The principle illustrated (Ch-4)
Rom 4:1 Abraham was, humanly
speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did He discover about being
made right with God? Rom 4:2 If his good deeds
had made him acceptable to God, He would have had something to boast about. But
that was not God's way. Rom 4:3 For the
Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as
righteous because of his faith."
Once again Paul points out that works will not get you into
God’s graces. Faith in him during the time of Abraham and after Christ entered
the world, faith in the son was necessary.
Rom 4:4 When people work,
their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. Rom 4:5 But people are counted as righteous, not
because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. Rom 4:6 David also spoke of this when he described
the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: Rom 4:7 "Oh, what joy for those whose
disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Rom 4:8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD
has cleared of sin."
You work all your life at a job or raising children and when you
turn old you live on what you have earned. We can work for God all our lives
and that would be good thing unless you never accepted the Son. You would
collect nothing at the end. If a person accepts Christ on Monday and is hit by
a bus on Tuesday, he or she collects everything. That does not seem fair does
it. In our times there is virtually no one who has not heard of Christ. There
may be a few but they have to be hidden in the recesses of the most remote
place on earth. If you have heard the Word, then you know that repentance for
you sins and acceptance of Christ is the only what to heaven. Joh_14:6 Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father
except through Me.
Rom 4:9 Now, is this blessing
only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been
saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. Rom 4:10 But how did this happen? Was he counted as
righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised?
Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Rom 4:11 Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already
had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be
righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of
those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as
righteous because of their faith.
Circumcision practiced today but for sanitary reasons not
spiritual. I am sure that the non-messianic Jews believe it is necessary but
that would not be true.
Rom 4:12 And Abraham is also
the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have
the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised. Rom 4:13 Clearly, God's promise to give the whole
earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God's
law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.
The promise to give
the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants is found in Gen_12:2-3
and Gen_15:5
Rom 4:14 If God's promise is
only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is
pointless.
Rom 4:15 For the law always
brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking
the law is to have no law to break!)
Life Application New Testament Commentary 4:14-15 If people must obey God’s law and be good enough in order to be saved, then
faith is useless. That, in turn,
would make God’s promise also
meaningless. If the law does not bring righteousness, then why does it
exist? The law brings punishment.
In other words, in a world where people can make real choices, the law’s
presence automatically includes the possibility of failure and the consequences
that would follow. The law’s function is to help people realize their great
sinfulness and to impose penalties on those who transgress it. The only way to avoid breaking the law is to
have no law to break. If no one defines right and wrong, then no one
knows the difference, and no one can sin.
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