Romans 4:1-8Abraham: An O.T. Example of Justification By Faith

WREFC 9/09/18

A missionary spends her life working in the slums of a poor country. She feeds the poor, helps widows and orphans, and cares for the sick and dying. As she nears death, you ask her why God should let her into heaven. She replies, “Because I denied myself for decades…I devoted my life to serve God and others. I hope I’ve done enough to merit God’s favor.” When she dies, she goes to hell because her faith was in what she did, not in what Christ had done. Her faith alone was not in Christ alone who died for her sins and rose again.

Meanwhile, a serial killer is on death row. He mercilessly tortured, raped, and murdered many young women. Their families mourn the tragic loss of their daughters. A chaplain visits this monster and finds that he has been reading the Bible. God has convicted him of his terrible sins. He knows that he deserves the punishment of hell. The chaplain shares the gospel of Christ. The killer sincerely believes the good news that Christ died for his sins and rose again. He goes to his execution at peace with God. He enters heaven because his faith alone was in Christ alone? (1)

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What’s your response to those two scenarios? Do they grate on your sense of justice? Do you want to say “That’s not fair! That selfless missionary deserves to go to heaven! That wretched killer deserves to burn in hell!”

If that’s your reaction, then you may not understand the doctrine of Justification by Faith. In fact, you may even be in danger of burning in hell yourself, because God only saves sinners who believe what Christ did, not what they do. Justification is by faith alone in Christ alone apart from human effort.

How can you say that preacher? On what basis do you make such a claim? It’s based on what we’ve seen so far in the book of Romans. In Romans 1-3:20, Paul has been stating his case that we all share a common problem. We lack the kind of righteousness that makes us right with a holy God. We are guilty of sin and worthy of God’s wrath.

Then, Paul gave us the solution to our common problem. V.21 says “the righteousness of God which is through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe…” V.24 says that we are “…justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” And to make it clear that we contribute nothing to being justified, v.28 says “Therefore we conclude that a man is

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justified by faith apart from the deeds [works] of the law.”

Of course, the implied object of our faith is Jesus Christ. We are justified by faith alone in Christ alone who died for our sins. In other words, God declares the believer righteous base upon the finished work of Christ on the cross, not by anything we do.

In today’s text, Paul gives an O.T. example of a person who was justified by faith apart from works. His name is Abraham. Why did he choose Abraham to illustrate justification by faith? Why not Moses, or David, or Noah?

He chose Abraham because Abraham was the patriarch of Israel—the father of the Hebrew nation. The Jews believed that Abraham would get to heaven on the basis of his own righteous character. In Jewish thinking, if anyone could have been justified by works, it would have been Abraham.

But Abraham lived 2,000 years before Paul wrote the Book of Romans. By using Abraham as an example, he demonstrated that the principle of justification by faith was nothing new in Judaism. And Abraham lived 600 yrs before the O.T. law

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was established through Moses. Abraham could not have been justified by obedience to the Law that had not yet been written.

MacArthur says that by using Abraham as the supreme scriptural example of justification…by faith alone, Paul was storming the very citadel of traditional Judaism…[he] demolished the foundation of rabbinical teaching—that man is made right with God by keeping the law…If Abraham was not and could not be justified by keeping the Law, then no one could. Conversely, if Abraham was justified solely on the basis of his faith in God, then everyone else must be justified in the same way…” (2)

Open your bible to Romans 4:1 as we take an expositional look at Abraham, an O.T. example of justification by faith. As he did in the previous section, Paul begins with a question:

Rd Rom.4:1

Notice how Paul phrased the question.  He does NOT ask, “What do we learn about justification from the life of Abraham?” Instead, he asks, “What did Abraham learn about justification?” Paul’s question invites us to step into the sandals of Abraham and view our relationship with God through his eyes. Paul is asking whether Abraham

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found some way to be justified by human effort apart from God’s grace. Verse two explains:

Rd Rom.4:2

Paul seems to be saying to his Jewish readers “Abraham may have some grounds to boast before men. After all, he left family and friends and followed God to the land of Canaan. But when you bring God into the picture, Abraham’s loses all bragging rights. It’s as if one cockroach was bragging to another, “I’m faster than you are!” just before a human comes along and squashes both of them.

When you compare humans to humans, Abraham was a good guy. But when you compare humans to God, Abraham is just a cucaracha along with everyone else. The best that man has to offer God falls far short of God’s standard of perfection.

So, Paul is attacking the popular rabbinical teachings of his day by saying “Abraham was not justified or declared righteous by works. If that were true, and it’s definitely not true, he could stick out his chest and say with pride ‘Look at what I did to get right with God!’”

A preacher who muddled the gospel of grace with works told the following story:

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It seems that a frog one day fell into a pail of milk, and though he tried every conceivable way to jump out, he always failed. So he did the only thing he could do. He paddled and paddled and paddled some more. And voila! His paddling had churned a pad of butter from which he was able to launch himself to freedom. The preacher’s conclusion was "Just keep paddling, keep on working, keep doing your best, and you will make it to heaven."

That preacher’s story describes the message of many so-called Christian churches and of every non-Christian religion in the world. “Amazing Grace” is one of the favorite hymns of professing Christians worldwide and yet most of these same people think that if you just do your best you will somehow make it to Heaven.

Most people live by the modified version of the old Smith Barney advertisement: “We get our salvation the old-fashioned way. We earn it!” This is exactly what Paul is speaking against in this passage.

Paul then supports the premise of justification by faith with Scripture. That’s always a good thing to do—back up what you believe with the Bible. It does not matter what the Pope or the Priest or the Pastor says. What God’s Word says is all that

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matters! As we sometimes say “God said it! I believe it! That settles it!If someone asked you “What O.T. Scripture proves that Abraham was justified by faith, not works?” what passage would you take them to? Paul took his readers to Genesis, the book of beginnings:

Rd Rom.4:3

This is a direct quote from Gen.15:6. It’s the first time that the word “believe” is used in the bible. The Hebrew term is aman. The English equivalent of aman is amen. Aman/amen conveys certainty and dependability in something or someone.

When we close our prayers with an “Amen!” it expresses, in part, a certainty that God will hear our prayers; we can count on God to answer our prayers. When Abraham believed God it meant that Abraham was absolutely certain that God was dependable and trustworthy. He was confident that God would keep His promise.

What promise did God make to Abraham? That question takes us back to Genesis 15:4-5 where God told him that he would have a child in his old age. Abraham thought God was kidding. “I’m serious Abraham. You’re going to have a son.” “Lord, you don’t understand, I’m 85. I lost the ability to father children years ago.” “Don’t worry,

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Abraham. Just trust Me. I promise to bless you with a male child.”

Then God took Abraham outside and said, “Look up! Count the stars.” God assured Abraham that his descendants would outnumber the stars he could see in the sky. And Abraham said “Aman/amen”. At that moment, Aabraham was saved, justified, declared righteous because he believed in the promise of God.

Abraham believed in another promise that “…was accounted to him for righteousness.” Back in Gen.12:3, God told Abraham “…in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

That promise was repeated to Abraham in Gen.22:18 with one notable change: “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed…” It’s no longer “in you” as in Abraham, but “in your seed” as in Abraham’s offspring.

The word seed is singular not plural. The verse says seed—singular, not seeds plural. So this verse is talking about a specific seed or offspring of Abraham that will bless the nations of the world.

The apostle Paul identified the seed in Gal.3:18: “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say ‘And to seeds,’ as of many,

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but as of one, ‘And to your Seed’ who is Christ.” The seed, offspring, descendant promised to Abraham was Jesus, the Messiah!

How much did Abraham know about Jesus Christ? One commentator thinks “He knew more than we may assume!” (3)

In Jn.8:56 Jesus Himself said to the Jews “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”. Though Abraham didn’t have all the details of the substitutionary death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, he looked forward in faith to one of his descendants being that promised Redeemer. Abraham’s faith in that promise “was accounted to him for righteousness.”

Having illustrated from Scripture that Abraham was justified by faith and not by works, Paul next applied it to every sinner who believes in Christ:

Rd Rom.4:4Paul’s point is simple. When you work and your boss pays you, he isn’t doing you a favor. He’s not gracing you with a paycheck. You don’t send him a thank you note, telling him how much you appreciate his kindness. No, he owes you the money. He has a legal obligation pay you. If he doesn’t pay, you can take him to court to make him pay.

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It’s the same way with salvation. People have the idea that God is the "boss" and they’re His employees. Salvation to them is like a paycheck you earn, not a gift you receive. As long as they do a few good things, God is obligated to give them eternal life. It doesn’t matter if they’ve been stealing from the workplace, or cheating on their time card, or destroying company moral with gossip. Never mind that they've disobeyed what the "Boss" demanded of them.

We tend to think highly of our good deeds and to think little of our sins. We wrongly conclude that God owes us salvation while we continue to rebel against His authority.

The person who works for salvation will never do enough to pay for it. But v.5 says the person “who does not work [for salvation] but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.”

Notice the word “ungodly.” God justifies the ungodly! Many people think God wants good people in heaven. They think God is saying, “Clean up your act and then I’ll save you.”

God never said such a thing! He says just the opposite: “I’ll save you while you’re still soiled by

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sin and then I’ll help you clean up your act.” He saves you first. That’s the once for all miracle of justification. Then He begins the ongoing process of sanctification where He cleanses you from the inside out.

The story is told of a teacher who lived in a Swiss village. He was highly esteemed by his peers and deeply loved by the children, whose lives were molded by the strength of his character. After he died, a statue of him was erected in the town.

When the sculpture was unveiled, everyone was amazed to see how much it resembled the old master. But those who knew him best felt the sculptor had missed the desire of the teacher—to have his students look up to God and the challenging heights of learning, not to him. So the statue was changed. The second unveiling revealed a child peering toward heaven rather than looking at the teacher.

The Jews in Paul’s day needed to do the same thing with the example of Abraham. By looking at Abraham through the lens of Scripture, they would see a man who was justified by grace through faith in the promise of God. He wasn’t justified because he worked for it; He was justified because he trusted God.

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Paul brings in another O.T. heavyweight. His name is David. In vv.1-5, he used Abraham as an example of justification by faith apart from works. Now, in vv.6-8, he uses King David to show some of the results of justification by faith. He mentions four of them:

Rd Rom.4:6

Here’s the 1st result of justification by faith—God imputes His righteousness to us. There are three more results of justification by faith in vv.7-8:

Rd Rom.4:7-8

The 3 results of justification by faith in this section are God forgives our sins; God covers our sins; and God does not impute our sins to us.

Let’s examine each one starting in v.6. V.6 says that God imputes His righteousness to us.

“Impute” translates the Gk. term logizomai. It’s the same word translated “accounted to” in

v.3 and “accounted for” in v.5. In fact, Paul used logizomai 19 times in Romans, and 11 times in this chapter alone. As you can see, it’s a key word in Paul’s theology of what it means to be saved. (4)

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Logizomai is an accounting or bookkeeping term. It means to credit to one’s account. When you go to the bank and deposit money, imputation takes place. If you deposit one thousand dollars the teller “credits” your account with one thousand dollars.

Do you see the spiritual side of this truth? When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, God credits the perfect righteousness of Christ to our accounts in the bank of Heaven. We were spiritually bankrupt until that transaction took place the moment we trusted Christ as Savior. It’s on that basis that God can justify or declare us righteous.Think of an accounting page. God requires that there be found on this page perfect righteousness.  But as I look at my page, I realize that I have no righteousness at all. Rom.3:10 made that clear: “There is none righteous, not even one.”

But after embracing the gospel, I write the following words on my page:  "I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that He died for my sins and rose again."  God reads what I wrote into my accounting page and says, "I count that for righteousness." That’s true for the mass murderer who repents and believes in Christ; and that’s true for the religious but lost missionary who repents and believes in Christ.

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As we unwrap the results of justification by faith in vv.7-8, we need to understand that those verses are a direct quote from Psa.32:1-2. Psalm 32 is David’s prayer of confession. It was written after Nathan confronted David’s sins of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. At first David tried to “cover” his sin by pretending it didn’t happen. But that only brought him agony and overwhelming guilt. Eventually he came to his senses and confessed everything to God. David clearly understood God’s grace when he wrote these words:

Rd Rom.4:7-8

This quote from David reveals three more results of justification by faith apart from works. In addition to having Christ’s righteousness credited to our spiritual accounts, God forgives our sins.

The word “forgive” means to “send away.” It has the idea of physical removal from one location to another. When God forgives you, he removes your sins from you and takes them so far away that you will never be able to find them again. David put it this way in Psa.103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

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As one commentator pointed out “the distance from North to south is finite, but the distance from east to west is infinite. You can keep going west forever, but you cannot keep going north forever!” (5)

I’m sure you’ve seen the bumper sticker that says “Christians aren’t perfect; just forgiven.” It’s true! We are forgiven—forever; our sins are gone—forever. This truth is expressed in a gospel chorus:

Gone, gone, gone, gone, yes my sins are gone. Now my soul is happy, in my heart’s a song.

Buried in the deepest sea,Yes that’s good enough for me.

I will live eternally. Praise God, my sins are G-O-N-E gone.

Is that your testimony? Can you sing with confidence that your sins are gone forever? You can if you are justified by faith alone in Christ alone who died for your sins and rose again.

David next says that God not only forgives our sins, He covers them. The word “cover” means to cover completely never be uncovered again.

The picture behind the word relates to the activity of the Jewish high priest on the Day of Atonement. He would enter the Holy of holies and sprinkle the

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blood of a sacrificial animal on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant. That once-a-year ritual looked forward to the once-for-all bloody, sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

The shed blood of Jesus is so powerful that it covers all your sins. When you trust Christ as Savior your sins are covered—yesterday, today, tomorrow and forever!

[Handkerchief illustration]

My left hand represents me and all my sins. God sees my greed, my pride, my lies, my broken promises. My sinful depravity is ever before Him.

The white handkerchief over my right hand represents the Lord Jesus Christ and His perfect righteousness. When I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to pay for my sins, I am placed into Christ. Now what does God see when He looks at me? He no longer sees my sin; He sees the perfect righteousness of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul mentions one more result of justification by faith in v.8: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”

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Impute is the same accounting term logizomai that Paul used in v.6. In v.6, God imputes or credits to the righteousness of Christ to the believer’s account. Here in v.8, the blessing is that God does not impute or credit sin to the believer’s account. Why, because their sin was credited to Christ’s account.

The bible says “For He [God] made Him [Christ] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Although the word “impute” is clearly absent from this verse, it’s definitely implied. Christ was made sin for us suggests that our sins were imputed or credited to Christ’s account. To become the righteousness of God in Him suggests that Christ’s righteousness was imputed or credited to our account.

That’s a mindboggling exchange. Christ takes our sins. Then He gives us His righteousness. He died for our sins to give us a right standing with God!Think of what is being said in Romans 4:7-8. If you are justified by faith alone in Christ alone …

… your sins are forgiven; they’re completely removed from your life. … your sins are covered; they’re completely hidden from God. 

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… your sins are not imputed to you; they’re completely erased from your account.  

Some of you may be thinking, “You’ve been talking in theological terms pastor: justification—being declared righteous; imputation—my sins are transferred to Christ’s account and Christ’s righteousness is credited to my account. You explained the meaning of forgiveness—God sends my sins away; and you helped me to understand the meaning of covered—God no longer sees my sins because they’re covered with the blood of Christ and the righteousness of Christ. All of that is fine and good when it comes to securing my eternal destiny. But what does all of that have to do with the here and now? Give me something practical preacher. I need something that will help me cope with the pressures and problems of day-to-day living!”

I want to be kind, but truthful as I respond to your thinking. There is nothing more practical than sound doctrine, because what you believe theologically determines how you behave practically.

So, here’s practical application #1: The doctrine of justification by faith is the basis for victorious Christian living. When you feel the weight of your sinfulness, turn to the doctrine of

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justification. When you stumble and fall into sin, bring out the white handkerchief. Let it be a reminder that your acceptance by God has nothing to do with you trying to be perfect this side of heaven. Your sins are covered by the blood of Christ. Your imperfections are hidden in the perfect righteousness of Christ.

For every condemnation, return to the doctrine of imputation. In every trial and temptation, meditate on the righteousness of Christ credited to your account; in every situation of doubt and distress, remember that your standing with God is not grounded in what you’ve done but in what Christ did for you on the cross.

Here’s practical application #2: Justification by faith is not only the basis for victorious Christian living, it’s the basis for true happiness. Paul connected the word “blessed” with all four results of justification by faith.

In v.6 he talked about the “blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness.”

In v.7, blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and covered.

In v.8, blessed is the person whose sins are not imputed.

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Most people use the term blessing when all is well. When a person is healthy, has a strong marriage, a 6 figure income, and money in the bank, we say “He’s blessed.” There’s nothing wrong with using the word “blessed” that way.

But Paul does not use the term blessed that way. He’s not talking about being blessed with temporal things; he’s talking about being blessed with eternal things. The focus of blessing here is happiness that does not fade with the passing of time.

A person may be in poor health; he might have a troubled marriage, he might have lost his job and watched his finances shrink. But that doesn't affect the truth of what God has done. Even with all of the negative things in life, if God credits you with righteousness of Christ, you are blessed. Christians of all people should be the happiest people, because their happiness does not depend on happenings, it rests on the fact that we have a right standing with God, no matter what happens.

True happiness is not about how many toys you’ve acquired in life or how many people like you. True happiness is knowing that your sins are forgiven and your sins are covered.

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Paul is talking about the kind of happiness triumphs over heartaches and hardships because it goes deep into the heart and soul of man. It goes so deep that even in the most difficult times there is joy in knowing that your sins have been transferred to Christ’s account and His righteousness has been credited to your account.

You cannot buy happiness. Many people try. Marketers tell us that we can. How long will temporal happiness last? Ten minutes? Ten years? Maybe twenty years or more? That's a short time in light of eternity.

You cannot buy the kind of happiness that sustains you when your body grows weak with cancer, or when you are persecuted for your faith in Christ, or when you lose someone close to you.

That doesn't mean Christians live in a perpetual state of smiles and giggles. There is a time to weep and a time to mourn. The bible says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief” (Isa.53:3). But at the same time, no one was happier than Jesus. He told His disciples to abide in Him so that His joy might be in them and that their joy may be made full (Jn.15:11).

Biblical blessedness, true happiness, the joy of the Lord is present even when pain and sorrow

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accompany it. Why? Because it’s rooted in justification by faith in the finished work of Christ apart from works.

Like David, Saint Augustine was a man with a sinful past. That’s why he had the words of Romans 4:8 engraved on a plaque. He hung the plaque at the foot of his bed, so that every night he could look at it. Until his dying day, the last thing his eyes fell upon were these words of David:

Blessed is the manto whom the Lordwill not impute sin

Believer, if you’re still struggling with sinful guilt, end your day with a bible verse that reminds you that through faith alone in Christ alone …

… your sins are forgiven; they’re completely removed from your life. … your sins are covered; they’re completely hidden from God.  … your sins are not imputed to you; they’re completely erased from your account.

 ___________________________________________________(1)https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-20-god-justifies-ungodly-romans-41-5 (2)MacArthur, John (1991), The MacArthur N.T. Commentary, (Romans 1-8), p.233. Moody Press. (3) https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-20-god-justifies-ungodly-romans-41-5

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(4) https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-20-god-justifies-ungodly-romans-41-5 (5) http://www.middletownbiblechurch.org/romans/romans4.htm)