Romans 4:1-15 – Apart from the Law
Week 2 - March 2-8
“What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 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 counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.”
Romans 4:3 tells us that “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” The language counted is a word that is used forty times in the New Testament and it is an accounting term. Think of it this way, each month you might receive a credit card statement. That statement will show transactions and payments that have been made over the previous month. The payments you make are counted against the debt that you owe.
In the same way, it is Abraham’s faith that is credited to him, counted as righteousness. It is Abraham’s faith alone, not the things that he did or did not do, that credited his standing before God as not guilty because the cross of Jesus Christ paid the debt off on his behalf. Paul quoted Genesis 15:6 to show that this wasn’t a new idea that he was pushing forward. God is consistent. Our only hope that the debt we owe for our sin could ever be paid in full is that the righteousness of God could be credited to us. Abraham’s life illustrates what is true for all who are in Jesus.
Questions to Ponder:
What is the greatest debt you carry now?
How would it feel to have someone pay off that debt in full?
How does freedom from the debt of sin, paid in full by Christ, free you to invest your life?