15. ROMANS CHAPTER 4 VERSES 4-12 - MESSAGES IN ROMANS – THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM RECKONED AS RIGHTEOUSNESS LEADING TO BLESSING (US TOO!) - MESSAGE 15
[A]. RIGHTEOUS RECKONING AND A CLEAN ACCOUNT WITH GOD
{{Romans 4:4 “Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favour, but as what is due,
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 4:8 BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”}}
Having established the critical fact that righteousness comes by means of faith, and not through works, Paul develops the idea even more. He was insistent that his readers understand perfectly that righteousness does not come from works but by faith. It is so important for us to recognise the basis of our salvation, and to keep realising that point. The established fact of relationship with God was realised and demonstrated right back with Abraham and supported with this verse – {{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.”}}
Paul asked the Corinthians to do something when he wrote to them and it was this – {{2Corinthians 13:5-6 “TEST YOURSELVES TO SEE IF YOU ARE IN THE FAITH. Examine yourselves, or do you not recognise this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you - unless indeed you fail the test? But I trust that you will realise that we ourselves do not fail the test.”}} When I first gave this message I was speaking to a handful of people and said, “In this little group here we know each other but if I was speaking to a church of a hundred or more then this would be a very legitimate command. Many in some churches are just going along for the ride. It is so important that we know that we belong to the Saviour especially as He is coming for His Church very soon.
In some churches faith is highlighted very wrongly and this applies to the so-called “word of faith” churches. In others, a personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is not stressed or if it is, then it is not in a personal application, but is generalised. I was speaking to someone last night about the importance of theology and doctrine in our teaching and preaching, a point overlooked by so many. Doctrine is the framework that secures faith; in other words, it is the skeleton that protects the mind and the heart. Consider how full of doctrine and theology Paul’s letters were. When we are told to be established in the faith, then we need to understand the theology behind our faith.
(a). VERSE 4
Look at these verses here again and notice the two camps. In Romans 4:4, the first group is the group that gets what they are all owed. They are the workers who receive wages for working. The second camp contains those who get what they do not deserve. A workman is worthy of his hire when it comes to working for a living, but when it comes to faith, there is no gain through trying to work for salvation. It is the opposite. In the next verse 5, the truth is stated very clearly – {{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,”}}
(b). VERSE 5
Let go – let God. Faith is the steel cord that binds a sinner to the Saviour. God justifies the ungodly but only on one basis, which is faith. Works, even though they might be compassionate, and giving, and good standing, will never attain to God. They won’t even come close. It must be by reliant faith, shedding yourselves of all you have and are, and COME TO THE SAVIOUR AS YOU ARE. All your righteousness is no more than filthy rags.
The line of faith is all the way through the Old Testament, from the offering by Abel right up to the people in the early chapters of the Gospels. Remember the Old Testament operated under the old covenant up to the time of the cross. All who were accepted by God in the Old Testament were accepted by faith and by no other way. It was faith in God’s forgiveness that led to the sacrifices for sin being made. Do you recall the end part of the last message where it was stated in such simple terms, “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness?” What could be simpler than this – {{John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled. BELIEVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME.”}}? “Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to Thy cross I cling.”
(c). VERSES 6-8
Paul cites just one example and that is David, who is writing the same things about belief. Faith leads to the reckoning of righteousness without works. The one reckoned, is in the blessings of God, and it is Psalm 32 that Paul had in mind – {{Psalm 32:1-2 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!”}}
Commentator Benson adds – [[ “We may observe further here, that these two examples of Abraham and David are selected and applied with the utmost judgment and propriety. Abraham was the most illustrious pattern of piety among the Jewish patriarchs, David was the most eminent of their kings. If then neither of these was justified by his own obedience, if they both obtained acceptance with God not as holy beings, who might claim it, but as sinful creatures who must implore it, the consequence is glaring. It is such as must strike every attentive understanding, and must affect every individual person.” ]]
Who are the blessed ones from Psalm 32? Paul summarises it in two great truths. The first blessing is that sins were forgiven and covered, while the second is that the Lord will not add the penalty of those sins to a person’s account. Well that is a glorious fact and it comes about through one means only. It can only happen on the road of faith, not by walking the road of works. Do Christians realise how blessed they are? We speak not just about the forgiveness of sins to reckon us as righteous, but it is an ongoing blessing, day after day, as we live under the declared righteousness of God.
Works and activities feature strongly in Roman Catholic practice where so many adherents hope in the end they will be accepted by what they have done and by their faithfulness to the church. That has caused such a reaction in non-Catholic parties that they have become too extreme the other way. It is as if some despise works, in case works are misunderstood. Luther had this problem, dismissing the book of James as “a book of straw” because he was offended over this quote – {{James 2:20 “You foolish fellow, are you willing, to recognise that faith without works is useless?” And stated later - James 2:26 “Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”}}
Faith and works have polarised people and many struggle for the balance. James also stated – {{James 2:18 but someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”}} That also caused Luther to go off the deep end. Do you see a possible conflict there? Faith and works are inseparable in the Christian life, but nowhere is James saying you must work to get salvation. Working for God is a result of faith that united you to God. Faith is the binding link and works will automatically follow. Works of themselves will achieve nothing spiritually. Faith is the engine. Works are the carriages following.
Are you working for God or are you sitting back in a spiritual slumber? Faith-generated works is what James world recognise. Works are the proof or salvation, not the means to obtain salvation.
I want add something for verse 7 – {{Romans 4:7 “Blessed are those whose LAWLESS DEEDS have been forgiven and whose SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED.”}} This is the greatest assurance and comfort you can have in your faith life. David, who wrote these inspired words knew very well what a gracious and merciful God we have. There were times he slipped from the path but was restored my God. Those who are the redeemed can slip up and sin, sometimes most grievously, but the Holy Spirit will convict to draw them back to the Lord their God.
Our sins were monstrous, even for those who were saved as children – “lawless” David calls them. They are sins without law or control and always contrary to God. Our God is a forgiving God and it reminds me of this verse written when the Law was in operation. It contains an eternal truth – {{Numbers 14:18 “The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, FORGIVING INIQUITY AND TRANSGRESSION, but He will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generations.”}} Sin will not be spared but the Lord will forgive in love when a soul repents and turns to God.
Romans 4:7 ends with “sins have been covered.” In David’s time sins were covered as it were through the sacrifices, but it was only at the cross could full forgiveness and elimination of sins be possible through the blood of the Lamb of God. My sins are not covered. They are gone forever because Jesus made the penalty of my sins, His own, and dealt with them. They just don’t exist anymore except in my head when Satan wants to accuse me of them.
We are so blessed in the Lord. I whinge about things but I ought not because we are so abundantly blessed in heavenly places. You are blessed! Your sins have been forgiven. Now you are a whole person in Christ.
[B]. FAITH IS WHAT COUNTS – BLESSINGS TO JEW AND GENTILE BY FAITH
{{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,
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.”}}
We must move on and Paul opens up a whole new section. He begins this with a question of great importance. We have seen that there are blessings for those who are declared righteous and whose sins are forgiven. David said so, but David was a Jew. The Old Testament was written to Jews, to Israel. What about the Gentiles?
This same problem emerged in Galatia where Gentiles were being deluded in becoming false Jews by the false teachers making then have circumcision and keeping the Law. The Gentiles were never under the Law in the first place, so the effort to make then “pseudo-Jews” was ridiculous. There is a close link with Galatians and sections of Romans. This is especially so in Galatians 3 and we quote one verse – {{Galatians 3:29 “and if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs ACCORDING TO PROMISE.”}}
(a). VERSE 9
The blessings promised in the Old Testament to Abraham and to those who are forgiven and reckoned as righteous, are they extended beyond the Jews? Paul does not use Jew and Gentile but circumcised and uncircumcised. Then he begins to answer that question he asked. The first matter is to consider the faith of Abraham. That faith was recognised by God who declared Abraham righteous. It is recorded here – {{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.”}}
Under the old covenant if the Law, there was blessing and cursing. The Law was cut and dry and failure meant severe penalties, but God also set out the means of return to Himself, for He knows how we fail, and fail so often. Before Israel entered Caanan, the whole spiritual map of the land was set before them in this lengthy passage –
{{Deuteronomy 11:22-29 “If you are careful to keep all this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and hold fast to Him, then the LORD will drive out all these nations from before you, and you will dispossess nations greater and mightier than you. Every place on which the sole of your foot shall tread shall be yours. Your border shall be from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the river Euphrates as far as the western sea. No man shall be able to stand before you. The LORD your God shall lay the dread of you and the fear of you on all the land on which you set foot, as He has spoken to you. See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: THE BLESSING, IF YOU LISTEN TO THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD YOUR GOD, WHICH I AM COMMANDING YOU TODAY, and the curse if you do not listen to the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today by following other gods which you have not known. It shall come about, when the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall place the BLESSING on Mount Gerizim and the CURSE on Mount Ebal.”}}
Later on when Israel entered the land Joshua gathered the people and divided them and spoke these blessings and curses. Read that in Joshua 8:30-35.
The apostle asked, does salvation, the blessing of forgiveness and justification, apply just to the Jews who had the Old Testament covenant or does it also apply to the Gentiles? The words circumcised and uncircumcised just mean Jew and Gentile. This great question was very relevant in the early years of church history because of the intense opposition by the Jews to the Gospel, but today we hardly give it a thought.
In order to prove that faith is the only key to acceptance by God, Abraham is used as the example, so let us look at what Paul is saying. The argument here links again with verse 3 which was {{Romans 4:3 What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”}} However the timing is now the subject of Paul’s reasoning and the passage looks at what point Abraham was reckoned as righteous by God – was it when he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Let us read verses 9 to 11:-
(b). VERSES 9-11
{{Romans 4:9-11 Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised, 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.”}} Paul draws certain facts from Abraham's life and they are used to prove that the uncircumcised Gentiles are also recipients of God’s justification through belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verse 10 asks the pivotal question – “When was Abraham declared righteous through faith?” The important answer was when he was still uncircumcised when that happened.
Verse 11 is the conclusion of the Genesis passage which we will read – {{Genesis 17:3-14 and Abram fell on his face and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram but your name shall be Abraham for I will make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you and kings shall come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for AN EVERLASTING COVENANT, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, FOR AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION, and I will be their God.” God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep between Me and you and your descendants after you: EVERY MALE AMONG YOU SHALL BE CIRCUMCISED. - and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and IT SHALL BE THE SIGN OF THE COVENANT BETWEEN ME AND YOU. Every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised. Thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant, but an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people. He has broken My covenant.”}}
We will have to stop there because time is running out. In the next part we will take up from this section (and will do verse 12) and continue with Paul’s exposition of this whole matter of the faith of Abraham.
