Abraham’s Justification by Faith Alone - Romans 4:1-8

Introduction to Romans 4:1-8

In our consideration of 3:27-31 two weeks ago, we saw that righteousness is by faith alone, not by works of the law.

As a result, nobody is in a position to boast about how much they have done to earn their righteousness before God.

Justification by faith alone also means that everyone, both Jews and Gentiles are justified the same way, by their faith.

God doesn’t favor one group over another; in fact, the invisible wall of the law has been torn down by Christ when He perfectly fulfilled the law in order to bring together both the Jews and the Gentiles into one new man, which is the church.

But justification by faith alone does not mean that we can overthrow the law.

In fact, Paul will expand on this reason in the next few chapters, especially from chs 6-7 regarding the believer’s relationship to the law. The law still has a role for the believer.

This last paragraph of ch 3 actually functions as a transition to chapter 4 where we see Abraham as a central figure who illustrates justification by faith alone.

Ch 4 actually expands on the theme in 3:27-30. For example, we see the theme of boasting in 3:27a and 4:1-2, justification by faith and not works of the law in 3:27b-28 and 4:3-8, how both the circumcised and the uncircumcised are united under the one God through faith in 3:29-30 and 4:9-17.

The question is, why is Paul giving the spotlight to Abraham?

Abraham was revered as the father of the Jews.

He was the father of the nation because it was to Abraham that God gave His covenant as a promise that it was through Abraham that God would build a great nation. Abraham was also a great example of obedience, the apex of which was when he obeyed God to sacrifice his chosen son Isaac on the altar at Mount Moriah.

So his faith was greatly tested and he passed the test. And it was to Abraham that the sign of the circumcision was given. It marked the Jews as God’s distinct people.

But as Paul will argue, Abraham was not only the father of the Jews; God has made Abraham the father of many nations.

I. God Graciously Justified Abraham By Faith Alone (4:1-3)

With the first two words, “what then,” it signals that Paul is continuing his argument from the previous chapter.

A. Abraham Has No Right to Boast (4:1-2)

The rhetorical question asked by Paul was, what did Abraham actually find/discover?

Paul describes him as our forefather according to the flesh. So here is a clear reference to the Jews. Only the Jews are related to Abraham according to the flesh. Abraham is the forefather according to natural physical generation. And the Jews are proud that Abraham is their forefather.

We see that pride put on display in our Lord’s exchange with the Jews in John 8:31ff.

In v. 33, the Jews claim that because they are offspring of Abraham, they have never been enslaved to anyone.

Now we know that they have been enslaved to the Egyptians, and in their history, they were enslaved by the Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Greeks, and now to the Romans.

But our Lord did not put that as the answer to the falsehood they proclaimed; rather, he talks about their spiritual enslavement in v. 34. Jesus said that he knows they are children of Abraham, but because they have rejected his words, they are trying to kill him.

What does Paul mean when he asks what Abraham gained?

The question Paul is asking is whether Abraham was the exception to what Paul says earlier in 3:27-28 that boasting is excluded because one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.

If Abraham was justified by his works, yes, he could boast.

Apparently, many Jews believed that Abraham was indeed justified by his works and that was why he had such an extraordinary relationship with God.

Yes, if justification were by works, he would have had something to boast about.

“But not before God.”

This phrase then rejects that justification is by works.

When God’s viewpoint is taken into consideration--and God’s viewpoint is the only viewpoint anyone should take into consideration--Abraham has no right to boast at all.

If the only way a person can be justified is by faith in Christ alone, then Abraham’s work does nothing to justify Him.

Paul has already stated back in 3:20 “For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight.” It doesn’t matter if the Jews look up to Abraham because of his works, the only viewpoint that matters is God’s.

But notice, unlike in 3:20 and 28, that states the “works of the law,” here Paul just simply states “works,” because Abraham predates the giving of the law.

In so doing, Paul is arguing that no one is justified by any kind of works, not just specific to the law.

B. Scriptural Support (Gen 15:6)

Paul is going to quote Scriptural support as to why Abraham was not justified by his works. This quotation from Gen 15:6 will be repeatedly used throughout this chapter as we shall see.

First, the covenant promise by God to Abraham was made in Gen 12:1-3. Notice in this passage, God called Abram out of his country to begin a journey of which the destination is unknown.

God promised to make Abraham a great nation, to bless him and to make him a blessing to the extent that all the families of the earth would be blessed.

Then in Gen 15:1 God tells Abram that his reward will be very great.

Abram then asks God who would be his heir and God says it would be his very son and his offspring would be like the number of stars in the sky. Then, v. 6 “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.”

What does it mean for Abraham to believe God?

That means Abraham exercised his faith in God. And in God’s view, Abraham fulfilled all that God expected of him in order for him to be right with God when he believed God.

The word “counted’ is a mathematical and accounting term.

And you will encounter it repeatedly in this passage in vv. 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24. It has to do with crediting into a person’s account something that he inherently does not have.

In this case, nobody has any righteousness in his or her account.

When a person puts his faith in Christ, his faith in the means by which Christ’s righteousness is credited into his account. Theologians use the term “alien righteousness” to describe how man does not have inherent righteousness of his own.

It is important to note that this is not “a mere heavenly calculation; it is effective, granting and securing blessing” (Seifrid).

In other words, Abraham, though he was greatly revered by his people, was not the hero because he did nothing to earn his own righteousness.

God is the Hero because God was the One who credited righteousness into Abraham’s bankrupt account. God is the central Figure in salvation.

Man tends to look up to other men, but in the case of our salvation, nobody can look up to anybody because nobody is saved by their own works.

Every single person, with no exception, has to stretch out his hands to God because the source of righteousness is from God alone.

If man can earn righteousness through works, then he should be the one who receives honor, praise, and glory.

But the fact that it is all of God means that He alone gets the honor, praise, and glory.

Notice that all the religions in the world require you to work to enter into that religion.

That is why these are all man-made religions.

This world operates by merit, and as far as men go, that is the best they can do.

But that is not how God works. The Biblical worldview is drastically different from this world’s. God requires us to acknowledge that we are helpless and weak in being able to earn our way to Him.

And in a world where either man boasts of his achievement and accomplishment or are impressed by other men’s achievements and accomplishments or both, it almost becomes a hindrance to tell people that they have to acknowledge that they are helpless and hopeless on their own when they already have a great propensity to think that they are way better than they are, but that they need to depend totally on God to justify them.

It is no wonder Scripture says that “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (Jas 4:6), humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you” (v. 10).

If justification is by faith alone and we are helpless to earn it through our merit, there is a need for all of us to humble ourselves before God and submit to him and depend on Him to do what we cannot do ourselves.

II. God Graciously Justifies the Ungodly (4:4-5)

Paul gives two theological scenarios in this section.

A. If Justification Were By Works (4:4)

Paul picks up on the accounting term again and for someone who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

He would deserve his wage.

An employer is obliged to pay a wage for work done. That would be a just thing to do. An employer who does not pay his worker is not just. He has an obligation to do so because of the work done by his employees.

Paul raises this particular situation up because if justification were by works, God would be obligated to pay.

And those who work for it would deserve to be justified by God and he would be unjust if he doesn’t justify them because they have worked for it. It would be a debt that God was obliged to pay.

This is the common understanding of Jews.

They thought that Abraham was justified by his works.

B. If Justification is By Faith (4:5)

Now for the one who does not work, Paul is not sanctioning laziness. In this context, he is referring to the one who does not depend on his work to gain a righteous standing before God.

Rather, he believes.

Paul contrasts working and believing in vv. 4-5. What’s the difference?

“Working is the result of one’s own capability, but believing relies on another…. Working involves doing, while believing is receiving” (Schreiner).

In Abraham’s case, he was very old, and his wife was also very old, physically unable to have children in their own strength.

Yet God promised that his offspring would be like the stars in the sky. Since Abraham was unable to accomplish this on his own at all, he would have to believe and rely on God who alone could do it.

The object of one’s faith is in “Him who justifies the ungodly.”

That includes Abraham because anyone who is a sinner is considered ungodly since there is no sin in God.

When Abraham believed God, he honored God by trusting that God was able to do the humanly impossible in making his offspring as numerous as the stars of the sky.

When Abraham believed God by putting his faith and trust in God’s promises, he demonstrated that righteousness is obtained by believing rather than working.

III. God’s Gracious Justification Affirmed by David (4:6-8)

Now Paul will use David’s psalm as support that justification is wholly God’s work, and not man’s work. Abraham’s justification by faith alone and not by works was the same experience that David had.

Paul quotes from Ps 32:1-2. I think we all know about David’s own moral failures.

His adulterous relationship with Bethsheba and murder of her husband Uriah. I would like us to note three things from the quotation from Ps 32.

A. God is the One Who Counts Righteousness

God is the one who forgives the lawless deeds, God is the one who covers sins, God is the one who will not count his sin.

This is important because only God can forgive sin.

The Scribes and Pharisees were right when they asked: Who can forgive sins but God alone? (Luke 5:21).

B. Righteousness is Defined as the Forgiveness of Sin

It is very instructive that Paul brings up this passage in his discussion about justification by faith alone.

We know that to be justified is to be declared righteous.

What does it mean to be righteous?

To be righteous is to fulfill one’s obligation, but the fact is that nobody has fulfilled his obligation because of sin. In order to be righteous, one’s sin must be dealt with.

And by quoting this passage Paul is saying that to be righteous is to have your sins forgiven. This is expressed in three different ways: forgiven, covered, not counted.

“A righteousness counted apart from “works” is nothing other than the forgiveness of sins” (Seifrid).

The faith to take God at His word that He will count righteousness on you is the faith to take God at His word that He will forgive your sins.

C. The Status of the Forgiven Sinner is Blessed

Notice the word that comes first in all three statements: Blessed. In fact, those who have experienced the forgiveness of sin have received the greatest blessing ever. The word “blessing” has to do with experiencing the favor of God. Indeed, those who have been forgiven by God of their sins have experienced the favor of God. It is the greatest blessing precisely because it is undeserved and unexpected.

Application

What is the greatest blessing anyone can ever have? It is a status of being forgiven by God.

Notice the way David felt when he did not confess his sins to God. “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Ps 32:3–4).

Is there a believer here this morning and you have been sinning and sinning against the Lord? And this passage is describing how you feel. You know that your relationship with God is not right. You remember the days when you were enjoying close fellowship with the Lord but you have drifted away from Him. Perhaps you need help in dealing with your sin. Confess it to the Lord.

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Ps 32:5).

Then confess it to someone godly and wise who can help keep you accountable to Him. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed (Jas 5:16).

Perhaps there is someone here who has never confessed his sins to the Lord ever. You are still carrying on your shoulders the burden of sin. Jesus’ invitation to you is this:

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt 11:28–30).

Conclusion

When it comes to our salvation, it is all a work of God. It is God who alone declares us righteous, It is God alone who forgives our sins. We need to have a posture and attitude of humility in order to accept and not reject God’s Word on this. God is totally trustworthy. All boasting is eliminated and all glory goes to God alone for salvation.

For Personal Reflection

1. Why is a posture of humility still important, even after we are saved?

2. In what ways do we, even as believers, show our pride in our own self-righteousness?

3. Take some time today to really praise God and thank Him for the blessing of forgiveness.