| Romans! |
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In verse 12 of this chapter, Paul had made the point that
Abraham was the father of all who believe. In other words,
through Abraham would come the Messiah, and all men would
ultimately receive the promise of salvation through His
sacrifice. For, although salvation cannot be had through
justification alone, neither can salvation be had without that
justification. For when one goes astray from the law, there
must be reconciliation back to the law. The Messiah is that
reconciliation. And we are not reconciled so we can continue
in sin, but so we can live a life of righteousness. And even
before we become knowledgeable of the law, we are sinners
and in need of that justification.
In verse 13, Paul is saying that the promise that Abraham
should be the heir of the world was not based on the law. The
law was the standard. One either lives by the standard or he
does not. There was no offspring through Abraham that would
come to produce the law for the salvation of mankind. The law
was before Abraham. Therefore, Abraham could not be the
father of mankind through the giving of the law. However, the
One who would become our justification would be a
descendant of Abraham and therefore, Abraham would become
the father of all through the One who made possible
righteousness by means of justification through faith - the
Messiah!
Ro 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was
not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith.
The promise to Abraham was made in such a way that it was
obvious that it had to do with faith for the justification of one's
sins. In other words, although the Jews were the physical
descendants of Abraham, they were not the only heirs being
referred to in the promise that God made Abraham that he
should be the heir of the world. If that were the case, what of
the Gentiles? How would they be considered the heirs of
Abraham? For they were not Jews (or Israelites in the
broader sense). However, we see that through faith in the
justification for their sins, made possible through the Messiah,
they became heirs of Abraham simply because the Messiah
was an heir of Abraham.
Once any man/woman has been forgiven of his/her sins, the
past sins are forgiven because of the blood of the heir of
Abraham, in other words, the blood of the Messiah. The holy
spirit is given making the person circumcised in his mind and
part of the very same spirit as God Himself. He is now a Jew
inwardly and therefore a descendant of Abraham. So, the
promise to Abraham is very effective, for all men must become
his heirs in order to be saved.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the
promise made of none effect:
The law results in the wrath of God. For the law is the
standard and those who do not live up to the standard bring
upon themselves the wrath of God. If there was no law, there
would be no transgression and God would have no reason to be
angry and there would be no need of justification and no need
of a Messiah. Therefore, Abraham could not be the father of
the entire world by means of the law. The law existed before
Abraham and even he had to live up to its standards or bring on
the wrath of God. Even Abraham had to be justified or
reconciled to the standards of the law. And his justification
was made possible just as is the justification of all others <by
faith in God> to close the gulf of separation between man and
God because of sin or the breaking of that standard.
15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no
transgression.
Therefore, the promise to Abraham that he would be the
father of all, was made possible because of the system of
justification utilized to bring one back to a viable state in the
new covenant, once he has gone astray - or when first being
brought into a state of righteousness. That system is based on
faith in the sacrifice and Priesthood of the Messiah. That
system is based on the loving-kindness (grace) of God. For
God the Father was willing to accept the sacrifice of Joshua,
the Messiah as adequate payment for any and all sins that had
separated man from the standard of the law.
Therefore, the promise that Abraham would be the father of
all is made sure to all humanity, not to the Jews only. For
through the faith of justification, all humanity may become the
heirs of Abraham. Of course, an heir has something to inherit
himself. The promise that Abraham would be the father of all
has an obverse side. The promise that all mankind would be
the descendants of Abraham and receive the possessions of
Abraham. And what did Abraham possess? Righteousness!
Righteousness was the inheritance made possible to all humans
because of the promise made to Abraham. And the means that
made that possible was justification by faith in the one
descendant of Abraham, Joshua, the Messiah. For all have
sinned and are in need of being reconciled. The means, by
which the promise made to Abraham was to be brought about,
made all humans the recipients of a promise as well (the
promise of an heir) – the inheritance of salvation by means of
the justification of their sins, back to the standard of the law.
The promise was to all humans, showing that it went outside
the physical heirs of Abraham.
Perhaps the word <salvation> should be discussed here.
Salvation means victory. Victory over sin is our salvation.
Mankind could not extricate himself from the slavery of sin
brought on as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. They ate of
the tree that gave God the knowledge of whether Adam and
Eve would be righteous and do what is good or would be
unrighteous and do what is evil. Thereafter, there was a
separation between man and God. Man was in slavery to sin.
There was only one way that man could be brought back to a
righteous state. He had to be saved from the sin that had
enslaved him. He had to some way find victory over the
corruption that he had gotten himself into.
The first thing that had to happen was for man to understand
exactly what righteousness was. Therefore, God Himself
came down and gave from His own mouth the ten
commandments upon which all of man's actions are based
either positively or negatively. This law was given to a nation
with whom God worked to see to it that they gave to all
humans the standard to live by. After the Babylonian
captivity, the Jews decided that if they were to exist, they had
better take seriously the entrustment that God had given to
them. They became very conscientious in doing the job they
had been given.
In 30 AD, God provided the Reality of the sacrifices that had
made up the temple worship of the Jews. This made possible
man's salvation or his rescue from the grip of sin. For, God
would not give His holy spirit to man without first cleaning him
up from the corruption of sin. After the sacrifice was made,
man could now be justified back to the standard of the law
which had existed with Adam and Eve before the eating of the
tree that signified their choice of death rather than life.
The victory or salvation over sin was made possible because of
our Justification, Joshua, the Messiah. God has not made this
salvation possible so that we can continue to act as sinners, but
so we can be rescued from that fate and live our lives as God
lives. God wants sons, not bastards. A sinner is a bastard.
One who lives righteous is a son. Paul is discussing the aspect
that made salvation possible, and that aspect is justification.
The Jews felt confident that they were the sons of Abraham.
One only has to read the words of the Messiah to see that the
Jews gloried in being the descendants of Abraham. However,
in this letter to the Romans, Paul is showing that the sons of
Abraham are those who are reconciled to God through the
justification of God's Son.
A word of caution here: Many teachers twist Paul's writings to
make the "promise" become something that is out of context
to what Paul is saying. The promise that Paul is discussing
here is the promise that Abraham would be the father of all
humans through the sacrifice of the Messiah. Grace is not the
promise being discussed, but it is the means of establishing the
promise to Abraham as the father of the faithful! The promise
to Abraham is made possible by means of faith and grace; but
faith and grace are not the promise being discussed. This
makes all the difference in the world! The difference in these
two concepts is the result of two different gospels. One is the
true gospel; the other is a gospel so called.
16 Therefore it (the promise) is of faith, that it might be by grace; to
the end the promise might be 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,
Therefore, through the means of bringing mankind, regardless
of race, into covenant with God and keeping mankind in
covenant with God, the promise has been kept to Abraham
that he would be the father of us all. Abraham was a father of
many nations, both by blood and by faith. But those who are
Abraham's children through faith are the children of the
promise.
Abraham was made a father of many nations before God,
whom Abraham believed. God made this promise, and it is He
who makes alive the dead and calls those things that are not –
as though they existed already. In other words, God called
Abraham a father of many nations before he had any children!
And as He is God, He can bring the dead to life, and bring into
existence what He purposes. Therefore, when God told
Abraham that he was the father of many nations, it was as
good as done already, for God does not lie and He has the
power to bring to past whatever He promises. With God, the
end result can be presumed thousands of years before the
reality!
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before
him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth
those things which be not as though they were.
Now, Abraham had no human reason for hope in this promise,
for Sarah had already become too old for children. However,
Abraham hoped just the same for he believed in God Who
made the promise that he would become the father of many
nations. Abraham was living the meaning of faith. He heard
the word of God's promise and he believed that what God had
said would come to past, though he knew not how. For God
had promised that all humans would become the seed or
descendants of Abraham.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father
of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed
be.
Abraham had no concept of how this promise would be
fulfilled. He was not looking back on thousands of years of
history as we are. Abraham was looking out at the lonely
hillsides and valleys of Canaan. He had no children. Here he
was 100 years old, Sarah's womb had dried up and there could
be no children from her according to human reckoning.
However, Abraham was strong in faith. He did not allow the
seeming reality of his surroundings and the state of his and
Sarah's body to cause him to doubt God. Abraham knew that
if God had made the promise, there would be a way, though he
knew not how.
19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now
dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the
deadness of Sara's womb:
Abraham did not waver in his faith toward God. He did not
have the son by Hagar because of his unbelief, but as a means
of working out the promise himself. Abraham was strong in
faith, giving honor and praise to God.
20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was
strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Though he knew not how, Abraham was fully persuaded that
what God had promised, He was able also to bring to pass.
21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able
also to perform.
Abraham was justified or considered righteous because of his
faith in God for this matter.
22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Paul continues to make his point that this imputed
righteousness was not written about just for the sake of
Abraham, but for all our sake. For not only did God impute
righteousness to Abraham for his faith, He will do the same for
us.
But, we must believe on God Who raised Joshua our Master
from the dead, in order for this to happen.
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 on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Here is the bottom line of what Paul is saying. The Messiah
delivered our trespasses against the law of God, and God
raised Him from the dead so that He might be our justification,
a continuing High Priest who intercedes for us when we in
some way compromise the standard, but seek our way back.
25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our
justification.
This is a wonderful truth and one that we need to understand
without any lack of clarity. Abraham was the father of the
faithful because he was himself faithful to a very high degree,
even to the willingness to sacrifice his own son which was a
picture of the sacrifice of the Messiah.
This was all recorded so that we could relate back to the
promise, why the promise was made and how Abraham
responded to the promise. When the Messiah offered Himself
and became the sacrifice for all, and therefore, our
justification back to the standard of the law, we could become
the sons of Abraham by faith.
Our trespasses to the law had caused us to come into bondage.
We were slaves to sin. The sacrifice of the Messiah delivered
us and He was restored to life so that He could be our High
Priest to intercede for us and in this way become our
justification.
Now, the plan of God was being accomplished on a much higher
plane than it was during the time prior to this sacrifice. Now,
the covenant was being executed in a state of reality, rather
than a promise of reality. This was important for at least two
reasons. God had fulfilled His promises of the Old Testament.
He had fulfilled another stage in the promise to Abraham as we
saw the promise above. And, more importantly man could look
to the Reality, rather than the substitute had only by the Jews
up to this point. I say more importantly, for God can always
bring His promises to pass, but mankind was languishing and
needed the refreshing state of the Reality that God had at last
provided.
Notice that justification is the subject Paul is discussing. This
aspect of salvation must never be confused for the whole
package of salvation. Justification is most important, because
of the weakness of man. But, we don't want to come to believe
that the fault of man is to be praised because it required a
Savior! The praise goes to God, Who made a way possible to
reconcile man back to the standard of the law, after he had
gone astray.
We must continually keep in mind the whole picture. Salvation
is not by faith alone. For God expects man to strive to do what
is right. And man is given the gift of the holy spirit once he
comes into covenant with God for that purpose. Can faith save
a man? Faith is required, but cannot alone save him.
James 2:14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath
faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?
Only by understanding Paul's writing in Romans as a discussion
of justification can he be understood. By justification we are
made heirs of salvation. But, if we decide to stop at that point
and let God do it all, we will inherit nothing! For, faith without
works is dead being alone.
James 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
James 2:24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by
faith only.
The Jews boasted of their father Abraham, and thought they
were the children of God and that the rest of the world was
inferior to them. This was true to the extent that the Jews had
the law and the rest of the world did not. The Jews had the
standard and that put them in the prominent position until the
Messiah died for the sins of mankind. From that point those
who were made a part of the new covenant, and justified of
their sins by the sacrifice of the Messiah, were in the
prominent position and the Jews were languishing in their sins.
For the gospel included man's justification, the Messiah, but it
also included the standard – the law. For what good is there of
justifying someone if he does not know what he is being
justified for? That is like washing up the pig and turning him
loose to wallow in the mire once again! Notice in the following
verses of the book of Peter that there is a <knowledge> that
must be given as well as a justification. There is a way of
righteousness that must be <known> before one can be
justified. The knowledge of the covenant must be known, and
the covenant is the ten commandments of God and a desire to
keep those ten commandments made possible by the indwelling
of the holy spirit.
Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are
again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with
them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog
is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her
wallowing in the mire.
The whole picture is that there is a standard. Man became
unrighteous and incurred the eternal death penalty. God gave
man the standard formally. God gave man a means of
returning to a righteous state through the sacrifice of the
Messiah. God gave man His holy spirit and now, with this
wonderful knowledge and support we are to strive to enter in
at the narrow gate of righteousness, which leads to eternal life
in the Kingdom of God.
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Commentaries
Chapters:
One
Two
Three
Four
Four Continued
Five
Six
Seven
Seven Continued
Eight
Eight Continued
| Continuing Chapter Four |