Rom 3:21-4:25, Salvation has always been by faith

1. Introduction 1:1-17 (includes purpose, 8-15; and theme, 16-17)
2. The Need for God's Righteousness 1:18-3:20
1. The Need for All People 1:18-32
2. The Need of Good People 2:1-3:8
3. The Guilt of All Humanity 3:9-20
3. The Imputation of God's Righteousness 3:21-5:21
1. The description of justification 3:21-26
2. The defense of justification by faith alone 3:27-31
3. The proof of justification by faith from the law 4:1-25
1. Abraham's justification by faith 4:1-5
2. David's testimony to justification by faith 4:6-8
3. The priority of faith to circumcision 4:9-12
4. The priority of faith to the promise concerning headship of many nations 4:13-17
5. The exemplary value of Abraham's faith 4:18-22
6. Conclusions from Abraham's example 4:23-25
4. The benefits of justification 5:1-11
5. The restorative effects of justification 5:12-21




3. The Imputation of God's Righteousness 3:21-5:21
1. The description of justification 3:21-26
Rom 3:21-26 (ESV) But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.


• Now something different is occurring, what is it?
• Look up manifest in Greek - to reveal, comes to light, "in the darkest moment of history, God reveals light" (Swindoll)
• A righteousness that is apart from the law
• Apart means that it is not part of the law, but it has been made known and testified to by the law and the prophets
• Key points:
• Righteousness from God through faith in Jesus to all who believe (salvation is a transfer of righteousness, ibid)
• Freely justified by grace (salvation is a gift of grace, ibid)
• Redeemed by his blood (salvation is a display of love, ibid)
• Received by faith (salvation is a declaration of truth, ibid)
• What did God do?
• God presents him as a sacrifice of atonement (actually propitiation)
• That means he covered us (atoned)
• Also means God's wrath is satisfied (expiated)
• Previous sins were left unpunished (meaning: previous sacrifices of atonement)
• Implication: Justice at the present time was executed on Jesus
• Result: All who have faith in Jesus are justified (justice is executed and paid, not just covered, although we are also covered)


B.  The defense of justification by faith alone 3:27-31
Rom 3:27-31 (ESV) Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.


• The issue of pride is an issue for readers, why?
• People really want to earn their salvation
• Another questions comes up regarding God's partiality, why?
• The Jews saw the law as the means to salvation
• The Jews thought they were privilege because of the law (and they were in a sense)
• What does it mean that we don't overthrow the law but rather uphold it if in fact no one is made righteous by the law nor does it matter if you are under the law or apart from the law?
• Righteousness by faith fulfills the demands of the law.  The law is what made Jesus death necessary
• Without the law, Jesus' death would not make sense
• The law was required for Jesus' death in order to have a vehicle to express itself
• In fact, Jesus' death then cancels the law
• Col 2:13-15 (NIV) When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
• Heb 10:8-9 (ESV) When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second.
• Matt 5:17-20 (ESV) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  19  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
• Uphold (NIV, ESV, RSV) can also be translated as "confirm (CJB), establish (KJV, NASB), fulfill (NLT), or place"
• Paul addresses the issue of nullification head-on, but he does not fully answer the question yet
• Grk is "histemi" and means to cause of make to stand, to make firm, to set or place in a balance.  A secondary meaning is to stand by or near
• How do we uphold the law?
• The intent of the law still stands (love God and love your neighbor)
• The punishment of the law (OT and conscience) but it is paid by Jesus
• But the written code (OT law specifically) is cancelled


3. The Proof of Justification by Faith (from the law) 4:1-25
1. Abraham's Justification by Faith 4:1-5
Rom 4:1-3 (ESV) What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."


• So what did Abraham learn? Remember, this is the key patriarch of the Jewish faith
• He had no basis for boasting -- key tenant of salvation by faith alone
• His righteousness was based upon his belief
• Paul's point is that there is has always only been one way of salvation, and that is by faith (OT and NT)
• "counted" or "reckoned" is an accounting term. Paul continues the business analogy


2. David's testimony to justification by faith 4:6-8
3. The priority of faith to circumcision 4:9-12
Rom 4:4-12 (ESV) Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:


7  "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."


9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 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. 11  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, 12 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.


• Paul starts out by contrasting faith and works.  What is the contrast?
• Work results in wages which are the person's right
• Faith results in a gift of righteousness
• To stress the importance of this point, Paul points out that at the time of the verse in Genesis, Abraham was not circumcised, why?
• Circumcision is one of the quintessential markers of the Jewish OT Law
• Galatians was primarily written in a response to Judaizers requiring new Christian believers to be circumcised as a necessary condition of their Christian life
• Paul has used Abraham from the patriarchal period. He now brings David from the monarchial period. A common Jewish practice is to build an argument on the basis of verbal parallels.  In this case, the word reckon/counted (or credits or taken into account) is the key. Psalm 32 is one of David's penitential psalms which he wrote after a great sin
• Two points are made in Psalm 32
• David believed in the forgiveness of his sins (and it is not on the basis of any work)
• Secondly (implied by his attitude and comments), David's sin did not cancel his salvation
• Technically, while the sins are not held against the individual, the propitiation does not occur until Jesus' death.  His faith makes him righteous, but only Jesus' death pays the penalty for sin


4. The priority of faith to the promise concerning headship of many nations 4:13-17
Rom 4:13-17 (ESV) 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. 14  For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.


16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.


• Why the pictures / stories of Abraham?
• Because this "radical" idea is not so radical
• Even the product or blessings of righteousness did not come from the law, but through Abraham's righteousness by faith
• In other words, it was not his obedience to the law that resulted in his being heir of the world
• The blessing was a result of faith not works
• Now, there is one distinction here.  There are specific blessings that come as a result of obeying the law (Mosaic Covenant).  They are summarized in Deut 28
• The major blessing (Abrahamic Covenant), the promise of the future, came by faith
• Our inheritance in the future is guaranteed by our faith not works
• On the other hand, our position of service in the millennial is determined on our obedience to the law of grace (and no other)
• There is a distinction then between our inheritance and our reward
• One is by faith, the other is by service
• In the case of our inheritance, we are all children of Abraham, Jew and Gentile alike
• Rom 4:13-17 (CJB) For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces. 14 For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless. 15 For what law brings is punishment. But where there is no law, there is also no violation.  // 16 The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God’s free gift, a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avraham had — Avraham avinu for all of us. 17 This accords with the Tanakh, where it says, “I have appointed you to be a father to many nations.”  Avraham is our father in God’s sight because he trusted God as the one who gives life to the dead and calls nonexistent things into existence.
• Also, there are two aspects of Abraham's faith (verse 17). What are they?
• Abraham believes that God can give life to the dead (which will be important later on when he heads up Mount Moriah).  This is a resurrection belief
• Abraham believes that God can create things from nothing.  This is a belief in God as a creator (one of the early things that men deny)


5. The exemplary value of Abraham's faith 4:18-22
6. Conclusions from Abraham's example 4:23-25
Rom 4:18-25 (ESV) In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23 But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25  who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.


• Abraham had no cause for hope, but in hope he believed
• His body was as good as dead
• Sarah's womb was dead
• But God's promise was true
• APPLICATION: Likewise we are dead in our trespasses and sin, but God's promise of salvation is true and is our hope
• The passage says he did not waver
• To waver means to "pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness." Abraham was certain of God's word and he was willing to obey.  Consequently, he did not pause or hold back
• APPLICATION: It can be difficult to find a promise of God that is specific to ourselves and our situation.  I'm not referring to moral commands of God, but to the larger will of God issues that are not a point (only one course of action) but are represented by a circle (many possible options none of which are sinful).  On the other hand, even within the circle of God's will, we are told not to worry, not to fear, to pray, and to act prudently.  These are things I can do without pause or holding back.  And in fact, my faith is shown by my willingness to obey God in these tasks.  So, if I am exercising faith, am I praying?  If not, I am wavering.  Am I worried or fearful about the future?  Then I am wavering