Romans 4:1-12--Abraham Justified by Faith

Romans 4:1-12
English Standard Version

Abraham Justified by Faith
4 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.” 4 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 believes in 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? For 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.

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Paul returns to the idea that the Jews, the "children of Abraham," somehow somehow are saved through the work of circumcision and adherence to the Law of Moses.  Paul will contend that Abraham was declared righteous apart from the Law and before circumcision existed  when, "Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness."  (v. 3, Genesis 15:6).  The covenant of circumcision doesn't come until chapter 17--thirteen years after Abraham is declared righteous for believing God's promise in chapter 15.  So then, did Abraham do something to be declared righteous in which Abraham could boast?  No, he simply believed God by faith even though God promised something impossible--that he would have a son in his old age and though he had no descendants yet that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.  There are so many starts that they are innumerable.

​Paul will use the idea of work and wages here that will also come back up again in a different way in chapter six when he talks about the wages of sin.  Here it would seem that Abraham received something that he did not earn because it was "credited" or "counted" to him as righteousness which makes it something that wasn't earned--it it was earned, it would simply be "wages" and not a "credit."  So it is that it is the one who did not work but simply believed in Him (that is YHWH, though we don't know His "name" yet) who justifies the ungodly that Abraham was declared righteous.  It was not by works, just like we've seen in Ephesians 2:8-9.

Paul then switches gears to another person of significant importance to the Jews--King David to whom the Davidic Covenant was made.  Paul quotes Psalm 32 where David says, Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”  This again is grace and mercy--we see such a man getting what he doesn't deserve (blessing) and not getting what he does deserve (God's wrath and judgment).  David understood this in his own life.  He had sins for which he would have rightly earned the death sentence, especially performing such high crimes as a king, but God forgave David and took away his sin, covered it and chose to remember it no more.

Paul then comes back to the question of circumcision.  Is this something that only the Jews who have been circumcised can cling to?  Do Gentiles need to first become Jewish to be declared righteous by God?  Our first passage answers that question as Abraham was had not been given the covenant of circumcision at this piont and Paul argues that he could still be considered a "Gentile" believer at this point in his life, as he was from Ur of the Chaldeans.  So then this faith that leads to righteousness is available to all people of all nations, even the uncircumcised Gentiles.  So then there is one path to salvation for both Jew and Gentile alike--by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for the glory of God alone.