Righteousness by faith

 

Abraham Was Justified by Faith, Not Works
(4:1-8)

Paul eagerly probed into the ‘roots’ of the Jews. What was the experience of Abraham in this matter of justification? Was he justified by faith or by works? “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” (Romans 4:1). If Abraham were found to be saved by his works, then he would have something of which he could boast. And, of course, by implication there would be something in which the Jew could boast. The Jews did mistakenly suppose that Abraham was saved by works. Dr. A. T. Robertson informs us that the “rabbis had a doctrine of the merits of Abraham who had a superfluity of credits to pass on to the Jews.”20 But the Scriptures make it clear that Abraham could not boast before God because he was justified by faith, not works: “For what does the Scripture say? ‘And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness’” (Romans 4:3).

If justification were on the basis of our works we would face several problems. First, man would have a basis for boasting. Surely this is wrong for we are created and saved in order to praise and bring glory to God, not to boast concerning ourselves. Second, we would then operate under a system of obligation, rather than under grace. Under grace God is free to give us what we do not, in and of ourselves, deserve, while under obligation, God must give us exactly what we deserve—and, who wants that? Third, it is contrary to both Old and New Testament Scripture, for in Genesis 15:6 we are told, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.”

David agreed with what the Scriptures record concerning Abraham’s justification by faith, apart from works, for he wrote, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven. And whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account” (Romans 4:7, 8).

This quotation from Psalm 32 stresses the negative side of the reckoning which occurs in the justification of the sinner. The sins of the man who trusts in God are not reckoned to him, but are forgiven and forgotten by God. Just as the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us—that is, it is put to our account—so our own deeds are not held against us.

The word “reckon” is an accounting term and it refers to the actual accounting of something either to our credit or our loss. When we are justified by faith, our sins are not reckoned against us, as they should be, but the righteousness of Christ is graciously put to our credit.

I once knew an inmate in the Dallas County Jail who had some way or other induced the record keeper to write on his record that he was accused of another crime and would be coming up for trial soon. This was so he would not be shipped out to the state penitentiary. In the eyes of the law there was an offense charged against him. That offense was ‘reckoned’ to his account. But in David’s case, he had no accusations on his record, even though a sinner, because God had not imputed his sins to him.

So then both Abraham and David give testimony to the same truth: In the Old Testament men were not justified by works, but by faith.

Abraham Was Justified While Still a Gentile
(4:9-12)

That Abraham and David (and therefore all Old Testament saints) were justified by faith apart from works was a bitter pill to swallow for the Jews. But Paul is not willing to stop here, for there is much more to be learned from the faith of Abraham. At least the Jews could console themselves in the fact that Abraham was a Jew, and not a Gentile. If Abraham was saved as a Jew, then could the Jews not insist that every man must be saved as a Jew (cf. Acts 15:1f.)? Paul strikes this hope down by showing that Abraham was declared righteous while yet a Gentile.

At first glance we might be inclined to think that verses 9-12 are intended to prove that Abraham was saved by faith and not by works; specifically, not by the rite of circumcision. Although this is true, it is not the main point Paul is striving to prove. The point which Paul is driving at is the universality of justification by faith and that it is not for the Jews only, but for Gentiles.

Was Abraham saved as a Jew or as a Gentile? Was Abraham declared righteous as one who was circumcised or as uncircumcised? Abraham, in Genesis 15:6, was declared righteous on the basis of faith fourteen years before he was circumcised (compare Genesis 15:6 with 17:24). Technically, then, Abraham was saved as a Gentile, and not as a Jew, for he did not enter Judaism by circumcision, nor did he have the Law to keep. What a blow to the Jew who maintained that one could not be saved without becoming a Jew by circumcision and keeping the Law (Acts 15:1)!

What, then, is the value of circumcision? If entrance into Judaism through circumcision does not in any way contribute to one’s justification, what good is it? Circumcision is not the source of one’s salvation, but the sign of it. It is a symbolic testimony to what has happened inwardly in the man who has been justified by faith.

The mere presence of an inspection sticker on your car does not make that car road-worthy, but it does represent in a visible fashion its road-worthiness. On the other hand, putting an inspection sticker on a car with bald tires, a faulty muffler, and no brakes will be of little help in hazardous driving conditions. Circumcision was a seal which attested to the faith of Abraham. It signified that he was righteous in the eyes of God.

The outcome of all of this is that Abraham is the ‘father’ of all who are justified by faith. He is the father of those who are justified by faith and have not been initiated into Judaism and of all believers who are also Jews. Being a Jew or a Gentile has no bearing on one’s justification, nor does the keeping of the Old Testament Laws and rituals. The only determining factor is one’s faith in the Person and work of Jesus Christ.

God’s Promises Are
Realized by Faith, Not by Law-Keeping
(4:13-16)

In verses 13-17 I see a slight shift of emphasis. The Jews were not only seeking individual righteousness and justification before God, but also participation in experiencing the promises of God to Israel as a nation. In verses 13-17 Paul makes it plain that just as justification is attained by faith, so are the promises of God realized by faith. If I recall correctly, the Jews believed that if there was but one day when the nation would abide within the Law, the  Messiah would come. If the Jews thought that they were saved by faith, but received God’s blessing by Law-keeping, Paul lays this error to rest in these verses. “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith” (Romans 4:13).

There would be no need for faith if men became heirs through the Law, and the promise would be null and void, for the only thing the Law can produce is wrath and condemnation (Romans 4:14, 15). So that God can work in accord with the principle of grace, and so that men may have confidence of experiencing the promises of God, it is based upon faith and not on Law (4:16). Since the blessings of God are based upon faith and not on Law-keeping, they are assured to those who are of the Law (Jews) and those who are not (Gentiles), through faith in Jesus Christ. Once again, Abraham is the father of us all, that is of us all who believe by faith in Jesus Christ.

Abraham’s Faith Is
Like That Required by the Gospel
(4:17-25)

So we must grant that everything we receive from God must be on the basis of faith, but was not the faith of Abraham vastly different from the faith required today? Not at all, Paul informs us, for it was a faith precisely like that required today.

“… in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (4:17).

Jules Henri Poincare, who in extolling the memory of his distinguished friend, uttered these terrible words: “It matters little what God one believes in; it is the faith and not the God that makes miracles.”21

With this Paul does not agree, for he makes it plain that it is the object of our faith that makes all the difference between heaven and hell.

Abraham’s faith was in a God Who could create something out of nothing. So far as his chances of having a child, they were nil. He and Sarah were as good as dead. Yet Abraham trusted God to create something out of nothing, a son from an old man and a barren woman.

Abraham also believed in a God Who could raise the dead. This is evident in his faith in the promise to have a son of his own loins and Sarah, for they were both as good as dead so far as producing children was concerned. “And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb” (Romans 4:19). Nowhere is this faith in God’s ability to raise the dead more evident than in Abraham’s willingness to offer his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice (Genesis 22).

In addition, Abraham’s faith was one that did not dwell on the obstacles to faith but on the object of faith. There is a minor textual difficulty in verse 19, some texts leaving out the word “not,” others inserting it. Some texts would thus read, “ he considered not his own body, now as good as dead.” The meaning here would be that Abraham did not dwell on the obstacles, but on God. Other texts say that “ he contemplated his own body now as good as dead …” We would then understand the emphasis to be on the fact that Abraham knew all too well the difficulties, but did not waver in his faith.

Either way, the point is that Abraham, in spite of tremendous human obstacles, trusted in God to do as He promised. His faith overlooked the obstacles and focused upon the object of faith, God. Because of this kind of faith, Abraham was justified before God.

Now Abraham’s experiences are not without application to us today. For it is the same kind of faith which God requires of men today. We must acknowledge ourselves to be just as helpless to enter God’s heaven by our own righteousness as Abraham was to become the father of a great nation. We must trust God to provide righteousness apart and in spite of us as Abraham trusted God to fulfill the promise of a son. So, also, we must trust in a God who has power over death and the grave. Abraham trusted in the God “who gives life to the dead” (v. 17). So we must trust in Jesus Christ Who was raised from the dead.

Now not for his sake only was it written that “It was reckoned to him,” but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:23-25).

So the kind of faith required of Abraham is precisely the same kind of faith required of men today. The Law is in no way set aside, rather, it is reaffirmed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. God’s way of salvation has never been by works, and has always been by grace through faith.

Application

(1) Salvation is not of works, and only by faith. It should be clear that man can contribute nothing to his salvation. It is all of God; all of grace. And let us not make one last effort of claiming any part in our salvation by supposing that faith is our work, for even this is the gift of God (cf. Eph. 2:8, 9; Acts 13:48, 16:14).

Only this week I talked with a man who felt that we must contribute something to our salvation. I told him that man’s sin is like having greasy hands. When I work on the car and have grease on my hands, everything I touch is stained with grease also. When I come in with greasy hands, my wife quickly informs me not to touch anything until my hands are clean. So man’s hands are smudged with sin and there is nothing but the blood of Christ which can cleanse them. If we try to approach God by means of the works of our hands, those works will be smudged with sin and unacceptable to God. We must do as the words of the song instruct us, “Nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.”

(2) Faith is the only way of receiving God’s blessing. Paul not only tells us that salvation is by faith, but also God’s blessings come only by faith. This past week all of us fervently prayed for a dear friend’s recovery. The answer to that prayer was not based upon our compliance with divine rules and regulations, but on faith. We often forget that the way of salvation is also the only way of blessing.

(3) The ‘sacraments’ do not convey grace as some would tell us; they symbolize grace. There are some who hold to the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, insisting that a man cannot be saved apart from being baptized. This error is simply an updating of the error of the Jews, who insisted a man cannot be saved without being circumcised. Baptism is not the source of salvation, but simply a symbol of it. It is an outward act which symbolizes the fact that we, by faith, have been identified with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection.

The Lord’s Table, which we observe each week, will not in any way convey grace to you, my friend. It symbolizes the grace of God made available through Jesus Christ Who clothed Himself in human flesh and Who died in the sinner’s place, and Who offers the righteousness of God to all who believe in Him.

May God enable you to cast aside all confidence in any work which you may perform, and humbly accept the work which Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross.

A. Introduction

Romans 1:18-3:20 speaks profoundly and frankly into the issue of human sin and responsibility. The night is very black indeed throughout these chapters; there is a deathly chill in the air between God and his creatures and the frightening darkness is looking more permanent with each stroke of the apostle’s pen. But a marked change occurs here in 3:21-31. For the first time (apart from 1:17) we receive hope for daylight, and not just a glimmer of the sun and the enjoyment of its heat, but the expectation of a bright, sunny day—such as one would experience at noonday. But even here we will have to wait for the full light of the sun; that will come in chapters 6-8. For now, it is enough to behold the sunrise—and a beautiful one it is! While sin has left us a glorious ruin, wretched vice-regents as it were, and condemned to death, grace is about to change all that.

“Back in the eighteenth century, a young boy was born into a Christian home. For the first six years of his life, he heard the truths of the gospel and he was loved. Sadly, though, his parents died. The orphaned boy went to live with his relatives. There he was mistreated and abused and ridiculed for his faith in Christ.

The boy couldn’t tolerate that situation, and he fled and joined the Royal Navy. In the navy, the boy’s life went downhill. He became known as a brawler, was whipped many times, and participated in some of his comrades’ being keel-hauled. Finally, while he was still young, he deserted the Royal Navy and fled to Africa, where he attached himself to a Portuguese slave trader. There, his life reached its lowest point. There were times when he actually ate off the floor on his hands and knees. He escaped and then became attached to another slave trader as the first mate on his ship. But the young man’s pattern of life had become so depraved, he couldn’t stay out of trouble. As the story goes, he stole the ship’s whiskey and got so drunk that he fell overboard. He was close to drowning when one of his shipmates harpooned him and brought him back on board. As a result, the young man had a huge scar in his side for the rest of his life. After that escapade, he couldn’t get much lower. In the midst of a great storm off the coast of Scotland, when days and days were filled with pumping water out of the boat, the young man began to reflect on the Scripture verses he had heard as a child. He was marvelously converted. The new life John Newton found is reflected in his own heartfelt words, familiar to millions now:

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound—
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind but now I see.”37

Newton’s experience put into words: the ultimate point of Romans 3:21-31.  

B. Translation of Passage in NET

3:21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God (which is attested by the law and the prophets) has been disclosed—3:22 namely, the righteousness of God through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction, 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 3:24 But they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 3:25 God publicly displayed him as a satisfaction for sin by his blood through faith. This was to demonstrate his righteousness, because God in his forbearance had passed over the sins previously committed. 3:26 This was also to demonstrate his righteousness in the present time, so that he would be just and the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness.

3:27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded! By what principle? Of works? No, but by the principle of faith! 3:28 For we consider that a person is declared righteous by faith apart from the works of the law. 3:29 Or is God the God of the Jews only? Is he not the God of the Gentiles too? Yes, of the Gentiles too! 3:30 Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 3:31 Do we, therefore, nullify the law through this faith? Absolutely not! Instead we uphold the law.

C. Full Exegetical Outline

Idea: The way in which God freely and graciously justifies any sinner, Jew or Gentile, as testified to in the Law and the Prophets, is not by works of the Law, but by faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice—a sacrifice which demonstrates God's justice in dealing with sin and at the same time excludes all human boasting.

I. The way in which God freely and graciously justifies any sinner, Jew or Gentile, as testified to in the Law and the Prophets, is not by works of the Law, but by faith in Christ's atoning sacrifice—a sacrifice which demonstrates God's judstice in dealing with sin (3:21-26).

A. The righteousness of God has been revealed through Christ’s faithfulness and is available to all by grace, through faith, apart from works (3:21-24).

1. The righteousness of God has been revealed apart from the law and the prophets (3:21).

2. The law and the prophets testify to the righteousness of God (3:21).

3. The righteousness of God was disclosed through the faithfulness of Christ for all who believe (3:22).

4. There is no distinction between Jew and Gentile because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23).

5. All men are justified freely through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (3:24). 

B. The fact that God publicly displayed Christ as a satisfaction for sin was to demonstrate his justice in terms of sins committed beforehand as well as to be the justifier of the one who lives because of Jesus’ faithfulness (3:25-26). 

1. God publicly displayed Christ as a satisfaction for sin by his blood through faith (3:25).

2. Christ’s death publicly displays the righteousness of God in dealing with sins committed beforehand (3:25).

3. God is just and at the same time justifies the one who lives by the faithfulness of Jesus (3:26).

II. The reason boasting is excluded from justification is because justification is by faith, apart from works of the law (for both Jew and Gentile), though it does uphold the demands of the law (3:27-31).

A. Boasting is excluded in justification since justification is by faith apart from works (3:27-28).

1. Boasting is excluded on the basis of faith not works (3:27).

2. A person is declared righteous by faith apart from works of the law (3:28).

B. Since God is one, he is the God of both Jew and Gentile and justifies both of them in precisely the same way, i.e., by faith (3:29-30).

1. God is the God of both Jew and Gentile (3:29).

2. Since God is one, he will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised by that same faith (3:30).

C. Faith does not nullify the law, rather it upholds the law (3:31).

D. Simple Point Outline

Idea: The Righteousness of God: It's Availablility and Impact on Human Arrogance

I. The Way God Made His Righteousness Available Was…(3:21-26).

A. Through Christ (3:21-24)

1. Apart from the Law and Prophets (3:21)

2. His Faithfulness (3:22)

3. To All Men (3:23)

4. By Grace (3:24)

B. Without Compromising His Justice (3:25-26)

1. Christ Satisfies God’s Wrath against Sin (3:25)

2. God’s Justice and Justification (3:26)

II. The Role of Boasting, Faith, and the Law (3:27-31)

A. Boasting: It Is Excluded (3:27-28)

B. Faith: All Are Justified By Faith (3:29-30)

C. The Law: Faith Upholds the Law (3:31)

E. Exposition Proper

3:21 The phrase But now (Νυνὶ δὲ, nuni de) is extremely significant in Romans and marks off the “post-Christ’s coming” era—including the ministry of the Spirit—as a new development in the salvation historical plan of God. Now, Paul says, is the eschatological time of fulfillment in Christ (7:6). So then, νυνι δε is not simply a logical connector, as if Paul were saying, “since no one will be declared righteous through works of the law (3:20-21), therefore, righteousness must come by faith” (3:21-26). Rather, νυνι δε indicates that Paul is thinking in salvation-historical terms, i.e., the time before Christ's coming and the “now time” (3:26) after his coming and the inauguration of the reign of grace in the kingdom (cf. 5:20-21; 14:17).

But the realization of this time of fulfillment has come apart from the law (χωρὶς νόμου, chōris nomou)—the law refers to the Mosaic legislation enmeshed with any current rabbinic legal interpretation which prescribes works on that basis. It is apart from such a works-based-righteousness that the “righteousness of God” has been revealed.

The righteousness of God (δικαιοσύνη θεοῦ, dikaiosunē theou) refers to the status of those who have been declared righteous by God through no merit of their own. They are declared righteous on the basis of their redemption in Christ.

But while this legal standing before God is given apart from the Law, that does not mean there is absolutely no connection between his righteousness and the Law. On the contrary, the connection is prophetic, for the righteousness of God is attested (μαρτυρουμένη, marturoumenē) by the law and the prophets. As Paul has already stated in 1:2-4, the antecedents of the gospel (i.e., the good news about God’s righteousness given to the believer through Christ), go back deep into OT promise.

Paul uses the verb disclosed (πεφανέρωται, pephanrōtai) twenty-two times, often in connection with the coming of Christ as the definitive revelation of God’s plan. Compare Romans 16:26.

3:22-23 In vv. 22-23 Paul explains further what he means by the “righteousness of God.” It comes through faith, not works, and is available on that basis not to Jews only, but to all who believe (εἰς πάντας τοὺς πιστεύοντας, eis pantas tous pisteuontas). It is available to the one who is the most vial idolater and sexually perverse (1:18-32) and it is available on the same basis to the Jew who claimed to live according to the law of God (2:1-3:9). In fact, as far as the righteousness of God is concerned, including the manner in which it is received, there is no distinction (διαστολή, diastolē) between Gentile and Jew. The reason for this is simple: since all are sinners and together have fallen short of God’s moral and spiritual perfection (i.e., his glory), all are equally in need of his righteousness and all receive it on the same basis (3:9-20).

This righteousness is made available through the faithfulness of Jesus Christ (διὰ πίστεως  ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ, dia pisteōs Iēsou christou). The text literally reads, “through the faith of Jesus Christ.” An interpretive question immediately presents itself: “What does Paul mean by “the faith of Jesus Christ”? Some argue that the “of” phrase (a genitive construction in Greek) should be understood as indicating possession, i.e., Jesus’ faith. We are then saved through imitating Jesus’ faith. This has little grammatical or biblical/theological support.

A second interpretation is to take the genitive “of” phrase to mean “faith in Jesus.” This is often referred to as the objective genitive interpretation where Iēsou is taken as the object of the verbal noun “pisteōs” (i.e., “faith”). This has been the traditional interpretation and has much to commend it biblically and grammatically speaking.

There is, however, a third interpretation which has been recently advanced and is the one adopted in the NET Bible. In this interpretation, Iēsou is taken as the subject of the verbal noun pisteōs. This indicates that Jesus’ faithfulness is in view and that the righteousness of God has been made known through the faithfulness of Christ (i.e., his obedience to the Father in life and death) and is available to all who believe.

Now it must be said that both Paul and the rest of the NT endorse both these latter two options. This is not a discussion, then, about which idea is heretical and which is orthodox, but rather about the truth to which Romans 3:22 (26) refers.

There are those who suggest, along with other arguments, that an objective genitive is unlikely since the following phrase, “for all who believe,” is rendered superfluous in this interpretation. But this need not be the case at all, for the accent in this phrase is not so much on faith as it is on “all;” it is an emphatic statement on the universality of the offer of salvation.

Nonetheless, it does appear that the subjective genitive is to be preferred—though neither interpretation is without its difficulties. First, the passage focuses on the revelation (cf. phaneroō) of God’s righteousness publicly (3:25). This fits well with the cross obedience of Jesus which itself argues for the subjective genitive. It is difficult to see how the righteousness of God is revealed through our faith in Jesus, but it is not difficult to see how it is revealed by Jesus’ obedience to the Father. Second, when “faith” (pistis) is followed by a personal noun in the genitive case, it is almost never an objective genitive (cf. Matt 9:2, 22, 29; Mark 2:5; 5:34; 10:52; Luke 5:20; 7:50; 8:25, 48; 17:19; 18:42; 22:32; Rom 1:8; 12; 3:3; 4:5, 12, 16; 1 Cor 2:5; 15:14, 17; 2 Cor 10:15; Phil 2:17; Col 1:4; 2:5; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:2, 5, 10; 2 Thess 1:3; Titus 1:1; Phlm 6; 1 Pet 1:9, 21; 2 Pet 1:5).  

3:24 Though all men without distinction are sinners, they may be justified (δικαιούμενοι, dikaioumenoi), that is, declared righteous and freed from all charges in connection with their sin (Rom 5:1). This is not a reference to being made righteous in any ethical or spiritual sense, but rather to a genuine legal pronouncement involving acquittal (cf. Rom 3:8). And God pronounces a person justified freely (δωρεάν, dōrean) by his grace. The idea of “freely” reaches back to Paul’s comment in 3:21 about the righteousness of God being revealed apart from the law (i.e., apart from works of the law). We cannot do, nor are we required to do—in fact we are forbidden to do—good works in the hope of earning salvation (Eph 2:8-9). Salvation is a gift and is given by God's grace (χάρις, charis).It is given according to his undeserved, completely and utterly, unmerited favor (cf. Rom 4:1-25). While we all fit somewhere in the description of 1:18-3:20, we can nevertheless be freely forgiven and justified through Christ by faith.

Every thought Paul has is focused on the person and work of Jesus Christ in the “now” time of salvation history (cf. the “now” in 3:21). The term redemption (ἀπολυτρώσεως, apolutrōseōs) means to “to buy back” and probably has as its background the manumission of slaves. In our context here in Romans, it is likely that Paul intends the idea that through Christ’s death—the fully paid ransom price—sinners are purchased for God from the enslaving power of sin (cf. Rom 3:9; Mark 10:45; Eph 1:7; 1 Cor 6:20).

3:25a God publicly displayed Christ as the satisfaction for sin. The term publicly displayed (προέθετο, proetheto) is in the middle voice and could be rendered “purposed” or “publicly displayed” (Rom 1:13; Eph 1:9). Both are definitely true, but for a number of reasons the second option seems better in this case: (1) Paul has argued that the righteousness of God has been disclosed, that is, “brought to light.” This accords well with a public event; (2) by his blood (ἐν τῷ αὐτοῦ αἵματι, en tō autou haimati) focuses on the cross which was a public event; (3) the term demonstrate (εἰς ἔνδειξιν, eis endeixin) argues well for a public presentation; (4) the faithfulness of Jesus Christ refers primarily, then, to his cross obedience which was public; (5) the focus on the present time (ἐν τῷ νῦν καιρῷ, en tō nun kairō) in 3:26 refers to the present time in light of Christ’s coming, death, and resurrection which was all public; (6) it is connected to the term satisfaction which has as its focus the physical reality of the cross, and is, therefore, external and public in focus; (7) the use of the accusative object complement, i.e., “God publicly displayed him a satisfaction for sin” fits better with the translation “publicly displayed” rather than "purposed."38

There has also been no little discussion over the meaning of satisfaction (ἱλαστήριον, hilastērion). It has been argued that since the term is used twenty-one out of twenty-seven times in the Septuagint to refer to the mercy seat, that this is its meaning here too. Further, the only other NT usage of the term in Hebrews 9:5 suggests that this is its meaning in Romans 3:25. There it describes the altar in the most holy place (holy of holies) where the blood was sprinkled in the OT ritual on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur). Thus Paul it appears that Paul is saying that God displayed Jesus as the “mercy seat,” the place where propitiation was accomplished. Thus Christ is the fulfillment or antitype of the OT image. The fact that the definite article is not used with hilastērion is not a serious objection to this view. The contention that such an interpretation requires too much knowledge of the OT cultus is not damaging either. We may be well assured that in a church with both Jew and Gentile, where the LXX was undoubtedly taught, knowledge of Leviticus 16 and the "Day of Atonement" ritual was well known.

Further, some (e.g., Dodd) have contended that all meaning of “just wrath” is absent from hilastērion, but in a context dealing specifically with the wrath of God, i.e., 1:18-3:20, this is most unlikely. The term is best understood, then, to bring together twin aspects of God relationship to sinners, that is, expiation and propitiation. Respectively, God has removed our sin (expiation) and his anger is satiated against us (i.e., he is propitiated toward us).

3:25a-26 Paul says that there was a reason God accomplished propitiation in Christ on the cross. It was to demonstrate his righteousness because up to this point he had not dealt eternally with the question of man’s sin and guilt—he had passed over sins previously committed (τὴν πάρεσιν τῶν προγεγονότων ἁμαρτημάτων, tēn paresin tōn progegonotōn hamartēmatōn). The cross, however, is the answer, publicly given, to the accusation that God himself is sinful since he had not openly dealt with sin.

But in the process of demonstrating his deep seated, eternal hatred for sin—i.e., his holiness and justice, he is at once the one who condemns sin as well as the one who justifies the person who lives because of the faithfulness of Christ. The phrase just and the justifier (δίκαιον καὶ δικαιοῦντα, dikaion kai dikaiounta) might also be rendered, “just, even when he justifies.…”

3:27 Paul’s point in v. 27 follows naturally from 3:21-26 and indeed from all the previous material commencing in 1:18. When the apostle asks where then is boasting (Ποῦ οὖν ἡ καύχησις, pou oun hē kauchēsis)—a question particularly addressed to the Jews—the answer is rather obvious. Wherever it is, it is not included in salvation. Indeed, it is excluded (ἐξεκλείσθη, exekleisthē), “shut out,” “eliminated,” as it were. There is absolutely no room in one’s salvation for boasting since salvation is, from beginning to end, a work of God on behalf of depraved, lawless people (Eph 2:8-9). The principle of faith (πιστίς, pistis), that is, having to place sheer trust in God, as opposed to my own efforts (cf. 4:1ff), by the very nature of the case, excludes boasting in human achievement.

3:28 Again Paul hammers home his point. A person is declared righteous by faith apart from works of the law (δικαιοῦσθαι πίστει ἄνθρωπον χωρὶς ἔργων νόμου, dikaiousthai pistei anthrōpon chōris ergōn nomou). This statement, along with vv. 29-30, brings to a conclusion what Paul has been arguing thus far and prepares the reader for the OT example of Abraham to come in chapter 4.

3:29-30 Since God is the God of the Gentiles as well as the Jews, it follows that justification for all men must come apart from the law which was given solely to the Jews.

The oneness of God was a belief properly basic to Judaism and proclaimed by every devout Jew each day (cf. Deut 6:4). Here Paul appeals to this doctrine, claiming that since God is one (εἷς ὁ θεὸς, eis ho theos), he must have the same salvific concern for the Gentile as he does for the Jew. The Judaism of Paul’s day, however, did not draw the same conclusion from God’s essential unity. The only way a Gentile could be rightly related to God was to become a proselyte to Judaism, including coming under the yoke of the Law. And even then, Gentiles were always Gentiles, never quite up to the level of Jews by birth; in the eyes of the Jew, they had no natural claim on God. Paul says, however, that God is interested in the Gentiles apart from the Law and that contrary to certain Jewish expectations, the Gentiles are saved through the same faith that saves a Jew. 

3:31 It is true that salvation is by grace through faith apart from the Law, but this does not mean that it has no essential relationship to the Law. Verse 31, due to the ambiguous nature of the comment, has given rise to various interpretations and modifications within similar interpretations. Two important questions are: (1) what is its relationship to 4:1ff and (2) what is the meaning of “law,” “nullify” and “uphold”? We will treat these questions in reverse order.

First, what is the meaning of “law,” “nullify” and “uphold”? Some argue that what Paul means by “law” is the OT as a whole in that it generally points or testifies to his doctrine of “righteousness by faith apart from the works of the law.” The primary support for this idea is that Paul says as much in 3:21. The problem with this view, here in v. 31, however, is that the term law (νόμος, nomos) stands alone and is not combined with “prophets” (as it is in 3:21) Also, the contrast between “upholding” the law versus “nullifying” it is not well established on this meaning. Further, this interpretation does not seem to give proper weight to the contrast between “works of the law” and “faith” in its understanding of the function of “law” (as “testifying”) in v. 31. Finally, the text does not say, “the law is upheld by this faith,” it says “we uphold” [the law by this faith]. This makes it unlikely that Paul intends here that our righteousness by faith was testified to in the OT. This may be true, but here in Romans 3:31 something other than the prophetic witness of the OT seems to be in mind.

Others argue that faith upholds the law in the sense that since the law condemns us all, as Paul argued in 3:19-20, faith alone is the only means of salvation. This is what the law was meant to teach us and to assert that salvation is by faith alone is not to nullify the law in its condemnatory role, but it is indeed to establish the truthfulness of the law in its evaluation of mankind. This, of course, is similar to what Paul teaches in Galatians 3:19-21, 24. But, it is difficult to see how “nullifying” the law and “upholding” it make much sense in this view.

We have said that the “righteousness of God” refers to a perfect legal standing with God (3:21-25). But Paul has argued that this perfect legal standing with God is not earned by works, rather it is received by faith. But, this doctrine—i.e., that justification comes by faith, not by works of the Law—has led to many Jews indicting Paul for antinomianism, that is, accusing him of a complete disregard for the Law and performing its works. It is to this accusation that verse 31 is ultimately directed. In verse 31 Paul is saying that justification by faith does not nullify obedience to the demands of God expressed in the Law, rather it upholds those righteous demands and is the only way they can truly be met. This interpretation is based on taking Law in v. 31 as referring to the demand of the law not to its prophetic witness to the present age of salvation nor to its role in exposing sin.

Verse 31, then, brings a conclusion to 3:27-31 and does not lead one directly into 4:1ff. The transition to 4:1ff came in 3:27-30. The truth of verse 31, that faith really upholds the demands of the law, is ambiguous and will be further unpacked in light of the ministry of the Spirit in 8:4ff and expressed in the context of the new community in 13:9-10.

F. Homiletical Idea and Outline

Idea: God’s Righteousness Given to Us by Faith…

I. Is Apart from Any Works We Could Do (3:21)

A. Apart from the Law

B. The Law and the Prophets

II. Is through the Faithfulness of Christ (3:22a)

III. Is for All of Us (3:22b-23)

A. For All Who Believe (3:22b-c)

B. There Is no Distinction (3:22c-23)

IV. Is Freely Given via Christ’s Redemptive Act (3:24)

A. By Grace (3:24)

B. Through the Redemption in Christ (3:24)

V. Is Rooted in God’s Justice (3:25-26)

A. Christ as the Satisfaction for Sin (3:25a)

B. God’s Justice Is not Compromised (3:25b-26)

VI. Excludes Any Boasting (3:27-30)

A. Because Justification Is by Faith (3:27-28)

B. All Men Are Justified by Faith (3:39-30)

VII. Upholds the Law (3:31)

G. Contribution of Passage to Systematic Theology

This passage stands at the very heart of Romans 1:18-15:13 and indeed Paul’s entire doctrine of soteriology (i.e., salvation). First, justification is the act of declaring a sinner righteous and acquitting him/her of all charges and condemnation. Second, the passage clearly affirms that justification is received by faith apart from works of any kind. Third, God justifies sinners by grace on the basis of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Fourth, God’s wrath against sinners has been totally satiated through Christ’s sacrifice. Fifth, in the act of justifying sinners God’s justice has in no way been compromised, for the total just payment for sin has been met in Christ. Sixth, salvation theology and the universal offer of the gospel rest on God’s essential unity and His position as creator of all men; we must never divorce proper creation theology from salvation theology. To do so is to bring an end to biblical Christianity. Seventh, faith does not nullify the righteous demands of the law. Rather, it is through faith that the holy demands of the law are upheld.

Our text reveals the basis, the effects, and the consequences of Noah’s faith. The author wants us to be imitators of this man, who through faith and patience inherited the promises (6:13). Of all the examples in Hebrews 11, this is the only one in which the unseen future involves judgment, rather than rewards. It shows us that faith regards both God’s warnings and His promises. God only brings judgment after multiple warnings, but many will be surprised when judgment comes, because they ignored the warnings. But, people of faith heed the warnings.

1. The basis of Noah’s faith: He believed God’s word regarding the coming judgment.

You can see a hurricane warning on TV. The radar picture shows a huge mass of swirling clouds heading toward where you live. They report the wind speed. It’s all quite visible. But,

A. GOD’S WORD OF WARNING CONCERNS THINGS NOT YET SEEN.

God warned Noah “about things not yet seen,” and His warning would have seemed incredible. Before Noah’s day, there had never been a flood and probably it had never even rained. A vapor canopy may have covered the earth, and a mist used to rise from the earth and water the ground (Gen. 2:5-6). And so the warning about a flood that would kill all life on earth was unprecedented and unseen.

This ties in with 11:1, that faith is “the proof of things not seen.” Faith hears the word of the unseen God regarding events that are not yet seen and brings them into present experience. Alexander Maclaren put it, “The far-off flood was more real to him than the shows of life around him. Therefore he could stand all the gibes, and gave himself to a course of life which was sheer folly unless that future was real” (Expositions of Holy Scripture [Baker], on Gen. 6:9-22, p. 54).

Could you say that the course of your life is sheer folly unless God’s promise of heaven and His warnings about hell are real? Faith in God believes that He is able to guard the deposit that we have entrusted to Him until that day (2 Tim. 1:12). Faith lays up treasures in heaven, where they are eternally secure (Matt. 6:19-21; 1 Tim. 6:19). If the resurrection of our bodies and eternity with God in heaven are myths, then we should be of all people most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:19). The world should be able to look at our lives—how we spend our time and money—and say, as they no doubt said about Noah, “This guy is nuts! He lives as if there really is a coming judgment!”

B. GOD’S WORD OF WARNING CONCERNED JUDGMENT THAT WAS DELAYED, BUT ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN.

Enoch named his son Methuselah, which means, “when he is dead, it will come.” What will come? If you do the math in the genealogies of Genesis, you discover that Methuselah died in the year of the flood! When Methuselah was dead, God’s judgment came! Do you know why Methuselah lived the longest of any recorded human life? It is to show God’s great patience before He brought judgment on this wicked earth.

In Genesis 6:3, God said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” This probably means that there would be 120 years until the judgment of the flood. The earth was so wicked that, without apology, God could have judged it on the spot (Gen. 6:5). But in His grace and patience, He delayed judgment for over a century, while Noah built the ark (see 1 Pet. 3:20).

Peter tells us that in the end times, mockers will say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.” But, as Peter goes on to explain, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:4, 9).

So the delay of God’s judgment is because of His great patience and grace. But don’t mistake the delay for uncertainty! Noah could have thought, “One hundred and twenty years is a long ways off,” and procrastinated on building the ark. But he didn’t do that. As soon as he heard God’s warning about the coming judgment, he went to work building the ark. It took him over a century to complete, but he kept at it. It seemed crazy to the world, but it all suddenly made sense when the sky began to pour rain and the fountains of the deep opened up. But then it was too late!

Jesus said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be” (Matt. 24:37-39). The people of Noah’s day went on with the normal activities of life, oblivious to the repeated warnings of judgment, until it was too late. The Book of Revelation shows that this evil world will be going on full steam ahead, doing business, pursuing pleasure, and scoffing at the idea of a coming judgment. But in one hour, judgment will fall. It will be thorough and completely devastating (Rev. 18:8, 10, 17).

The basis of Noah’s faith was God’s word of warning about things not yet seen. These things were delayed, but certain.

C. GOD’S WORD OF WARNING REQUIRED FAITH IN THE FACE OF THE WORLD’S CONDEMNATION.

The bottom line for Noah was either to believe the evil people around him, who seemed to be having a great time sinning, or to believe what God said about the coming judgment. As far as Scripture records, he had no others to stand with him, except for his immediate family. Although Scripture does not record it, there can be no doubt that the world would have ridiculed a man who spent a fortune over a century building a huge ship on dry ground, miles from any ocean! It must have been the best entertainment for miles around, to go over and watch old Noah work on his ship! There are some pretty crazy men in this world, but Noah had to be near the top of the list!

But in spite of having no friends to support him in his labors, and in spite of over a century of being thought of as the world’s greatest nut case, Noah believed the word of God. That is the kind of faith that escapes the judgment that is yet coming on this evil world. You must stand alone, if need be, against the mockery of the world, and believe that God’s Word is true! The basis for Noah’s faith and for ours is the word of God. Count it as true!

2. The effects of Noah’s faith: Out of reverential fear, he steadfastly obeyed God’s directive about salvation.

Verse 7 continues, “in reverence [Noah] prepared an ark.” Noah’s faith changed his affections; and, it changed his actions.

A. NOAH’S FAITH CHANGED HIS AFFECTIONS (EMOTIONS).

Noah’s faith in God’s warning moved him to reverential fear of God. Noah did not just fear the impending judgment; he also feared the God who threatened such judgment, knowing that He is fully capable of bringing it about. The God who spoke the universe into existence out of nothing (11:3) is quite capable of commanding a flood to destroy all human life on earth. He is able to bring the terrible judgments described in the Book of Revelation. Faith in this omnipotent God should move our hearts to reverential fear.

Jonathan Edwards, in his Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, develops the thesis, “True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections” (in The Works of Jonathan Edwards [Banner of Truth], 1:236). He means that genuine religion is not just a matter of the head, but also of the heart. If we have genuine faith in God, we will not only be moved by love in response to His great love; we also will be moved by reverential fear in response to His holiness and His warnings of the judgment to come.

Sometimes we who are not Pentecostals are uncomfortable with any show of emotion in spiritual things. We’ve encountered people who gush with emotion, but their understanding of biblical truth is shallow, at best. But, it is a mistake to swing to the other extreme of denying the validity of emotions in response to the truth. God’s truth should not only fill our heads; it should grip our hearts. Alexander Maclaren said, “Do not be afraid of feeling which is the child of faith. Be very much more afraid of a religion that leaves your heart beating just exactly at the same rate that it did before you took the truth into it” (ibid., on Heb. 11:7, p. 117). But, Noah didn’t stop with his affections.

B. NOAH’S FAITH CHANGED HIS ACTIONS (BEHAVIOR).

“In reverence [he] prepared an ark for the salvation of his household.” There is a whole lot of obedience packed into that short phrase, “he prepared an ark”! Sometimes you hear about a guy who builds a fishing boat in his back yard, but Noah built an ocean liner! It was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high! Can you imagine what Mrs. Noah must have thought when her husband told her what he planned to do? This wasn’t a weekend hobby; it was all-consuming for 120 years!

Think of the excuses that Noah (not to mention Mrs. Noah) could have used to argue with God: “It will cost too much!” “It’s not feasible!” “It will take too long!” “How will I support my family while I’m building this thing?” “A boat that size will never float.” But Noah set aside all excuses and persevered in obedience until it was done. Twice Genesis reports that Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him (Gen. 6:22; 7:5).

Some may think of faith as an ethereal, impractical sort of thing. But Noah’s faith took up axe, hammer, and saw and built a ship in his back yard! His faith cost him a lot of time, money, and ridicule for over a century. Peter tells us that Noah was a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet. 2:5). Perhaps he stopped his work at times to preach to the mockers who gathered to watch this incredible sight. But he didn’t allow the jeers to stop him. His faith caused him to do all that God had commanded him.

There are those who argue that you can believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, but that it is not necessary for salvation to receive Him as your Lord. They are sincerely trying to hold to the biblical teaching that salvation is through faith alone, apart from any works.

But they are badly mistaken about the nature of saving faith. We are saved by faith alone, but genuine saving faith by its very nature always results in a radical change of heart and habits. Faith that does not result in good works is dead (James 2:14-26). Many Christians have memorized Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” But we should also learn Ephesians 2:10: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we would walk in them.”

Noah could have said, “I believe that God is going to judge the whole world with a terrible flood.” But if he had not built the ark and climbed on board, he would have perished in the flood. To save himself and his household from the flood, Noah had to translate his faith into what Eugene Peterson called, “a long obedience in the same direction” (the phrase comes from Nietzsche; see, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction [IVP], p. 13). In the same way, a faith that saves us from the wrath to come, out of reverential fear, persists in obedience to Jesus Christ.

The basis of Noah’s faith was that he believed God’s word about the coming judgment. The effects of his faith were a change in his affections and in his actions.

3. The consequences of Noah’s faith: He saved his family, he condemned the world, and he became an heir of the righteousness according to faith.

A. BY FAITH, NOAH SAVED HIS FAMILY.

The story in Genesis does not mention the spiritual salvation of Noah’s family, but only about the fact that they were saved from drowning in the flood. But at the very least, his wife and sons and their wives, must have believed enough in what Noah told them to join him in the ark. His sons were all born after he began to build the ark (compare Gen. 5:32; 6:3; 7:6). But as they grew up, it would have been easy for them to become embarrassed about their weird father and be swayed by the taunts of the world. They could have moved to a different locale, distanced themselves from their father, and they would have perished in the flood. They believed enough to stay with him and get on board when God gave the command. Noah’s faith in God had a powerful effect on his family.

Scripture gives no absolute guarantees that all of our children will be saved. Proverbs 22:6 says that if we train them in the way they should go, when they are old they will not depart from it. But like all of the proverbs, that is not a guaranteed promise. It’s a general rule. But while we have no guarantees, the Bible is clear that a godly father has a powerful influence on his children (see also, Deut. 7:9; Psalms 112, 127 & 128). The Bible declares that Noah was a righteous man of integrity (“blameless”), who walked with God (Gen. 6:9). Dads, if you will be such a man, it will be a powerful influence toward saving your children from this evil generation.

B. BY FAITH, NOAH’S LIFE AND WORDS CONDEMNED THE WORLD.

Noah condemned the world in the sense that his righteous life of faith exposed their unrighteous lives of unbelief, thus aggravating their guilt (see Matt. 12:41-42). Noah didn’t have a judgmental, holier-than-thou spirit. He knew that he was a sinner saved by God’s grace. But his life of obedient faith was like a bright light taken into a dark cave. It exposed all of the bats hanging in there! If it hadn’t been for Noah, perhaps someone from that godless generation could have argued, “But I never knew how to live in a godly manner. I never heard about God’s impending judgment.” But Noah robbed them of all their excuses.

As Christians, we should never display a judgmental spirit towards this sinful world. Except for God’s grace, we would still be in our sins. But, as light in the Lord, it is inevitable that we will expose the evil deeds around us. In Ephesians 5:3-12, Paul instructs us that no immorality, impurity, or greed should even be mentioned among us, as is fitting among saints, and no filthiness or coarse jesting. He explains, “Because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” He goes on to tell us to walk as children of Light, not participating in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead to expose them.

At the very least, his words mean that believers should be distinct from this evil world. We should not watch the same movies and TV shows that the world watches. We should not fill our minds with scenes of sensuality and violence. Someone may object, “If I don’t stay up on where the world is at, how can I interact intelligently with worldly people?” My answer: you can learn all you need by reading the reviews. When worldly people ask, “Did you see the latest [R-rated] movie?” you should reply, “I don’t go to R-rated movies.” Watch their jaws drop open, and be ready to tell them about God’s holiness and the coming judgment. If you’re thinking, “How out of it can you get?” the answer is, “Out of it enough that you’d build an ark in the desert to avoid God’s judgment if you had to!”

C. BY FAITH, NOAH BECAME AN HEIR OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS ACCORDING TO FAITH.

The word righteous is used in two ways in the Bible. It is used of the righteousness of faith, or imputed righteousness (Rom. 3:21-4:25). When a person trusts in Christ as his sin-bearer, God credits the righteousness of Jesus Christ to his account. This is a judicial action, where God not only declares us “not guilty,” but also “positively righteous,” because we receive an alien righteousness, that of Jesus Christ. We saw this with regard to Abel (Heb. 11:4). That is how the word is used of Noah in our text.

The word righteous is also used of the right conduct that stems from being declared righteous by faith. When Genesis 6:9 says that Noah was righteous and blameless, it is referring to his godly life that flowed out of his being justified by faith. He did not find favor with God (Gen. 6:8) because of his righteous life (Gen. 6:9). Rather, because he found favor (grace) with God, he lived a righteous life.

Noah was an heir of the righteousness according to faith in the sense that he possessed the title to it, but he didn’t receive the reward of the inheritance until he died. As believers in Christ, we are heirs with Him (Rom. 8:17), but we don’t actually get the inheritance until we are with Him in heaven.

Conclusion

Just as the ark was the only means of salvation from God’s judgment for Noah and his family, so the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way that God has provided for salvation from His coming judgment on the whole world. Everyone on board the ark was saved. Everyone not on the ark was lost. Everyone who has trusted in Christ’s shed blood will be saved. Everyone who has trusted in anything else will be lost. In Noah’s day, it wasn’t a matter of being an excellent swimmer! As Bill Cosby used to tell the story, God asks Noah, “How long can you tread water?” You can’t be good enough to merit salvation. The crucial question is, “By faith have you obediently responded to God’s warning by ‘getting on board’ Jesus Christ?”

God has issued a clear warning: A “Category 5” storm of judgment is heading toward everyone who dwells on earth! The door of His ark is still open. Flee to Christ and you will be saved. Scoff at the warning and you will be lost forever. Imitate Noah’s faith and obedience. Join him as an heir of the righteousness according to faith.

Because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, we must believe it and proclaim it boldly.

1. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

To proclaim the gospel boldly or unashamedly, we must believe it. But to believe it, we must understand it. The gospel is all about salvation. So I want to explore five statements about salvation that stem from our text.

A. SALVATION IS THE MAIN NEED OF EVERY PERSON.

This anticipates the point that Paul makes from 1:18 through 3:20, where he shows that all have sinned and thus fall under God’s righteous condemnation. Because all have sinned, whether the religious Jew or the worldly Greek, all are alienated from God, who is absolutely righteous. Thus all are under God’s wrath, as Paul immediately explains (1:18), “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”

Salvation refers to being rescued from God’s wrath and judgment that we deserve because of our sin. It means being delivered from the penalty of sin, which happens the moment we believe; being delivered from the power of sin, as we grow in godliness; and, being delivered from the very presence of sin when we stand blameless in His presence in glory (Jude 24). John Piper argues that Paul’s main focus here is this future aspect of salvation (see his sermons on this text on desiringgod.org). Salvation also has many positive aspects, such as enjoying a reconciled relationship with God (Rom. Rom. 5:1), and receiving all of the unfathomable riches of Christ (Eph. 1:3; 3:8).

But if we think that we need to “sell” the gospel by glossing over the negative aspects of salvation and focusing only on the positive side of it, we fall into the sin of being ashamed of the gospel. We do not need God’s salvation and Christ did not need to die on the cross if we’re all basically good people who just need a little encouragement to be right with God. We do not need a crucified Savior if our main need is to polish our self-esteem and learn some helpful hints for happy living.

We need a Savior who was crucified for our sins because we all by nature are ungodly rebels who are under God’s righteous wrath. This is offensive to the natural man, but if we pull our punches on this point, we miss the very heart of the gospel. The gospel is only good news to the person who realizes that he needs to be saved or he will eternally perish.

B. SALVATION REQUIRES THE VERY POWER OF GOD.

The gospel does not tell people about the power of God. Rather, it is “the power of God for salvation.” This means that salvation is not something that sinners can attain by their own efforts or good works. If that were so, Christ did not need to die on the cross. Salvation is not a joint project, where God has done His part and now you must contribute your part. You may be thinking, “But don’t I need to believe?” Yes, as we will see in a moment, salvation is received and sustained by faith alone from start to finish. But saving faith, which includes repentance, is not something that sinners can produce on their own. It is the gift of God, so that we will not boast (Eph. 2:8-9; Phil. 1:29; 1 Cor. 1:30-31; Acts 11:18; 13:48).

It is crucial to see that salvation does not depend on a human decision, but on the very power of God. It requires that God impart new life to a dead sinner, something that is impossible for men to bring about. When Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth” (John 11:43), the bystanders may have thought, “Is He crazy? He’s speaking to a dead man who has been in the tomb for four days!” But the power of God through the word of Jesus imparted life to a dead man. The gospel is like that.

When the rich young ruler walked away from eternal life, Jesus commented to the disciples (Matt. 19:23, 25, 26), “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” The disciples were “very astonished and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’” Jesus replied, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” In other words, “Salvation is from the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). It requires the very power of God. The gospel is not helpful advice that a person may decide to try out. It is the very power of God imparting new life and salvation to those who were dead in their sins and under God’s just wrath and condemnation. So, as Thomas Schreiner puts it (Romans [Baker], p. 60), “The preaching of the Word does not merely make salvation possible but effects salvation in those who are called.”

C. SALVATION DEMANDS THAT THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD BE UPHELD AND APPLIED TO THE GUILTY SINNER.

In verse 17, Paul explains why the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed….” Before we go on, note that the gospel is not the result of the religious genius of Paul or the other apostles. Rather, it is revealed to us by God through His Son. In Galatians 1:15, Paul explains his own conversion by saying, “But when God who had set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me ….” So the gospel comes to us by revelation from God that centers in His Son.

Also, note (as Bishop Moule points out, The Epistle to the Romans [Christian Literature Crusade], p. 32), Paul does not lead off with the love of God in the gospel, but rather with the righteousness of God. Certainly, the gospel displays God’s love for sinners (Rom. 5:8). But the love of God is not a stumbling block or foolishness to sinners (1 Cor. 1:23). They rather like the idea! If God is loving, but not so righteous, then it’s easy to view Him as our good buddy in the sky. But the righteousness of God presents a problem, because we all know that we have sinned. If God is righteous and we are not, then we need a Savior.

But what does Paul mean when he says that in the gospel, “the righteousness of God is revealed”? There are three main options. First, he may mean that God’s attribute of righteousness, the fact that He always does what is right, is revealed to us in the gospel. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Romans: The Gospel of God [Zondervan], p. 298) strongly rejects this meaning here, because he says that then the gospel would not be good news, but rather terrifying news. But with some fear and trembling, I must disagree slightly with Lloyd-Jones. I agree that this is not Paul’s primary meaning here, but if a person has no concept of the absolute righteousness of God, then he does not understand his precarious and frightening position of being under God’s wrath as an unrighteous sinner (Rom. 1:18). So the gospel reveals God’s righteous character, which shows us our desperate need for salvation. It should drive us to the cross.

Second, by “the righteousness of God,” Paul may be referring to God’s saving power in being faithful to His covenant promises. The Old Testament often refers to God’s righteousness as His salvation of His people (Ps. 71:2; 98:2; Isa. 46:13; Schreiner, p. 66, lists many other references).

Third, by “the righteousness of God,” Paul is referring to the righteousness that comes from God, which He gives to those who believe. F. F. Bruce (Romans [IVP/Eerdmans], p. 73) argues that in the Old Testament, which forms the main background of Paul’s thought and language, righteousness is not so much a moral quality as rather a legal status. He says (p. 74), “God himself is righteous, and those men and women are righteous who are ‘in the right’ in relation to God and his law.” He adds,

When, therefore, the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, it is revealed in a twofold manner. The gospel tells us first how men and women, sinners as they are, can come to be ‘in the right’ with God and second how God’s personal righteousness is vindicated in the very act of declaring sinful men and women ‘righteous’.

This third meaning is Paul’s primary thought in verse 17. The gospel reveals how sinners may be righteous or justified before God by faith. We know that this is his meaning by comparing the parallels between Romans 1:17 and 3:21-26. There we read,

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

God’s righteousness is revealed in the gospel in that He can grant right standing to sinners because His Son met the righteous requirement of His perfect Law and died to pay the penalty that sinners deserve. Thus sinners are not justified by their own righteousness by keeping the Law (gal. 3:11), but rather by God imputing the righteousness of Christ to them by faith. Paul states this plainly in Philippians 3, where he contrasts his former attempts to be righteous by keeping the Law with his present experience with Christ, where he says (Phil. 3:9), “not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.” Salvation upholds God’s righteousness by applying it to the sinner who believes. That leads to the fourth point about salvation:

D. SALVATION IS BY FAITH FROM START TO FINISH.

Paul mentions believing or faith four times in these two verses: “to everyone who believes”; “from faith to faith”; and, “the righteous man shall live by faith.” If salvation comes through faith plus good works (as the Roman Catholic Church teaches and all of the cults teach), then it is not good news, because you could never know whether you have piled up enough good works to qualify. But if God declares guilty sinners to be righteous or justified the instant they believe, that is good news!

But, we need to be clear on several things here. First, saving faith in Christ is not a general belief that He is the Savior. The demons believe that, but they are not saved. Rather, saving faith has three elements. First, with the mind we must understand the content of the gospel: who Jesus is, what His death on the cross means, and that He was raised from the dead. Second, we must have a heart response to the truth of the gospel, where we agree that it is true and our agreement causes our hearts to be sorrowful about our sin, but also to rejoice in the free offer of God’s grace. Third, saving faith includes commitment to Christ, where we trust in Him and His death on the cross as our only hope of eternal life and we follow Him as Lord. Saving faith is not a work that we do, but rather simply receiving all that God offers to us in Christ. It is the hand that receives the free gift of God.

Second, we need to understand what Paul means by the phrase, “from faith to faith.” Commentators offer many different views, but I think Paul is emphasizing the centrality of faith in receiving the benefits of the gospel (Schreiner, p. 72). The NIV translates, “by faith from first to last.” We receive the gospel by faith and we go on living by faith.

This is supported by the fact that “believes” (1:16) is a present participle, bringing out the fact that saving faith is not a single event, but rather an ongoing, lifelong process. We are justified the instant we believe, but as we go on believing the gospel, God keeps revealing to us the fact that we have right standing before Him on the basis of Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross. Faith applies the imputed righteousness of Christ to us so that we increasingly rejoice in Christ alone as our only hope of eternal life. We never come to a place where we can trust in our good works as sufficient for or even contributing in any way to our salvation.

Third, we need to understand how Paul uses Habakkuk 2:4, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” He uses it partly to show that his gospel is not a new idea that he thought up. The Old Testament prophet Habakkuk confirms the truth that righteousness can only be attained on the basis of faith.

Scholars debate whether the quote should be translated, “the righteous man shall live by faith,” or, “the one who is righteous by faith shall live.” The first view would emphasize that those who are righteous are characterized by a life of faith, whereas the second view would say that those who by faith are righteous shall live, which means, be saved. While there are impressive scholars on both sides, I think that in light of the context, Paul is using the quote to say, “The one who is righteous (justified) by faith will live, that is, be saved” (see Bruce, p. 76; Leon Morris, The Epistle to the Romans [Eerdmans/Apollos], pp. 71-72; Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans [Eerdmans], pp. 76-79).

E. SALVATION IS INDIVIDUAL AND PERSONAL, NOT CORPORATE AND NATIONAL.

Paul says that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” He could have said, “for the Jews [plural] first and also to the Greeks [plural],” but he put it in the singular. Salvation is an individual and personal matter. Being a member of the Jewish race will not get you saved, even though the Jews were God’s chosen people. Being an American or a member of a Christian family will not get you saved. You must personally believe in Christ.

By “the Jew first,” Paul means that the gospel came first in history to the Jews. God chose Abraham and his descendants through Isaac and Jacob as the race to which He revealed His salvation. It was through the Jews that the Savior came. Thus, as Jesus said, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22).

But here Paul’s emphasis is on the universal offer of the gospel. It is for everyone who will believe. It is for the religious Jew who will believe and it is for the pagan Greek who will believe. None need be excluded. The good news is for you, whatever your background! Are you a self-righteous, religious, moral person? You must not trust in any of these things, but as a sinner receive the righteousness of Christ by faith. Are you an atheist or an immoral person or a greedy, cheating businessman? You must turn from these sins and cry out to God to be merciful to you, the sinner, and you will go home justified today (Luke 18:9-14). The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

2. Because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, we must believe it.

I ask, “Have you believed the gospel?” Have you abandoned all of your self-righteousness and all of your good works as the basis for your standing before God and instead trusted only in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Do you believe this good news when you fail and Satan accuses you? On the basis of your right standing before God, do you daily battle against sin, so that your attitudes and behavior are progressively righteous? Is God’s power to save you from the power of sin evident in your relationships in the home?

3. Because the gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, we must proclaim it boldly.

I could develop an entire message on this point, but I’m out of time. But I ask, “Are you ashamed of the gospel?” Do you dodge warning people about the wrath of God, because that isn’t a popular idea? Do you avoid telling them about the shed blood of Christ as the only remedy for sin, because it sounds kind of primitive? Do you put a positive spin on the gospel, so that it sounds like a positive plan for how to have a happy life here and now? If so, you’re being ashamed of the gospel.

Conclusion

The gospel is the good news that God has revealed to us how we can be rescued from the wrath to come (1 Thess. 1:5-10). It is the very power of God to save everyone who believes, because in it God reveals how His perfect righteousness will be put to the account of the guilty sinner who trusts in Christ. I pray that we will understand the gospel, believe it personally, preach it to ourselves every day, and proclaim it unashamedly to this lost world.

Paul begins in chapter 4 to answer the three questions he has raised at the end of chapter 3. These questions begin to interpret and apply Paul’s teaching in the first three chapters of Romans and serve as an introduction to what follows. Those three questions are:

• Where is boasting? (3:27-28)
• Is God the God of the Jews only, or of the Gentiles also? (3:29-30)
• Is the Law nullified by salvation by faith? (3:31)

The entire fourth chapter of Romans surrounds Abraham, the Old Testament patriarch. Abraham’s faith in God’s promise of His blessings through Abraham’s seed is the central issue. This promised “seed” would come about through a son, whom he and Sarai would have. His belief in God’s promise of this son was reckoned to him as righteousness. Chapter 4 can be divided into three major segments:

• Abraham’s justification by faith alone, apart from works (4:1-8)
• Abraham’s justification by faith, as a Gentile, before circumcision (4:9-17)
• Abraham’s resurrection faith is just like that required today (4:17-25)112

Review of Abraham’s Life

In the Old and New Testament, Abraham113 is named in 230 verses. References to Abraham (or Abram) in Genesis 11–25:10 disclose biographical incidents in the life of Abraham. From this point on, the 135 remaining references to Abraham point back to these historical events. Paul’s argument in Romans 4 assumes some grasp of the events of Abraham’s life. As a background to our study, we must consider a brief overview of the major events in the life of Abraham, the father of our faith.

Originally Abram114 came from the land of Ur of the Chaldeans (Genesis 11:28). Terah, Abram’s father, took Abram and Lot as far as Haran where they settled. God instructed Abraham to leave Haran and go to the place He would show him. There, God promised to bless Abraham by making of him a great nation, and by blessing the entire world though his seed (Genesis 12:1-3). Abram obeyed, taking along Lot, his nephew. When a famine occurred in Canaan, Abram went to Egypt. Fearing he might be killed and his still beautiful wife might be taken in marriage, Abram passed off his wife Sarai as his sister. This put at risk the promised “seed,” which would come through Abram and Sarai. Pharaoh took Sarai into his harem, but God prevented a consummation of this “marriage.” Pharaoh learned Sarai was Abram’s wife and rebuked him, escorting him back to the land of Canaan (12:10-20).

After Abram and Lot were separated (Genesis 13), Lot was taken captive, and Abram went to his rescue. After Lot’s successful recovery, Abram met Melchizedek, a mysterious king to whom Abram offered a tithe (Genesis 14). Reiterating His covenant with Abram and promising him a son, Abraham believed God’s promise, and his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:1-6). God further told Abram of the 400 years his descendants would be mistreated in a foreign land, after which they would possess the land of Canaan (15:12-21).

As the years passed, Abram and Sarai became concerned, since no son had yet been given them by God. They decided that it was only necessary for Abram to father the child and that Hagar could serve as the mother of the child, in Sarai’s place. At age 86, through Hagar, Abram and Sarah had a son, Ishmael. This son was not the “son of promise,” but God would care for the land as He had said (16:1-16).

At age 99, 24 years after God first promised a “seed” for Abraham, God reaffirmed His covenant with Abram and Sarai. He changed Abram’s name to Abraham and Sarai’s name to Sarah. The next year, God promised, they would have a son. God commanded Abraham to be circumcised and to circumcise all the males in his household. Circumcision was to be a sign of God’s (Abrahamic) covenant for all generations to come. Thus, years after he was declared to be righteous, on the basis of his faith (Genesis 17),115Abraham was circumcised.

God told Abraham, His friend, what He was about to do with the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18 and 19). Abraham pled with God to spare these cities, if but a handful of righteous were found. The cities were destroyed, with only Lot and his immediate family spared. Watching from afar, Abram’s spirit was very different from that of Jonah many years later (compare Genesis 19:27-29; Jonah 4:1-11). After repeating his sin of deception in Gerar before Abimelech (Genesis 20), Abraham and Sarah had Isaac (Genesis 21). Sacrificing this son of promise was the greatest test of Abraham’s life, but it revealed that Abraham had finally come to trust in God as the One able to give life to the dead. Abram no longer needed to lie or to be afraid (Genesis 22).

At the age of 127, Sarah died (Genesis 23). Abraham lived yet another 38 years, married again, and fathered more children (25:1-4). Sarah’s burial was a demonstration of Abraham’s faith, for it was necessary to purchase the piece of land which would serve as the family burial site, in Canaan. That land which God had promised to give to Abraham someday was not yet his. He nevertheless bought the parcel of land, on which Sarah, and he, and his descendants could be buried (chapter 23).

As Abraham’s days drew to a close, he became very concerned about finding the right kind of wife for his son, Isaac. Commissioning his most trusted servant to secure a wife for his son, she was not be from among the Canaanites nor was Isaac to be taken back to the land from which he had come. Guided by the hand of God, his trusted servant found Rebekah as a wife for Isaac, from Abraham’s relative, Bethuel (Genesis 24). After this, Abraham died at the ripe old age of 175 (Genesis 25). Chapters 11–25 of Genesis portray 100 years of Abraham’s walk with God, as a sojourner in the land his descendants would one day possess. One fourth of this century of Abraham’s walk was spent in waiting for the son God had promised.

Abraham’s name is mentioned many other times in the Old Testament. Most often in the books of Israel’s history God’s name is mentioned to demonstrate that God’s actions were in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. The consistency of God’s promises and program in history is clearly demonstrated. This same faithfulness is emphasized in the Psalms:

Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. Remember His wonders which He has done, His marvels, and the judgments uttered by His mouth, O seed of Abraham, His servant, O sons of Jacob, His chosen ones! He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant forever, The word which He commanded to a thousand generations, The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant, Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the portion of your inheritance,” When they were only a few men in number, Very few, and strangers in it. And they wandered about from nation to nation, From one kingdom to another people. He permitted no man to oppress them, And He reproved kings for their sakes: “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm” (Psalm 105:4-15).

When Isaiah spoke of the righteousness and salvation God was to provide, as He promised, He called upon His people to think back to their beginnings, in Abraham and Sarah:

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness, Who seek the LORD: Look to the rock from which you were hewn, And to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father, And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; When he was but one I called him, Then I blessed him and multiplied him.” Indeed, the LORD will comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places. And her wilderness He will make like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the LORD; Joy and gladness will be found in her, Thanksgiving and sound of a melody. “Pay attention to Me, O My people; And give ear to Me, O My nation; For a law will go forth from Me, And I will set My justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation has gone forth, And My arms will judge the peoples; The coastlands will wait for Me, And for My arm they will wait expectantly. Lift up your eyes to the sky, Then look to the earth beneath; For the sky will vanish like smoke, And the earth will wear out like a garment, And its inhabitants will die in like manner, But my salvation shall be forever, And My righteousness shall not wane. Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Neither be dismayed at their revilings. For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the grub will eat them like wool. But My righteousness shall be forever, And My salvation to all generations” (Isaiah 51:1-8).

Jeremiah too spoke of Israel’s future deliverance and salvation in terms of the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham (see Jeremiah 23:19-26). Ezekiel likewise called upon Israel to trust in Him, by faith. They were to remember that Abraham, who was but one man, became a great nation because of God’s faithfulness to His promise (see Ezekiel 33:23-29). The final words of Micah’s prophecy remind God’s people of His faithfulness to His covenant promise to Abraham and to his descendants:

“Shepherd Thy people with Thy scepter, The flock of Thy possession Which dwells by itself in the woodland, In the midst of a fruitful field. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead As in the days of old. As in the days when you came out from the land of Egypt, I will show you miracles.” Nations will see and be ashamed Of all their might. They will put their hand on their mouth, Their ears will be deaf. They will lick the dust like a serpent, Like reptiles of the earth. They will come trembling out of their fortresses; To the LORD our God they will come in dread, And they will be afraid before Thee. Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt give truth to Jacob And unchanging love to Abraham, Which Thou didst swear to our forefathers From the days of old (Micah 7:14-20).

These Old Testament prophets spoke of the righteousness and salvation God would provide in fulfillment of His promise to Abraham. That righteousness, like the righteousness of Abraham, was not a righteousness which men earned by their law-keeping, but a righteousness which God Himself would provide through His Messiah, the coming Savior.

Abraham is also a very prominent person in the New Testament. Especially in the Gospels do we see the distorted thinking of the Jews concerning Abraham. The Jews took pride in their physical descent from Abraham, believing that being his seed was synonymous with salvation. John the Baptist immediately challenges this thinking as incorrect:

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. And His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matthew 3:7-12).

Believing they had confirmed reservations in the kingdom of God, the Jews saw the Gentiles as those who would never enter into the blessings promised Abraham. They were wrong. Jesus’ teaching must have rocked the boat of Jewish exclusivism. Consider these instances of Jesus’ teaching which must have horrified the Jews. Note especially Jesus’ references to Abraham, the blessings of God, and the kingdom.

Jesus marveled at and commended the faith of the Gentile centurion:

Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled, and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. And I say to you, that many shall come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:10-12).

Because of his faith, the centurion would be at the banquet table, along with Abraham, but many of the “sons of the kingdom” would be cast into hell. Here was a revolutionary thought to the Jews, but one completely consistent with the Old Testament and with the gospel.

A similar shock was in store for the Jews when Jesus told the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). According to Jewish thinking, the rich man would surely go to heaven while the poor man was surely destined for hell. Jesus reversed the destinies of these two. The rich man was found in hell, and the poor man, Lazarus, went to heaven. Most shocking are the words of the rich man when appealing for mercy:

“Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried. And in Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, ‘ Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ But he said, ‘No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead’” (Luke 16:22-31, emphasis mine).

Imagine this scene and the Jews’ horror at these words from the lips of our Lord. Heaven was, not unexpectedly, “Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). But the rich man, who called out from hell, called out, “Father Abraham” (see verses 24 and 30). Priding themselves that Abraham was their physical forefather, the Jews were self-assured that they would enter into the promised kingdom and the blessings promised Abraham. And now, from the depths of hell, they call out to “Father Abraham.” Surely Jesus was teaching precisely what John the Baptist before Him, and Paul after Him, were teaching: that physical descent from Abraham does not assure anyone of salvation. Salvation is attained through faith and not through the fatherhood of Abraham.

The great showdown between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders was over Jesus’ relationship to Abraham:

Jesus therefore was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s offspring, and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You shall become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. And the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s offspring; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.” They answered and said to Him, “ Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.” The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he shall never taste of death.’ Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know Him, and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” The Jews therefore said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple (John 8:31-59, emphasis mine).

In this passage we see that the Jews emphatically boasted that Abraham was their father (verses 33 and 39). But clearly it was not Abraham who would save the Jews, but the Son (8:36). The Jews in reality, as evidenced by their unbelief, were sons of the devil (verse 44). Those who were truly Abraham’s seed would believe in Him and obey His words. In so doing, they would never see death (verse 51). Did Jesus think Himself better than Abraham, the Jews challenged? Jesus’ final response was, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I AM” (verse 58).

In preaching the gospel to the Jews, Jesus was presented as God’s only provision for entering into the kingdom and experiencing the blessings God promised to provide through Abraham’s seed (see Acts 7:2ff.). Paul adds a very significant note to this whole matter. He points out that the “seed” of Abraham, through whom the blessings were to be poured out on all who believe, Jew or Gentile, was singular. The “seed” was one Person—Jesus; it was not plural, the nation Israel:

Brethren, I speak in terms of human relations: even though it is only a man’s covenant, yet when it has been ratified, no one sets it aside or adds conditions to it. Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Christ (Galatians 3:15-16).

No wonder Paul devotes an entire chapter to Abraham’s justification by faith! Not only does Abraham’s justification prove the Jews wrong for trusting and boasting in Abraham as their physical forefather, but it proves Abraham to be the father of all those who believe in God, by faith!

The Implications of Paul’s Teaching
(3:27-31)

27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man 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 indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

Thus far, Paul has shown that all mankind fails to meet God’s standard of righteousness, all have fallen short of God’s promised blessings and have come under divine condemnation. Jews and Gentiles alike are under God’s wrath and the sentence of death. In His righteousness, God condemns the sin of men. In His righteousness, God has made a provision for man’s justification, by punishing Jesus Christ in our place on the cross of Calvary. All who believe in Jesus Christ and accept His provision of righteousness by faith, are justified, saved by grace.

What does all of this mean? Paul raises three questions at the end of chapter 3 in verses 27-31 which pursue the practical implications of his teaching. He asks and answers each question very briefly. He wants the answer to each question to be clear in the mind of his reader. He then follows up each answer, briefly provided in verses 27-31, with a more extensive explanation in his teaching which follows. Chapter 4 deals directly with the answer to the first two questions. Chapters 6-8 expand on the role of the Law in the life of the believer.

The first question, found in verse 27 is this: What basis does anyone have for boasting concerning salvation? There is no basis for boasting. Men cannot boast about receiving something which they did not earn. Men are saved by faith, on the basis of what God has done through His Son, Jesus Christ. Anyone who boasts in his salvation does not understand grace and may never have received salvation in the first place.

The second question is recorded in verse 29: Are God’s dealings with men universal, or are they restricted to Jews only? Paul’s question seems to extend beyond salvation alone to God’s interest and involvement in the lives of men. The Jews may have thought God’s only interest was in them and that He could care less about the Gentiles. The Gentiles would be like the outcast class in India,116 which neither receives the privileges of the upper class nor is even regarding as existing by those of a higher cast. Perhaps the Jews thought God looked upon the Gentiles in this same way. But Paul is quick to affirm that “God … is one.” God deals with both Jews and Gentiles on the same basis. This is because Jewishness and Gentileness is irrelevant to the issue of salvation. The only determining factor in salvation is the absence or presence of faith.

The third question is found in verse 31: Is the Law of no use or value, now that faith has come? Does entering into a relationship with God by faith set the Law aside? Not at all. Abraham’s faith was before the Law. The faith of men like David was evident in his love for and obedience to the Law. The Law was never meant to save. In one sense, the Law was as useless in Old Testament times as it is today. The Law could never save. The Law does have a positive role to play, however, and thus it is not to be rejected. Our Lord said He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. Righteousness delights in the Law, but sin disdains it.

Justification by Faith
(4:1-8)

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 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? “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. 8 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”

Do we have any grounds for boasting? More particularly, do the Jews have grounds? Our study of Abraham, especially in the Gospels, revealed that the Jews believed they did have grounds for boasting: Abraham was their forefather. But what if Abraham himself could not boast? If Abraham could not boast, could his descendants boast? By going back to the “first father” of the Jews, at least in their minds, Paul caused the whole Jewish system of pride and boasting to collapse with one well-placed blow. By demonstrating that Abraham himself had no grounds for boasting, no Jew could boast in Abraham or in being his descendant.

Performance is the only basis for boasting in oneself. Had Abraham’s righteousness been rooted in his works, he would have grounds for boasting, though in comparison with God his accomplishments, no matter how great, would be insignificant. If Abraham was justified by faith, then he could take no credit at all for his righteousness, for it would be a gift from God.

The Word of God instructs us that such was the case. Paul turns our attention to Genesis 15:6 and the statement made by Moses, “AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Abraham’s works were not the basis for his justification; his faith was the basis. Abraham’s faith was in God and in His promise of a son. Therefore, the one person about whom Abraham could boast was God. Abraham’s faith, and his justification, were a favor from God and not a payment for services rendered on God’s behalf. Works and grace are two very distinct entities. Men can only boast when they receive payment for their works. Men cannot boast when they receive grace.

Abraham’s faith alone did not save him. God saved Abraham by means of faith. But more than this, Abraham’s faith was in God’s promise and in God’s provision. Abraham believed God. Specifically, Abraham believed God when He promised him a son. Abraham’s faith was faith in God, in God’s promise, and in God’s ability to provide that which He promised. For the Jews, Abraham was the star of the show. To Paul, God was the center of attention. The greatness of Abraham’s faith is not in view, but the greatness of the God in whom he trusted. Indeed, we need not look far to see how frail and fragile was Abraham’s faith. How often his faith lapsed! He believed God, and yet he lied about the identity of his wife to Abimelech (Genesis 20).117 He believed God, and yet he had a son by Hagar (Genesis 16).

The process or transaction by which God justified Abraham is known by theologians as imputation.118 In our text, the term used for this imputation is “reckoned”7 (verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 22, 23, 24).119 In general, the term means to “reckon,” “consider,” “compute,” or “take into account.” The reckoning process is essential to man’s salvation. It enables God to deal with men in a way which saves them and which demonstrates His righteousness. In our text, Paul stresses that God’s imputation is a coin with two sides. The imputation by which God saves sinners is two-fold.

First,120 God imputes the righteousness of Jesus Christ to men. Men cannot attain to God’s standard of righteousness. Men can never become righteous by their good works. Their righteousness must come from another source. Paul cites Genesis 15:6 to show that God reckoned Abraham to be righteous. He immediately follows this statement with another in verses 4 and 5 which stresses that this was not something which Abraham earned, but rather favor which God bestowed upon Abraham.

Second, the imputation which results in man’s salvation has another side: not only does God impute the righteousness of Christ to unrighteous men, He also does not impute men’s sins to them. God saves men by not imputing their sin to them and by imputing the righteousness of Christ to them. From what Paul has already said, and what he says elsewhere, we know that this is possible because Christ has taken our place. Our sins have been imputed to Christ, so that He was punished in our place. His righteousness has been imputed to us, so that we are regarded and treated as righteous by God, since we, by faith, are in Him.

The imputation of righteousness to men is illustrated by the justification of Abraham, who was reckoned righteous by God because of his faith. The non-imputation of sin to men is illustrated by the experience of David, as described by his own words in Psalm 32. This is his psalm of confession. His sin was that of adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband, Uriah. The Law was in force, which pronounced sentence upon David. But the Law made no provision for David’s salvation. It could only pronounce him guilty and worthy of death. David knew the grace of God, and he pled for mercy and forgiveness. On the basis of his faith in the promise of salvation, and in the character of God, David pled for forgiveness and received it. God did not impute his sin to him, though he deserved to die. Men are saved because God imputes righteousness to them, but not their sin. God saves men through the process of imputation, on the basis of the work of Christ on Calvary, and in response to faith.121

Abraham’s righteousness then was not due to his Law-keeping or to his good works, but only to God’s grace. On the basis of faith alone, apart from works, God reckoned Abraham to be righteous. Abraham believed God’s promise and was saved. Abraham had nothing to boast about, other than God’s grace. His offspring could not boast either.

Abraham the Gentile—The “Father of Us All”
(4:9-17)

9 Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, neither is there violation. 16 For this reason it is by faith, that it might be in accordance with grace, in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, 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, 17 (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.

Paul’s first question and answer recorded in Romans 3:27 has been documented by the experience of Israel’s most revered patriarch, Abraham. Paul now moves to the second question (3:29-30): Is God only the God of the Jews, or is He the God of both the Jews and the Gentiles? Paul’s opponents might be willing to concede that God has always justified men on the basis of faith and not by works. But just who is eligible for justification? The Jews viewed themselves as a privileged group, with exclusive access to God’s blessings. If a Gentile wanted to be saved, he must first convert to Judaism. He must be circumcised, and then keep the Law of Moses (see Acts 15).

In verses 9-17 Paul will turn to events in the life of Abraham, the “Father of the Jews,” to show that he is even more so “the father of all believers.” Paul turns to the rite of circumcision, which was the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant.122 He reminds his readers that Abraham was justified apart from works, without the Law, and years before he was circumcised. By Jewish definitions, Abraham was really a Gentile when he was saved.

The first recorded promise of a son in the Book of Genesis was given at the time of Abraham’s call (Genesis 12:1-3). At that time, Abram was 75 years old (12:4). In Genesis 15 we are told of a more specific promise of a son, of Abram’s belief, and of his justification by faith. It is almost as though we have been watching a motion picture. Suddenly, Paul shouts, “Stop the projector!,” right at Genesis 15:6. He now asks the question, “Was Abraham circumcised here, at the time he was reckoned as righteous by God, or was it later?” We all know it was years later. Abraham’s circumcision is recorded in Genesis 17, and we are told that he was then 99 years old. Abraham was justified by faith, apart from works, the Law, or circumcision. Let’s face it; Abraham was a Gentile when he was justified by faith. God is the God of all men, and not just of the Jews.

Circumcision did not contribute in any way to Abraham’s salvation. It could not have done so. It was merely a sign, a seal. Circumcision played much the same role in Abraham’s day as baptism does in our day. It is only a visible token or sign of an invisible change, of salvation. Abraham’s circumcision testified to his justification by faith, apart from works. His circumcision, like his salvation, meant something very different than what the Jews made of it. If Abraham could be saved without being circumcised, so the Gentiles could be saved, apart from circumcision, the Law of Moses, or Judaism.

Just as circumcision did not contribute to the salvation of Abraham, neither did the Law. The Law of Moses would not be given for more than 400 years. It did not exist at the time of Abraham’s justification by faith. And even if the Law were in existence at that time, it could not have saved Abraham. The Law cannot save. The Law cannot make any man righteous. The Law can only condemn men as sinners, worthy of God’s eternal wrath. If the Law could justify men, it would nullify faith. Faith, however, does not nullify the Law. Faith brings about the imputation of the righteousness which the Law defines and demands, but which it cannot produce. The Law required perfect obedience; God’s promise requires only faith.

Faith enables God to save men, because it enables God to deal with men in accordance with grace. The wrath which the Law demands has been suffered by our Lord on Calvary. Having satisfied God’s holy anger (propitiation, see 3:25), God can now deal with men in accordance with mercy and grace. God can prevent men from suffering the wrath they deserve and deal benevolently with men by giving them blessings they do not deserve.

Abraham is therefore shown to be much more than the “father of the Jews.” He is the “father of us all,” the father of all believers. This too is in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham, that he would be “A FATHER OF MANY NATIONS” (verse 17, citing Genesis 17:5). Abraham’s faith was faith in God. He believed that God is able to “give life to the dead.” Abraham’s resurrection faith is the last topic of Paul’s teaching, as recorded in Genesis 4:17-25.

Abraham’s Faith: Resurrection Faith
(4:17-25)

17 (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the sight of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist. 18 In hope against hope he believed, in order that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 23 Now not for his sake only was it written, that it was reckoned to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

Verse 17 serves as a transition, linking Paul’s argument in verses 18-25 with his previous teaching in verses 9-16. This verse is therefore included in both sections. In this last section of chapter 4, Paul strikes a final blow against the errors of Judaism. Turning to the life of Abraham one final time, he shows that Abraham’s saving faith was a “resurrection faith.” His faith, like ours, was in a God who was able to raise the dead.

The doctrine of the resurrection of the dead was a serious problem for the Sadducees. They did not believe in the resurrection, or in the afterlife, in heaven or hell, in angels or demons. They were anti-supernaturalists. The Pharisees had a different problem. They were supernaturalists. They did believe in heaven and hell, angels and demons, and the resurrection of the dead. Their problem was that while in principle they believed in the doctrine of the resurrection, they rejected it in the person of Jesus Christ. They refused to admit that Jesus had been raised from the dead. To do so would have meant they were wrong. This would prove that Jesus was the promised Messiah, and that God had shown His divine approval of His earthly ministry.

Jesus staked His entire ministry on His ability to rise from the dead (see Matthew 12:38-41; John 10:15-18). The apostles preached the resurrection of Christ as a fundamental element of the gospel, which must be believed in order for men to be saved (Acts 2:22-42; 3:14-15; 4:2; 17:18; Romans 10:9). The writer to the Hebrews teaches that all the Old Testament saints believed in the resurrection of the dead (Hebrews 11:13-40, especially verses 13-15, 19, 35, 39-40). Paul finds in Abraham’s life a dramatic demonstration of his “resurrection faith.”

Abraham “believed in God, who gives life to the dead, and calls into being that which does not exist” (verse 17). Abraham’s faith did not cause him to close his eyes to reality. He knew that so far as bearing children was concerned Sarah and he were “as good as dead” (verse 19). And yet he considered also that God’s promises are as certain as God’s power to fulfill them. And so he believed God’s promise of a son, even though this would take, as it were, a resurrection of the dead (he and Sarah, speaking in terms of their ability to reproduce). He knew that “what He promised, He was able to perform” (verse 21). It was because of this very faith, a resurrection faith, that righteousness was imputed to him (verse 22).

In verses 23-25, Paul links the “resurrection faith” of Abraham with the faith of every true believer today. Justification comes to all who, by faith, believe in God who raised His Son, Jesus Christ, from the dead. In the final verse of his argument (verse 25), Paul speaks of the work of Christ in such a way as to show the absolute necessity of the resurrection of Jesus, and in the sinner’s need to believe His resurrection, for salvation. The sacrificial death of our Lord, Paul writes, was required by our transgressions. Christ had to die, because “the wages of sin is death.” Our justification requires His resurrection, Paul writes:

He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification (Romans 4:25).123

Conclusion

If anything is clear in this chapter it is this: Abraham’s justification by faith is precisely the same as that which the gospel offers to all men, Jew or Gentile, today. It is justification based upon the person and work of God, believed by faith, accomplished by imputation. It is a free gift, available to those who are uncircumcised and who are not under the Law of Moses, like Abraham.

Justification by faith is God’s only way of saving men. It is also the same way in which men have been saved from the beginning of human history. Men were not saved by works in Old Testament times and are now saved by faith. Men have always been saved by faith, apart from works. Abraham is an excellent example of justification by faith because he lived in a day when neither the Law of Moses nor the rite of circumcision existed as a part of Israel’s religion. He was saved apart from any works, apart from circumcision, and apart from the Law. His justification, like ours, was based upon God’s faithfulness to His promise and not on human performance. It is a gift of God’s grace and not something earned.

Abraham’s life teaches us important lessons about faith. We learn from Abraham’s justification that faith is the only means by which men may obtain righteousness. We also see that while men have faith in God, it is not perfect faith. Abraham’s faith faltered when he lied about his wife and when he attempted to produce a child through Hagar. His faith continued to grow, throughout his life, as he came to appreciate more and more the faithfulness of God. His faith enabled him to see life as it really was (he was as good as dead with regard to having a child with Sarah), but he saw God as powerful and His promises as sure. His faith was a reasoning faith. He did not have to be told that God was able to produce life from death; he reasoned that God was able to do as He promised.124

The faith of Abraham and the birth of Isaac remind us that even when we have faith in God’s promise there is no assurance that God’s promise will be immediately fulfilled. Abraham believed God’s promise of a son, but he still waited 25 years for that son to be given. The story of Abraham’s life makes it very clear that God had a certain time for that son to be born. God’s “delay” was a time for Abraham’s faith to be tested and strengthened. Why is it that some tell us that if we have not immediately received the answers to our prayers, we do not have enough faith? Faith may not remove all doubts, and it certainly does not remove all delays.

As I have studied this text, I have been reminded of the importance of remembering our roots. We dare not forget how it was that God saved us, and for what purpose we were saved. Abraham was hopeless and helpless, and God, in His great mercy and grace, saved him, apart from any human merit or contribution. Abraham’s justification, like ours, should result in humility, gratitude, adoration and worship. Abraham’s response to God’s revelation (the Abrahamic Covenant, and specifically God’s promise of a son) was belief, growth in faith, and giving glory to God (verse 20).125

Because of their unbelief and rejection of God’s full and final revelation in Christ, the minds of the Jews were darkened (see 2 Corinthians 3:12-18), so that they distorted Abraham’s conversion to that which fit and which sanctioned their own unbelief and self-righteousness. The Israelites forgot that the blessings of God upon them were not due to their own righteousness or status, but due to God’s grace. They failed to recall that the righteousness which God requires is also that which He provides, by imputation. Thus, there can be no boasting. There is no basis for pride. There should only be humble gratitude and thanksgiving to God for His unspeakable gift.

I challenge you to think through the Scriptures, Old Testament and New, and to recall all of the times when God instructed His people to remember their roots, in order that they might be humbled and serve God in truth. How easy it is for us to forget that we are what we are by the grace of God, apart from anything we have done, or will do. To God be the glory!

1. Paul’s relationship to Jesus (1,2). In the first few verses of the book Paul relates himself to his master, his gift, and his work.

His master. In relating himself to Jesus as his master Paul uses the expression, “a servant of Jesus Christ.” This is the Hebrew Old Testament expression “servant of the LORD [Yahweh],”1 the highest title that anyone could have. Paul makes a powerful statement by substituting “Jesus” for “Yahweh.” This would be heresy to an unconverted Jew; but Paul has the deity and dignity of Jesus in mind. The point is that everyone who has been redeemed belongs to him; they are no longer slaves to sin, but slaves to him, their LORD and Master.

His gift. Paul was an apostle, or as the term “called” shows, he was an apostle by calling, or, his gift originated in divine calling.2 The term “apostle” refers to his spiritual gift more than an office—he was sent on a mission to represent the risen Christ. This kind of term is not used in the New Testament for an “office” in the strict sense. Verse 5 shows the concept behind the gift: there was never the idea of the right to stand above or over someone else, but rather the privilege of serving. Nevertheless. The right to be called apostles in the New Testament leadership sense included seeing the risen Christ and being commissioned by him.

His work. Paul was “separated unto the Gospel.” On the road to Damascus God transformed him into a spiritual Pharisee. From then on he would proclaim the “good news.” The term we know as “gospel” is here called “the gospel of God—the Gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.” The “gospel” is the Old Testament term for good news about the Messiah’s coming, who, according to Isaiah 40:9, is both God and Messiah. This good news had now become Paul’s life.

The Gospel is about Jesus Christ. But while it is good news, it is not completely new news, for it was promised before (Galatians says preached before). Any such news not found rooted in the Old Testament is considered a false gospel. What is new is the complete revelation of the gospel in Jesus of Nazareth, that is, exactly how the revelation of God in the Old Testament would work out in the New.

So then Paul’s identification of himself is that of a servant under the authority of Christ, a messenger called to a new life work, and a devoted minister of the Gospel. Clearly, the person of Jesus Christ was to Paul an unparalleled authority.

2. The subject matter of Romans: the divine Son (3,4). The subject matter of the book is expressed in the words, “concerning His Son.” This is what the Book of Romans is all about. The full title is given at the end of verse 4: “Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Two things are now said of this “Son”: He was born the seed of David according to the flesh, but through the Spirit of holiness He was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.

The “Son” was born of the seed of David “in the sphere of” (a more precise translation than “according to”) the flesh. The Son of God moved in the realm of the flesh, i.e., among humanity, as a physical descendant of David. There was a birth to be sure; but that birth in Bethlehem did not mark His beginning. He entered the world through the family of David that He might be the promised Davidic King.

He was also “appointed” (a more specific translation than “declared”) to be the Son of God by the resurrection out of the dead. This was not in the sphere of the flesh, in weakness, but in power, in the realm of the spiritual, through the Spirit of holiness (or as some translate it, the Holy Spirit3_ftn7). What this means is that Jesus’ resurrection from the dead demonstrated that He was not just another physical descendant of David who passed off the scene. He is the resurrected Lord. With His exaltation in glory, Jesus for the first time possessed a glorified, resurrected body, perfectly human and fully divine. Peter in his sermon in Acts 2 announced that through the resurrection God made this Jesus both Lord and Christ.

To be appointed to be the Son of God refers to his assuming (or resuming) his sovereign and divine authority. At the resurrection and exaltation Jesus is said to have been completely “begotten”—he was appointed to the position where He could carry out all that is involved with divine Sonship. The Book of Hebrews draws on the imagery of the coronation Psalm 2 to stress this point: “You are my Son, this day have I begotten You.” This image of “the Son” certainly has to do with authority, and the idea of being begotten to rule refers to his coronation; but the description of Jesus as the “Son of God” takes the language beyond Davidic coronation liturgy and speaks of a nature shared with the Father. John describes Jesus as the “only begotten Son” in the latter sense of a shared nature. So these images of “son” reveal that Jesus has the same nature as the Father who is divine—the Son of God is equally eternal and divine.4 A son of David?—yes, to be sure, for the child was born of Mary. The eternal Son of God?— most certainly, because of the declaration of the resurrection. So Paul uses both descriptions of Jesus. The prophet Isaiah had this same balance correct: “Unto us a child was born, unto us a Son was given (Isa. 9:6). The child was born, according to the flesh, in Behtlehem; but the Son was not born, but given or sent to the world. So the creed presents it simply but profoundly: “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the virgin Mary, and was made man.” In short, Jesus was very God and very Man. And now in glory there is a God-Man, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The two descriptions of the Son also reveal the two stages of the Lord’s coming (in the historical process), the incarnation as the Son of David (humiliation) and the glorification as the Son of God (exaltation).

3. The effects of the authority of the Son (5-7). Paul has a ministry of the risen Christ (“through whom” links the section with Jesus in his risen stage); or, to put it another way, it is the ministry of the risen Christ that flows through Paul to the Romans. The Book of Romans comes from the risen Christ.

The apostleship that Paul received from Jesus was to call people to the obedience of faith. I think that “faith” is appositional to “obedience here”—the obedience which is faith (see 10:14-16,17). Those who obeyed the Gospel are those who believed. And those who believed were also called to belong to Jesus Christ—they were loved by God and called to be saints.5

Paul’s salutation to the churches is “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.” The Christian is a recipient of grace (holy love on the move) and is at peace with God. This has all come about because the divine Son died for our sins and then rose again, showing that he has the authority to take away sins. The salutation, “Grace to you and peace” is far more than a polite greeting or a good wish; it is drawn from the High Priestly benediction in the Old Testament. After the High Priest had been into the Holy of Holies and made atonement through the sprinkling of blood, he would come out and announce this oracle: “Yahweh bless you and keep you; Yahweh make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you; Yahweh lift up his face toward you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24-26).6_ftn10 Because Jesus Christ, our High Priest, has made atonement for us through his blood, and has entered the heavenly sanctuary to intercede for us, Paul with confidence can declare that “grace and peace” belongs to us. And so that became his salutation.

So in this little introduction we have words like “servant,” “apostle,” “grace,” “obedience” “called” and “Lord,” all stressing the authority of the risen Son of God. The clear affirmation in verse 4 is that the message is about “Jesus Christ our Lord.” And verse 7 reiterates that grace and peace comes from “the Lord Jesus Christ.” It should now be clear from Paul’s introduction what it means to call Jesus “Lord.” William Barclay says it well:

“It is now plain to see what a man ought to mean when he calls Jesus ‘Lord,’ or when he speaks of the ‘Lord Jesus’ or of the ‘Lord Jesus Christ.’ When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ I ought to mean that He is the absolute and undisputed owner and possessor of my life and that He is the Master whose servant and slave I must be all life long. When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ it ought to mean that I think of Him as the Head of that great family in heaven and earth of which God is the Father and of which I through Him have become a member. When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ it ought to mean that I think of Him as the help of the helpless and the guardian of those who have no other to protect them. When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ it ought to mean that I look on Him as having absolute authority over all my life, all my thoughts, all my actions. When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ it ought to mean that He is the King and Emperor to whom I owe and give my constant homage, allegiance, and loyalty. When I call Jesus ‘Lord’ it ought to mean that for me He is the Divine One whom I must for ever worship and adore.”_ftn117

B. INTRODUCTION: PERSONAL ITEMS (1:8-15)

1. Paul thanks God for them (1:8). His gratitude for them is “through Jesus Christ,” the one true Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). The thanksgiving, in typical Hebrew fashion, was offered to God, on the basis of the sacrificial Lamb of God. Paul is thankful not only that the Roman Christians have believed, but that their faith is being reported all over the world. What a marvelous reputation—in contrast to what was being reported about the Corinthian Church all over the world.

2. Paul remembers them in prayer (1:9). Paul affirms, with God as his witness, that he has been constant in praying for them. He may never have been there, and he may be across the sea in Corinth at the time, but his prayers have bound him closely to them. Thus it always is with the prayers of the saints.

3. Paul longs to visit them (1:10-13). He hopes to visit them in Rome for the mutual benefit of all. He had always planned to go there, but had always been providentially hindered from doing so. He prays now that it will be God’s will. Note: Paul always puts God’s will above his desires in prayer.

The purposes of his visit would be (1) for mutual encouragement of one another’s faith, (2) that Paul might impart some spiritual gift to them, and (3) that Paul might have a harvest among them as with other Gentiles.

4. Paul regarded himself as a debtor to the Romans (1:14,15). Because he owed his salvation to the grace of Jesus Christ, Paul knew that as a privileged believer he owed it to a needy world to tell them about His wonderful Savior. With all the ability he possessed, and at any cost or hazard, he was willing to embark for Rome to preach the Gospel—as he had to Jews and Gentiles for years.

C. THE THEME OF ROMANS (1:16,17).

It has come as a surprise to many that the Book of Romans does not deal with many of the issues to be found in Rome. It was a city filled with social problems, but Paul does not address those issues. It was a city filled with slaves, but he does not mention that. It was a city of lust and vice, but he does not direct his comments to avoiding these sins. It appears that Paul did not consider social reform in Rome an evangelical imperative, at least not at this occasion. Rather, the gospel of the revelation of a righteousness acceptable to God and available to people graciously upon the condition of faith was Paul’s primary imperative.

The theme of the book is the exposition of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle does not set out the details of the Gospel here; but we may gather from his other writings that the gospel is the good news of Christ’s death, burial, resurrection, and appearances together with the apostolic explanation of the doctrinal significance of these great facts (1 Cor. 15:1-5).8_ftn12 The word for “gospel” or good news carried with it a note of excitement; it is the kind of message one would shout with enthusiasm.

Here we may notice the following: Paul’s designation of the Gospel is “of Christ,” for it centers in the person, ministry, and passion of the Savior; the description of it is the “power of God” (the intrinsic power of the whole Christ-event); the objective of it is “unto salvation” (meaning complete salvation, looking to the final tense of the doctrine of soteriology9_ftn13); the universality of its presentation is unto “everyone” regardless of race or generation; the simplicity of its reception is “that believes”; and Paul’s attitude toward it all is “I am not ashamed.”10_ftn14

The central idea of the Gospel, promised in the Old Testament and now revealed fully in Jesus Christ, is “the righteousness of God.” This term “righteousness” does not here indicate only the attribute of the LORD, for in this case it is said to be by faith. Here it is forensic: it is righteousness that is revealed in the Gospel, meaning, it is conferred on people; it signifies being in the right relation to God.

To be justified is to be declared righteous by God, not to be made righteous by God. To possess the righteousness of God, then, is to possess a righteousness which God provides (5:17) and thus approves (cf. 2:13). If the righteousness that justifies is God’s, and Paul’s “It is God that justifies” (8:33) forever settles the matter, then it can only be our’s by imputation; it is credited to us by God. Therefore, the term “the righteousness of God” refers to an imputed righteousness.11

As Johnson summarizes it, “The righteousness of God, then, is the key to salvation. They who have it know the power of God in personal salvation. They who do not have it are lost. They who have it know that they are right with God. They who do not have it are not right before Him. It is as simple as that. Principal Cunningham used to say, ‘The righteousness of God is that righteousness which His righteousness requires Him to require.’ According to Paul the simplest believer in Jesus Christ is clothed in this required righteousness through the justifying work of the Last Adam (cf. Rom. 3:21-26).”12

This righteousness is “from faith to faith.” It is from faith, and it is designed for faith. Or, faith is the source of the righteousness, but it is also the goal of righteousness.13 To support this point Paul cites Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith.” The words in the context of the Old Testament prophet carry a certain ambiguity (double entente). The text says that “the righteous shall live by his faithfulness,” meaning a firm faith that is directed toward God.14 Habakkuk was drawing upon Genesis 15:6 to show that faith is belief in and firm reliance on the LORD. Paul, quoting from Habakkuk, leaves out the pronoun “his” to stress this kind of faith: “The righteous shall live by faith.” So Habakkuk, in affirming that faith is the key to one’s relationship with the Lord, was teaching that God’s favor is secured by trust. He was contrasting this with the proud Chaldeans who trust in themselves—the just, who trust in God, shall live. Paul’s use is analogical; in stressing the same point about faith, he is telling how one can attain right standing before God and live eternally.15 The key passage is Genesis 15:6 (which he will develop later; and Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:16-17 are offshoots of it. So there is some ambiguity in the line of the prophet; but Paul’s idea of “from faith to faith” stresses both points of faith as well: we have become righteous by faith, and by faith we shall live.

Thus, the main point of the argument is very clear: good works could never deliver people from judgment. Rather, it is the good news of Christ’s sacrificial work received by faith that liberates from sin, for it alone is the power of God unto salvation.

Things to Consider

From this first section of the book there are many things that could be discussed for application, and several themes that could be stressed in developing lessons from the material. But the following questions come immediately to mind as a result of this study.

1. What does it mean that Jesus is Lord? Think in terms of the doctrinal implications about deity and sovereignty, but think also about the practical aspects—what difference will/should it make in my life that He is my Lord? How will it affect my worship, my prayer life, my daily activities or life style?

Related to this are a couple of subordinate questions. What does the title “Son of God” signify? If Jesus was appointed Son, how does that relate to his sovereign rulership? And, how does the resurrection do that?

2. What is the Gospel? Can you express its component parts succinctly and clearly—the facts of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, the response of faith, full salvation, and the righteousness of God? This should be clearly understood and easily explained by anyone serving the Lord Jesus Christ.

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1 I shall continue to use the traditional representation of the holy name in these notes: in the Old Testament LORD is the way the name Yahweh was signified in the English, as opposed to Lord when the term “lord, master” was meant.

2 The Greek term “called” is an adjective built on a verbal stem. Most verbal adjectives are passives; they are timeless in force (no tense)—”called.”

3 The text says “spirit of holiness”; this is not the regular way of saying “Holy Spirit” in the New Testament, but it is a way of saying it in Hebrew. But only once does Paul use this phrase, so the variation indicates a slightly different idea—the phase of sovereign spiritual existence into which He entered with power at the resurrection.

4 A simple, surface reading of these and other verses would lead one to think the image and language of “son” refers to only one thing. But in fact there are a couple of different ways it is used. Throught the Old Testament every king could be called God’s son because that is what the Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7 says, and the coronation Psalm 2 puts into poetry. Whe Psalm 2 is used of Jesus, it means he is a Davidic king, the Father’s vice-regent, as it were. But John’s “only begotten Son” is more specifically referring to the nature of Jesus. The term “beget” is more restrictive than “create” or “make.” One can only beget a child with the same nature. To describe Jesus as the “Son of God” or the “only begotten Son” stresses His nature. If the Father is eternal and divine, then so is Jesus the Son. And he is unique in this—we may be “begotten by God,” i.e., by grace we are given a new nature in Christ; but there is only one God-man, Jesus the Christ. When the expression “Son of God” is applied to Jesus, or when Jesus used it, it carried much more meaning than that he was another Davidic king (although the disciples at first did not realize that). Gradually, and especially as Jesus forgave sins and proclaimed his message, the Jewish leaders knew that when he claimed to be the Son of God he was making himself equal with God.

5 Those who have believed in Jesus as Lord have been sanctified, that is, set apart to Him. This is the meaning of the word “saints” in the epistles. It is perfectly legitimate to refer to believing members of the Church as “the saints.”

6 The verbs may sound like wishes and greetings in English (“May the LORD bless you”), but the Hebrew forms (jussives) in this context are decrees or oracles, announcing what the blessing is on the basisof the atonement.. The passage says that when the priest says this the LORD will bless them. This use of the verbal blessing is like Isaac’s blessing of Jacob in the place of Esau—he could not take the words back because they were an oracle and not merely best wishes. This is very different than much modern teaching of people giving blessings to children or spouses.

7 From a sermon preached at the Round Church in Cambridge.

8 S. Lewis Johnson, “The Gospel that Paul Preached,” BibliothecaSacra 128 (1971):330.

9 The Bible uses three tenses for salvation: the past tense (we have been saved from the penalty of sin: 2 Thess. 2:13; Phil. 1:28; Eph. 2:4,8), the present tense (we are being saved from the power of sin: Phil. 2:12; 2 Cor. 1:6; 7:10), and the future tense (we will be saved from the very presence of sin: Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:8-9). The Bible can use the language of salvation or sanctification for all three stages; but the theology is very precise—if the process has begun, it will be completed. Technically, the past tense is covered by the doctrine of soteriology, the present tense by the doctrine of sanctification, and the future tense by glorification. If true believers pray for “salvation,” it must be in the sense of the present tense (saved from the power of sin) or future (final glorification, the completion of the process), because saving faith in the Gospel has already placed them “in Christ” forever.

10 Unfortunately, too many Christians—leaders especially—have become somewhat embarrassed by the Gospel. To Paul there was no ministry without it or with any false or watered-down version of it; in fact, there is no salvation apart from it.

11 This phrase, “the righteousness of God,” was the phrase that led Martin Luther into the light of truth that produced the Reformation. He had always hated the expression, associating it with judgment; but through his study of the Psalms in 1514 he learned that the righteousness of God was related to deliverance and not condemnation. This understanding was clarified and enlarged by his study of Romans, upon which he lectured at Wittenberg from November 3, 1515 to September 7, 1516. It was during these years that he came to the realization that justification did not presuppose some inner change, but that it was done outside of man through the mediatorial work of Jesus. The acceptance of this work by faith brought liberation, because a just God was now able to give freely to each believer the righteousness of God.

In verse 1 of our text, Paul begins by exposing his own heart toward his people in verse 1, much as he did in verses 1-5 of chapter 9. Verses 2-4 explain Israel’s failure in terms of her ignorance and rejection of God’s righteousness. Verses 5-10 contrast “faith righteousness” and “works righteousness,” using as illustrations two Old Testament texts. In verses 11-13, Paul summarizes the true gospel of salvation by faith, using two Old Testament texts.

The outline of our passage is then:249

(1) Paul’s kind intentions toward Israel (verse 1)

(2) Israel’s ignorance and self-righteousness (verses 2-4)

(3) Works righteousness versus faith righteousness (verses 5-10)

(4) The gospel summarized (verses 11-13)

Background

Israel’s condition has been summarized by Paul at the end of chapter 9:

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Romans 9:30-33).

Israel was seeking righteousness and striving hard to attain it, but she had failed. The Gentiles, neither seeking nor striving for it, did attain righteousness. In terms of the gospel, Israel was failing where many more Gentiles were succeeding.

What explanation could there possibly be for Israel’s unbelief and the Gentile’s turning to Messiah? In Romans 9 Paul answers from the divine perspective: the many who failed to become true Israelites were not chosen. God had purposed to save a small remnant of the nation, as the basis for Israel’s future restoration. Those whom God chose not to save, He would nevertheless use to demonstrate His power and His glory.

Paul’s next line of explanation for Israel’s unbelief begins late in chapter 9 and extends into chapter 10: Israelites were lost in unbelief not only because God had not chosen them (chapter 9) but also because they had not chosen God. In trying to earn their own righteousness, Israel rejected God’s righteousness as revealed in the Scriptures and in the Son of God, the Messiah.

Paul’s Kind Intentions Toward Israel
(10:1)

Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.

Paul’s heart is in the right place. The desire of his heart and his prayers offered in Israel’s behalf dwell on her salvation. While Israel failed in regard to salvation, Paul has not failed in his hopes and prayers for their salvation. His persistence in desiring and praying for Israel’s salvation is well-founded, for God will someday bring this to pass. Israel’s disobedience and failure is temporary. Paul’s love and his desire for restoration is like God’s for this people. Paul reaffirms his hope for Israel based upon God’s character and purposes, at the beginning of each major section (9:1-5; 10:1; 11:1-5).

Israel’s Failure Described
(10:2-4)

For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For not knowing about God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Being religious is not the same as being righteous. Israel’s failure concerned righteousness. Although Israel might be commended for her religious zeal, she would be condemned for her lack of righteousness. The Jew’s zeal, in their minds, was a zeal for God. Paul knew this from his own experience.

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you. Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision; for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:1-6).

Israel’s zeal was a misinformed, ignorant zeal. Paul tells us they were ignorant concerning God’s righteousness. How could this be? Israel had first-hand experience with God and with His righteousness. Israel had the Law, which was the revelation of His righteousness. And most recently Israel had witnessed the righteousness of God in the person of Jesus Christ. No people had more revelation concerning the righteousness of God. How could they possibly be ignorant of His righteousness?

Paul provides the explanation: Israel’s problem was self-righteousness. Self-righteousness blinds men to God’s righteousness. Israel wanted to establish her own righteousness. She did not want to receive righteousness as a gift of grace, but she wanted to earn it as the wages of her own good works. In seeking to establish her own righteousness, Israel refused to submit to the righteousness of God as revealed and offered in Jesus Christ. Like Israel, those who wish to stand on their own merits will not submit themselves to the righteousness God provides. Israel did not want charity. The offer of righteousness was not overlooked as much as it was resisted and rejected. Israel’s “ignorance” was willful.

Israel failed to grasp that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:5). All Christians do not agree on what Paul means by these words. Some understand them to say that the Law has been put aside for all time, cast away as an ancient relic with no value at all to Christians. But Paul’s teaching in Romans makes clear that he does not agree with this interpretation.

According to Paul, the Law was a blessing from God—“they were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:1-2). The Law was given by God as a revelation of His righteousness and as His standard for righteousness. By means of His Law, men are shown to be sinners (3:19-20). The Law bears witness to the righteousness of God in the person of Jesus Christ (3:21). The Law was given to define sin so that men might recognize it as such, something they would not have been able to do without the Law (7:7). According to Paul, the Law is “spiritual” (7:14); it “is holy, righteous, and good” (7:12). The Christian loves that which the Law requires and desires to do what the Law says (7:14-17). Our failure to live up to the standards of the Law demonstrates the weakness of our own flesh and the evil of sin (7:17-22). The Law’s requirements are met by those who walk in the Spirit (8:4). Those who love one another fulfill the Law (13:8-10).

The Law is hardly annulled by the coming of Christ. Our Lord Himself stated that He did not come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17). As I understand the teaching of the New Testament, Christ is the “end of the law” in at least two ways. First, Christ is the “end” of the law in the sense that He is the fulfillment of the Law. He is the goal to which the Law pointed. His is the righteousness to which the Law bears testimony. The same righteousness which the Law defined, Jesus demonstrated. The same righteousness which the Law demanded, Jesus offers to sinful men; He produces His righteousness in those who believe in Him. He is the end result, the fulfillment of the Law’s demands for everyone who believes in Christ and who receives His righteousness. He is the One who produces righteousness in the lives of believers, in fulfillment of the Law’s requirements.

There is also a second sense in which the Lord puts an “end” to the law. Not only did the Law provide a standard and make demands, it pronounced a curse on all those who are unrighteous. The “wages of sin is death” (6:23). The death penalty pronounced on sinners by the Law is done away with in Christ for every believer. Christ died in the sinner’s place. Christ bore the curse of the Law. All those who have believed in Him have died, in Him, to the curse of the Law. The Law no longer pronounces a curse against us. While the standard of the Law remains, the curse of the Law has been done away with once for all, in Christ, for all who believe.

Works Righteousness
and Faith Righteousness Contrasted
(10:5-10)

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Paul’s message in these verses is very clear. His method is another matter. Paul’s conclusion cannot be missed, but his use of two Old Testament texts may cause us to scratch our heads. Because of the difficulty of this text, let us come to it in the reverse of our normal approach. Let us begin with Paul’s conclusion which is clear, and then backtrack to see how Paul used these two texts from the Law to establish his point.

Paul’s Conclusion

The Jews failed to attain righteousness Paul has already informed us, not because they did not try but because they did try. The Gentiles attained righteousness without trying. What is the difference? The difference is between faith and works. The Jews tried to earn righteousness by law-keeping; the Gentiles attained righteousness as a gift, by faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Men are saved by believing in Jesus, not by behaving good enough to earn God’s approval.

THE TEXTS PAUL USES

In verses 5-10, Paul seeks to contrast “works righteousness” with “faith righteousness.” In attempting to prove his point, Paul draws our attention to two Old Testament illustrations. The first illustration comes from a statement found initially in Leviticus 18:5 and repeated frequently thereafter. The essence of this statement is, “Do this and live.”250 The converse of this statement might be stated, “Do this or die.”251

Neither of Paul’s allusions to the Old Testament are direct quotes. In verse 5, Paul refers to what Moses has written, but there is no direct quote given as indicated by the editors of the NASB.252 In verses 6-8 Paul cites some of the words of Deuteronomy 30:12-14 but not in their exact form. In fact, Paul significantly modifies or restates the words of this passage. Before looking at these Old Testament passages as Paul has used them in Romans 10, let us look at these passages in their context in the Old Testament.

I view this preliminary step as especially important because of the modification Paul makes in citing these texts. It is also important because I wish to underscore that the Old Testament writers never conceived of the keeping of the Law as a means of attaining righteousness. In studying this passage in Romans, I was distressed to see several commentators speak of two different ways of salvation: (1) the Old Testament way of salvation by law-keeping and (2) the New Testament way of faith. This is simply not true. No Old Testament writer conceived of anyone being saved by their works. Salvation in the Old Testament, as in the New, was always by faith. This is what Paul underscored in Romans 4 when he showed that Abraham was saved by faith, apart from works.

While the Bible emphatically does not teach two ways of salvation, fallen man has always sought to be saved by his works. Thus, in Romans 10 Paul contrasts two kinds of righteousness—“faith righteousness” and “works righteousness.” The first (“faith righteousness”) is God’s only means for man’s salvation. The second (“works righteousness”) is man’s self-made system of salvation, a system which is neither biblical nor effective. When men strive to be saved by their own works, they do so in disobedience to the Word of God—not in obedience to it. Reviewing the context of these two Old Testament statements Paul refers to in our text will help us see how they were originally meant to be understood.

THE TEXTS IN CONTEXT

From early on in her history, Israel had been involved in idol worship. Rachel stole the household gods from her father, Laban (Genesis 31:19, 30-35). In Egypt, Israel was involved with the gods of that place, and they brought some of those gods with them, worshipping them in the wilderness (Ezekiel 20:5-8; Amos 5:25-26). While Moses was on Mt. Sinai, receiving the Law from God, the people persuaded Aaron to help them make an idol which they then worshipped (Exodus 32:1-6).

God had promised to lead this nation into the land of promise. There was a very practical problem, however: “How can a righteous and holy God dwell in the midst of a sinful, rebellious people?” As God said to them, if He would go up with them, He would destroy them on the way (Exodus 33:3).

God made several provisions for His people to enable Him to dwell in their midst—in a way that would not result in their death due to His holiness and their sin.

First, God provided the Law. The Law of Moses prescribed the conduct necessary for Israel to live in God’s presence without offending His righteousness. If they lived in accordance with His Law, they would not offend Him, and they would live. If they failed to keep His Law, they would die. The statement, “Do this and live,” might just as easily be stated, “Disobey this and die.”

Second, God provided the people with a sacrificial system. When there was sin, there was also death. The sacrificial system was instituted so that the sins of the people could be atoned for temporarily, by the shedding of the blood of a victim in the sinner’s place. The sacrificial system assumed the people would sin and that some provision for their sins must be made. The annual Day of Atonement assumed that this system of daily sacrifices would not be sufficient and that some sins would either be unrecognized or there would be no atonement for them. Thus, annually a general atonement was made for the people, putting off the payment of sins for a later time—that time when the Messiah would come and die once for all for the sins of His people.

Third, God provided the people with the tabernacle, a provision whereby a holy God could dwell in the midst of a sinful people without putting them to death for their sins. The tabernacle was a kind of corporate veil, shielding the holy God from a sinful nation. Were they to approach Him too closely, they would die. God dwelt within that tabernacle, and the high priest alone was allowed to enter into the holy of holies.

If law-keeping were God’s means of attaining righteousness, why was it necessary for these elaborate provisions to be made? If Law-keeping were God’s means of making men righteous, then why was it necessary for Christ to come to the earth and die in the sinner’s place? The Old Testament gave every indication that law-keeping was not going to justify anyone. Law-keeping was never a second way of salvation. It was something self-righteous men sought to do, in defiance of God, and in rejection of His provision of righteousness through faith.

Deuteronomy 30 is the second text to which Paul refers in Romans 10. These words are addressed to the second generation of Israelites, the children of those who were led out of Egypt by Moses. Their parents all died in the wilderness because of their unbelief and rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea (Numbers 13 and 14). Now, after the 40 years of wilderness wandering in which the first generation died, this generation was about to enter the land of promise.

Moses restated the Law in Deuteronomy 5. The people promised to obey, but God knew otherwise as He said to Moses:

“And the LORD heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me, and the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have done well in all that they have spoken. Oh that they had such a heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all My commandments always, that it may be well with them and with their sons forever!’” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29).

In Deuteronomy 28-30, we find the key to Israel’s history and to the teaching of the Old Testament prophets. We shall briefly review Moses’ words spoken to the Israelites in these crucial chapters. In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, God spoke of the blessings He would pour out on His people if they would but love Him and keep His commandments. In a much larger and more extensive passage (28:15–29:29), Moses spelled out the consequences for disregarding God and His law. They would be cursed, and they would ultimately be sent into captivity (see 28:25, 32-33, 36, 41,49-50, 64, 68).

There are two key texts in chapter 29 to which I draw special attention:

“Yet to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear. The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law” (Deuteronomy 29:4, 29).

In the first text, Moses indicates the source of Israel’s failure to trust and to obey God: the problem is one of the heart (see also Deuteronomy 5:28-29 cited above). Not until God changes the hearts of His people will they be able to keep His law. In the second text (verse 29), Moses calls Israel to give heed to what God has revealed in His law, rather than to seek to learn that which God has concealed. In the words of Jesus, centuries later, they were challenged not to “strain out a gnat and to swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24), but to take heed to the “camels” which God had revealed in His law.

In chapter 30, Moses begins to speak of the restoration of Israel. The turning point in Israel’s history will come about when God changes the hearts of His people, enabling them to hear and to understand His law:

“Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live …” (Deuteronomy 30:6).

We know these words to be an early promise of the New Covenant, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of God’s people, enabling them to love God and to keep His commandments. The prophets will pick up on this promise and speak of it in greater detail (see, for example, Jeremiah 24:7; 31:31-34; 32:38-40; Ezekiel 36:26).

It is after all this, in the sequence of Deuteronomy 28-30, that the words to which Paul refers are recorded in Deuteronomy 30:11-14:

“For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”

In context, I believe Moses is picking up on his statement in Deuteronomy 29:29. He is warning the Israelites not to concentrate on that which is unknown, unrevealed and speculative, and exhorting them to focus on that which has been clearly communicated through the law. No one has to search out this truth. No one needs to work to obtain the message from God. He has not hidden His truth; He has revealed Himself clearly in the law He is giving. The people are challenged to receive the Law which Moses is stating for them as God’s revealed will. They do not need to strive to obtain it, either by going into heaven (for God has spoken from heaven) or by going across the sea. They need but to receive it and believe it, as He has revealed it in His law.

With regard to the statement found in Leviticus 18:5 and elsewhere, Moses never intended for the Israelites to receive it as an offer of righteousness by works, by keeping the law.253 In the second reference, this was not a clear-cut statement of the gospel. It was speaking not of Christ but of the commandment Moses was giving to this people.

These two Old Testament references are not, in their context or in the sense of their original meaning, a declaration of two ways of attaining righteousness. They are not two ways of salvation. Both are the words recorded by Moses. They must be understood in the light of their context. Paul’s use of them in Romans is not an explanation of them, as they were originally meant to be understood in the light of their context. How he meant to use them is our next consideration.

PAUL’S USE OF THE LAW IN ROMANS 10:5-8

Having considered the Romans 10 texts Paul refers to in light of their original meaning, we now must seek to understand how Paul used them and meant for us to understand his use. The use of the Old Testament in the New Testament is of great interest and importance. Having studied Paul’s use of the Old Testament for a semester in seminary, suffice it to say that our Lord and the New Testament writers used the Old Testament Scriptures in a variety of ways. Our trouble in understanding the use of the Old Testament by the New Testament writers is often rooted in our narrow grasp of how the Old Testament was interpreted and applied by those in New Testament times.254

In this portion of his Epistle to the Romans, Paul’s purpose is to contrast “works righteousness” with “faith righteousness.” His main point is Israel’s failure to achieve righteousness because she tried to earn it, by law-keeping, while the Gentiles attained righteousness by faith. The first principle, referred to in verse 5, may be summarized: “Do this and live.” This is not what Moses taught. It was what Israel concluded. This was their slogan. Since Moses was their hero, they would be inclined to abuse his words. Thus, Paul takes this slogan, “Do this and live” and makes it the motto of the legalist. Moses’ words were not meant to teach works righteousness, but they could be used to epitomize this error. Paul is not citing these words to prove that Moses taught works righteousness, but rather that Judaism supposed him to teach it. A legalistic interpretation and application of the Law of Moses could well be summarized: “Keep the law and live.”

The second reference to the words of Moses found in Romans 10:6-8 is perplexing. Let us begin by placing the two texts side by side so that we may compare them:

 

Deuteronomy 30:11-14	Romans 10:6-8
11 “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach.	6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus, “DO NOT SAY IN YOUR HEART, ‘WHO WILL ASCEND INTO HEAVEN?’ (that is, to bring Christ down),
12 “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’	7 or ‘WHO WILL DESCEND INTO THE ABYSS?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).”
14 “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.”	8 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching.

 

Several observations are necessary before we begin to understand how Paul is using the words of Moses.

(1) Paul does not introduce these words as though they were a quotation from Moses or from the Old Testament Scriptures. He introduces this reference to Deuteronomy 30 with the words, “But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus” (Romans 10:6). In Deuteronomy 30, Moses is speaking. In Romans 10, righteousness is speaking.

(2) Paul quotes some of the Deuteronomy passage, but not all of it. At best, Paul’s reference to Deuteronomy 30:11-14 is fragmentary. It is but a partial reference. Some might even call it an allusion, rather than a quotation.

(3) Paul changes the wording and the imagery of Deuteronomy 30. In Deuteronomy 30, the questions asked pertain to going up to heaven and going across the sea. In Romans 10, the questions pertain to going up to heaven and descending to the abyss. There is a substantial difference between the words of Moses and the words of Paul in regard to the second question.

(4) Paul changes the subject from the “commandment” to “Christ.” Deuteronomy 30 refers to the “commandment”255 which Moses is giving the people. Paul applies these words to Christ, first in His incarnation and Second in His resurrection.

(5) Paul adds interpretive statements which greatly modify the meaning and application of the text. The two statements contained in verses 6 and 7 are represented as parenthetical in the NASB. I think this is rightly so. But in making these two parenthetical statements, Paul changes the meaning and application of Deuteronomy considerably.

(6) The words of Moses in Leviticus 18:5 are used to illustrate “works righteousness,” while his words in Deuteronomy 30:11-14 are used to illustrate “faith righteousness.” The Jews were constantly trying to pit Moses against Jesus, Paul, and the other apostles. Paul pits Moses, as understood by the Jews, against Moses, as rightly understood by the apostles.

What then is Paul trying to achieve by referring so loosely to Deuteronomy? I think Paul is using this passage not as a prooftext but as an illustration of his point. He is not trying to make this Deuteronomy passage conform to his point in every detail, but rather to show how it illustrates his point in several important particulars.

If the words of Moses in Leviticus 18:5 (repeated by others elsewhere) can be twisted by legalistic Jews to justify their belief in “works righteousness,” his words in Deuteronomy 30 can be understood as illustrating the belief of Moses that men can only be saved by faith, apart from works.

Exchanging “the commandment” of Deuteronomy for “Christ,” Paul proceeds to make his point alluding to the words of Moses in Deuteronomy 30. Whether applied to “the commandment” or to “Christ,” the words of Moses taken up in part by Paul make the same point: “You do not have to do anything; just believe what God has revealed to you.” In the original words of Deuteronomy 30, Moses was warning Israel concerning self-effort. Those who heard these words did not need to “work” to obtain God’s revelation or His righteousness. They needed only to believe what God had said. In the context of Deuteronomy 30, they must trust in God to change their hearts, which would enable them to love God and to keep His commandments. Paul modifies the words of Moses to refer specifically to Christ. The Israelites did not need to initiate God’s salvation nor did they need to strive to attain it. They needed only to believe that God has sent Jesus from heaven and that He has raised Him from the dead. It was not doing which was necessary, but believing. Thus, Paul could freely use the words of Deuteronomy 30, because the point of the original passage and of Paul’s modification were the same: “Do not strive; just trust.” While the Old Testament text focuses more generally on the law, Paul’s modified reference focuses specifically on Christ, who was the “end of the law.” Thus, the modification made by Paul was completely legitimate. Paul simply brought this text up to date. He filled in the detail, “Christ,” which the law only anticipated.

Paul now draws upon the imagery of his illustration from Deuteronomy 30 to spell out the gospel which Israel must believe in order to be saved.

For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. But the righteousness based on faith speaks thus, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation (Romans 10:5-10).

Paul’s expression of the gospel is derived from the imagery and terminology of his words in verses 5-8. Salvation is based in Christ. It was He who descended at His incarnation. It was He who was raised in the resurrection. It is He who is the righteousness of God, who is offered to all who will believe in Him.

Saving faith involves both the heart and the mouth. We must believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead. We must confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. That which must be believed and confessed can be summed up in two simple statements:

• Jesus as Lord.
• Jesus is alive, raised from the dead.

These two simple statements have such profound depth of meaning and implications they will take more than a lifetime to comprehend. Nevertheless, Paul finds it possible to sum up the content of our faith in these two major lines of truth: (1) Jesus as Lord; and, (2) Jesus has been raised from the dead. What do these two statements mean? Both are difficult for the unbeliever to accept and profess, whether Jew or Gentile. Both will require the believer to stand apart from his own culture and his own contemporaries.

The statement, “Jesus as Lord,” was deeply significant to a Jew or a Gentile. The Greek term, rendered “Lord” here, was a term used in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) to refer to Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament.0 For the Jew, this confession was the acknowledgment that Jesus was God and that He was the promised Savior. As such, He was to be trusted in and to be obeyed.

The implications of this confession for the Gentile were also profound. The Gentile was accustomed to thinking of Caesar as “Lord.” When a Gentile came to faith in Jesus, He recognized Him to be in the place of highest authority. It meant that obedience to Caesar must be subordinate to obedience to Christ. Because the Roman emperors viewed this as atheism, many Christians were put to death for their confession. Neither Jew nor Gentile could take these words lightly. Their culture would not allow it. To confess Jesus as Lord was to take a stand with Him and against their own culture. It was a confession that put the believer at risk. It was a confession which could only be made by faith. Such a confession set the believer apart from all others (see 1 Corinthians 12:3).

Belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead was the second requirement of the gospel, as defined and declared by Paul and the apostles. The Jews had rejected Jesus as a fraud and had insisted on His death. To admit that God had raised Jesus from the dead was to admit that they were wrong in their rejection of Jesus. To the Gentiles, resurrection from the dead was foolishness (see Acts 17:32). But as Paul insists in 1 Corinthians 15, the resurrection of our Lord from the dead is a fundamental doctrine at the very heart of the gospel. Our Lord Himself staked all of His claims on His resurrection from the grave and even His opponents knew it (Matthew 12:38-40; 27:62-66). It is the basis for our hope of eternal life. It is proof that the work of our Lord was acceptable to the Father (see Romans 4:25). The resurrection of Jesus from the dead was central to the preaching of the apostles, who were witnesses of His resurrection (see Acts 2:24, 32; 3:15, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30, 33, 34, 37; 17:31).

The Gospel Summarized
(10:11-13)

For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for “Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul explained Israel’s failure as a failure in the area of faith. The Jews who had a zeal for God “tried harder” to be righteous but failed because they sought to earn righteousness by their law-keeping. The Gentiles attained righteousness because they accepted it by faith. The way of works and the way of faith have been contrasted by Paul in verses 5-10. The words of Moses have been used to contrast these two approaches to righteousness. Now, in verses 11-13, Paul states the gospel in very simple terms, showing that the gospel proclaimed by the apostles is the same way of salvation proclaimed in the Old Testament. He does this by citing two Old Testament texts which proclaim the same gospel as that preached by the apostles. Using these two texts as the framework for his argument, Paul stresses two essential characteristics of the gospel.

Paul buttresses the statements he has made in verses 9 and 10 by citing these two Old Testament texts in verses 11-13. The two requirements of salvation—belief and confession—are shown to be Old Testament requirements. The necessity of belief is shown by Paul’s citation of Isaiah 28:16. The necessity of confession is demonstrated from Joel’s words in Joel 2:32, where “calling upon the name of the Lord” is tantamount to “confession.”

In addition to documenting the Old Testament requirements of belief and confession, these two Old Testament texts spell out two fundamental characteristics of the gospel. These characteristics of the gospel are not only fundamental, they are the very elements of the gospel which made it repulsive to the Jews. These are the two primary reasons why the Jews would have none of Jesus and none of the gospel He or His apostles proclaimed.

The first characteristic of the gospel, as proclaimed in the Old Testament and the New, is that righteousness is offered and attained on the basis of faith alone, and not by works. In the context of Joel’s prophecy and that of Isaiah, it is faith alone, and not good works, which is required for salvation. The prophets did not call upon Israel to work harder at law-keeping, but to simply believe in God and in His provision for righteousness and salvation in the Messiah who was to come. The new covenant promised salvation through a work which the Spirit of God would bring about in the “stone hearts” of lost men. Salvation, both then and now, comes only when men cease to trust in themselves and turn in faith to that salvation God has provided in Jesus Christ.

The second characteristic Paul stresses from the Old Testament is that the gospel is universal. The gospel is not for Jews only, but for all who will believe. Salvation has nothing to do with one’s race, but only with faith. As the prophet Isaiah put it, “whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed” (Isaiah 28:16). Joel is Paul’s second witness. He likewise offers salvation to “whoever calls on the name of the LORD.” The key word in both quotations is “whoever.”

The Jews thought God’s salvation was exclusively for Jews. They at least wanted to insist that Gentiles come to faith through Judaism. God will have no part of this. The gospel is for all men, all who will believe that Jesus is God’s Messiah, whom God raised from the dead. All who will confess Him as Lord and who believe He was raised from the dead shall be saved. In its most concise terms, this is the essence of the gospel.

Conclusion

The reasons for Israel’s unbelief and the salvation of many Gentiles are now before us. We see first that many physical descendants of Israel (Jacob) are not saved, because God has not chosen them for salvation as told in chapter 9. But there is more to the story. In chapter 10 we are given the “rest of the news.” Israel is in a state of unbelief, because those who are lost have rejected the gospel. Because they do not wish to receive righteousness as a gift, undeserved, and on the basis of faith alone, they have rejected God’s righteousness in Christ Jesus.

When men perish eternally, there are two causes. First, God did not choose to save them from their sins. Second, they chose to sin and to compound their sin by rejecting God’s provision for sin, Jesus Christ. Divine sovereignty and human responsibility together explain Israel’s plight.

Men reject the gospel because it does not suit them; it does not conform to the way they wish to be saved. The gospel will give no credit to man for attaining righteousness; it will only give glory to God. The gospel is God’s offer of righteousness and salvation through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. He came down to the earth and added sinless humanity to His perfect deity. He took upon Himself the sins of the world, and by His death on Calvary, He bore the penalty for sin which each one of us deserve. He offers to sinners not only the forgiveness of sins, but the righteousness of God. Anyone who believes that Jesus is God’s Messiah, who has died and been raised from the dead, and who confesses Him as Messiah God, will be saved. You may be Jew or Gentile; it matters not. What does matter is that you believe in the Lord Jesus and confess Him before men.

There are some who wish to make salvation a private matter. For them, spiritual matters are very personal, and they politely suggest that we mind our own business when we speak to them about their personal relationship with God. The gospel is a personal matter, for each individual must decide in his or her heart what he or she will do with Jesus Christ. The gospel cannot be and must not be a private matter. The gospel requires not only that men make a decision, but that they take a stand. It was never conceived in the New Testament that one would make a private decision to believe in Jesus and yet not take a public stand in baptism.1 The gospel as Paul proclaims it does not give men the option to believe without taking a public stand for Christ.

Confession is not a work we do which merits God’s favor. It is simply an act of obedience and an evidence that one really does believe in Jesus Christ. Confession is necessary because there are, by popular opinion at least, two ways of attaining righteousness—the first by faith in Jesus Christ and the second by good works. The second of these is neither biblical nor legitimate, but it is the “way” which unbelievers choose. Confession that Jesus is Lord acknowledges that we have changed sides, that we have forsaken self-righteousness and turned to God for His righteousness, by faith. In a world in which there are only two sides—those for God and those against Him—salvation requires that we declare that we are now on God’s side. It is the evidence of our faith.

It may be that you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ as God’s provision for your salvation. You may well believe the right things about Jesus and yet never have believed in Jesus. Do you believe that Jesus is both God and God’s Messiah, that He has come to the earth, died for your sins, and been raised from the dead for your justification? Have you confessed Him as Lord before men? All who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Do it today. No one will be turned away who calls upon Him in faith and who professes Him to be Lord in simple obedience.

I dare not leave our text without calling your attention to a very distressing fact. Those whom Paul refers to as not only unbelievers but as “ignorant” are the Jews, the most well-informed people on the face of the earth. They had the Old Testament revelation of the Law and the Prophets. They had seen and heard the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. They could not deny the empty tomb, and they heard the gospel as proclaimed to them by the apostles. Those who refused to believe in Jesus were not uninformed, but they were ignorant. How could this be?

Paul talks more about this later in Romans 10. The ignorance of the Jews was willful. But for now, let me suggest a few principles pertaining to “biblical ignorance.” I hope these will be helpful and challenging.

(1) You may be ignorant of the Scriptures, even though you are zealously religious. Paul grants that the Jews were zealous. He even grants that they were “zealous for God” (verse 2), but they were lost. And they were ignorant. They were ignorant of God’s righteousness and of that which they must have to be saved. Religious people will be found in hell. Zealously religious people will be there. Religion that does not conform and submit to the Scriptures is false religion; it is idolatry; it is damnable religion.

(2) You may be ignorant of the Scriptures even though you are a biblical scholar. The Jews were hardly ignorant of the Scriptures. They knew them well. They considered themselves to be experts concerning the Law (see Romans 2, especially verses 17-24). But in the final analysis, they were ignorant concerning the Law. The gospel which they rejected is that which Paul has taught from the Old Testament.

Those who took it upon themselves to oppose and correct Jesus were the religious leaders and the biblical scholars of that day. And yet Jesus repeatedly rebuked them for their ignorance concerning the Scriptures (see, for example, Matthew 5; 12:23-33). Why was it that the scholars were so ignorant and that people whom they considered “ignorant” (see Luke 10:21; Acts 4:13) were able to understand the Scriptures?

(3) You may be ignorant of the Scriptures when you reject that which is clear and compelling, but choose to focus on that which is unrevealed, obscure, or trivial. The Deuteronomy 30 text to which Paul referred gives three vitally important principles which should guide us in our study of the Scriptures, particularly in our study of the Old Testament of which the Jews were ignorant.

First, we must study the Scriptures not as an academic exercise of the mind, but in order to know and to practice what God wants us to do.

Many wish to study the Scriptures as an intellectual exercise. They wish to deal with truth academically and philosophically. They do not wish to obey as much as to know (see Hebrews 5:13 and 14). It is ironic that in the very words which the unbelieving Jews used as their slogan, “Do this and live,” their problem was revealed. They were to do something, but it was not, first and foremost, to keep the Law; it was to believe in God. This is precisely what Jesus told the Jews of His day:

They said therefore to Him. “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent” (John 6:28-29).

Their “work,” that is, their responsibility, their obligation, was to believe what God had revealed. Their righteousness was to be the result of faith. Biblical scholarship can become deadly if and when it ceases to approach the Scriptures as the revelation of God, His righteousness, and His grace. When we view the Bible as something to only know, rather than as something to believe and to do, we have lost sight of its purpose.

Secondly, we should study the Scriptures in terms of that which God has said clearly, emphatically, and dogmatically, and not in terms of what is not revealed.

In Deuteronomy 30, Moses directed the Israelites to focus on what God had clearly revealed. They did not have to ascend into heaven or to cross the sea to know His will; He had revealed it to them clearly in His Word. They did not need scholars to tell them what it meant—its meaning was clear. And those things which God had not revealed clearly were not to be given great thought or effort.

How we have failed to follow this divine directive! We are not to “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). We are to devote ourselves to the “camels.” The Jewish myths and fables, that false teaching and emphasis of the Judaisers of which Paul consistently warned the church, was almost always speculative and theoretical. Its attention was focused on what God had not said, rather than on what He had clearly revealed (see 1 Timothy 1:5-8; 2 Timothy 2:23).

I see the same tendency among Christians. We often want to delve deep into that which is mysterious, unclear, and even unrevealed. Often we have a fetish about prophecy for this very reason—we love mysteries. We are constantly into conspiracy theories and other types of intrigue. God simply wants us to focus on what He has said in His Word—clearly—repeatedly—and emphatically. Let us not wander off into the realm of the obscure.

Thirdly, our study of the Scriptures should focus on God and the righteousness and salvation which He provides in Christ.

Those who correctly searched the Scriptures found Christ there. Those who searched for Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures looked for His coming and recognized Him when He appeared. Our study of the Old Testament should be Christ-centered. Those who are ignorant will approach the Scriptures from a self-centered perspective. From this perspective, they will always miss the truth and remain ignorant of that which was meant to produce life and growth.

I do not wish to leave the impression that striving to be a biblical scholar is wrong. Israel’s failure was not in studying the Scriptures but in how they studied them. May God grant that we would study the Old Testament more to find there the same gospel revealed in the New Testament. And may we find there, more and more, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. May we dwell on what God has revealed, rather than on that which He has not. To God be the glory.

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249 I like the outline of the entire chapter suggested by Stifler: “The chapter contains four topics: (1) Israel failed to see that Christ was the end of the law (vv. 1-4); (2) the free character of salvation (vv. 5-11); (3) its universal character (vv. 12-18); and (4) they failed to see that all this, as well as their own rejection, was the prediction of their own Scriptures (vv. 19-21).” James A. Stifler, The Epistle to the Romans (Chicago: Moody Press, 1960), p. 173.

250 See Leviticus 18:5; Nehemiah 9:29; Ezekiel 20:11, 13, 21.

251 See, for example, Deuteronomy 28:22, 25, 26, 45, 63, 66.

252 If it were a direct quote, the NASB would have put the words quoted in capital letters. This can be seen in verses 6-8. Only the words found in the Old Testament passage are in capital letters. The other words, supplied by the author citing the Old Testament, are printed normally.

253 Note how Joshua’s final words to Israel in Joshua 23 and 24 parallel those of Moses, his predecessor, and how they indicate that Israel will never obtain righteousness by law-keeping.

254 There is also a very profitable area of study to be found in the use of the Books of the Law by the prophets. The use of the exodus motif in Isaiah 40-55 was the subject of my master’s thesis.

255 Note that “commandment” is singular and not plural (“commandments”). The commandment, however, seems to encompass all the commandments, all the law. The “commandment” is to love God and keep all His commandments.

0 “‘Lord’ (Kurios) was used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (Septuagint) to translate the word for ‘Jehovah’ (Yahweh), the peculiar name for the true God of Israel. It is His saving name (see Exod. 3:7-22), especially v. 14; literally, ‘He will be that [which] he will be’; Jehovah was revealing himself as the one redeeming Israel from bondage. When used of Jesus in the strictly Christian sense, it means that he is Jehovah in flesh for man’s salvation. No Jew would confess ‘Lord Jesus’ who did not really believe it.” Herschel H. Hobbs, Romans (Waco: Word Books, 1977), p. 135.

1 In the Book of Acts, taking a public stand and identifying with Jesus Christ literally did “save” those Jews who believed and were baptized. Baptism marked the new believers out as Christians. The result was a separation from their old way of life, and from those who rejected Jesus. The result also was a joining in with the church, with other believers. When a person became identified with Christ and with His church, they suffered persecution for their faith and profession. The persecution which arose against the saints in Jerusalem drove them out of the city (see Acts 8:1ff.) and spared them from the destruction of the city by Rome, which was a divine judgment against Jerusalem for its unbelief and rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.