Romans 04(13–25)

Introduction

Paul is writing to the believers in Rome about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Jesus Christ begins with the bad news that there’s no difference between Jews and Gentiles, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no-one righteous, not even one. There is no-one who understands or who seeks God. All have turned away and they have together become worthless. There is no-one who does good, not even one.

That’s the bad news and it’s very bad, because since we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, then we are justly liable to all miseries in this life and the next. But then there’s the good news of the gospel which is that we are justified freely by God’s grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

When Paul says we are justified, he has two ideas in mind. Justification means God forgives us for all that we have done wrong. Instead of punishing us, which is what we deserve for disobeying him, he forgives us. And justification also means that God declares us to be righteous in his sight. So, though we may have done everything wrong, he treats us as if we’ve done everything right.

And how is God able to forgive sinners and declare them righteous in his sight? He can do so because, when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, he was not dying for his owns sins, because he had none. He was dying for our sins. He was taking the blame for us and suffering the punishment we deserve. He paid for our sins with his life so that we can receive forgiveness from God.

And then the Lord Jesus was the only one who obeyed his Father in heaven perfectly. He lived a perfect human life when he was on the earth. And he shares his own record of perfect obedience with his people so that when God looks at his people, he does not see our sins and shortcomings. Instead he sees the perfect obedience of the Lord Jesus. He regards his people in the same way as he regards Christ.

And so, there are those two aspects or parts to justification: God forgives us for what we have done wrong because of Christ; and he declares us right in his sight because of Christ.

And how do we receive this justification? How are sinners justified? Paul explained to the Romans that we are justified by faith. So, we are saved from God’s wrath and punishment, not by doing, but by believing. We’re not to think that we can climb up to God by our good deeds. We’re not to think we can earn our way into God’s good books by the things we do. We’re not to think we can make ourselves acceptable in his sight by our good works. We’re not to think that, because sinners are justified, not by doing, but by believing in the Saviour, who has done everything necessary on our behalf to make peace for us with God.

And at the end of chapter 3 Paul made three brief points which he elaborates in chapter 4. At the end of chapter 3 he said just what I’ve said, which is that 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, which we studied last week. And at the end of chapter 3 he said that 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, which we also studied last week. And at the end of chapter 3 he wrote about the law. And he elaborates on that in verses 13 to 22 of chapter 4 which we’re studying today. And then, right at the end of chapter 4, he also tells us a little more about faith. And we’ll be studying those verses as well this morning.

And in the verses we studied last week, Paul used Abraham to illustrate and to prove what he was saying. Abraham was a very important figure for the Jews, because they are all descended from Abraham and they regarded him as a model of obedience. And in Genesis 17 God gave Abraham and his descendants circumcision to mark them out as God’s special people.

So, Abraham was very, very important to the Jews. But what do the Scriptures say about Abraham? They say in Genesis 15:6 that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. In other words, God regarded him as righteous because he believed God’s promise. So, we’ve justified by believing and not by doing. And according to the Scriptures, when was Abraham justified? Was it before he was circumcised or was it after he was circumcised. Well, it was before he was circumcised. And so, justification — forgiveness and acceptance with God — has nothing to do with circumcision. When it comes to justification, what counts is not what we do or whether we’ve been circumcision or whether we’ve been baptised or whether we’ve received communion or anything else like that. None of those things contribute to our justification. What counts is faith.

And so, Paul used Abraham to illustrate and prove what he was saying. And he uses Abraham one more time in today’s passage, where he makes the point that we are justified by faith and not by the law. And when Paul refers here to the law, he’s thinking about the law which God gave to the Jewish people. When the descendants of Abraham gathered at Mount Sinai in the days of Moses, God revealed his laws to them which he wanted them to keep. But Paul wants to teach his readers that we’re justified not by keeping the law, but by trusting in the Saviour.

Verses 13 to 17

In verse 13 Paul says that it was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world. So, he did not receive this promise through the law or by keeping the law. Instead he received the promise through the righteousness that comes by faith.

Let me explain what Paul means when he refers to God’s promise that Abraham would be heir of the world. Back in Genesis 15, God promised Abraham that he would have so many descendants they would be like the stars in the sky: too many to count. In other words, a great nation will come from him. And the Lord went on to promise Abraham that he would give him the land where he was standing. So, God would give to Abraham and his descendants the land of Canaan. And he did. Not right away, but in the days of Joshua, the Lord led Abraham’s descendants into the Promised Land of Canaan and he enabled them to settle there.

But the land of Canaan was only a foretaste of what God really intended to give to Abraham and his descendants. God intended to give them everlasting life in the new heavens and earth, where all of God’s people will live with God for ever and for ever. And that’s perhaps why Paul says here that God’s promise to Abraham was about becoming heir of the world. God’s promise to Abraham about the land of Canaan pointed forward to God’s promise to give his people eternal life in a renewed earth in the life to come.

And Abraham received that promise from God, not by keeping the law, but through faith. Through faith he was declared right with God and he received the promise of eternal life in the presence of God.

And by saying this, Paul undermined what the Jews believed, because they boasted about having the law. Of all the nations of the world, God revealed his law to them and to them alone. And because they had the law, they expected good things from the Lord, because in the law God promised to bless his people with good things if they kept the law.

But what does the law actually bring? Take a look at verse 15. What the law actually brings is wrath. And the law brings wrath because no-one is able to keep the law. When we read the law correctly, we discover that we haven’t kept the law. When we read the law correctly, we discover that we’re lawbreakers. And we need to read the law correctly, because it’s easy to read, ‘You shall not murder’ and think that I’m okay because I’ve never murdered anyone. And it’s easy to read, ‘You shall not commit adultery’ and think that I’m okay because I’ve never had an affair. But the Lord Jesus made clear in the Sermon on the Mount that the law is not only about what we do, but it’s about what’s in our heart and it’s about what we think and desire and feel. The sixth commandment not only forbids murder, but anger too. The seventh commandment not only forbids adultery, but sinful thoughts and desires as well. And it’s the same for every commandment. The law exposes not only our outward sins, but our inward sins as well. And it shows us that we’re lawbreakers who deserve God’s wrath and curse.

Paul says at the end of verse 15 that where there is no law, there is no transgression. But God has given us his law and his law reveals our transgressions and sins and it shows us all the ways we’ve done what is wrong in God’s sight. And if peace with God depended on keeping the law, then there would be no hope for any of us, because none of us has kept the law.

But the good news of the gospel is that the promise comes by faith. That’s in verse 16. And what Paul means is that we receive what God has promised by faith. We receive eternal life in the new heavens and earth by faith. We receive it by believing and not by doing.

And that means it’s by grace. That’s in verse 16 too. And grace is God’s kindness to people who don’t deserve anything from him but his wrath and curse. What we deserve from God is to be condemned and sent out of his presence for ever, because of all that we have done wrong. But instead of treating us as our sins deserve, instead of repaying us according to our iniquities, God is gracious and merciful and willing to pardon us and to accept us and to bring us into his presence one day in the new heavens and earth. We don’t deserve it and we cannot earn it. After all, what could we possibly give to God to make up for all that we have already done wrong? But the good news is that he gives us forgiveness and he gives us Christ’s record of perfect obedience and he gives us eternal life in his presence. He graciously gives us these things which we do not deserve and cannot earn. It’s his free gift to us.

And since we receive what God has promised by faith, then not only is it by grace, but it’s guaranteed to all of Abraham’s offspring. And that’s also in verse 16. And when Paul refers to Abraham’s offspring, he means Abraham’s spiritual offspring. He means all those who share his faith. Abraham is the spiritual father of every believer.

If peace with God depended on keeping the law, then the Gentiles would be excluded from the start, because they didn’t have the law. God gave his law to the Jews and to them alone. But since we’re justified by faith and not by the law, then justification is guaranteed to everyone who believes, whether they’re Jew or Gentile.

And so, God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis 17 to make him the father of many nations has come true, because Abraham is our spiritual father and Abraham has spiritual descendants all over the world. In every nation of the world, there are men and women who share Abraham’s faith and who believe in the Saviour and who are therefore justified in the sight of God, so that they are forgiven and accepted by God and they have the hope of everlasting life in the presence of God.

And, of course, if you read in the book of Revelation the vision the Apostle John received of heaven right now, you’ll see that in heaven right now is a great multitude of believers from every nation, tribe, people and language. They’re all there, because they all share Abraham’s faith in the God who justifies the wicked by faith. And if you’re a believer, if you share Abraham’s faith in the God who justifies the wicked by faith, then you too will be there once your life in this world is over, because that’s what God gives to everyone who believes.

Verses 18 to 22

Let’s move on, because from verse 18 Paul describes for us what Abraham’s faith was like. He says that against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. What does Paul mean when he says that against all hope Abraham in hope believed?

God promised to bring many nations from Abraham and from his wife Sarah and to make Abraham’s descendants like the stars in the sky: too many to count. But when God made that promise to Abraham, Abraham didn’t have any descendants at all. And look what Paul says about him in verse 19. Abraham faced the fact that his body was as good as dead. His body was as good as dead because he was about 100 years old. And Sarah’s womb was also dead, because she was an old woman, long past the years for childbearing. And do you remember that time when the three strangers came to their home and announced that in a year’s time they would have a child? And when Sarah heard it, she laughed. She laughed because it seemed ridiculous to her that a woman of her age should have a child. It was ridiculous. It was impossible. Who had ever heard of such a thing? She laughed.

But against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. Against all hope: when he looked at himself and when he looked at his wife and when he thought about their age, it seemed hopeless. And yet, in hope he believed.

And so, he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God and he was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. So, when Abraham looked at his body and his wife’s body, it seemed hopeless. There’s no way they could have a child of their own. But when he looked away from himself and when he looked away from Sarah and when he looked at God and when he remembered the power of God, then it didn’t seem hopeless to him, because he knew that God could do what he had promised because nothing is impossible for God.

And that’s what faith is, isn’t it? Faith is about looking away from ourselves and it’s about looking to God who is able to do what he has promised. For some of us, it’s about looking away from ourselves and our sins and shortcomings and our guilt and our shame and all the things that put us out of reach of heaven. And perhaps for others, it’s about looking away from ourselves and all the good things we have done and our reputation and our good name and our dedication and devotion and all the things we think make us fit for heaven. We’re to look away from ourselves entirely and we’re to look to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is able to do what he has promised, which is to save completely all those who trust in him for forgiveness and for acceptance with God and for eternal life in the presence of God. He’s able to save us completely, because through faith in him we receive the forgiveness we need and we receive his record of perfect obedience and we receive the free gift of eternal life in the new heavens and earth.

If Abraham only ever focussed on himself and his wife and their old bodies, he would say that it’s hopeless. But once he looked away from himself and his wife to the Lord, who is able to do all that he promised, then Abraham could see that it’s not hopeless. And he therefore believed.

And Paul says once again in verse 22 that God saw Abraham’s faith and credited it to him as righteousness. That is to say, God saw Abraham’s faith and God regarded him as righteous in his sight. Though Abraham was a sinner who had fallen short in so many ways, nevertheless God saw his faith and accepted him. And God could do that for Abraham and he does it for all who believe, because we are justified by faith and by faith alone.

Verses 23 to 25

And the passage ends with Paul making clear for us that Genesis 15:6 was written not for Abraham alone, but also for us. That’s one of the amazing things about the Bible. Although it was written for people long ago, it wasn’t just written for them, but it was written for us and for God’s people in every generation. The Bible is God’s living word and he speaks through the Bible to his people in every generation.

And he speaks to us through Genesis 15:6 to make clear to all of us here today that God will credit righteousness to everyone who believes. That is to say, he will forgive and accept everyone who believes. He will treat everyone who believes as if they’ve done everything right.

So, you may have done everything wrong. You may have made a mess of your life. You may hang your head in shame because of the things you have done. And you might think that if people knew the things you have done or the thoughts and desires you have, they would be horrified. But the good news of the gospel is that God pardons and accepts everyone who believes. It doesn’t matter what you have done. It doesn’t matter what thoughts and desires you have. None of that matters, because God justifies the wicked. He justifies the ungodly. He takes ungodly sinners and he pardons them and accepts them.

And he’s able to do that because of Christ, who was delivered over to death for our sins and who was raised to life for our justification. Paul means that God the Father delivered him over to death. God the Father loved us so much that he sent the Lord Jesus into the world as one of us to die on the cross to pay for our sins and shortcomings with his life. And on the cross he took the blame and the punishment for all that we have done wrong.

And afterwards God the Father raised him to life for our justification. And what Paul means is that his resurrection from the dead demonstrates that our sins have been paid for in full. If Christ had not paid for our sins in full when he died on the cross, then he would still be dead. He would still be suffering the penalty for our sins. But since he has paid for our sins in full, then he could be set free from death and raised to life, just as a criminal today is set free from prison once he’s completed his sentence.

And as our living Saviour, the Lord Jesus comes to us in the preaching of his word and he offers forgiveness and peace with God and eternal life to everyone who believes. He comes to us in the preaching of his word and he tells us to look away from ourselves and to look to him for salvation. And all who look away from themselves and who look to him receive what God has promised which is eternal life in the presence of God in the new heavens and earth, where we’ll know God’s abounding and overflowing love for us for ever and for ever.