Abraham and His Faith (Romans 4)

In the previous section, Paul had said that the Old Testament message had not been communicated by the Jews, although it had been entrusted to them to tell the nations about the coming of the promised Messiah. The apostle had also reminded his readers that the Old Testament witnessed to the message that he was declaring everywhere he went, which was that salvation from God’s wrath was experienced through a sinner having faith in the promised Messiah, who had now come, that is, Jesus, had suffered the penalty for sin.

The obvious response from a Jew would be, Where are we told such things in the Old Testament? We can see that Paul is still speaking to Jews because he reveres to Abraham as ‘our forefather according to the flesh’, which would not be true of Gentiles who were not Christians. And Abraham is the example from the Old Testament that Paul chooses to use as one who reveals the way of salvation that he has been spreading. He also refers to the psalmist David as another clear example from the Old Testament story. There are others, and it is a helpful study to search for how characters mentioned in the Old Testament expressed their faith in a coming Saviour (we could think of how Jacob, Job and Moses did so). So what does Paul say about Abraham in this chapter of Romans?

First, he says that Abraham was not justified by his works. Many of us will be familiar with the statement in the letter of James that seems to contradict Paul’s words when James says that Abraham was justified by his works. Various explanations have been given for James’ statement. Personally I think James is contrasting true faith and false faith. True faith produces works, which indicates the person is a genuine believer, and in that sense he is justified by his works. Paul would not deny that, but he would deny that works without a living faith could justify a person, which is the emphasis of James. Abraham had a lot of good works, yet none of them contributed to his possession of righteousness.

Second, Paul says in verse 3 that Abraham believed God. This does not mean here that he believed in God, which he did of course, but that he believed what God had promised to him. The verse that Paul quotes comes from Genesis 15 where God promises various things to Abraham, including that he would be Abraham’s shield and reward and that Abraham would have many descendants through his own son, who was yet unborn. These promises were all connected to God’s previous promise to Abraham about him being the means through which God would bring salvation to the world. Abraham’s focused on what God would do in order to keep his promises about this great salvation. So Abraham believed God when he said that a Saviour would come. He did not know every detail of what Jesus would do, but Jesus does remind us that by faith Abraham saw the day of Jesus and the fact that it was coming made him very glad (John 8:56). Abraham did not boast about his own achievements or works, but instead believed the promises of God.

Third, Paul gives more details about the righteousness that God gives as a gift by referring to the words of David in Psalm 32. Those who receive the gift have been forgiven all the wrong things that they have done, with those sinful actions having been atoned for (covered) by a sacrifice. David, in that psalm, is referring to the sins of adultery and murder that he had committed in connection to Bathsheba. It is one of the psalms that describes his repentance for those sins. David knew that there was not an atoning covering for those sins in the Mosaic law; instead the perpetrator David must die. So David cannot be referring to the Mosaic law when he says that his sins had been covered. Instead he was stating that God had another way of dealing with the sins of those who trusted in him, a way that would be revealed more fully when the Messiah came. It is amazing to think of how such great sinners can be forgiven and accepted by God.

Fourth, who could receive the blessings connected to God’s righteousness? The example of Abraham informs us that one’s religious connections and rituals have no role in obtaining it. Paul reminds his readers that Abraham received this righteousness before he was circumcised, which means that the ritual on which the Jews depended did not give them this righteousness. Instead circumcision was a sign that he had already received the gift of righteousness. It was also a permanent, personal seal for Abraham that he had trusted in the God who promised salvation. The detail that Paul stresses is that circumcision was not essential for receiving the gift of righteousness from God. Therefore, if it was not essential for him, then it is not essential for those Gentiles who have the same kind of faith as Abraham had before he was circumcised. 

Fifth, it is important to note that Paul in Romans and Moses in Genesis are using legal language when they say that righteousness was counted or reckoned to Abraham. God as judge had a ledger in which all the sins of Abraham were listed and for which he deserved to be punished. In his mercy God arranged for a way in which Abraham’s ledger could be changed from that of a condemned sinner to a person with a righteous standing. That way involved the Messiah becoming the substitute for Abraham, paying the penalty for his sins and providing him with an unchanging status in God’s sight. Abraham rejoiced to know that his substitute was coming, and we know that the substitute was Jesus. And what was done for Abraham by God as the judge is also done for all who believe in Jesus.

Sixth, Paul mentions that Abraham could only become the heir of the world through his faith in a saving God rather than through attempting to achieve it through keeping the law of God. If he had tried to achieve it through his obedience he would have failed and all he would have earned would be wrath.

We can imagine a conversation between Abraham and Sarah as they leave Egypt after their time there because of a famine in Canaan. Abraham had sinned badly in Egypt when he had persuaded Sarah to say he was his sister in order to avoid him experiencing problems. That sin broke several commandments of God. What would Sarah have to say to him if his relationship with God was dependent on his works? It would be something like this: ‘Abraham, your disobedience means that we are no longer the heirs of the promises of God.’ If Abraham had been in this kind of relationship, it would have been very similar to that of Adam who lost the promises when he disobeyed and failed to keep the covenant of works.

But since Abraham was not justified by his works, Sarah could say to him: ‘Abraham, is it not amazing that your disobedience has not deprived us of this unchanging promise that God has made to us?’ And Abraham could reply, ‘Yes, it is amazing, and it is all connected to the One who is to be our descendant and who is going to deal with all my sins, and yours also Sarah, and of all those who like us will trust in him. Let’s think about him and be glad.’

Seventh, everyone who has the same faith as Abraham will receive the same blessings as Abraham, whether they are Jews or Gentiles (vv. 16-17). The blessing is an inheritance (Abraham was heir of the world, and not only of the land of Canaan, which means he must have seen the promises of the land that God gave to him as depicting the world – perhaps this is an illustration that God’s promises are larger than we usually imagine). Believers, including Abraham, are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. The amazing thing is that none of those believers are perfect, indeed in themselves far from perfection, with some of them having been great sinners. Yet they will all receive the inheritance. It is the case that their degrees of dedication to Jesus will be rewarded in different ways, with some not having as great as a reward as others, but we must remember that all the rewards will be experienced in the location of the inheritance.

Eighth, Abraham’s faith is an example for us. What did his faith include or involve? Here are five details and no doubt more can be identified. (1) He did not let his physical impossibilities prevent him believing the promises of God about descendants. (2) He did not let the passing of time prevent him believing that the promises of God would be fulfilled. (3 He believed in the ability of God to perform extraordinary things that require resurrection power in order to happen. (4) He believed that what was then currently invisible would become visible through God’s power – this could refer to his own son Isaac and their descendants, or to the coming of the Messiah when Jesus was born, or to the appearing of the promised inheritance in the eternal world. (5) His faith became stronger the more he praised God for his promises. We can easily see if we have a similar faith to that of Abraham by comparing ourselves to his trust in God. Paul mentions physical weakness, patience, power, the invisible world and praise. How do we regard each of those aspects of faith?

Ninth, Paul tells us the way of justification in the final verse. He gives an unusual angle on it in that he connects it with faith in the Father (he raised Jesus from the dead), to an awareness of the position Jesus received (Lord) from the Father, to how the Father delivered up his Son to pay for our lawbreaking, and to how the Father raised his Son from the dead in order for us to receive justification as his gift. Normally we think of justification in connection with faith in Jesus. Paul is not saying that there is more than one way of justification. Instead he is stressing that when we believe in Jesus for salvation we should not forget the role of the Father in this stage of the plan of salvation. This verse reveals the Father’s heart as much as does John 3:16.