righteous in fulfilling His promises, but faith is imputed to us for righteousness if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. Christ is the seed of promise, and the heir of whom Isaac was the type. He having met all God’s claims against our sins, God is satisfied! God, faithful to His promises raises him from the dead, thus accepting His work, that our faith and hope might be in God. We have not even got to look to the future like Abraham; we believe in a God that has raised up Jesus from the dead. How marvelous how gracious our God is the Actor throughout. It was He who delivered up Christ to death for our offenses. It was He who raised Christ again from the dead for our justification. It is He that justifies or reckons righteous the believer on account of what He has done! To Him be all the glory! God being satisfied with His own work done through Christ, all is at rest. I see, in the Judge opening the prison doors to let my Substitute go free, not only that the full penalty of my sins has been borne, but that I am clear from all the charge of those sins through Him who has gone free.
I would like also to say here that all this part of the Romans is almost purely objective. I mean, that an object is put outside of us for us to believe in. God is the justifier, that is, an object outside myself. Jesus in glory as the manifestation of His righteousness, and His blood shed on the cross, are objects outside myself. We are called to believe on a God who delivered Christ up for our sins, and raised Him for our justification. These are acts of His justice done outside of ourselves. True, we believe, and our faith is counted for righteousness, but it is counted not on account of the value of our faith, but on account of faith taking hold of that which is of all value in His sight, that is the blood of Christ, and the heir raised from the dead. God imputes all the value of His acts to Christ (what He has done, and is) to the believer, and the result is that He is justified from all things, yea, as clear from all charge as Christ is Himself, also getting the new place of a son, but that is opened up afterward in the epistle. The ground of it, however, is laid in Christ the heir being raised from the dead.