Intro
Romans 4 naturally divides into sections:
1. Justification is by faith, not by works (vv.1-8).
2. Justification by faith is not dependent on ritual (vv. 9-16).
3. The kind of faith that leads to justification is exemplified by Abraham (vv. 17-22).
4. Justification is available now for all who believe the gospel (vv. 23-25).
We have examined verses 1-8 in previous messages. We are now ready to learn additional lessons from the life of Abraham. Follow with me as we read Romans 4:9-12 (NIV):
“Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”i
Paul is continuing with the subject of justification. Keep in mind that justification is the first major phase of our salvation. Phase 1 is justification. Phase 2 is sanctification.ii Paul deals with that in Romans 6-8. Phase 3 is our bodily resurrection when our salvation will be made complete. As we proceed in our study of Romans 4, keep in mind that Paul is only dealing with phase 1, and he is only dealing with the forensic or legal side of phase 1. We have learned that justification is the legal action of God in which he forgives our sins and credits believers with Christ’s righteousness. By grace he gives us an upright standing before his court of justice. In Romans 4, Paul is not dealing with the transformational side of phase 1 which is regeneration. At the same time God declares you righteous, he imparts to you a new nature through the new birth so that you become a new creature in Christ. But that transformational side is not a part of Paul’s discussion in Romans 4. In Romans 4, he is only dealing with justification by faith. We must stay focused on his subject if we want to understand Paul’s teaching in this text.
The flow of his thoughts in Romans 4:9-12 is as follows:
V. 9a: The question is raised: Is the justification described in the first 8 verses only for circumcised Jews, or is it available to those who have not gone through the rite of circumcision?
V. 9b: A reminder is given of what was established from Scripture in verse 3: Abraham’s justification was by faith rather than works.
V. 10: The question is raised as to the circumstances of Abraham’s justification: Was he justified before or after he was circumcised? He was justified before being circumcised.
V. 11a: Circumcision was a sign and seal of the justification that Abraham had already received by faith.
V. 11b: Abraham’s justification when he was still uncircumcised proves from Scripture, that circumcision is not a prerequisite to justification. It makes him the father of all uncircumcised (gentile) believers.
V. 12: He is also the father of all circumcised (Jewish) believers. Therefore, he is the father of all who put their faith in Christ regardless of circumcision.
UNCIRCUMCISED BELIEVERS
With that understanding of Paul’s logic in this passage, we will now look at a key revelation in Scripture concerning the circumstances of Abrahan’s justification. Paul is basing his argument on this biblical revelation. In verse 10 he asks, “Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before?”iii Anyone knowledgeable of Scripture would know the answer. But Paul gives the answer so that no one misses the point: “It was not after, but before!”
Abraham was circumcised in Genesis 17 when he was 99 years old. But he was declared righteous long before that, back in Genesis 15:6. He was justified at least 13 years before he was given the sign of circumcision. Genesis 17:24-25 says, “Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen.” In Genesis 15:3 Abraham said to God, “You have given me no children.” So, we know that a minimum of 13 years passed between the time Abraham was justified in Genesis 15:6 and the time he was circumcised in Genesis 17. “Some Jewish interpreters made this even longer—twenty-nine years.”iv Everything Paul says in this section of Romans 4 rests on this biblical fact. Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised, not after. Therefore, Abraham’s justification did not depend on circumcision. He was justified by faith alone.
Paul introduces this paragraph by raising the question in Romans 4:9: “Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised?”
What blessedness is Paul referring to? He is referring to the blessing of justification explained in the first eight verses. In particular, he is referring to David’s testimony in Psalm 32 which Paul has just quoted: “Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them” (v. 8). The two sides of justification are: (1) Forgiveness of sin in which God does not impute or legally count the person’s sin against him. David emphasized this side of justification. (2) The other side of justification was emphasized in Genesis 15:6. Quoting that verse, Paul said in Romans 4:3: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him [imputed to him] as righteousness.” So, the blessedness in Romans 4:9 is justification.
The question being raised is whether justification is only available to a person who has been circumcised or is it available to a person who has not submitted to that ritual. Circumcision was so central to the Jewish religion, that the word was often used to indicate Jews in contrast to gentiles who were not marked by that sign of the covenant.v For that reason, the NLT simply says, “Now then, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too?” So, the verse could be understood that way. However, the rite of circumcision is central to Paul’s discussion here. Does a person have to be circumcised as a prerequisite of being saved (justified)?
Some Jewish teachers were insisting that a person could not be saved without being circumcised. The issue was so significant that the apostles had to deal with it and provide a ruling on the matter. Acts 15 begins, “Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: ‘Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved.’ 2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.” The council concluded that circumcision was not necessary.
Paul’s letter to Galatia deals extensively with this issue because Judaizers were teaching those Christians that circumcision was necessary (Gal. 6:12).vi Paul insists on justification by faith alone and calls the inclusion of legalistic requirements like circumcision a perversion of the gospel (Gal. 1:6-7). In Galatians 6:15 he concludes: “Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.”vii Abaham was justified by faith without being circumcised (Gen. 15:6). This, Paul insists in our text, is proof that circumcision is not a requirement for justification.
UNITY OF GOD’S PEOPLE
In Romans 4:11-12, Paul also teaches the unity of God’s people. Abraham is the father of all who believe whether Jew or gentile.viii Verse 16 says he is “He is the father of us all.”ix Our primary identity is not found in ethnicity. It is not found in political party. It is not found in a denominational affiliation. The central identity that unites us is faith in Christ. In our zeal for other things, we must be careful that we do not lose sight of that fact. Racial prejudice flows out of an unhealthy pride in ethnicity. Destructive division emerges from competitive zeal for one’s denomination or local church. We should oppose ungodly political views and contend for biblical values. But we must never allow political party affiliation to overshadow our love for brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to contend for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:1-6). Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28-29: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
Now in Romans 4:11 we read, “And he [Abraham] received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.” There were no Jews in Abraham’s day. Abraham was saved as an uncircumcised gentile.x Paul concludes: “So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.”
That statement challenged the Jewish thinking of Paul’s day. The Jewish people used the rite of circumcision to distinguish themselves as people in covenant with God, in contrast to the uncircumcised pagans. Here are a few quotes from Rabbis to illustrate their view of circumcision as a necessity for salvation:
“‘The state of uncircumcision is the impurity of all impurities . . . , the mistake of all mistakes’ (Pirqu de Rabbi Eliezer 29B 4:34).”xi
“‘Abraham will sit at the entrance of Gehenna [hell] and will not permit any circumcised Israelite to descend into it.” “And what does he do with those who have sinned immoderately in their lives? He removes the foreskins from children who have died before circumcision and put them on the hardened sinners so that they can descend into Gehenna’ (Gen. Rabbah 48:8).”xii
How did their emphasis on circumcision rise to the level of such absurd statements? A brief reminder of their history may help us answer that question. During the Babylonian captivity, circumcision was an important rite that distinguished the Jews from their pagan captors. Circumcision and the keeping of the Sabbath have been key factors that have protected the Jewish people from being assimilated into the gentile nations.
In the Hellenistic period, Antiochus IV prohibited circumcision.xiii “Women who had their children circumcised were executed, and babies marked with the covenant sign were also put to death, cf. 1 Macc. 1:60f. Hence circumcision, as an essential expression of the national religion, came to be regarded as worth dying for.”xiv That history helps us understand the importance that circumcision gained in the minds of the Jewish people.xv But, as a Jewish scholar, Paul is using the Old Testament to bring this ritual back into its proper place. It was never the basis of salvation. It was a sign and seal of justification, not justification itself.
Unity is a major theme in our text:
(1) Paul is stressing the unity of circumcised and uncircumcised believers as children of Abraham.
(2) The fact that the Old Testament and New Testament people of God are all justified the same way (by faith) joins us together.
Paul’s teaching in Romans 4 should open our eyes to see the continuity of the people of God in the Lord’s redemptive plan. In their zeal to slice and dice Scripture, extreme dispensationalists, such as C. I. Scofield, saw too much distinction between Old Testament and New Testament believers.xvi Abraham was justified by faith, David was justified by faith, all Old Testament believers were justified by faith just as all New Testament believers are justified by faith.
In fact, we gentile believers are grafted into the tree of God’s people. In Romans 11:17-18, Paul said to gentile Christians, “If some of the branches have been broken off [unbelieving Jews], and you, though a wild olive shoot [gentiles], have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.” We must understand the inherent unity of God’s people because all are saved one way—by faith in Christ (Messiah) and his work in our behalf. There are some differences between Old Testament and New Testament in the way the faith is expressed. But it is all obedient faith in Christ. Justification by faith is a unifying factor for the people of God. It unifies Old Testament and New Testament saints. It unifies circumcised and uncircumcised believers. Paul is contending for that unity among the Christians of his day.
CIRCUMCISED BELIEVERS
Paul has insisted that uncircumcised believers are true spiritual children of Abraham. Their uncircumcised status does not disqualify them from being justified by faith.xvii Now in verse 12 he contends that circumcision does not disqualify either.xviii Believing Jews are in the fold just as surely as believing gentiles. Circumcision has no bearing on justification. Romans 4:12 says, “And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Do not overlook the qualify condition stated in the words “but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham.”xix It’s not enough to be an ethnic Jew.xx Romans 9:6-7: “For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.” Inheriting the promises is based on faith, not biological genetics. Someone might ask: What about God’s promises to the nation of Israel? God will fulfill those promises through Jews who put their faith in Jesus Christ. There will come a day when “all Israel will be saved” (Rom. 11:26). When Christ returns the whole nation will be saved and the promises will be realized during the Millennium (Zech. 12:9-10). God’s promises to the nation of Israel will not be fulfilled through unbelieving Jews. They will be fulfilled through Jews who believe on Messiah Jesus.
What does it mean to “follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had.” It means they operate in the same saving faith that Abraham operated in.xxi It has been established that Abraham was justified by faith, not works. We see in Abraham’s life that it was a faith that produced obedience. Abraham was on a pilgrimage in which he walked by faith.
Hebrews 11:8-10 records: “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” That is the lifestyle of a true believers. They obey the will of God. They are strangers and pilgrims in this world (Heb. 11:13). And they are looking for that eternal city whose builder and maker is God (Rev. 21:1-3). Those actions do not qualify for justification. But they are the fruit and evidence of saving faith.
The final phrase in verse 12 tends to make the sentence cumbersome and may seem superfluous: “the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” It would have been simpler to say: “the faith that our father Abraham had.” Paul has already established that Abraham exercised faith unto justification while he was uncircumcised.” But that point is central to Paul’s argument in these verses.
Furthermore, it turns Jewish pride on its head.xxii Some Jews were contending that a gentile must become a circumcised Jewish proselyte before they could be saved.xxiii But Paul is saying a Jew must Jews set aside their confidence in circumcision and enter the kingdom like the gentile (uncircumcised) Abraham did. Frederic Godet commented, “Hence it follows that it is not, properly speaking, for Gentile believers to enter by the gate of the Jews, but for the Jewish believers to enter by the gate of the Gentiles.”
The Jewish position that a gentile must first be circumcised as a Jewish proselyte was not based on biblical revelation but on their ethnic/religious pride. The calling on the Jewish people was indeed a special one. To them were given the scriptural revelation of the one true God (Rom. 3:2). To them were given the covenants of promise (Eph. 2:12). The proper response to that high calling should be one of gratitude and humility.xxiv Instead, there was an attitude of arrogance and exclusivity. We hear it in the tone in which they said to Jesus, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone” (John 8:33). John the Baptist confronted it when he said to them: “And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham’” (Luke 3:8).
This propensity toward pride is just as strong in gentiles as in Jews. And Paul is quick to confront it in them as well. In Romans 11:17 he says to gentile Christians: “If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.”
Pride and exclusivity are an abomination to the Lord.xxv The call on the nation of Israel was to enable them to reach the world with the revelation of the coming Christ.xxvi The calling on your life, on your church, on your denomination is not for your sake only; it is to enable you to humbly reach others for Christ. Do not boast in your denominational affiliation. Do not boast that you have the largest or most holy church in town. Boast only in Christ and his grace toward you, a grace that is available to all who will receive it.xxvii Shun ethnic and religious pride as if it were a deadly plague, for so it is. Therefore, having declared Abraham as the father of believing gentiles by virtue of the fact that he was saved while uncircumcised, Paul now declares him the father of believing Jews. Romans 4:12: “And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Conclusion
So, in Romans 4:9-12, Paul has used the biblical fact that Abraham was declared righteous while uncircumcised to establish the truth that circumcision is not necessary for a person’s justification. While doing that he has stressed the unity of God’s people. Both Jew and gentile, both circumcised and uncircumcised are children of Abraham if they have followed in his footsteps of faith. Faith is the condition for being declared righteous by God—faith and nothing else.
You may be wondering why we are spending so much time on such an archaic issue as circumcision. It was a major issue in Paul’s day, and Paul is writing in that historical context. But the principles being taught in our text are highly relevant for us today. We will have to wait until next week to make those applications. Then we will talk about the purpose of religious sacraments and rituals. We will also expound Romans 4:13-16 which is closely related to today’s text.
ENDNOTES:
i All Scripture quotes are from the New International Version (2020) unless indicated otherwise.
ii The term sanctification (hagiasmos) is used to denote consecration or purification (see Thayer’s Greek Lexicon) and is sometimes translated holiness. Although the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit is not restricted to this phase of our salvation, that phase is typically called sanctification. It includes the maturing and refinement of the Christian’s character including the renewing of the mind (Rom. 12:2).
iii “Under what circumstances” is a valid translation of the Greek word pos which is an adverb of manner meaning “how? in what way or manner?” Joseph Thayer, Thayer’s Greek Lexicon (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1896) s.v. “pos.” Cf. John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. 1, NICNT, F. F. Bruce, ed., 1959 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 136-137.
iv Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 422.
v “For peritome [circumcision] and akrobustia [uncircumcised] . . . are equivalent to Jew and Gentile, someone inside the law and someone outside the law (see on 2:12).” James D. G. Dunn, Romans 1-8, WBC 38a, David Hubbard and Glenn Barker, eds. (Dallas, TS: Word Books, 1988), 208.
vi “Judaizers were Jewish Christians who believed, among other things, that a number of ceremonial practices of the OT were still binding on the NT church, including on Gentil believers. Following Paul’s successful campaign in Galatia, they insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity practice certain OT rites, especially circumcision. In other words, they must first become Jews in order to become part of the people of God.” Robert Mounce, “Galatians: Introduction,” NIV Study Bible, rev., Kenneth Baker, ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2020), 2051. The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) occurred in about 49-50 A.D. It is uncertain whether Paul wrote the Galatian letter before or after that council. NIV Study Bible, 1626, 2051.
vii Cf. 2 Cor. 5:17.
viii As Hodge points out, it is his justification by faith that identifies Abraham as the father of all who believe. In Genesis 4:20 Jabal is considered a father of certain people because of his lifestyle of living in tents and raising livestock. In the next verse, Jubal is declared to be “the father of all who play stringed instruments and pipes.” Abraham is the prototype of all who are justified by faith. Charles Hodge, Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans, 1886 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1993), 117.The term father can be used in the sense of “one that originates or institutes . . . PROTOTYPE.” Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th ed., 424. Lloyd-Jones points out that people who lived before Abraham “like Abel and Enoch and Noah and others were equally justified in the sight of God, but it is in the case of Abraham that God makes plain and clear and explicit the way in which He justifies men.” D. M. Lloyd-Jones, Romans: An Exposition of Chapters 3.20-4.24 Atonement and Justification, 1970 (Carlisle, PA: The Banner of Truth, 2015), 185.
ix God’s sovereign purpose was the salvation of both Jew and gentile. Therefore, he arranged that Abraham would be justified before he was circumcised so that he could be the father of all (circumcised and uncircumcised) who believe (Rom. 4:11-12). Cf. Cranfield, Romans 1-8, 236-237.
x Cf. Rom. 4:5.
xi Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible, W. Alright and D. Freedman, eds. (New York: Doubleday,1993), 380.
xii Joseph A. Fitzmyer, Romans: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, The Anchor Bible, W. Alright and D. Freedman, eds. (New York: Doubleday,1993), 380.
xiii This was in response to the Jewish revolt against Greek dominion. But even Antiochus IV saw circumcision as so significant that he imposed a death penalty on it.
xiv Gerhard Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), s.v. “peritemno, peritome, aperitmetos” ” by Rudolf Meyer, 77.
xv In John 7:22-23 Jesus said to the Jewish leaders: “Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. 23 Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath?” Circumcision took on an importance even greater than the Sabbath. The Jews allowed the Sabbath to be broken in order for the circumcision to be performed on the eighth day. Cf. Gerhard Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. 6 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1968), s.v. “peritemno, peritome, aperitmetos” by Rudolf Meyer, 77.
80.
xvi As a moderate dispensationalist, I appreciate much of Scofield’s teaching. I believe God’s promises to the nation of Israel will be literally fulfilled. However, excessive divisions in God’s redemptive work can be misleading.
xvii Paul has already said in Romans 4:5 that God “justifies the ungodly.”
xviii The only way circumcision disqualifies a person is when that individual put his faith in the ritual rather than in Christ (Gal. 5:2).
xix The article (tois) before stoichousin (walk) led some to think Paul is addressing two groups (one group being “the circumcised” and the other group being those who “follow in the footsteps of the faith. . . .” Competent scholars rule this possibility out since it seems “contrary to the clear sense of the sentence; it is also ruled out grammatically. . . .” Cranfield, Romans 1-8, 237. Romans 4:12 is referring to only one group: Jewish believers who have been physically circumcised but have also been justified by faith. See also Dunn, Romans 1-8, 210-211 and Schreiner, Romans, 234-235.
xx “In this way (by faith) also the Jews will become his children, namely, if besides the circumcision of the flesh, they receive also the circumcision of the heart.” Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans, J. T. Mueller, trans., 1954 (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1982), 84.
xxi “To “walk in the steps’ is to march in file. Abraham is conceived of as the leader of the band and we walk, not abreast, but in file, following in the footprints left by Abraham.” John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans, vol. 1, NICNT, F. F. Bruce, ed., 1959 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 139. Cf. TDNT 3:402.
xxii Frederic Louis Godet, Commentary on Romans, 174.
xxiii Cf. Dunn, Romans 1-8, 210.
xxiv Cf. 2 Sam. 7:18; 1 Chron. 17:16; 29:14; 2 Chron. 2:6; 1 Cor. 15: 9-10; 1 Tim. 1:12-17.
xxv To be inclusive does not mean condoning of sinful behavior (1 Tim. 5:2). But exclusivity based on ethnicity, economic status, or religious affiliation are blatantly contrary to the love of God which is offered without respect of persons (James 2:9; 1 Pet. 1:17).
xxvi Cf. Gen. 12:1-3; Ex. 19:6. This goal is only accomplished through Abraham’s Seed, Christ (Gal. 3:16).
xxvii Cf. Ps. 34:2; 44:8; 1 Cor. 4:7; 2 Cor. 10:17.
