Romans 4: The Gospel of Grace & Justification
Application: The student will give examples of a life that has been justified by faith.
PAUL’S TEACHING FOR US IN HIS FIRST THREE CHAPTERS IS THAT EVERY HUMAN STOOD GUILTY BEFORE GOD AND THAT THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS IN THEMSELVES, NO, NOT ONE.
SINCE THE GARDEN, ALL HAVE INHERITED A NATURE OF SIN AND THEREFORE CANNOT OVERCOME THAT SIN BY THEIR OWN WORKS TO STAND FREELY BEFORE GOD TO ESCAPE HIS WRATH.
VERSE 3:23-24 SHOWS US THE PLAN OF GOD ALLOWING THOSE WHO BELIEVE TO STAND AS CHANGED CREATURES BEFORE THE LORD BY THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS, NOT BY ANY POSSIBLE EFFORT BY OURSELVES.
VERSE 24 CLEARLY TEACHES US THAT WE ARE JUSTIFIED FREELY BY HIS GRACE REDEEMED ONLY BY THE ATONING PRICE PAID IN FULL FOR EACH SINNER WHO REPENTS IN FAITH TO THE ONE SENT BY THE HEAVENLY FATHER.
ONLY BY HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS IMPUTED TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE ARE SINS REMITTED.
PAUL PREPARED HIS TEACHING CAREFULLY BY EXPLAINING THE GOSPEL OF GRACE FOR GENTILES, THE GOSPEL OF GRACE FOR JEWS, & THE GOSPEL OF GRACE FOR THE WORLD.
THE BASIS OF THOSE TEACHINGS IS THAT ALL MEN ARE SINFUL CREATURES BY NATURE AND ALL MUST WALK THE NARROW PATHWAY IN FAITH FOR SALVATION AND NONE MAY COME TO JESUS CHRIST IN FAITH UNLESS THE HEAVENLY FATHER FIRST DRAW HIM. (JN 6:44)
ALL DOES NOT MEAN SOME – ALL MEANS ALL.
THE 30TH VERSE OF CHAPTER 3 MAKES CLEAR THAT BOTH THE CIRCUMCISION & UNCIRCUMCISION (JEW & GENTILE) WILL BE JUSTIFIED BY FAITH
IT IS BY THIS PROCESS THAT JESUS BRINGS US TO ETERNAL LIFE WHEN & ONLY WHEN WE BELIEVE AND ARE GIVEN THE NEARNESS OF GOD THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT GIFTED TO US.
IT IS BY THIS PROCESS THAT WE RECEIVE AND UNDERSTAND GOD’S LOVE FOR US AND IT IS ONLY BY THIS PROCESS THAT THE BELIEVER ESCAPES THE WRATH OF GOD
WHICH CONDEMNS ALL WHO DO NOT BELIEVE. (JN 3:18)
THERE IS NO OTHER MEANS BY WHICH OUR SIN DEBT MAY BE FORGIVEN.
PAUL NOW CHOOSES IN CHAPTER 4 TO GIVE TWO EXAMPLES OF THIS CONCEPT OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE.
THESE TWO EXAMPLES WOULD BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD BY ALL JEWS AND LIKELY ALSO UNDERSTOOD BY GENTILES ALIKE.
THESE TWO ARE ABRAHAM & DAVID.
ABRAHAM WAS CHOSEN BY GOD LONG BEFORE THE LAW WAS GIVEN AND DAVID, WHO WAS UNDER THE LAW, WHICH DAVID CLEARLY EXPLAINED BY HIS OWN WRITING THAT GOD’S WORK IN MANKIND WAS GRACIOUS.
VERSE ONE BEGINS THIS TEACHING WITH A MOST CAREFUL DETAIL SHOWING THAT ABRAHAM IS CONSIDERED BECAUSE HIS LIFE PERTAINED TO THE FLESH.
ABRAHAM IS INTRODUCED AS “OUR FATHER” REVEALING THAT THE NATION OF ISRAEL BEGAN WITH HIM.
THE STORIES OF ABRAHAM ARE GIVEN US TO SHOW THAT IN THE FLESH ABRAHAM SINNED BUT REMAINED UNDER GOD’S PROTECTION REGARDLESS.
IF HE HAD BEEN JUSTIFIED BY HIS WORKS, HE MAY HAVE FOUND SOME GLORY, BUT NOT BEFORE GOD, ONLY BEFORE MAN.
PAUL REMINDS IN VERSE 3 THAT ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS ACCOUNTED TO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
(GENESIS 15)
ABRAHAM WAS CHOSEN BY GOD NOT BECAUSE HE BELIEVED BUT BELIEVED BECAUSE HE WAS CHOSEN.
HIS CHOOSING IS GIVEN IN GENESIS 12, BEFORE HE CAME TO BELIEVE GOD.
IN GENESIS 15:2 ABRAHAM ASKS GOD A QUESTION WHICH IS WHAT WILL YOU GIVE ME SEEING THAT I AM CHILDLESS?
THE ANSWER WAS GOD’S PROMISE THAT HIS SEED WOULD BE SO NUMEROUS THAT THEY WOULD BE AS THE STARS.
ABRAHAM TOOK THAT PROMISE AND HE RESTED IN IT FOR ALL HIS DAYS.
HE REMEMBERED IT WHEN HE WAS TOLD TO OFFER UP ISAAC FOR IF GOD’S PROMISE WAS TRUE, EVEN IF ISAAC DIED, GOD WOULD RAISE HIM AGAIN BECAUSE OF THAT PROMISE.
ABRAHAM’S FAITH WAS NOT A WORK NOR AN ACTION BY HIM, BUT SIMPLY AN ATTITUDE OF LIFE AS HIS HEART WAS TURNED AWAY FROM HIMSELF AND TOWARD GOD.
GOD HAD COUNTED ABRAHAM’S HEART AND RECKONED IT CORRECT, THEREBY IMPUTING TO HIM THE LORD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH AS TAUGHT IN VERSE 5.
ACCORDING TO GOD’S WISDOM GIVEN TO PAUL, NONE ARE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE.
THEREFORE FAITH IS THE ONLY CONDITION GOD ACCEPTS WHICH ARE IN PLACE OF WORKS.
THERE IS NO MERIT IN FAITH BUT IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO RECEIVE WHAT GOD FREELY OFFERS.
FAITH HONORS GOD AND SECURES RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR MAN.
GOD CREDITED THE ACCOUNT OF ABRAHAM IN THIS MOMENT OF BELIEVING.
NEXT PAUL EXTENDS HIS TEACHING ON THIS IMPORTANT MATTER BY USING THE EXAMPLE OF DAVID.
VERSE 6 INTRODUCES DAVID BY STATING THAT DAVID DESCRIBED THE BLESSEDNESS OF MAN UNTO WHOM GOD IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS, WITHOUT WORKS.
DAVID LIVED UNDER THE LAW WHICH ARRIVED 400 YEARS AFTER ABRAHAM.
HOWEVER, DAVID COULD NEVER HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THE LAW, FOR WE KNOW THAT BY THE LAW IS NO FLESH JUSTIFIED. (ROMANS 3:20)
PAUL QUOTES PSALM 32: VERSE 1&2. THIS IS ONE OF DAVID’S TWO GREAT PSALMS OF FORGIVENESS, ALONG WITH PSALM 51.
HERE PAUL REMINDS THAT DAVID TEACHES OF THE FORGIVING OF INIQUITIES, BLESSINGS GIVEN BY THE COVERING OF SINS.
INIQUITIES MEANS LAWLESSNESS.
DAVID DELIBERATLEY BROKE THE LAW.
HE DID NOT DO IT OUT OF IGNORANCE. HE KNEW EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS DOING AND DID IT ANYWAY.
HE WAS FORGIVEN AND WROTE THIS TRUTH IN BOTH PSALM 32 & 51.
THIS WAS A DEFINITE ACT BY GOD AND WAS A COMPLETE ACT OF REMISSION POINTING FORWARD BY GOD OF THE COVERING OF SIN THAT WOULD ARRIVE WHEN THE LORD WAS INCARNATED IN THE LIKENESS OF OUR FLESH.
DAVID WAS A GREAT SINNER AND GOD PUT AWAY THE SIN OF DAVID FULLY.
GOD’S PROPHET NATHAN SO STATED IN 2ND SAMUEL 12:13:
“The Lord hath also put away thy sin, thou shalt not die…’
DAVID WAS SEVERLY CHASTENED BECAUSE OF HIS GREAT SIN.
FOUR OF HIS CHILDREN WERE TAKEN IN DEATH, THE BABY OF BATHSHEBA, AMNON HIS FIRSTBORN, ABSALOM, AND ADONIJAH.
SORROW WENT WITH DAVID ALL THE DAYS OF HIS LIFE BUT HIS GUILT WAS NOT PLACED UPON HIS OWN ACCOUNT.
THE JOY OF SALVATION WAS RETURNED TO HIM AS HIS PERSONAL SINS WERE COVERED, AND HE KNEW IT AND WROTE OF IT.
DAVID WAS A JEW AND ONLY WERE THE JEWS UNDER THE LAW, THEREFORE ONLY THE CIRCUMCISION FOUND THIS JOY WHILE UNDER THE LAW OF MOSES.
FOR THIS REASON, PAUL NOW RETURNS TO THE EXAMPLE OF ABRAHAM TO COMPLETE THE TEACHING.
ABRAHAM WAS JUSTIFIED BEFORE THE LAW WAS GIVEN AND WAS JUSTIFIED BEFORE HE WAS CIRCUMCISED.
VERSE 10 SAYS “HOW WAS IT RECKONED?”
GOD MADE A PROMISE TO HIM AND HE BELIEVED GOD LONG BEFORE THERE WAS ANY KIND OF AGREEMENT MADE AT ALL BETWEEN ABRAHAM & GOD, OTHER THAN GOD SAID WHAT HE WOULD DO AND LATER DID IT.
ABRAHAM BELIEVED IN THE FULLY NAKED PROMISE OF GOD AND IN VERSES 11-13 PAUL SAYS BECAUSE OF THAT FAITH BOTH THOSE WHO ARE JEWS AND THOSE WHO ARE NOT CAN WALK IN THE STEPS OF THE FAITH OF OUR FATHER ABRAHAM.
IN VERSE 16 PAUL REVEALS THE FINAL TRUTH WHICH IS THAT THEREFORE IT IS OF FAITH THAT IT MIGHT BE OF GRACE.
GOD SAVED ABRAHAM BY FAITH ALONE.
PAUL NOW SHOWS THAT ABRAHAM ALSO CAME TO BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION TO COME.
PAUL SAYS ABRAHAM CONSIDERED HIS OWN BODY NOT DEAD AS HE WAS ABOUT 100 YEARS OLD NOR DID HE CONSIDER THE WOMB OF SARAH AS DEAD.
HE BELIEVED IN THE PROMISE OF GOD TO PROVIDE A CHILD EVEN AT HIS ADVANCED AGE AND SARAH ALSO.
IN VERSE 21 PAUL SAYS THAT EVEN THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF ABRAHAM WERE DOUBTFUL IN MAN’S EYES, THAT GOD HAD MADE A PROMISE AND WAS ABLE TO PERFORM IT.
HE WAS SAID TO BE “FULLY PERSUADED”.
HE BELIEVED BOTH HIS BODY AND THE BODY OF SARAH WOULD BE RESURRECTED IN THE PROMISE OF GOD AND THEY WERE.
THAT FAITH IN GOD IS TAUGHT IN VERSE 22 BROUGHT FURTHER IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS.
OUR FINAL LESSON HERE IS FOUND IN VERSES 23-24 TEACHING US THAT THIS IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS TO HIM WAS NOT WRITTEN FOR HIM ALONE.
BUT IT WAS WRITTEN FOR US ALSO, TO TEACH US THAT SUCH RIGHTEOUSNESS WILL BE IMPUTED TO US AS WELL IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD.
THE BODY OF ABRAHAM COULD HAVE BEEN CONSIDERED AS DEAD PHYSICALLY AND THE WOMB OF SARAH WAS AS A TOMB AS SHE WAS FAR BEYOND THE TIME OF CONCEPTION.
BUT OUT OF BOTH OF THOSE BODIES CAME LIFE, JUST AS GOD PROMISED, AND JUST AS HE PERFORMED AGAIN AS CHRIST ROSE FROM THE TOMB OF DEATH.
VERSE 25 FINALIZES THIS TEACHING SHOWING US THAT JESUS WAS DELIVERED FOR OUR OFFENCES (OUR SIN) AND WAS RAISED AGAIN FOR OUR JUSTIFICATION.
1400 YEARS LATER MARTIN LUTHER USED THIS TEACHING TO PREPARE HIS STAND AGAINST THE POWER OF THE ROMAN CHURCH AS HE BEGAN THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION UNDER WHICH WE STAND TODAY.
HE STATED HIS CASE BASED UPON WHAT ARE CALLED HIS FIVE SOLAS:
SOLA FIDE - SAVED BY FAITH ALONE
SOLA SCRIPTURA - BELIEF IN SCRIPTURE ALONE
SOLUS CHISTUS - BELIEF IN CHRIST ALONE AS SAVIOR
SOLA GRATIS - CHRIST SAVED BY GRACE ALONE
SOLI DEO GLORIA - SAVED ONLY FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
THE ENTIRE PROTESTANT CHURCH WAS FOUNDED AND STILL STANDS UPON THE TEACHING OF PAUL IN ROMANS AND BEGAN WITH THE GOSPEL OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE GIVEN IN OUR STUDY STOP TODAY.
