About this sermon
Paul points to Abraham to show that justification is by faith apart from the works of the law: “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” God credited that righteousness before Abraham received circumcision, so he is the father of all who believe. David likewise blesses the one whose sins the Lord covers and does not count. Abraham’s faith rested on God’s promise against all hope, and God counts the same righteousness to all who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead.
Sermon transcript
Let us turn our attention to the reading of God’s holy and inspired Word as we open our Bibles tonight to the book of Romans, chapter 4. We’ll be reading verses 1-25. Once again, turn with me and your Bibles to Romans 4, verses 1-25. This is the Word of God.
What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. but to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness. Just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man who sinned, the Lord will not take into account.
Is this blessing then on the circumcised or on the uncircumcised also? For we say faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it credited? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while yet uncircumcised. Oh, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had while uncircumcised so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them. And the father of circumcision to those who are not only who not only are of the circumcision, but also who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father, Abraham, which he had while uncircumcised.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified. For the law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. For this reason, it is by faith in order that it may be in accordance with grace so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
As it is written, a father of many nations have I made you. in the presence of him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations. According to that which has been spoken, so shall your descendants be. Without becoming weak in faith, he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God and being fully assured that what God had promised he was able also to perform.
Therefore, it was also credited to him as righteousness. Now, not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also to whom it will be credited. As those who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord from the dead. He who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.
This is the word of the Lord. Amen. Let’s pray together. Father, we thank you for this inspired portion of Holy Scripture. We’re thankful for the testimony of the apostle Paul. As it relates to this very important doctrine of justification by faith alone through Jesus Christ alone, that one who is crucified, dead, buried and raised again unto glory where he has accomplished that what was needed for our redemption, for our justification. Oh, Father, may you bless this portion of your word to our hearing and understanding tonight.
May you give power to the reading and to the preaching of that word and to the hearing also as we Strain together to receive every portion of the good things you have for us tonight. Oh, Lord, be with us. Guide us by the same spirit who moved the apostle to write these words. May you illumine our hearts and minds to understand, believe and embrace these great things. For we pray together now in Jesus name. Amen.
In Romans chapter 3, verse 28, Paul insists that we are, quote, justified by faith apart from works of the law, unquote. He insists, however, that his doctrine of justification by faith does not overthrow the law. Instead, the law is upheld, he says. Look at verse 31 of chapter 3. It is possible that Romans chapter 8 and verse 4 is an explanation of this statement of what he means that the law is not overthrown but upheld. There, Paul will say that the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in those who walk by the spirit. But at this point in the letter, however, chapter 4, Paul does not elaborate on his statement that the law is not done away or rather than it is upheld. He doesn’t elaborate here.
Rather, in chapter four, which is before us tonight, Paul proceeds to prove from the scriptures, the scriptures even of the Old Testament, the very key doctrine, the key element of the doctrine which he has unfolded for us in the preceding chapter. Most certainly, the chief interest of the apostle in the argument thus far, which he has presented before us, is what might be called the antithesis, the antithesis between justification by works on the one hand and justification by faith. On the other hand, it is in this interest, it is this interest rather that is in the forefront of Paul’s thinking and writing. Indeed, even in the series of demonstrations, which he is about to present, which he derives from the old Testament scriptures. And you’ll notice in that demonstration of this doctrine of justification by faith, he appeals, first of all, to the case of the patriarch, Abraham, to support his doctrine of justification by faith apart from the works of the law. We see this in our scripture today, Romans 4, 1 to 25, the passage we have read.
Abraham was graciously justified by faith, not by works, Paul says, chapter 4, verses 3 through 5. In particular, Paul points us to Genesis chapter 15 and verse 6. You see it there in bold print in your English Bible text, where the Lord has promised Remember the context of Genesis 15, verse six, where the Lord has promised childless Abraham that his descendants will be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. It is there that Paul points out what we would describe as the wonderfully simple and infinitely profound text of Genesis 15, six, that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. I’ll read it again. It’s that important. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.
Paul says Abraham was justified before he was circumcised. Look at verses 9 through 12 of our text. The Lord’s interaction with Abram in chapter 15 of Genesis, where we have our key text, that occurs well before the giving of the covenant of circumcision that was given to Abraham at age 99, found in Genesis 17 in your Bibles. because the promises were to be inherited on the basis of faith, not the law, as Paul makes wonderfully plain for us in Romans 4, verses 13 to 14, he says so specifically. Circumcision, then, is not the ground for justification, he says to these Gentile Christians in Rome. Paul insists that the inheritance is based on faith rather than on the law in order that the promise might be guaranteed Not only to the Jew, but to the Gentile also. Look at verse 16 of our text this evening.
In this way, the promise given to Abraham that he would be a father of many nations, think of Genesis chapter 17 verse 5, that promise would be ultimately fulfilled. Look also at Romans 4 and verse 17 where Paul draws attention to that fact that Abraham would be a father of many nations. Hence, we see that although Paul’s attention is fixed on the text, Genesis 15 verse six, he also has in view correctly the narrative context in which that passage of Genesis 15 six appears.
Paul’s reference in our passage tonight to reward or to recompense undoubtedly recalls Abraham’s vision in Genesis 15 verse one, in which God promises Abram, I am a shield to you, your reward shall be very great. This promise reestablishes the initial promise that had been given to Abram back in Genesis chapter 12, verses 1 to 3. The promises made that God was going to make him a great nation and that he would be a blessing to all the tribes and families of the earth. Paul’s allusion to the context of Genesis 15, verse 6, Abraham, Abraham believed God and it was reckoned or credited to him as righteousness. Paul’s allusion to the context signals that he understands Abraham’s faith in connection with the divine promise made to Abraham by God himself.
A connection that becomes prominent in the final section of Romans four, verses 13 to 25. The final section of our text read this evening. The divine reckoning, as we might call it, essentially is a declaration, a declaration on God’s part of Abraham’s righteousness by which Abraham was justified, which also affects the blessing granted in the promise.
So promise and blessing. Notice in Romans chapter four, verse six, that it is the theme of blessing that Paul uses to introduce the Old Testament testimony of David. quoting from Psalm 32 verses 1 and 2, saying, David also speaks of the blessing of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.
And there, quoting chapter 32, 1 and 2, Paul writes, blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account. The clear implication is that Abraham was such a blessed man. Not that he was a man without fault or without sin.
Indeed, look at verse 13 of our text here tonight. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Our sermon title tonight, the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, says Paul, and the promise is nullified. For the law brings about wrath.
Larger dimensions of the Genesis narrative come into play in Paul’s appeal to Abraham, doesn’t it? His characterization of Abraham’s faith obviously implies that Abraham is ungodly, not a godly man, so to speak. He is ungodly. Perhaps that strikes you as a shocking claim. When Paul reads the Genesis story, he reads the story from the beginning, as we saw back in Romans chapter 2. not from the end of the story. He reads it as as a people who sinned against God and fell away.
Notice that Abraham appears in the Genesis narrative. Think of context here in Chapter 12, right in the wake of the Lord’s thwarting the plans of falling humanity in the Tower of Babel, where God dispersed humanity into many peoples and many languages. We see that in Genesis 11. That’s the context that leads us into the story of Abraham in chapter 12.
So such that Abraham represents God’s fresh beginning, a fresh beginning with a fallen world. The Tower of Babel has just appeared after all. And it is indeed the display of God’s marvelous mercy, even in the midst of God’s judgment, wherein he dispersed the people and confused their languages. Abraham, you must realize, is one of the ungodly of that generation, one of the ungodly whom God chose, chose as a vehicle for his saving purpose, chose a solitary, weak, and defenseless individual who is made so by the divine judgment on the united human race.
And we read of Abram in Genesis 12 and think of what kind of man he is in verses 10 to 14, and again in verse 24. The childless, homeless, and wandering Abraham is the very antithesis, is he not, of Adam. Adam, who enjoyed the security, the fruitfulness of the garden. Here is Abram, a weak, solitary, defenseless individual with no home, wandering as it were. Not in a garden, but in the wilderness.
In this fallen and frail figure, Abram, then, God the Creator takes up afresh his surprising work of blessing the world, which now stands under his curse. Again, Genesis 3, and we think of the garden experience, chapter 3 and verse 14 and verse 17, where God pronounced the curse upon the human race. God, by his promise alone, will grant Abraham offspring and an inheritance, thus bringing hope afresh into a fallen world. God alone justifies the ungodly, an act that he expressly forbids human beings. We’re not to justify the ungodly. We think then of the very human question put to Jesus by his adversaries in his day. Who can forgive sins but God alone? Yet Jesus, as God, acts in this very manner, overcoming even his own judgment, as it is especially apparent in his dealings with his wayward people.
Following the text of Genesis and the narrative, the apostle views the Lord’s dealings with Abraham as coming to a pivotal moment at the point of the divine word of promise given to Abraham in the midst of his despair over his childlessness. While it is apparent that Abraham had previously acted on God’s call and promise, there were things that Abram had done already, in the context of Genesis. For example, we have seen that he has already left the land of Ur of the Chaldeans to go to a place that the Lord would show him. He has already fought battles to rescue his nephew Lot. He had already sojourned in the promised land. He had already offered worship and various acts of obedience. So, in some sense, Abraham had already believed the prior words of promise that had been spoken by the Lord.
Yet, much like Peter’s confession at Caesarea Philippi of Jesus, you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the moment of response in Genesis chapter 15 verse 6 for Abraham is decisive. Think of Peter’s confession and how marvelous that is in time and space. Think of Abraham Believing God in the midst of his despair over his having no children, God speaking to him a word of promise that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars of the heavens. And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Faith, we would observe, is never general or abstract, but faith is always the response to a concrete word of promise. The decisive word of promise comes to Abraham at the very point when its fulfillment seems most utterly impossible. How could he ever have so many descendants when he has none in his old age and his wife is old and barren? How can it possibly be that God would do what he said? Even so, God’s Word is decisive. When God speaks, today is the day of salvation.
Abraham’s justification is equivalent, we might say, to the experience of David. David, the most prominent of forgiven sinners in scripture. We think of his great sin with Bathsheba in the Bible, and yet we think of David, the man forgiven and chosen of God to be king over Israel. Consequently, When he, that is David, speaks as one forgiven of God, we listen. Look at your text and see the reference to David there. And his word, that is David’s word, confirms and convinces us that yes, the Old Testament doctrine is, as Paul is saying, justification apart from works and the forgiveness of sins.
Abraham’s acceptance with God was clearly not based on his works. For Abraham, his obedience to the divine commandments was the fruit of his faith in God, not the cause of it. Now mark the difference. Paul goes on in verse 4 and following of our text.
When a man works for some reward, that reward is his due. When he simply puts his trust in God, it is by pure grace that his faith is reckoned to him for righteousness. It is undeserved favor where there ought to be retribution and punishment. Beloved, we are called to faith by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for as the work of the grace, the resurrection of Christ as the work of the grace of God toward us.
It changes our life and it puts an end to our calamity. It is the power of God for our salvation to everyone who believes the death and resurrection of Jesus happened for us through the death of Jesus. God executed his sentence regarding the individual. The reason for this sentence, of course, was not Jesus’ failure, but our reprehensible actions whereby we had caused our own ruin and ruination. Christ was delivered over for us. God did it for us because of our transgressions.
And He was raised because of our justification. He paid the price in full. He would cry out quite triumphantly from the cross, it is finished, it is paid for, it’s done. By enduring the sentence which He did for us, just a sentence justly imposed upon the human race. Jesus frees us from the sentence and thereby he becomes for us the propitiation, the satisfaction of divine justice. Hence, the believer appropriates that acquittal given from God in which the consequences of his failure and his fall are removed.
Jesus died and bore the curse for us and for our redemption. Yet it is not only the death of Jesus, but his resurrection also, which effectually secured our justification. Indeed, he was raised because of our justification. Our fall precedes the execution of Jesus. He was condemned to die because we fell. Likewise, our justification precedes his resurrection. He was raised because we were justified through His death.
God gave the Lord, exalted to everlasting life, to humanity, that has been freed from guilt through that death upon the cross and through the resurrection. And He has blessed us with God’s favor. Through the death of Jesus, when God reckoned our fall to Him, counted against him, he gave us instead his favor and accepted us into his community as the children of Abraham, as those who are justified by faith. For this reason, Jesus, through his resurrection, became the one who brings us the gifts, the gifts of divine grace, and fulfills in us the promise, the promise that calls us to life, just like the promise called Abram, to life. It is the promise given in Christ Jesus that calls us to life also, that calls us to life in the Kingdom of God.
The fellowship of the resurrected one, the Lord Jesus Christ, with humanity is the consequence and the demonstration of their justification. By recognizing in Christ who was slain, the one who blots out all our iniquity and guilt, we also acknowledge Jesus Christ as the giver of life, the one who will usher us into the kingdom of God.
We are justified by faith, and this faith must be directed to Jesus, but only as the living Lord can he be the object of our faith. It is in union with the living Christ by faith that we are justified. Only as the resurrected living Lord can any virtue proceed from Christ to us, and only with a living Christ can union have efficacy. The resurrected one, Jesus Christ, is the one who affects and who receives our faith by which we attain unto justification. The righteousness of Christ by which we are justified in God’s sight has its abiding embodiment in Christ himself. Only as the living Lord can Christ be the embodiment of that righteousness we so desperately need. and which he so powerfully has given to us that we might receive the righteousness which comes from God.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are absolutely inseparable. It is by faith that we lay hold of the living Christ or rather through which Christ lays hold of us. It is through the mediation of Jesus Christ that we come to stand in the grace of justification. But the mediation of Jesus Christ could not be operative if He were still under the power of death, mind you.
But remind you, He is alive. He is raised from the dead. Having once for all been delivered up to death as a sacrifice for sin, He has also once for all been raised from the dead, that He might ascend to the right hand of the Father for us, where He ever intercedes for us.
I remind you, today is the day of salvation. And I exhort you, believe the word of God, trust in the living Lord Jesus and do so with all your heart. And he will be righteousness for you. Amen. Let’s pray together. Oh, Father, we pray for that grace, which only Christ can give that faith by which we receive and rest upon him alone. And his righteousness is counted to our accounts. as those who believe the promise, believe in the hope and glory of the resurrection of Christ from the dead, having accomplished our justification by his life, death, and resurrection. We do pray, Father, that you would imprint these words deep upon our hearts and that we would recognize the call to ongoing faith, that we live and walk by faith in that one who has been crucified and is now raised from the dead. knowing that his righteousness has been accounted to our accounts, even as our sin was counted against him on the cross once and for all. We give you thanks for the glorious gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
We give thanks and pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And for his name’s sake, we pray. Amen. that we might exalt in what Christ has done for us and recognize that it is His righteousness and His accomplishment, not our own, let us turn to hymn number 441, please, in the Blue Hymnal. Number 441.
The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.