Romans - Chapter 4
4:1-4 The father of faith.
There was strong opposition to the new message Paul was teaching of justification by faith given by God as a gift to man. This teaching was considered heresy by many Jews, who believed that their salvation had already been secured simply by being descendants of Abraham. Those who opposed Paul simply asked how it was that Paul said faith in Jesus was necessary for redemption but the story of Father Abraham in the OT makes no mention of this factor being a requirement
In these first verses Paul quotes Genesis 15 which records the conversation between God and Abraham which Paul points out showed clearly that Abraham believed God when God promised him a son (not a son of flesh like Ishmael but a son of promise who would be Isaac). He trusted God through his faith, not through any works he did and that trusting faith gave us the fact that God “... counted to him for righteousness.” God did not count Abraham righteous because he was good, although he was. Abraham was not shown to be righteous through anything he did other than believe. Abraham was not chosen originally because he believed; he believed because he had been chosen.
4:5-8 The forgiveness of faith.
Paul was not satisfied to make his point using Father Abraham alone but made his point stronger using another OT hero, King David. He quoted from psalm 32 to show that God imputes (same root word as “counted” for Abraham) righteousness apart from the law. To those who were so blessed, sins are “covered” and forgiven.
4:9-16 The family of faith.
When God called Abraham from the family home in Ur, and told him of the promised land, and outlined His covenant, He showed that He was moving graciously (displaying His grace) in the affairs of man. Jews traced their heritage to Abraham, as did the Arabs through his son with Hagar. This fact allows Paul to call Abraham the “father of us all.” So the family of God's people transcends history of flesh and has become to all who believe a family of faith.
To prove this point, Paul points out the chronology of events in the life of Abraham to show that he was found righteous by God fourteen years before he was circumcised. Therefore God is not interested that factor alone to justify a man, but rather is interested only that he is a man of faith.
In Galatians, Paul writes that the law was given to Moses 430 years after Abraham had been justified by faith, thereby showing that neither Abraham nor anyone else would ever be justified by keeping the law, but only by believing unto righteousness.
4:17-25 The factors of faith.
By placing all his teaching on faith, Paul needed to be sure that his audience understood what faith actually is. So he decided to express to the Roman church the factors that make up this important issue.
He taught that faith was confidence in a person who was himself God. The object of faith is that which matters more than anything else. Abraham knew two things about God, that He gives life to the dead and calls those things that do not exist into existence. We should recall that Sarah was barren, having a dead womb, and was far beyond child bearing age. Abraham himself was 100 when Isaac came so both saw the miracle that God made from bodies that could easily be considered dead to intimacy or fertility.
While waiting years for God to deliver on His promise, Abraham did indeed continue in faith. He did try to hurry the promise along when he made Hagar pregnant, but he learned through that mistake that faith must show patience. Isaac did arrive. Abraham was convinced that God could do what He had promised and He did.
We also know that Abraham continued to believe that God could create from the dead as God had promised to make many nations from Abraham but then tested Abraham when He commanded him to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice. Abraham knew that God would keep His promise, even if it meant raising Isaac from death so he proceeded in faith to obey God's command.
