Abraham: The Father of Us All - Romans 4:9-16

Introduction to Romans 4:9-16

We started last week in Rom 4 by examining how God graciously justified Abraham and that when Abraham believed God, God counted it to him as righteousness.

Just as Abraham took God’s promise to be true when He told him that he would have offspring in his old age (Gen 15:6), so David too believed God that his sins would be forgiven when he confessed them (Ps 32:1, 2).

Paul used Ps 32:1, 2 to interpret Gen 15:6, which is, to be counted righteous means that our sins are forgiven. That is the greatest blessing one can ever receive.

But the fact is that God did not stop there, just look at all the blessings God has given to us on top of the blessing of sins forgiven. Truly, all believers are most blessed.

Now continuing to talk about the blessing in Romans 4:9-16.

I. The Universal Fatherhood of Abraham (4:9-12)

A. Question Regarding The Extent of God’s Blessing (4:9)

Continuing on the theme of blessing that we see in the quotation from Ps 32, the blessing of forgiveness, now Paul is going to ask a question from that.

1. Only to the Jews?

After all, Abraham was the forefather of the Jews according to the flesh, and his faith was counted to him as righteousness. And David was a Jewish King, whose sin was forgiven by God.

2. Or also to the Gentiles?

Since the Gentiles are not Jews the question is whether the blessing of righteousness counted and sins forgiven are extended to the Gentiles.

3. Explanation for this question

Paul doesn’t answer this first question he asked, at least not immediately. Rather, he gave the explanation for why he asked this question.

It was because he used Abraham as the illustration of justification by faith alone, not works. And Abraham was the forefather of the Jews.

B. Question Regarding The Timing of Abraham’s Justification (4:10-11a)

Paul doesn’t answer his first question; rather because of the explanation at the end of v. 9, he asks a follow-up question, about when Abraham's faith was counted to him as righteousness.

1. Why the Timing Matters

For the simple reason that if Abraham was counted righteous after his circumcision, then that was a work that he performed in order to earn his righteousness.

As Paul said earlier, to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due (4:4).

God would be obliged to count righteousness to him because Abraham earned his righteousness. Then he would have something to boast about.

2. Answer to the Question

Unlike the first question he asked, where he does not immediately answer the question, here Paul answers the question right away.

He does so because of the timing of when Abraham was counted righteous matters as to whether it was his works or his faith that was counted to him as righteousness.

So Paul says that it was before he was circumcised.

Is Paul right? How can we verify his answer?

We can always go back to Genesis to check!

If you look at the chronology of events in Genesis, it was 15:6 that tells us that Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness. We have already looked at the context of this passage last week.

So when was Abraham circumcised?

It was in Gen 17:9ff. So looking at the chronology of events, Paul would be right to say that Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness before he was circumcised.

If that is the case, then it means that Abraham was not justified by works expressed by circumcision, but when he believed in God’s promise to give Abraham his very own offspring.

3. Explanation of the Significance of Circumcision

Perhaps a question may arise in the reader’s mind, that if circumcision was not necessary for Abraham’s justification, then why was circumcision instituted? What is the significance of circumcision?

This is a good time to bring up one point in interpreting Scripture.

You want to let a teaching passage interpret a historical passage.

The historical passage is Genesis, the teaching passage is Romans. What Paul says in v. 11 is the interpretation of what happened in Genesis when God gave Abraham the sign of circumcision.

So what is the significance of the giving of the circumcision?

V. 11a says that Abraham received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.

There is a relationship between Gen 15:6 where Abraham’s faith was counted to him as righteousness and his circumcision in Gen 17.

Circumcision was a sign that points back to Gen 15:6 and it was a seal, a confirmation and an authentication of the right standing that Abraham already had by faith.

What is the implication then for circumcision?

It has no value in and of itself.

Being circumcised is not an act of entry to make a person one of the people of God, nor does it mark a person as belonging to God’s people.

Abraham was declared righteous while he was still uncircumcised. His later act of circumcision added nothing materially to his status of already justified, it merely signified and confirmed it.

C. Purpose of Abraham’s Circumcision After Justification (4:11b-12)

Paul is going to give two purposes as to why Abraham received the sign of circumcision after he was justified by faith. And with this, Paul will actually be giving the answer to his first question.

1. So That He Might Be the Father to Gentile Believers (4:11b)

We know that Paul is talking about Gentile believers here because they are referred to as those who believe without being circumcised.

And just as Abraham believed God before he was circumcised, and it was counted to him as righteousness, so it will be for whichever Gentile who puts his or her faith in God, and his faith will be counted to him without his being circumcised.

In other words, circumcision as a work does nothing to make a person righteous.

The implication is that Abraham is also the father of all gentile believers.

2. So That He Might Be the Father to Jewish Believers (4:12)

Here we are talking about the Jews, because they are referred to as the circumcised. But not just any circumcised Jew, but those who will walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

In other words, these Jews are those who exercised saving faith in God. These are Jewish Christians.

So what about Jews who have not put their faith in Christ? Who is their father?

I will let our Lord Jesus answer that question: “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me” (Jn 8:44–45).

This is in the context where they claim that Abraham is their father. But Satan is the father of all who reject Christ.

But when it comes to the Jews, because Abraham was circumcised, he was qualified to be their father too.

Therefore, the blessing of imputed righteousness which is the forgiveness of sin is not only for the Jews, but also for the Gentiles also.

One does not need to be a Jew in order to be one of Abraham’s children since he is both the father of the uncircumcised and the circumcised.

Application to Romans 4:9-16

The historical context in the early church was that some Jewish Christians were insisting that in order for Gentiles to be Christians, they also have to be circumcised.

The importance of circumcision cannot be underestimated in the mind of a Jew.

Afterall in Gen 17:14 it says, “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” so much so that Paul can use the term “the circumcised” to refer to this group of people.

This was such an urgent issue to address that this was why Paul wrote the book of Galatians to address this.

It was by studying both Galatians and Romans that Paul understood what justification by faith alone means.

Also, in Acts 15, the council of Jerusalem was convened in order to address this question as to whether circumcision was needed in order for one to be truly saved.

But there is no such barrier of entry as required by God to be saved.

What is required of both Jews and Gentiles alike is that they simply put their faith in Jesus’ finished work on cross.

It is also amazing to see how God unfolds his plan of redemption starting with one very elderly person and that his salvation may reach to the ends of the earth (Isa 49:6) and that all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God (Isa 52:10).

That should be a great encouragement for those who went door-to-door to spread the gospel last week.

That is also a great encouragement for some to go to the ends of the earth to spread the gospel.

It is also a good reason for our church to welcome people who may not share our background because God is the God who has given His blessing to both the circumcised and the uncircumcised.

II. The Basis of the Universal Fatherhood of Abraham (4:13-16)

In this next section, Paul is going to explain the basis on which Abraham is both the father of the Jews and the Gentiles.

A. The Basis was God’s Promise to Abraham (Gen 17:5-6)

Notice the frequency of the word “promise” in this section.

It appears in vv. 13, 14, 16, 20, 21 (verb). What is the promise as described by Paul in v. 13? That Abraham would be “heir of the world.”

You will not find this exact expression in the OT.

The promise to Abraham in Genesis is that he would have offspring (Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 15:5; 17:4–6, 16–20; 18:18; 22:17) and the land of Canaan (12:7; 13:14–17; 15:7, 18–21; 17:8), and that all nations would be blessed through him (12:3; 18:18; 22:18).

The promise includes offspring, land, and blessing.

The event that points to Abraham being the heir of the world is in Gen 17:5-6, “5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

But if you put all these three elements together, then the worldwide nature of this promise becomes apparent and is expressed in other OT texts.

“Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession” (Ps 2:8).

“May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!” (Ps 72:8).

“In days to come Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit” (Is 27:6).

Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left, and your offspring will possess the nations and will people the desolate cities. (Is 54:2–3).

In other words if the blessing to Abraham is that he will have offspring, and that he will have land, and that through him all the families of the earth will be blessed, then another way of expressing this universal blessing through Abraham is that he would be heir of the world and Abraham is instrumental in God’s plan to redeem sinful creation for His glory.

B. The Means to God’s Promise was Righteousness of Faith, Not the Law (4:13)

The first word “for” shows the connection to the previous paragraph, where the emphasis was that Abraham was justified by his faith, not by works, specifically circumcision.

So similarly, the promise does not hinge on one’s keeping of the law but on a right standing with God attained through faith.

C. Reasons Why the Promise Came by Righteousness of Faith

Paul is going to explain the reasons why the promise of God came by faith and not the law.

1. Faith would be rendered null if the promise came by works

If the keepers of the laws are the heirs, then the consequences are that faith is null and the promise is void.

What Paul is saying is that if the observance of the law is what is needed, then faith and the promise has no role to play.

The faith and the promise come by believing, the keeping of the law comes by doing.

2. Nobody can adhere to the law perfectly enough to realize the promise

So why can’t the inheritance be realized by the keeping of the law?

It is because the law brings the wrath of God.

And why does the law provoke God’s wrath?

Where there is no law there is no transgression.

In other words, if there is no speed limit on the highway (law), then the traffic police cannot catch you for speeding (transgression). But because there is the law, and sinful humans cannot keep the law, but rather break it, there is transgression and transgression brings the wrath of God.

By this point we are not surprised to learn that because of the inability of man to keep the law, it is definitely not the way to the promised inheritance.

A failure to keep the law prevents those who rely on the law from obtaining the promise.

3. So that the promise may rest on God’s grace and be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring

First note that the promise depends on faith, not by keeping the law, something we have already talked about.

But in so doing, the promise rests on grace, God’s unmerited favor to us. We did nothing to deserve the promise, yet God gives it to us.

And it is guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring.

Not only to the Jews, who are the adherents of the law, but also to the Gentile, the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is not circumcised.

Application

If the basis of the universal fatherhood of Abraham is from the promise from God, then it is something to be received.

This is quite different from the law, which is something we have to do.

Faith means we have to stretch open both hands to receive the gift that we did nothing to earn.

We have to rest on God’s grace.

How does an attitude of rest look for a believer?

It is interesting that when the temple furniture is described, there are no chairs in the temple because the work of sacrificing animals by the priest was never completed.

The priests had no rest. But when Christ finished His work on the cross, and proclaimed, “It is finished.”

He ascended back up to heaven and sat down on the right hand of the Father.

Christ can sit because the redeeming work is done.

What does that mean for the believer? Ps 131 provides a good description for how believers should rest in the grace of God.

1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. 2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. 3 O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.

Spurgeon says of this psalm, “it is one of the shortest Psalms to read, but one of the longest to learn.”

First, we see from v. 1 that an attitude of rest is one that is not proud.

And if the promise rests on grace, what is there for us to be proud about?

If we have to admit that we are helpless and hopeless without God, how can we be lifted up in pride? Indeed, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

Second, we do not occupy ourselves with things too great and too marvelous for me.

We need to stay in our sphere.

Spurgeon: “Many through wishing to be great have failed to be good.” If we allow our ambition to get the better of us rather than to be in lowly service to our Master, we will not have the rest that God intends for us to have.

Third, we need to calm and quiet our soul like a weaned child.

We may not speak a word out loud but we have a noisy soul.

Just think about lying awake at night and you have a noisy soul clamoring to speak. Oh, to be able to just lie down like a weaned child that is subdued and content. We look at the sleeping baby and there is not a care in the world for him.

For the believer, if God has made a promise to Abraham, to you, you can count on His word, and you can rest without a care in the world.

God is in control, and we can safely go to sleep.

God is in control of your health, your finances, your work situation, your schooling. When we are submitted to God’s will, we can sleep.

If we are totally dependent on God, we can rest.

Now it does not mean that we lie on the couch doing nothing because we are waiting for God to do something.

That would be a misunderstanding of what it means to live out the implications of this teaching. The fact is we can labor for the Lord even better because we work with the confidence that God Himself is with us and is in control of every situation we are in.

Therefore, Israel can hope in the Lord, and we can hope in the Lord because hope is the confident expectation that what He says He will do.

What God promised Abraham, God did and is still doing.

When a person comes to faith in Christ, that is God fulfilling His promise to Abraham.

Conclusion

All believers, whether Jew or Gentile, are the offspring of Abraham on the basis that this is what God promised Abraham. Abraham rested in the grace that God would do this for him, and we can rest in grace in God’s precious promises to His children.

For Personal Reflection

• How is God’s promise to Abraham that he would become the father of a multitude of nations be an encouragement in our evangelistic efforts?

• How can we adopt a posture of rest in God’s grace especially when we face the challenges of life?

• How can the community of believers help one another to rest in the Lord?