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| Chapter 4 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ What shall we say then that Abraham our father hath found pertaining to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath reason to glory, but not before God. 3 For what saith the Scripture? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness." 4 Now to him that worketh, his reward is reckoned not according to grace, but according to debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth in Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, 7 "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." 9 ¶ Cometh this blessedness then upon the Circumcision only, or upon the Uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision! 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who are not of the Circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. 13 For the promise that he should be the heir of the world came not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law be heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law worketh wrath; for where there is no law, there is no transgression. 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be given by grace to the end that the promise might be made sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 ¶ (as it is written: "I have made thee a father of many nations"), in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which are not, as though they were. 18 Abraham, against all hope, believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, "So shall thy seed be." 19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about a hundred years old, nor yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 And therefore "it was imputed to him for righteousness." 23 ¶ Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe in Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification. |
Justification Illustrated. Being made right by faith not works. Paul’s message that we can be made right by faith was not new. Christ is involved in the present state but when we look at the life of Abraham we see that he was made right also by his faith. 4:1-5 God’s dealing with Abraham. v1-5 Paul asks a question, "what did our father Abraham find?" If Abraham could be made right by his "works" then he could boast, "look I did it, not God." But scripture tells us that Abraham believed and trusted God and this was credited to him as righteousness. (Gen 15:6). If we work then we are paid for what we do, not a favour but what is due, but if we do no work then any reward we get must be a gift given by grace. So we see here that Paul is showing that by constant trust in and commitment to God are the basic requirements to being made right by God. The Jews could not believe that God would forgive someone just by faith, because they could not accepted Christ as the Messiah and His death to pay the price. The Jews just could not see that redemption was possible. 4:6-8 David. David also speaks in his Psalm (Ps 32:1,2) that righteousness can be credited, put to the account of a man. This man had his sins forgiven, in place of a debt he could not pay, God gives, by grace, righteousness. Phil 3:9 4:9-25 More on Abraham. Paul now returns to Abraham. Abraham was made the father of all who believe before God created the rite of circumcision as a sign of His covenant with His people. Abraham was credited with being made right by God before circumcision so circumcision was really a sign to Abraham that he had been made right by God. This means that you do not need circumcision to be made right, in fact Abraham was the father of the circumcised, the Jew, and the uncircumcised, the Gentiles, when they believe. v12 We must note that Abraham is not really the father of those who only have the outward sign of circumcision. The Jew had to have Abraham’s faith as well as the sign. Just having the legalistic rite carried out did not make them right with God, the heart was also involved. v13 The promise to Abraham that he would be heir to the world originally only applied to the Jews. Gen 15:5,6; Gen 22:15-18. but Paul has now pointed out that Abraham is also father to those who, through faith, have become right with God. v14 If we believe that those who follow the law can be made right then faith is destroyed and any promises which need faith are also lost. v15 The law must produce wrath from God, we are unable to keep God’s standard, going on from that, where there is no law there can not be any wrong doing, you cannot break laws which do not exist. v16 To be able to receive God’s promises, given to those who were direct children of Abraham and those who are not Jews but believe as Abraham did, faith and belief is the only answer. 4:17-25 God, the Controller of things Dead. God promised Abraham a number of times that he would be the father of many nations. His last visit was a year before Isaac was born. (Gen 17:1-5) But Abraham and Sarah his wife were past the age of having children, Abraham being 100 years old and Sarah, who was 90 years old and therefore was pass child bearing age,(v19). Abraham still believed God, giving Him the glory, so God kept His promise with the birth of Isaac. Showing that God has the power to overcome the impossible, to bring life to the dead, and even create things which did not exist, (v17). Because of this faith, God has credited (Imputed) Abraham with righteousness,(v22). v23-25 This act of faith was not just written for the sake of Abraham but for all who believed in the death and resurrection of Jesus. God handed Jesus over to take the punishment for all of our wrongs (sins, breaking of the Law of God). But then raised Jesus back to life, proving that we could be made right in the eye’s of God when we believe and are made right, justified with God, and then given eternal life. |
Easy English Translation
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