In preaching classes, they teach you that illustrations are essential to a good sermon. I tend not to use them as much as many other pastors do. Last week I used one regarding the great chasm between man and God, and I think I can say confidently that it was not a good illustration. I find that the best illustrations for a sermon come from the Bible itself. And in Paul’s message on Romans we come now to an illustration from the life of Abraham. You might say that Abraham is the best personal illustration of the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith and I think we will see that as it is presented in this passage.
Now Paul has already established in Romans 1:17 that the righteous man shall live by faith, which is a quote from Habakkuk 2:4. Then Paul thoroughly evidenced that there is no one who is righteous on the basis of his own merit, not even one person. And finally, in our last passage we studied, Paul showed that there is a righteousness which comes from God, apart from the works of the law or our human merit, which was spoken of in the Old Testament scriptures, and it is available to all men through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now to illustrate this faith that results in righteousness from God, Paul presents the faith of Abraham. And you should understand some things regarding Paul’s decision to chose Abraham as the illustration of saving faith. Abraham, of course, was considered the father of the Jews. And we would agree with that. But the Jews went much further in their adulation of Abraham than what we believe. They taught that God chose Abraham to be the father of their nation because God found him righteous above any other man on the earth. They taught that he began to serve God at the age of three, and that his righteousness was completed by his circumcision and his fulfillment of the law by anticipation. They taught that though the law had not yet been given, Abraham anticipated it, and kept it and therefore because of his righteousness, he was deemed worthy of God’s favor. So for anyone who was either Jewish or knowledgeable of Judaism, Paul choosing Abraham as an illustration of righteousness would have been very significant, because they held that Abraham was righteous, and therefore selected by God, the very opposite of what Paul was arguing.
And it’s apparent that the church at Rome probably had a large number of converted Jews in attendance, especially in light of the fact that Paul uses the title regarding Abraham as “our forefather according to the flesh.” The Jews would have agreed with that as they saw him as their forefather. However, it should be noted that God promised to make Abraham a father of many nations, which included his offspring that became the Ishmaelites and Edomites, so in a sense he is the father of both Jews and Gentiles. And as we progress in this passage we will see that Paul considers Abraham to be the forefather of all who have faith.
So Paul says in effect that given the divine blessings upon Abraham, what can we learn from the life of Abraham about how to be righteous before God?
And Paul begins to answer that question in vs2 saying that “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about.” However, previously in chap.3 vs 27 Paul said boasting was excluded, because God justifies on the basis of faith and not because of works. But as I pointed out a moment ago, the Jews believed that Abraham was righteous on the basis of his merit, particularly by keeping the law of circumcision.
But notice how Paul phrases it, “If Abraham was justified by works, then he has something to boast about, but not before God.” In other words, from God’s point of view Abraham had no reason to boast in his own merit. As the author of Hebrews indicates, Abraham was called by God’s sovereign grace even while he was living in Ur of the Chaldees, among a pagan people. It was Abraham’s faith, not his works, which was the thing which God rewarded. Listen how Hebrews summarizes Abraham’s life. Heb. 11:6, 8-12, 17-19 “And without faith it is impossible to please [Him,] for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. ... 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. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign [land,] dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, [as many descendants] AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE. ... 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten [son;] [it was he] to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." He considered that God is able to raise [people] even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”
Now back in our passage in Romans Paul goes again to the Old Testament scriptures for validation to his argument that Abraham was righteous by faith. And ironically, he goes to the very one his Jewish opponents might have also claimed. The scripture he references is found in Genesis 15:6. Paul says in vs3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’”
The principle of saving faith in this verse is so important that it is repeated in a couple of other epistles, namely, Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23. And so I would like to examine this statement thoroughly. First of all, please notice that Paul says Abraham believed God, not that he believed in God. Abraham was not justified on the basis of believing in God’s existence, but by believing God. Look at the context of Gen. 15:6 and it’s apparent that Abraham had already exhibited that he believed in God. He had followed God’s command to leave Haran and go to a country that God would show him. The context of Genesis 15:6 shows that God is making specific promises of a son who would come from Abraham’s body. And so in regards to God’s promises Abraham believed God.
And I think that is an important distinction. Because James 2:19 says the devil’s believe in God, and tremble. So merely believing in the existence of God does not save, it is believing in His word.
The other important thing we need to understand is the principle of reckoning, or credited, or accounted, depending upon your translation. What this means is that God counted as righteousness what Abraham appropriated by faith, which was the righteousness of Christ. The Lord reckoned, or credited this unrighteous man, Abraham, to be righteous, even though he was not.The Lord was able to do this without himself being unjust, because of the certainty that Messiah would come and voluntarily sacrifice himself for all those who would have faith in Him. He would be Abraham’s substitute, paying the penalty for Abraham’s sin, and transferring His righteousness to Abraham in exchange.
This great exchange is spoken of in 2 Cor. 5:21 which says, “God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” So we see that it’s not a degree of righteousness which has to be added to, and added to, in hopes of obtaining enough righteousness to please God, but it’s the full measure of God’s righteousness which is applied to our account. But our justification is not God making us perfectly righteous, but counting us as perfectly righteous. And after we are counted righteous, then God begins making us truly righteous, culminating at our resurrection.
So in other words, God put to Abraham’s account, placed on deposit for him, credited to him, righteousness... Abraham possessed righteousness in the same way as a person would possess a sum of money placed in his account in a bank. Furthermore, we should understand that righteousness is more than the absence of evil and guilt. It is a positive good, meaning that God does not only declare us innocent, but righteous.
And Paul makes sure that we understand it is credited to us on the basis of faith, not works or merit. He says in vs 4 “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.”
The word translated as favor in my version is the Greek word “grace”. You may remember we talked about grace last week and described it as unmerited favor. The point is, if you work, you expect a paycheck for your labor. But if you don’t work, then what God gives you is grace, unmerited favor, which is credited to you as righteousness. A lot of people today get their paychecks by direct deposit into their bank account. But God gives us a divine deposit of righteousness, for which we do not work, for it is a gift of God deposited in our account.
The Greek word charis was used in those days by secular authors, usually referring to a spontaneous gift or favor given to a friend. But in the New Testament, charis takes on a new dimension, in that God is not giving grace to his friends, but to his enemies. And Paul echoes that in the use of the description of the recipient of grace being the ungodly. He says, "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.” As the Jews thought concerning Abraham, they might expect God would only justify a godly man, but because of what Jesus did on the cross, God can justify the ungodly. Jesus came to save sinners. No one is godly on the basis of their own merit.
Imagine having a large sum of money, and you spent it foolishly. You wasted it on every luxury and trivial thing until you had none left. And furthermore, you then went into debt for much more besides until you were way over your head in debt and absolutely broke, with no hope of paying it back. And then imagine someone wiping out your debt, paying it in full, and then depositing an immense sum into your bank account. That is what God has done for us. Not on the basis of whether we deserved it or not, but on the basis of His mercy and grace.
So from start to finish, right standing with God is a gift of God. And it is appropriated by faith in Jesus Christ. Therefore all the glory for our salvation belongs to God. There is no room for boasting in human works or merit.
Now to this illustration of Abraham, Paul adds another well known Old Testament figure, and that is of David. All of us I’m sure are aware that though David was called a man after God’s own heart, and he achieved great things for the Lord, yet he was a man who fell into grevious sin. And so no one could make the claim like they did with Abraham that it was David’s inherent righteousness that gave him a right standing before God.
But Paul emphasizes David’s righteousness in vs6, saying, “just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.” And then he quotes David from Psalm 32:1,2, saying, “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.”
David is joyful because he knows that his sins are forgiven. But he also indicates the same blessing is available for all those who partake of God’s grace. David knew the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.
Some commentators believe that Paul, who studied under Gamaliel is using a method of interpretation called “analogy” favored by the school of Hallel, which basically said that an earlier interpretation of a word connects to a later use of the same word, so that you may interpret the later usage by the older usage. I have often referred to a similar method of hermeneutics which is called the principle of first mention. For instance, if you want to know what Romans 12:1 means when it refers to worship, then go to the earliest use of that word and it will help you to understand the later usage. In that example, the first use of worship is found in Genesis 22:5 when Abraham is taking Isaac his son to be offered as a sacrifice in obedience to God, and Abraham says to the men with him, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you.” So by that hermeneutic we learn that worship involves sacrifice.
The similar point that commentators are making in regards to our passage in Romans is that the use of “reckon” in the verse concerning Abraham, instructs us in the meaning of the word “reckons” in the quote from David in vs8. He is showing a connection. The phrase rendered “take into account” is the same word “logizomai” which is translated “reckoned” in Genesis 15:6. Therefore, what David is saying by means of the correct interpretation of that word, is that God credits or reckons righteousness apart from the law.
David speaks of the blessedness, not of the one who is justified through works, but of the sinner who is cleansed through imputation. The emphasis is on what God places upon us (which is the righteousness of Jesus), not on what we do for God. Paul will go on to elaborate on the point of our unworthiness in the next chapter, saying, Rom 5:6-9 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him.”
Having confirmed the justification that comes from God through grace and not from works by the passage from David, Paul goes back to the example of Abraham to make another correlating, important point. He says, Abraham was counted righteous before he was circumcised; therefore he was not counted righteous because he was circumcised.
Let’s read the text in vs9 "Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.”
The point Paul wants to make is the blessing of righteousness is all the more significant because Abraham could not have earned it. And another tremendous aspect of the blessing is that it is not only given to the Jews, but to the Gentiles as well, even to all who believe.
Now the standard Jewish belief was that God’s blessing came only to the circumcised. Even as the first church was being formed, there were some who came from Jerusalem to the Gentile churches and tried to get them to become circumcised, saying that they could not be saved without adding certain laws to their faith. So Paul wants to put that false doctrine to bed. And he does so in a masterful way by showing that Abraham was declared righteous and credited with righteousness before he was circumcised. In fact, it was at least 14 years after Gen.15:6, Abraham being then 99 years old and Ishmael was 13 years old when he and Ishmael were circumcised according to the command of God. When God credited him with righteousness in Gen.15:6 Ishmael had not even been conceived. And so Paul is able to show chronologically that righteousness is not based on the works of the law because Abraham was uncircumcised at that time.
It’s also important for application to us that we notice that Paul refers to “the sign of circumcision.” A sign indicates a later reality. Thus in the cutting away of the flesh in circumcision it typifies the excision of the guilt and corruption of sin, which is a picture of justification and sanctification.
Paul also referred to circumcision as a seal. To Abraham it was the mark or seal of a guarantee that God would keep His promise. Sins and seals can be very helpful in our faith. But it’s also possible to over emphasize them. In the old dispensation there was the rites of circumcision and the Passover. And in the new dispensation there is the rites of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. But those rites to do bring about justification, but are merely signs pointing to it. They are a great educational value to our faith, and a great way of reminding us and testifying of what God has done. But they are not the means of justification, only the signs of it. So never should they be overrated and given the promise of removing sin. They merely are outward signs of an inward transformation.
So Paul makes an important point by the fact that circumcision does not justify anyone. They are justified by faith alone, through grace alone. And by extension we need to understand that observing signs and seals does not impart righteousness. In fact, Abraham, the father of all those who believe, was declared righteous while he was still uncircumcised. Therefore, how could anyone then say (as some did in Paul’s day) that Gentiles must be circumcised before God would declare them righteous? Or how could anyone say that without baptism no one can be saved as certain churches today teach?
The Jews of Paul’s day thought circumcision meant they were the true descendants of Abraham. But Paul insists that to have Abraham as your father, you must walk in the steps of the faith that Abraham walked in. Look at vs 12, “and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.”
As Paul stated in Gal. 3:7 “Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.” That directly corresponds to the statement in chapter 2, vs 28, where Paul said, “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”
It is faith, then, not a ritual, that saves. It is faith, not ritual, that makes people right with God. And it started with Abraham in the sense that he’s the father of the faith. So we can share the faith of Abraham, whether circumcised or uncircumcised, whether you’re a Jew or a Gentile. Faith is the operative principle of salvation, and Abraham is the model of salvation by faith apart from any ritual. There are no rituals or observing of signs or sacraments that can save, only by faith, through grace.
I pray that you have appropriated by faith in Christ the righteousness of God that you may be counted as righteous in the sight of God. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. It has been paid for by Jesus Christ. Simply believe in Him as your Lord and Savior and you will be justified, credited with the righteousness of God, that you may become sons and daughters of God, an co heirs with Christ, guaranteed the blessing of God.
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