14. ROMANS CHAPTER 4 VERSES 1-3 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM RECKONED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS - MESSAGE 14
WHAT IS IT THEN – FAITH OR WORKS?
It is unfortunate that chapter divisions and verses themselves are arbitrary, for sometime they destroy the flow of an argument. It become essential in reading the scriptures, and especially so in the book of Romans and the prophetic books of the Old Testament, to note the key words used for connection of ideas and the development of themes.
Probably the most important word in that regard is “therefore”. That word links any argument past, with the development to come. Years ago I learnt a valuable suggestion from someone about “therefore”. Always ask what it is “there for”? If you take a quick look at verse 1 of chapter 5 you will see that being used. Another word to look out for is “however”.
Sometimes it can be a question that is the linking device, and that is what Paul uses here in verse 1. We begin chapter 4 having completed Chapter 3 that saw all men brought under sin, with not even one being righteous. All are guilty and therefore under the penalty of sin. Jeremiah faced the same predicament as God posed the problem to him – {{Jeremiah 5:1 “Roam to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and look now, and take note, and seek in her open squares, - if you can find a man, IF THERE IS ONE WHO DOES JUSTICE, who seeks truth, then I will pardon her.”}}
However in Chapter 3 we saw that a man can be justified by faith, and who could be a greater example of faith then Abraham? That is where we are going to take up our study for today.
[A]. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS ACHIEVED THROUGH FAITH (THAT IS GENUINE)
{{Romans 4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found,
Romans 4:2 for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”}}
Paul is writing to the church that was at Rome that was mostly comprised of Gentile believers but there were a lot of Jews in the church, so he was happy to use the term, “our forefather,” which covered the Jewish believers there. Abraham becomes the great example of faith for the faithful, irrespective of national origin. He is sometimes called, “the father of the faithful”. The term could cover Gentiles also for we are the children of Abraham through faith, NOT through descent.
(A). VERSE 1
Verse 1 poses the question and next two verses answer that. Well what did Abraham find? How did his life operate and what was the conclusion at the end of his life? Paul uses an interesting expression here with the use of “found”. Was Abraham seeking? It was God who took up Abraham – {{Genesis 12:1-2 Now the LORD said to Abram, “GO FORTH from your country and from your relatives and from your father’s house to the land which I will show you, and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing.”}}
Whether Abraham was searching for the truth right at the beginning or not we do not know. God took him to establish His purpose. The Lord was to show him the land but can it be said Abraham was seeking that land? It really is of no consequence. The word “found” is better realised as “discovered”. What did he discover? With God’s help and guidance he discovered the true secret of faith and it was that faith that justified him.
There is a strong correlation with Romans 4 and Galatians and it seems Paul was dealing with the Galatian error at about the same time he was thinking of the letter to the Roman church.
(B). VERSE 2
Verse 2 opens the subject of faith versus works and this is a huge study. The whole argument centres around how to be accepted by God. Centuries ago hardly anyone questioned the existence of God. These were the times before the rationalists and the people of higher learning and Nitsche with his “God is dead” and demonic atheism we see everywhere today, compounded by the advance of godless humanism. People accepted God’s existence and their main concern was how to be accepted by God.
A person’s background is often critical to his or her thinking. A pagan might approach the subject of acceptance by God, by relating it to his sacrificial system to his own god or gods. He might seek to come to the real God that way. That is a religion of appeasement, trying to please God by giving. People from the Roman Catholic system might relate it to activity, the faithfulness in attending mass and the confessional and keeping the ordinances of the church. That is a religion of doing, of works with expectation.
No religion of appeasement or doing will find God. All that can be put into the works basket. The human being is so corrupt in the sight of a holy God that nothing he does, be it giving, sacrifice, doing, or any variant of works – none of that will find God. That was the purpose of Romans 3. It brought all people under the condemnation of sin; all utterly devoid of goodness and acceptance. If Romans ended at chapter 3 then the human race had no chance whatever. It would be left to its own devices to eat, drink and be merry.
A religion of appeasement does not work. Nothing a man can give to God, or if he spends his days working and doing things for a system, will save him. All is empty and vain works. We used to have Prep levels in school in the 1940s before you entered Grade 2 and one day I remember a teacher telling my class of impressionable young minds, that every time you did something good God put a nail in your board, and every time you did something bad, a nail would be removed. (It may have been the other way around. That was over 70 years ago.) In the end your destiny depended on the situation with the nails. I went home and tried to do good things that day. That was a religion of good works.
There are some who think that beyond death, there is this utopia place that you can call heaven if you want, (in the great somewhere; in the great by and by) where all people go to continue their lives as they live here in this earthly existence but with all good things given to them. In their thinking God is some mix of Santa clause and a kind, eccentric, non-judgmental benefactor who allows them to live their sinful lives forever. Some of course think death is the end of everything because there is no God and nothing after death. The afterlife is NOT there for you to continue in sin, and the afterlife is NOT going to be there because you decide it is not going to be.
It is an interesting thing about the entire universe but the whole framework is built on CONSEQUENCES. If you cut a finger, it bleeds. If you drop a plate it falls to the floor because of gravity. If you are an alcoholic, you will die of pancreatic cancer or some other illness. If you drive with bald tyres on a car, then when you break hard you are most likely to have an accident. If you sin then there is a penalty to pay in this life or the next, but certainly after death.
However chapter 3 is not the end and the next chapter opens the door of faith, and who better than Abraham to be the shining light here for us to be instructed. You will see in verse 2 that if works qualified one for acceptance, then Abraham could boast day and night for he did so much. If you took Abraham's faith away and just looked at what he did, then the list would be so full of effort. However none of that effort was done to gain God. That effort flowed from knowing God and being obedient in his life. It is what we call “walking by faith.”
Ellicott adds a thought here – [[ “We know that he obtained justification. If that justification had been earned by his own works it would then have been something to be proud of; it would be a pride that he might fairly hold both towards men and towards God; for to men he could point to the privileged position that he had gained, and in the sight of God he would be able to plead a certain merit of his own. But he has not this merit. His justification was not earned, but it was bestowed upon him, not for the sake of his works, but of his faith. This is the express statement of Scripture. And hence it follows that though his privileged position in the sight of men remains, he has nothing to boast of before God.” ]]
I think one of the most disappointing features of modern society is this hankering over CVs in jobs. It is like a sheet of boastful requirements. Achievements lead to pride. It is a false concept in the world that a man’s degrees and what he has done counts for everything but the real “quality” of the man is dismissed. Sadly churches are going this way in the desire to select ministers. Those without academic qualifications from denominational seminaries, etc. are promptly dismissed from any consideration. I have a poem addressing this –
NOT IN DEGREES OR PEDIGREES BUT ON YOUR KNEES
The measure of a Christian, is not how much he knows,
But in the godly behaviour, his normal life shows.
Don’t talk to me about theological degrees,
Doctors of Divinity, or other pedigrees.
Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen unknown;
Just fishermen, a humble trade the world would disown,
But these four men with others, soon set the world ablaze,
And the world knew there was authority in their ways.
They had not theological degrees, but had more.
They trained under the Master, and journeyed shore to shore.
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Their power lay not in any academic mind,
But in the One who taught them, with whom they were aligned.
Theological qualifications count for nought,
Unless the person, at the feet of Jesus, is taught.
The secret is not in degrees of ability,
But in humble, spiritual viability.
The closer the walk with Jesus, the closer the gain;
Life in the Spirit, and faith, will godliness attain.
We must humble ourselves under the Lord’s mighty hand,
For that is God’s specified way to impact the land.
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Pride of achievement and pride of place is traitorous;
To treat a church as “Sunday speeches” is treacherous.
God knows only humble servants, those who serve the Lord.
They are the ones who will know God’s well-deserved reward.
The ones who think they’re clever because they have degrees;
Ones who refuse to speak, unless they are paid their fees,
These all are charlatans, the false shepherds of God’s saints.
They are raping the heritage without due restraints.
It is not knowledge that counts, but time spent with the Lord.
It’s not academics, but with Jesus, in accord.
IT’S NOT DEGREES OR PEDIGREES, BUT IT’S ON YOUR KNEES,
FOR IT’S NOT MAN OR ITCHING EARS, BUT IT’S GOD YOU PLEASE!
R E Ferguson 16 January 2022 Metre = 13 throughout AABB etc
(C). VERSE 3
{{Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”}}
We are still looking at how a man can find acceptance in the sight of God. “He/She lived a good life and helped so many.” The world’s view is that a statement like that is fair, and a good platform for entry into heaven. Look at verse 3, a very important verse. Paul appeals to the scripture to answer the way to overcome chapter 3.
What does the scripture say? It is one powerful statement - “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” That is found quite early in Abraham’s life – {{Genesis 15:5-6 and He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them,” and He said to him, “so shall your descendants be.” THEN HE BELIEVED IN THE LORD AND HE RECKONED IT TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”}} Perhaps the most important word in those verses is this one – “believed”. Abraham exercised faith. At this point in Romans, Paul introduces belief or if you like, faith. Not trying to appease God; not working for God; not trying to be faithful in works or effort, but simple believing God. That means taking God at His word.
“That is too simple,” some told me. “You have to do something yourself.” It is not enough for them. They want to prove themselves through works. They want to do great things. Some even whip their backs in convents so blood flows. Some crawl up long stairs, the Scala sancta. Some starve themselves; some go on long pilgrimages. “Christians” have engaged in various forms of mortification of the flesh, ranging from self-denial, wearing hairshirts and chains, fasting, and self-flagellation (often using a type of whip called a discipline)
Pope Paul II - Apparently he hung the disciplinary belt in his closet, along with his vestments, and never failed to take it with him, even when he went on vacation. He also, we learned, sometimes slept on the hardwood floor of his bedroom as an ascetic practice, purposely messing his sheets and blanket in the morning so as not to draw attention to what he had done. All these demonic practices are supposed to reduce time in purgatory. Spiritual blindness will send men and women in every direction away from faith. That is all that is needed – simple faith.
But faith is too simple they say and want to do some great thing like Naaman. He was confronted by the simplicity of faith and he wanted it not. He wanted to show his might and exhibit its power and authority. No, that is not God’s way. It is by faith. By faith; no other way. Faith is so important that a whole chapter is devoted to it in Hebrews. Remember chapter 11? Well eventually Naaman realised the correct way and was obedient to God, and was rewarded. {{Hebrews 11:6 “WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”}}
That is what happened to Abraham too. He was obedient to God and was rewarded, and that reward was not what one may expect – {{Genesis 15:1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision saying, “DO NOT FEAR, ABRAM, I AM A SHIELD TO YOU. YOUR REWARD SHALL BE VERY GREAT.”}} Abraham was not interested in materialism but in a relationship with God. This was the reward God gave him – {{Genesis 15:5 and He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens and count the stars, if you are able to count them,” and He said to him, “so shall your descendants be.”}}
Abraham did seek, but it was not the seeking and found we have in verse 1. {{Hebrews 11:8-10 “BY FAITH Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going. BY FAITH he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, FOR HE WAS LOOKING FOR THE CITY which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”}} The city Abraham sought is interesting. There is doubt about the actual meaning but most suggest Abraham was looking for a permanent place of dwelling rather than the nomadic style living in tents, and most refer to the heavenly Jerusalem. We won’t delve into it more than that.
In Romans 4:3, Paul goes on to say this reward is righteousness, but in doing so, he introduces another great word used in Romans. It is the word “RECKONED”. God reckoned his obedience, as in belief, as righteousness.
Matthew Henry wrote – [[ “When believers are justified by faith, their faith being counted for righteousness, their faith does not justify them as a part, small or great, of their righteousness; but as the appointed means of uniting them to Him who has chosen as the name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness. Pardoned people are the only blessed people. It clearly appears from the Scripture, that Abraham was justified several years before his circumcision. It is, therefore, plain that this rite was not necessary in order to justification.” ]]
What does this new word reckoned mean? In the NASB “reckoned” to him; NIV “credited”; ESV “counted” to him; KJV “counted” unto him; Holman “credited” to him. It means the logical conclusion of it all. It was put on his account like when someone deposits money in your bank account. I also like to think of it as “being attributed to him.” Abraham’s faith resulted in righteousness being credited to him. It is no different with any human being. Whoever comes to God must believe He is and He is a Rewarder of those who seek Him. Righteousness comes through faith and by no other way.
When a man and woman genuinely is converted through saving faith, the Lord “reckons” that one to be righteous in the sight of God. Remember it is all of faith, nothing to do with your efforts.
Will my life be good enough to get me into heaven? That is the thinking of so many but it is not going to make a scrap of difference because it is not one’s life that counts BUT one’s saving faith. I can just see the Lord saying, “You came to Me in faith to believe in Me, so I have declared you righteous.” There is no other way to God.
I was shocked to see the statistics coming from the United States. Here is part of an article written in 2009 from the C S Lewis Institute – [[ “Last year the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life published a major study on religious affiliation, beliefs, and practices in the United States. One of the significant findings was that 70 percent of all Americans believe that many religions can lead to eternal life, including 65 percent of all self-identifying Christians. Perhaps the most surprising finding of the study was that 56 PERCENT OF ALL EVANGELICAL CHRISTIANS BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE MANY PATHS, OTHER THAN FAITH IN CHRIST, TO GOD AND ETERNAL LIFE.” ]]
In the 16 years since, those percentages have increased with the ones named as evangelical Christians, rising to 60% who do not believe that Jesus is the only path to salvation. It is by faith alone – sola fides – as was true for Abraham, true for the thief on the cross, true for the 3 000 souls at Pentecost and true for you. When you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, righteousness was reckoned on your account.
