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The Apostle Paul's Epistle
to the Romans |
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Chapter
4
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1What
then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather
according to the flesh, has found? 2For if
Abraham was justified by works, he has something
to boast about, but not before God. 3For what
does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD,
AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."
To many in the established Jewish communities of
the first century, association with Abraham and
the covenant God made with him was of utmost
importance to determine whether you were saved
or not. This thinking is not too far off
because, as Paul teaches elsewhere (cf.
Galatians 3:7), to be saved is to be a child
of Abraham. What Paul here questioned, however,
was not whether one had to be associated with
Abraham but how one becomes associated. He did
this by first establishing how Abraham himself
was saved. As usual, Paul contrasted the idea of
"works" - that is, meeting criteria in order to
gain a status - with faith, which, in this
chapter, is expressed through the act of belief.
Notice, in verse 1, that Abraham emphasized that
Abraham is the forefather according to the
flesh, something that was obvious and accepted
to everyone; Paul's intention was to establish
that Abraham could also be the forefather of
those who aren't physically descended from him.
What does the question "what then shall we say
that Abraham has found?" refer to? It questions
how Abraham was saved or how Abraham was found
in the sight of God. Was Abraham justified -
that is, declared innocent in the sight of God -
because he met a list of criteria or because of
faith? Paul employed a bit of midrash in
this argument, for Abraham was obviously not
faced with the same social-religious situation
as the believers in the first century but, in
principle, Paul's argument rings true. Paul
intended here for his readers to consider the
story of Abraham and how the Torah itself
describes Abraham's salvation experience. The
definitive text Paul used to show that Abraham
was justified before God through faith was
Genesis 15:6. The Torah clearly declares
that God credited Abraham as righteous due to
his faith, because Abraham believed God.
4Now to the one who works, his wage is not
credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5But to
the one who does not work, but believes in Him
who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited
as righteousness,
Abraham did not have to perform any tasks in
order to be credited with righteousness but
instead simply believed that God would be
faithful to His promises and lived his life
accordingly. Paul sets up another contrast here,
this time between someone who works, and
receives his wage accordingly, with someone who
simply believes and has righteousness credited
to him because of that faith. Here Paul
demonstrated the true nature of God's grace; God
does not bestow His grace upon us because we
have something to offer Him but instead, as we
trust in Him, he credits us with righteousness.
How should we understand the word "credit"
(Greek, logizomai)? Does God simply
"count" us righteous because we believe in Him
but in reality we are not actually righteous at
all (since He indeed is justifying the ungodly)?
Legally speaking, the righteousness of the
Messiah is imputed to us, and therefore we are
simply "counted" as righteous, not as a result
of any of our own deeds. On the other hand, the
beautiful reality of God's salvation is that He
regenerates our heart, so that we now have the
ability to obey Him. In other words, in this
life, we can begin to demonstrate the complete
righteousness that we will possess in the
resurrection.
6just as David also speaks of the blessing on
the man to whom God credits righteousness apart
from works: 7"BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS
DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE
BEEN COVERED. 8"BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE
LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT."
To the Apostle Paul, one utterly essential
component of having righteousness credited is
sins being forgiven and not taken into account.
Here, Paul used David as the example of someone
who was credited righteousness, a truth that
David expressed in Psalms 32:1-2. The
word, here translated as "blessing" and
"blessed," is the Greek word "makarios,"
which is parallel to the Hebrew word "ashrei."
The common translations of this word are
"blessed," "happy" or "fortunate" but I take the
lead of Lancaster and Eby who suggest that the
phrase "contentment awaits" best captures the
sense of the word. So, how can a person be
assured that contentment awaits them?
Contentment awaits the person whose sins have
been forgiven and covered and whose sin the LORD
will not take into account. By quoting these
verses, Paul simply intended to convey the
reality that a person who's been credited as
righteous has also had their sins forgiven. This
fact emphasized the immense grace that God
bestows upon His elect people. Once again,
though, the question must be asked of how one
receives such grace. More specifically, can a
Gentile, someone who has not physically
descended from Abraham, receive this salvation?
9Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or
on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH
WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." 10How
then was it credited? While he was circumcised,
or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but
while uncircumcised;
Paul's method here to prove his argument is
genius. As noted above, many within the
established Jewish communities counted on their
association with Abraham as their assurance of
God's salvific blessing. Yochanan the Immerser
specifically berated his contemporaries for
trusting in their physical lineage from Abraham
for salvation (cf. Matthew 3:9). Not only
that, everyone in the Jewish communities agreed
that Abraham was saved, that is set apart by God
for both temporal and eternal blessing, to the
point another name for Paradise was "Abraham's
Bosom." No one would deny that Abraham was
saved. This fact worked perfectly for the
Apostle Paul because the Torah teaches that
Abraham was uncircumcised when it says
"Abraham believed God and it was credited to him
as righteousness" (Genesis 15:6 comes
before 17:23,
when he was circumcised) If Abraham himself was
uncircumcised when God credited him as
righteous, why then would be it any different
for the Gentiles? Again, Paul is using a hint of
midrash in this argument because the
issue was not specifically about physical
circumcision but about a legal Jewish status
that was represented by circumcision.
Nevertheless, the point remains the same, for
even if we understand circumcision to refer to a
legal status and uncircumcision to refer to a
lack of such a status, then this means that
Abraham did not have any legal privilege when he
was credited with righteousness. This though, as
we will see, sets up a perfect precedent for
Paul's day (and ours as well), placing both Jews
and Gentiles on a level playing field in regards
to salvation and the life of faith.
11and 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, 12and
the father of circumcision to those who not only
are of the circumcision, but who also follow in
the steps of the faith of our father Abraham
which he had while uncircumcised.
If circumcision itself is not necessary in order
to credited with righteousness, what is the
purpose, then, of physical circumcision?
Physical circumcision serves as a sign and seal.
This passage provides for us an explanation and
a balance of Paul's teaching regarding
circumcision. As pro-Torah believers, we are
fond of pointing out that the Apostle Paul did
not intend to disparage any of the Torah's
commandments but when we are faced with Paul's
words about circumcision, such as in the epistle
to the Galatians, we are faced with a seeming
contradiction. Perhaps this best represented in
1 Corinthians
7:19
which states:
Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is
nothing, but what matters is the keeping of the
commandments of God.
Notice that though Paul said that "what
matters is the keeping of the commandments of
God," in the same breath he also stated that
"circumcision is nothing." How can circumcision
be nothing when it is a commandment of God and
the keeping of God's commandments is what
matters? Much like in Christianity, where the
misuse of baptism does not negate the act of
being baptized itself, so too, the misuse of
circumcision, a misuse that Paul consistently
fought against, circumcision itself should not
be abandoned. Quite simply, when it comes to
circumcision, we should not put the "cart before
the horse." |
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Circumcision is a physical sign, much like
baptism, that one has been declared righteous.
The physical act of circumcision for an adult
male is not to gain any right-standing before
God but to instead be shown as a seal that one
being circumcised has been credited with
righteousness by faith. Just like our father
Abraham, Gentile believers (and Jews who were
raised in a secular environment) must first come
to faith and then, as an act of obedience,
become circumcised. To be sure, though this is
obvious, Abraham is not only the father of those
who come to faith uncircumcised but he is also
the father of the circumcision. Physically
speaking, he is the father of all those of the
circumcision, that is those who physically
descend from him. More specifically, however, he
is especially the father of those among his
physical descendants who follow in his footsteps
and have faith, a faith he had when he was
uncircumcised.
13For 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. 14For if
those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is
made void and the promise is nullified; 15for
the Law brings about wrath, but where there is
no law, there also is no violation.
With Abraham, God made an eternal covenant of
promises for him and his children. These
promises (which are embodied in the singular
"promise" of salvation in the Messiah) did not
come through the Torah. In other words, there
was no legal procedure to go through in order to
be counted among the recipients of these
covenant promises. Instead, to receive the
covenant promises made to Abraham, one must have
the righteousness that comes through faith.
Furthermore, if only those who are legally
connected to the Torah are the recipients of
these promises ("heirs"), then faith itself is
made void and the singular promise of the
Messiah is nullified. In the eyes of the
established Jewish communities, all one had to
do to be counted as legally a part of Israel (to
be among those who are "of the Torah") was be
born Jewish or go through a conversion ritual,
then what would be the necessity of the Messiah
and faith in Him? The reality is that it those
who are of faith who are the heirs because if
one is simply associated with the Torah, they
will inevitably find for themselves wrath. The
perfect standard of God embodied in the Torah
can do nothing to sinful man by condemn and
secure wrath. Thankfully, the promise of
salvation did not come through the Mosaic
covenant, a covenant which obligates Torah
obedience. Instead, salvation is expressed in
the Abrahamic covenant. While the Mosaic
covenant and obedience to the Torah is certainly
a vital part of the life of faith, in regards to
being credited as righteous, there is no Torah
and where there is no Torah, there is no chance
for violation.
16For 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, 17(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.
Since the Torah can only bring about wrath,
participating in the Abrahamic covenant does not
come by a legal association but by faith, which
is in accordance with grace. If a person simply
meets criteria and then is credited as
righteous, where would God's grace come in? The
reality is that participation in the covenant of
Abraham, that is, being a part of God's covenant
people does not come about by man's effort
(physical birth or legal conversion) but instead
is a complete work of God. In this way, the
promise can be guaranteed not only to those who
are of the Torah (those who are recognized as
legally Jewish) but also to those Gentiles who
are exhibit the same faith as Abraham, making
Abraham the father of both believing Jews and
Gentiles. If the people of God were to only be
made up of one people group (the physical
descendants of Jacob), to what purpose did God
rename Abram to Abraham, meaning "father of man
nations?" Paul's point was that Abraham stood in
the presence of the God who gives life to the
dead and creates what does not exist. In
Abraham, more specifically in Abraham's seed,
the Messiah, God created the nation of Israel
and, not only that, he took some of the dead
among the nations of the earth, gave them life
and grafted them into His people. To the
believing Jew but more specifically to the
believing Gentile, this must be accepted by
faith, the same faith Abraham expressed when
faced with the promises God made to him.
18In hope against hope he believed, so that
he might become a father of many nations
according to that which had been spoken, "SO
SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE." 19Without 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; 20yet, with respect to the promise of God,
he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in
faith, giving glory to God, 21and being fully
assured that what God had promised, He was able
also to perform. 22Therefore IT WAS ALSO
CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Though from a human perspective the idea of a
hundred year old man and a barren woman having a
baby is against hope, Abraham, in hope, believed
God. When God gave the covenant promises to
Abraham, he was childless. Therefore, that
Abraham showed any trust or obedience indicated
that he was living by faith alone. Abraham was
no doubt tempted to lose faith (become "weak in
faith") and give up on God's promises but he
nevertheless did not waver through unbelief and
instead grew strong in faith. Though the Apostle
Paul is often accused of being at odds with the
teaching of Ya'akov (James), the brother of the
Master, in regards to whether Abraham's actions
had any bearing on why he was credited as
righteous. Here, however, Paul taught that it
was Abraham's faithful actions which led to and
continued to confirm that he was credited as
righteous. To the Apostles, faith is never
something that stays in one's head. Though there
are no actions that one can take to earn
right-standing before God ("works"), actions are
still completely necessary to prove and express
genuine faith.
23Now not for his sake only was it written
that it was credited to him, 24but for our sake
also, to whom it will be credited, as those who
believe in Him who raised Yeshua our Master from
the dead, 25He who was delivered over because of
our transgressions, and was raised because of
our justification.
Abraham is to stand as the quintessential
believer, a pattern for all of us to emulate.
Just as Abraham believed in the promise of a
son, Isaac, and also looked ahead and believed
in the promise of the Son (cf. John
8:56),
so too, can all people believe in the promised
Son and be credited as righteous on the basis of
that belief. The God that Abraham believed is
the same God that raised Yeshua, our Master,
from the dead. The Messiah died as a result of
our sins but was nevertheless raised to life,
confirming that through His death our
justification was secured. |
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