Romans 04(01–12)

Introduction

Paul is explaining the good news of the gospel to us. He’s already explained the bad news, which is that there is no difference between Jews and Gentiles, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no-one righteous, not even one. There is no one under who understands or who seeks God. All have turned away. They have together become worthless. There is no-one who does good. And no-one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law, we become conscious of our sin.

That’s the bad news about us all. But then there’s the good news which is that sinners are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. And when Paul mentions being justified, he means two things: Firstly, God forgives us. And forgives us because of Christ who paid for our sins with his life. And secondly: God regards us as if we’ve done everything right. And God regards us as if we’ve done everything right, because of Christ who shares his own record of perfect obedience with us.

And so, God is both just and the justifier. He’s just, because he doesn’t disregard our sin and disobedience. He doesn’t ignore our sin or say it doesn’t matter. Sin must be paid for. And our sins have been paid for, because Christ has paid for them with his life. And so, God remains just. But at one and the same time, he’s also the one who justifies sinners: he’s able to forgive us and accept us because of Christ.

And one of the main points Paul was making in the passage we studied last week is that sinners are justified — pardoned and accepted — through faith and not by observing the law. We are saved from God’s wrath and punishment not by doing, but by believing. We’re not to think we can climb up to God by our good works. We’re not to think that we can earn our way into God’s good books by the things we do. We are not to think that, because sinners are justified, not by doing, by believing in the Saviour, who has done everything necessary to make peace for us with God.

And Paul continues to write about the gospel in the passage we’re studying this morning. And really, what Paul writes in chapter 4 is an expansion or an elaboration of what he said in last week’s passage. In last week’s passage, he wrote about how we’re justified by faith and not by the things we do. And he elaborates on that in verses 1 to 8 of chapter 4. In last week’s passage, he wrote about how God justifies circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles in exactly the same way. Both are justified by faith. And he elaborates on that in verses 9 to 12 of chapter 4. And in last week’s passage, he wrote about the place of the law. And he elaborates on that in verses 13 to 22 of chapter 4. And so, in chapter 4 he’s expanding on what he wrote in summary form in last week’s passage.

And today we’re focusing on verses 1 to 12. So, verses 1 to 8 are about faith, not works. And verses 9 to 12 are about faith, not circumcision. And what Paul is saying here is vitally important for us, because what the gospel teaches is the exact opposite to the way we normally think. How does a child please his parents? By being well-behaved and obedient. When his mother asks her son to tidy his room, he pleases her by doing what she asks. How does a student please his teacher? By doing his work well and by getting a good grade in the exams. How does an employee please her boss? By working hard and getting everything done that needs to be done. We normally think in terms of doing. It’s all about performance. But the gospel is the exact opposite, because the gospel is not about doing. It’s not about how well we perform. The gospel is about trusting in what Christ has done for us. And we need to be reminded of this continually because the gospel is so different from what we normally think.

Verses 1 to 8

Let’s focus firstly on verses 1 to 8. And Paul begins what he says here with an illustration. He illustrates the point he wants to make with a biblical example. And the biblical example he uses is the example of Abraham. And Abraham is an interesting example, because the Jews looked up to Abraham. He was regarded as the father of God’s people and he was regarded as well as being a model of obedience. After all, when God spoke to him in Genesis 12 and told him to leave his father’s household and to go to the land God would show him, Abraham obeyed. He did what the Lord commanded, even though he did not know where God was leading him. And in Genesis 22, when the Lord commanded Abraham to offer up his only son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God, didn’t he obey the Lord?

So, the Jews regarded Abraham as a model of obedience. And if it were true that sinners are justified by works and by the things we do, then Abraham would have something to boast about. That’s what Paul says in verse 2. Given his reputation for obedience to God, then he would have something to boast about. He could boast about obeying God when God called him to leave his father’s household. He could boast about obeying God when God told him to sacrifice his son. He could boast about those things. But at the end of verse 2, Paul adds the phrase ‘but not before God’. Abraham could boast to you and me about his obedience, but he can’t boast to God about it, because, despite his obedience, Abraham was still a sinner. He may have obeyed God some of the time, but he did not obey God all of the time. And so, he had no reason to boast before God.

But the good news is that sinners like Abraham can still be justified. We can still be forgiven and accepted by God. And that’s because we’re justified by faith. And to prove it, Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 at the end of verse 3, where it says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. So, in Genesis 15, Abram complained to the Lord that he was childless and it seemed to him that one of his servants would end up being his heir. And the Lord replied that his servant will not be his heir, but a son coming from his own body will be his heir. And the Lord then took Abraham outside and he told Abraham to look up at the stars in the sky. And the Lord promised that Abraham’s offspring will be like the stars in the sky in that the number of his descendants will be too many to count. No one can count the stars. And no one will be able to count all your descendants.

And it says that Abraham believed God. And so, the verse is not about Abraham’s obedience. It’s about his faith. He believed. Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. That is to say, God credited righteousness to him. God counted him as righteous. God attributed righteousness to him. God regarded him as righteous in his sight. And God regarded him as righteous in his sight because Abraham believed God’s promise.

And so, there’s a biblical example to illustrate what Paul has been saying. Abraham was justified, not by doing, but by believing. And the same is true for every sinner who is justified, because sinners are justified — forgiven and accepted — through faith and not because of anything they have done.

And in verses 4 and 5 Paul draws out the difference between works and faith. He says that when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift. At the end of the week, or at the end of the month, the boss doesn’t say, ‘He’s a gift for you.’ He doesn’t say that. He says: ‘Here’s your pay. You’ve earned it.’ And if the boss didn’t pay his workers, his workers could take him to court for failing to pay them what they were owed.

That’s how the world works. But how does the gospel work? Look at verse 5: to the man who does not work, but who trusts in God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. So, it’s the person who does not work, but who believes who is regarded as righteous in God’s sight. God forgives that person and treats him as if he’s done everything right. And God treats him in that way, not because of anything he has done, but because he’s trusted in Christ, who is the only Saviour of the world.

And before moving on, let’s not miss the astonishing statement in the middle of verse 5 where Paul describes God as the God who justifies the wicked. So, right up until the very moment a sinner is justified by God, that sinner is wicked in the sight of God. When God looks at that person, God sees that that person is wicked. That person is someone who deserves to be condemned and sent out of God’s presence to be punished for ever.

Or let’s get a little more personal. I’m addressing believers here. Right up until the moment God justified you, he saw that you were wicked. Other people may have said about you that you were good or kind or upstanding or praiseworthy. But God saw that you were wicked, because we come into this world as guilty sinners and we sin against God continually throughout our life. So, God saw that you were wicked. But the moment after he justified you, he regarded you as righteous in his sight. He no longer saw you as a wicked person. Instead he regarded you as someone who has done everything right.

So, one moment he saw that you were wicked. The next moment he regarded you as if you’ve done everything right. What happened between those two moments? Did you, between those two moments, clean up your life? Did you, between those two moments, change yourself? No, there’s no time between those two moments to do anything like that. But between one moment and the next you believed in the Saviour. And as soon as you believed in the Saviour, God forgave you for all that you have done wrong and he shared with you Christ’s record of perfect obedience to cover over your wickedness.

And why did he do this for you? Why does he do this for wicked sinners? He does it because of his overflowing goodness and love and his grace and mercy. Instead of treating us as our sins deserves, he’s willing to forgive us and to accept us. And it’s all because of his overflowing love to sinners. Because of his overflowing love to sinners, he sent his Son to give up his life as the once-for-all sacrifice to pay for our sins. And because of his overflowing love to sinners, he’s willing to accept Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf and to forgive and accept us.

And just to make sure there’s no confusion, I should make clear that we mustn’t regard our faith and the act of believing as a good deed which we can boast about. We can’t boast about our faith, because faith itself is a gift from God. God gives us the ability to believe and if it weren’t for his kindness to us, none of us would believe. And faith is about looking away from ourselves and it’s about looking to Christ for the salvation we need. By faith we cling to Christ. And all who cling to Christ by faith are forgiven and accepted by God.

Paul has already given us one biblical example to illustrate that we’re justified by faith. In verses 6 to 8 he gives us another biblical example. This time it’s David. The Jews regarded David as their greatest king, because he conquered their enemies and gave them peace. But in fact, David was an adulterer and a murderer, wasn’t he? He committed adultery with Bathsheba and then, to cover up what he had done, he arranged for her husband to be killed on the battle field. In other words, David was like the rest of us. He was wicked before God.

But David was able to write about the blessedness or the happiness of those who are justified by faith. If peace with God depended on what we do, there would be no hope for David. But since we receive peace with God through faith, then David could write about the blessedness he knew because God forgave his transgressions and God covered over his sins and God did not count his sins against him. David had done nothing to deserve this treatment from God. But God treated him this way, because we are forgiven and accepted by faith and not by the things we do.

And all of this means that even the worst sinner in the world can be saved. Maybe there’s someone here this morning and that’s how you regard yourself. You think that you’re the worst sinner in the world, because you think that no one has ever done what you have done. Or perhaps you think that you’re the worst sinner in this building, because you think that no one here has ever done what you have done. But whether that’s true or not, what is true is that even the worst sinner in the world can be saved, because the way to be saved is by looking away from yourself and from all your sins and shortcomings and looking to the Lord Jesus. Whoever believes in him is justified: God will forgive you for all that you have done wrong and he’ll treat you as if you’ve done everything right.

Verses 9 to 12

So, in verses 1 to 8, David uses the biblical examples of Abraham and David to illustrate his point that sinners are justified by faith and not by works. In verses 9 to 12 he refers again to circumcision.

He asks in verse 9 whether this blessedness which David spoke about is only for the circumcised. That is to say, is it only for the Jews? Is it not also for the uncircumcised? Is it not also for the Gentiles? And he once again directs his readers to the example of Abraham. Abraham was a man who was justified. We know that, because that’s what Genesis 15:6 says: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

But under what circumstances did this take place? Or when did this happen? When did God declare Abraham righteous in his sight? Was it after he was circumcised or was it before he was circumcised? And you can see why the timing of this is important, because if it’s true that salvation is for circumcised Jews only, then we’d expect to read that Abraham was declared righteous in God’s sight after he was circumcised. But in fact Abraham was declared righteous in God’s sight before he was circumcised.

Let’s think about the chronology. In Genesis 12, God called Abraham to leave his father’s household and go to the land God would show him. In Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky: too many to count. And Abraham believed God and was justified. And then in Genesis 17 God told Abraham to circumcise himself and his household. And the events of Genesis 17 took place after the events in Genesis 15. And so, Abraham was uncircumcised when God justified him. And the point is that justification — forgiveness and acceptance with God, peace with God — has nothing to do with being circumcised.

And in verse 11 Paul refers to circumcision as a sign and as a seal. Do you see that? And really he means it was a sign which sealed something. And you know what a seal is for, don’t you? A seal is a mark we put on a document to signify its authenticity or to signify its binding authority. We apply a seal to confirm the contents of a document. When a property is being sold, the deeds are signed and sealed to confirm the sale.

And Paul describes circumcision as a sign and seal which confirms something. It was a sign and seal which confirms the righteousness that Abraham received from God. The mark on his body confirmed for Abraham God’s willingness to treat him as righteous in his sight.

So, Abraham was aware of his sins and shortcomings. He could remember all the things that he had done wrong and all the things that might keep him out of God’s presence. But then he would look down and see in his body the sign of the righteousness which God gives to his people. And so, despite his many sins and shortcomings, Abraham could rejoice because the mark on his body reminded him that God is willing to save sinners.

And how did Abraham receive this righteousness from God? How was Abraham justified? Paul tells us in verse 11: circumcision was a sign and seal of the righteousness that Abraham had by faith and before he was circumcised. And so, sinners are justified — forgiven and accepted — by faith and not by the things we do and not by being circumcised.

And that means that Abraham is the spiritual father of whom? He’s the spiritual father of all who believe, but who have not been circumcised. That’s at the end of verse 11. And what Paul means is that Abraham is the spiritual father of believing Gentiles. And what’s more, he’s the spiritual father of the circumcised, who are not only circumcised, but who walk in the footsteps of Abraham’s faith. That’s in verse 12. And what Paul means is that Abraham is the spiritual father of believing Jews.

Conclusion

And Paul is driving home the point that sinners are justified by faith and not because of anything we do. We’re not to try to climb up to God by our good deeds. We’re not to try to earn our way into God’s good books by the things we do. Trying hard to be good is not the way to receive eternal life in the presence of God. And our salvation does not depend on whether we’ve been circumcised or not. And our salvation does not depend on being baptised or not, which is the New Testament equivalent of circumcision. And our salvation does not depend on receiving the Lord’s Supper. Our salvation does not depend on anything we do or on any sacrifices we make or on any good deeds we perform. What counts is faith, because sinners are justified by faith alone and not because of anything we’ve done in the past and not because of anything we might do in the future. What counts is faith alone in Christ alone.

And we’re to trust in Christ, because he’s the one who gave up his life on the cross to pay for our sins and shortcomings. And he’s the only one who has lived a life of perfect obedience on our behalf. And so, we’re to trust in him, because whoever trusts in him receives, not only the forgiveness we need, but we also receive his record of perfect obedience. And that’s the way — and the only way — to have peace with God.

How does the world normally work? It’s all about what we do. So, how do children please their parents? By doing what they’re told. How do students please their teachers? By working hard. How do employers please their boss? By doing all the work assigned to them. And the child who does well might earn a treat. And the student who works hard might earn a good grade. And the employer who does what is required earns a salary. But when it comes to the gospel, it’s not about what we do. It’s about what Christ has done for us. And it’s about trusting in what he has done for us.

That’s how we receive peace with God. And that’s why, when we come to church, we come to praise the Lord and to give thanks to him, because he gives us salvation in Christ and he gives us the hope of everlasting life. He gives and gives and gives. And we receive what he gives by faith.