“What shall we say
then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?” Rom4:1
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.
“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.
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. 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.
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 heart 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 Lev 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.
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.
“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.
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