1.What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Abraham is the central figure in this chapter. His story is in Genesis 12 to 25. God made a 3-fold promise to Abram, saying that 1.) he would have many decedents who would become a great nation, 2.) that he and his decedents would possess all the land of Palestine forever, and 3.) that he and his decedents would be God’s channel of blessing to those who blessed them. (Gen 12:1-2 & 13:15,16 & 15:18) Except in Paul’s letters, these promises are the theme of the Bible.
Why is this important to us? Because resurrection from the dead and eternal life were a necessary part of Abraham’s promise. Abraham is now long dead and hasn’t yet possessed the land of Palestine. In order to do so, he must be resurrected from the dead in the future; and for him to possess it forever, he must live forever, in other words, he must get eternal life. If eternal life has been promised to Abraham and his decedents, then somehow we must become the heirs of Abraham to get it.
(Vs 1.) Abraham is called "our father" in this verse. But how can he be if we do not descend from any of his children? Galatians 3:14-29 explains how. "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Vs16) And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Vs 29)
Notice....this does not make us spiritual Israel! Abraham is our father, not Israel. One of Abraham’s grandsons, Jacob, who was renamed Israel, (Gen 35:10) had 12 sons from whom came the 12 tribes of Israel, (Gen 46:8-27). They did not become a nation or receive God’s law until 430 years after God gave the promise of eternal life that we inherit, to Abraham, (Gal 3:17; Gen 15:13-16). So Israel’s laws, with it’s curses and promises, do not effect us.
Romans 4:1 asks the question, What did Abraham learn about the flesh? "The flesh" refers to our human, physical nature. We’ll see what he learned about it in just a minute.
(Vs 2 & 3.) If Abraham were justified by his own good works, he could brag to people. But the scripture in Genesis 15:1-6 says that he was justified (counted as righteous) by believing that he would have many decedents. Abraham was over 75 years old at the time and had no children. Did Abraham get justified by believing in the blood of a coming Savior? Notice how different the content of Abraham’s faith is from ours. But the result of his faith is the same.
However as time went on and Abraham and his wife, Sarah, still had no child, they decided to have a child of Sarah’s servant girl. But God did not pass His promises to the son produced by the flesh. When Abraham was 100 years old and it was humanly impossible, Sarah had the promised son, (Gen 17:17-21; 18:9-15; 21:1-5). So what did Abraham learn about the flesh? God does not accept the works of the flesh.
(Vs 4.) If you work for a reward, you get what you deserve and earn. The reward is not a free gift, it is the payment of a debt. Grace is undeserved. You cannot earn something given by grace. Grace and works are opposites, it’s either by one or the other. (Rom 11:6)
The last thing we should want from God is what we deserve! (Rom 6:23) So we better not try to work for our justification. God does not accept the works of our flesh any more than Abraham’s.
(Vs 5.) Only those who stop believing in their good works, and believe in Christ instead, are justified by God. We first must realize that we are ungodly and can’t do any good works, (Rom 7:18 & 8:8). Then we see our need of Christ, and God can justify us.
Both Abraham who lived before the law (Rom 5:13,14), and we who live while the law is abolished (Eph 2:15), are justified without works. But how about David who lived under the law?
(Vs 6-8.) "Blessed" means happy, "imputed" means counted, "iniquity" is lawless evil.
As quoted here from Ps 32:1-5, David, under the law, describes righteousness without works. He couldn’t have understood how it was possible, because he didn’t know what we know now from Paul’s writings, but he was mighty relieved. David had slept with Bathsheba and murdered her husband. Under the law, death was the only punishment for either of those crimes. Then God sent Nathan to tell him he was forgiven, (II Sam 12:9,13). Can you imagine his relief? Anyone whose sin is forgiven should feel very blessed (happy) indeed!
In David’s time, God’s law proved guilt and condemned people of sin, (Rom 3:19,20). The way to relieve their guilt was to confess their sin, and do the animal sacrifices for atonement. This reassured them of their forgiveness and restored their fellowship with God, (Lev1:4; 26:40).
Contrast that with our situation today under grace. (Rom 6:14)
* David did not know if he was going to be forgiven or executed. We know we are already forgiven for all trespasses that we will ever commit because Christ has already paid for them all, (Col 2:13; Heb 9:26 & 10:10).
* David had to confess his sin, ask for forgiveness, and do animal sacrifices for atonement. We have the ultimate sacrifice done for us by Christ Himself, and we know God holds nothing against us in Him, (Rom 8:31-34). Asking God to forgive us today is not believing what He has already done.
* David prayed Ps 51:7-12, "Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me." In contrast, we can say, "For I am persuaded, that" nothing now or ever, "shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom 8:38,39). And God the Spirit has us sealed unto the day of redemption, (Eph 1:13 & 4:30).
Many religions teach the law and confession of sins for today. But Paul tells us to "Stand fast... in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Gal 5:1
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