The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is now in a detailed study of Paul's epistle to the church in Rome. These are the notes for Session 5.
Paul’s primary purpose in writing Romans was to teach the great truths of the gospel of grace to believers who had never received apostolic instruction. Unlike with some of Paul’s other epistles, his purpose for writing Romans was not to correct detestable theology or rebuke ungodly living. The Roman church was doctrinally sound, but, like all churches, it was in need of the rich doctrinal and practical instruction this letter provides.
The overarching theme of Romans is the righteousness that comes from God: the glorious truth that God justifies guilty, condemned sinners by grace alone through faith in Christ alone.
Paul shows the God of love, who reaches out with open arms to sinful people in the hope that they will come to Him and be saved. Righteousness and justification making a person right with God comes only by faith in response to His grace, never by works.
To illustrate this truth, Paul devotes the entire fourth chapter to Abraham. This godly Old Testament saint is a shining example of the central biblical truth thata person can become right with God only by faith in response to His grace, never by works.
Click below to read my notes.
Paul wanted to teach about faith. And he wanted to prove that his message about faith was not a new message. So he explained how the Old Testament taught the same message about faith. Paul chose Abraham and David in order to show faith in the Old Testament.
Salvation And Redemption Is By Faith Alone Romans 3:21-4:25
Having shown God as judge and executioner, as it were, he next shows the God of love, who reaches out with open arms to sinful people in the hope that they will come to Him and be saved.
After conclusively proving the universal sinfulness of humanity and their desperate need for righteousness, Paul shifts gears and demonstrates that God alone can provide that righteousness.
To illustrate this truth, Paul devotes the entire fourth chapter to Abraham. Thisgodly Old Testament saint is a shining example of the central biblical truth that a person can become right with God only by faith in response to His grace, never by works.
Chapter 4
Romans 4:1-12 NKJV What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found 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 accounted to him for righteousness.” Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.” Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
Abraham's Faith
Romans 4:1-3 NKJV What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found 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 accounted to him for righteousness.”
Verses 1-3 Paul wanted to teach about faith. And he wanted to prove that his message about faith was not a new message. So he explained how the Old Testament taught the same message about faith. Paul chose Abraham and David in order to show faith in the Old Testament.
Abraham began the Jewish nation. David was the most famous king of the Jews. Paul wanted to show that they received righteousness because of faith, and not because of their good deeds.
Abraham was called the ‘friend of God’.
Isaiah 41:8 NKJV “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.
And He was a righteous man.
Isaiah 51:1-2 NKJV “Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness, You who seek the Lord : Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who bore you; For I called him alone, And blessed him and increased him.”
If any person at that time could boast it would have been him.. But he could not boast to God his Creator. God did not accept Abraham because of his (Abraham’s) good works. God accepted Abraham because he (Abraham) believed God. In other words, Abraham had faith. Abraham believed God’s promise that he would have a son. He would have more descendants than there are stars in the sky. Abraham had faith that God would make this happen. He had faith although he was an old man. His wife Sarah was old too. She was far beyond the age when women have children. God accepted Abraham’sfaith and God considered him righteous
Genesis 15:1-6 NKJV After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” But Abram said, “Lord God , what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” Then Abram said, “Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord , and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Romans 4:4-5 NKJV Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness,
Romans 4:4-8 NKJV Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin.”
Verses 4-5 A person who works receives wages. That person has earned those wages. But a person cannot earn a right relationship with God. Righteousness is a free gift from God. A person receives it because of faith. That person used to be a sinner. But, because of God’s great love, God has changed that person’s life.
Verses 6-8 In Psalm 32, David describes the person who has real joy. This person knows that God has forgiven him. He has not obeyed God’s laws. He has failed to reach God’s standards. But then God made that person righteous.
You should read the entire psalm but I'm just going to lift out a few verses.
Psalms 32:1-2 NKJV Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit.
Psalms 32:5 NKJV I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord ,” And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Jesus told a story about a tax-collector (a man whose job was to collect taxes for the government) in Luke chapter 18. That tax-collector asked God for mercy.
Luke 18:10-14 NKJV “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The tax-collector was humble and he was sincere. He put his trust in God. God does not accuse such a person because of his sins. Instead, God considers him righteous.
Romans 4:9-12 NKJV Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.
Verses 9-11 Jews believed that a man needed circumcision. They did not consider anyone a real Jew without circumcision. A Gentile might believe the Jewish religion. But he could not be a proper member of the Jewish faith without circumcision. This matter caused a very serious argument in the first churches.
Many Jewish Christians insisted that Gentiles had to be circumcised in order to become real Christians. Paul dealt with this problem in his letter to the Galatians.
Galatians 5:1-6 NKJV Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Galatians 6:11-15 NKJV See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.
God considered Abraham righteous before he received circumcision. His genuine faith in God began the sign of circumcision.
Circumcision was the proof of the covenant that Abraham had already made with God.
Genesis 15:4-6, 18-21 NKJV And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir.” Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed in the Lord , and He accounted it to him for righteousness. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: “To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates— the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.”
Genesis 17:9-11 NKJV And God said to Abraham: “As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
Verses 11-12 True descendants of Abraham are those who trust God in the same way as Abraham.
Genesis 15:6 NKJV And he believed in the Lord , and He accounted it to him for righteousness.
Whether they are circumcised or not makes no difference. ‘In Christ, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision matters’.
Galatians 5:6 NKJV For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.
Abraham is the father of Gentiles who believe. He is also the father of Jews who believe.
Galatians 3:5-7 NKJV Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.
Galatians 3:26-29 NKJV For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Circumcision separated Jews from other people. Faith unites Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ.
The Promise Granted Through Faith
Romans 4:13-17 NKJV For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
Verse 13 The Greek word for ‘promise’ means a promise that someone makes because of love. So there must be no demand to give a promise back. God promised to Abraham that by him (Abraham) all the people on earth would receive blessing.
Genesis 12:3 NKJV I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God also promised that Abraham would have more descendants than stars in the sky. But God’s promises did not depend on law. God did not give the law until 430 years later.
Abraham accepted God’s promises by faith. That is, Abraham trusted God.
Verse 14 One must not add to God’s promise what the law orders. This would cancel the promise. Nobody can obey the law perfectly. So if the promise depended on the law, God could not carry out his promises, because we would not be able to do our part, and faith would no longer have any value.
Verse 15 The result of law is punishment, because people do not obey the law. So people could not receive the benefit of God’s promise by means of the law. People must receive this benefit by faith. And they can only receive it because of God’s kindness (his grace).
Verse 16 The promise comes from God’s grace. Abraham and his descendants can be sure about God’s gift, because they can accept it by faith. The promise is for anyone who has the same faith as Abraham. It is for Jews and for those who never had the law. So Abraham became the father of those with faith. Paul showed that the promise came true by means of Jesus Christ. By faith, people all over the world receive God’s love. He cares about them. The law would say that they are guilty. But people can become righteous by faith in God. God forgives them because of his great love.
Verse 17 The change of Abram’s name was a sign that God had made a covenant with him. Abraham’ means ‘*father of many nations’
Genesis 17:1-5 NKJV When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.
Abraham’s God can bring life. Here Paul is thinking especially about the promise of a son to Abraham. Abraham was so old that his body seemed ‘almost dead’.
Hebrews 11:11-12 NKJV By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
But God is the powerful God who created the world from nothing. So it would be no problem for God to create many descendants for Abraham.
Romans 4:18-25 NKJV who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
Verses 18-21 From a human point of view, it was impossible for Abraham to have children. Both he and his wife Sarah were much too old. But Abraham believed in God’s power. He did not lose hope that God would carry out his promise. Instead, Abraham’s faith increased. He trusted God’s promise. He was sure that God would carry it out.
Verses 22-24 It was not only Abraham whom God would consider righteous. We believe that God raised Jesus from death. So God considers us righteous too. Jesus becomes our Lord.
Verse 25 The priests and Judas handed over Jesus to Pilate. The Romans then killed Jesus on a cross. These men thought that they had control over these events. But in fact, these events were part of God’s plan to ‘hand over’ Jesus. God ‘did not keep back (rescue) his own son, but he gave him up for us all’
Romans 8:32 NKJV He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Jesus’ death was a sacrifice to cancel the effect of human sin. God accepted his sacrifice and raised him from death. So if we believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus, God considers us at peace with himself. He considers us as righteous.
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