16. Romans Chapter 4 Verses 4-17 Messages In Romans – A Look At Abraham: The Sign Of Circumcision Was A Seal Of The Righteousness Of His Faith - Message 16 Series

16. ROMANS CHAPTER 4 VERSES 4-17 MESSAGES IN ROMANS – A LOOK AT ABRAHAM: THE SIGN OF CIRCUMCISION WAS A SEAL OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF HIS FAITH - MESSAGE 16

[A]. REVISION AND A BIT EXTRA

Last time we looked at Romans 4:4-12 carefully and just to summarise what we say, the word of God is very clear about the ONLY path to righteousness. It comes about by faith, faith in the God who pardons, and forgives our sins, who is merciful and gracious. I have selected six verses to remind us of last time.

{{Romans 4:5 but to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,

Romans 4:6 just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works:

Romans 4:7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.”}}

{{Romans 4:9 Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.”

Romans 4:10 How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised,

Romans 4:11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them,

Rom. 4:12 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.}}

It is those passages Paul is basing this argument on to show that all people, Jew and Gentile must come by faith and only faith can lead to justification. When God appeared to Abraham and gave him the great covenant, the sign of that covenant was circumcision in the flesh. Thus, since that time all descendants of Abraham – Jews and Moslems – (though many Moslems are not DNA descendants of Abraham – Iran, Egypt, Indonesia for example) are circumcised nationally to this day. In Romans 4:11 Paul calls circumcision a seal, so seal and sign are the same things. It is a mark of the covenant between God and Abraham. However in matters of faith it has no bearing or validity.

Romans 4 verse 12 - Paul has concluded that faith is not dependent upon circumcision and is open for all. He ends this with declaring Abraham is the father of circumcision but is careful to place faith in the proper context. Romans 4:12 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.

Abraham is called the father of circumcision, but because his faith was anchored in God while he was uncircumcised, then Paul argues it is not circumcision, but faith that connects us with Abraham. Romans 4 is the faith chapter.

All must come to God by faith believing that He is and that He will justify the repentant sinner who enters in through faith to the great promises given to Abraham, which flow into many blessings for the child of God who has become a son of God and joint heir with Christ. That is grace and mercy.

The great promises to Abraham were given before he was circumcised. Paul takes the path of a similar argument when writing to the Galatians because this Roman chapter and Galatians are closely related.

Just before we move to verse 13 there is a bit more. For the Christian there is a circumcision that operates for us. Paul talks about it in Colossians –

{{Colossians 2:11-14 “and IN HIM YOU WERE ALSO CIRCUMCISED WITH A CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS, in the removal of the body of the flesh by THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us, and HE HAS TAKEN IT OUT OF THE WAY, having nailed it to the cross.”}}

The old flesh, that is the old sinful nature, was cut away through faith in Jesus Christ when we were saved. If you like, that was a spiritual circumcision and Christian baptism pictures this. When a believer is immersed it is showing that the old life of the flesh has died (has been cut off) and the person is now alive in a newness of life. I will always decry the practice of most groups who correctly practise believer’s baptism, but they do not baptise at the point of becoming Christians. Only then do Romans 4, Romans 6, and Colossians make proper sense. To give people a probation time between coming to Christ and being baptised, is not scriptural. A believer should be baptised the same time he or she is saved and that was the practise in the Acts of the Apostles without exception in the cases recorded. In this matter most of the Christian church is doing wrong by the one coming to faith. Also it is so strengthening to the new believer.