We have been
dealing with the issue of faith righteousness vis-a-vis works righteousness in
Romans 1-3. Now in Romans 4 we shall look at the examples of Abraham and David,
two great men of the Old Testament to further illustrate what faith
righteousness is and how it works.
However before we can delve into this it is
useful to point out that the picture many of us have of Abraham and David isn’t
really biblical. Abraham and David were far from perfect saints. These were men
that failed spectacularly and committed some really terrible sins. These ranged
from deliberately disobeying God, adultery and murder. And yet through all this
God uses them as a shining example of righteousness by faith. Both men had a
close relationship with God and were used mightily by Him because they were
willing to believe God and trust Him when He said something to them. They believed
God and He counted it to them as righteousness. Both men had an experience of
faith righteousness at a time when everybody else was pursuing a works righteousness.
Let us begin with Abraham.
“What shall we say then that
Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” Rom4:1
Paul chooses
to begin by showing us how useless our works are when it comes to the
righteousness of God. He begins by stating what Abraham's works could not do. In
other words, we can rephrase this question as ‘what did Abraham discover (find
out) concerning works for righteousness?
And the
answer is very simple. Abraham found out that his works were not good enough
to grant him justification and righteousness in the sight of God. He
received justification by faith. Abraham's works or efforts didn't earn him
anything from God.
“For if Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” Rom4:2
If Abraham
had been justified by his obedience to the instructions God gave Him then he
would have had something to boast about. However, much as he obeyed God’
instruction and did what God told him, he still wasn’t justified because of
that. God justified him for an entirely different reason. His faith.
Our own
good works will only allow us to boast when we think that they are earning us
righteousness and justification before God. However when we discover that God
can never justify us by the works of the law and our obedience to the law then
we stop boasting about them.
We realize
that in the sight of God, none of us have anything to brag about. We have all
come short of the glory of God. As a result it is pointless to compare
ourselves to other people. If you really feel that you should compare yourself
to somebody, then compare yourself to Jesus, not to other people. And when you
do you will find out that your works are nothing. This is what Abraham discovered.
“For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Rom4:3
Note 1: This verse is referring to Genesis
15:6 which says that Abraham believed God and God counted Abraham's faith for righteousness.
It is so clear. Abraham believed God,
and God imputed it unto him as righteousness. God called him righteous because
of what he believed, not because of what he did.
Moreover,
there is a period of over thirteen years between when the scripture says
Abraham was counted righteous and the time when he was circumcised as further
proof that Abraham's righteousness was given to him before he performed the
righteous acts of the law.
The Jews
thought that the act of circumcision is what made you righteous before God. Yet
God pronounced Abraham righteous thirteen years before he was circumcised. This was impossible as far as they were concerned. You couldn't be righteous if you were not circumcised. And yet the scripture said that Abraham was. The religious
folks had no way of explaining this away. So they simply ignored it in their
teaching. However Paul deliberately brought it up knowing that they would have
no way of ignoring or arguing against it. The scripture was clear. Abraham was
justified by faith, not by works.
It is the same today. The religious people insist that you cannot be righteous if you are not living holy. That you first live holy and then God declares you righteous. And yet even today God declares us righteous and holy even when we are still living in sin. As long as we believe in Christ and the work of the Cross, God declares us righteous. He counts our faith for righteousness. This is the good news of Jesus Christ.
Note 2: “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and
tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for
righteousness.” Gen15:5-6
One beautiful
clear night God came to Abraham and took him outside in the open. He told him
to look at the stars and see if he could count them. Of course Abraham wasn’t able
to count all of them. God then told him that his (seed) children would be as
numerous as the stars in the sky and Abraham believed God. And yet this was at
a time when Abraham didn’t have any children and his wife was barren. That
pleased God so much that he counted Abraham righteous right there even though
Abraham had not yet been circumcised.
A couple
of years passed and Abraham had a son whom he called Isaac. Again one beautiful
night God came to him and told him to go and sacrifice his beloved son unto
God. Without hesitation or any doubt Abraham got up early in the morning and
took Isaac to the mountain to kill him and offer him to God. Just before he
could kill him the Lord spoke yet again and told him not to do it. His faith
was complete.
“And the angel of the LORD called
unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn,
saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son: That
in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of
his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen22:15-18
This time
God promised to multiply his seed as the stars in the sky and the sand on the
seashore. All of this because Abraham believed God.
The point
of all of this is that it was Abraham's faith that pleased God. Not his performance
or obedience to the instructions. The actions Abraham took were a result of
what he believed in his hear when God spoke to him. As the scripture says "…without faith it is impossible to
please him." Heb11:6.
Note3: Many of us ignore the fact that
Abraham was a man living in sin. A perennial liar and a rogue. He married his
sister. Sarah, Abraham's wife, was his half-sister (Gen. 20:12). This was against
the law Leviticus 18:19 (even if it hadn’t been given yet). Not only that, twice
Abraham lied about Sarah not being his wife so that he could save his own life.
Think about this, Abraham was willing to let a man sleep with his wife just so
that he wouldn’t get in trouble. Imagine that your boyfriend or husband was
willing to let some guy sleep with you just so that they wouldn’t beat him up! Furthermore,
immediately after this instance where God counted Abraham's faith for
righteousness (Gen. 15:6), Abraham tried to accomplish God's will in the flesh
by sleeping with Hagar (Gen. 16). This was a guy that sinned a lot. Just like
most of us.
If you really
look at the life of Abraham and see the favor that he found with God and the
amazing miracles and blessings that happened to him then you can only conclude
that it was his faith that pleased God. This is exactly the same with us. The
only thing that we can do to please God is put faith in Jesus as our Savior. It is not our faithfulness that God
rewards, it is our faith in His faithfulness that He rewards. God loves to be
believed.
“Now to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.” Rom4:4
Note1:
If it was possible for us to be saved by works, then that would mean
that after we have performed or obeyed the law God would be obliged to provide
justification and righteousness as a payment to us. In other words we work for
it and God gives it to us as a payment or reward for our work and performance. It
becomes a debt unto Him. Obviously this doesn’t make sense because God is not
under obligation or debt to save anyone. He does it by grace
We can
say this in another way. When we trust in our own works and performance, we
void (negate) grace and make faith useless. What’s the point of believing if
you can perform? On the other hand, when we trust in God's grace then we void
(negate) our own efforts. They become useless to earn us righteousness. What’s
the point of working for righteousness if you can get it by faith? In other words
it is either one or the other. Not both. You either perform all of the law
perfectly so as to be justified (which won’t happen). Or you believe God and
what He has done through Christ only.
This same
truth is emphasized again in Romans 11:6; "And
if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But
if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more
work."
It is
either grace or works. Not both. Choose for yourself. Is it grace or works?
“But to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.” Rom4:5
Now Paul
takes his point a notch higher. He introduces the stumbling stone. That God
justifies the ungodly! And that the ungodly is the only kind of person that God
justifies. This was preposterous to the religious mind. It was like blasphemy. How
could God justify an ungodly person? As far as they were concerned, God only
justified godly people who were living holy lives. The ungodly he judged and
punished. And yet Paul insists that God only justifies those that believe on
Him. He counts their faith for righteousness.
This is
still a stumbling stone today. How many of us still believe that we have got to
do some works to be pleasing to God. We agree that we are saved by faith only. But
we feel that we should also do some works in order to be pleasing to God who
saved us. We call it maturing. The scripture is clear, “…to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for
righteousness.”
This is
one of the reasons Paul was so persecuted by the legalists of his day. For
saying that God would justify (make righteous) ungodly people without them
obeying the law or getting their act together and all they had to do was
believe in what God had done. This was totally offensive to legalists. It still
is today. And they still persecute those who preach grace and faith. They even have names for it. they call it 'sloppy agape', 'greasy grace', 'false grace' and so many other unpleasant names. They think they are being so clever and wise, and yet they are being so ignorant.
Examine your heart today, where do you fall? Is faith in Jesus enough? Or have
you decided to add some works to it? Is it grace or it is works?
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