2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 4, Verses 1-5
Justified By Works? God Doesn’t Think So!
[6-10-18]
Review: “Where Is Boasting?” Part 2
Romans 3:23-24; 27-31) [NIV] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
“glory” – “the infinite beauty and greatness of God’s manifold perfections” [desiringgod.org].
“glory” – “The most significant use of the ideas of glory and majesty is their application to God. In this regard, it is sometimes stated that God’s glory is the external manifestation of his being” [biblestudytools.com].
QUESTION: What does it mean to “fall short of the glory of God”?
ANSWER: In my mind the glory of God is the essence of Who God is! We were created in His image (the image of Who God is), but sin has marred that image. Consequently, because we have sinned we have come short of the Who God is.
Romans 8:29) [KJV] For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
QUESTION: What is God currently up to in our lives?
ANSWER: He is conforming us “to the image of his Son,” to the Who God is!
24) (ERV) They are made right with God by his grace. This is a free gift. They are made right with God by being made free from sin through Jesus Christ.
NOTE: Justification means “just-as-if-I-had-never-sinned” in the sense that my relationship with a Holy God, Who hates sin, is absolutely solidified by the sacrifice of His Son, and my placing my faith in Him. GOD HAS NOTHING RECORDED AGAINST ME IN THE RECORD BOOKS IN HEAVEN.
*27) Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
*28) For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.
QUESTION: What point are verses 27-28 making?
ANSWER: Since we are justified as a result of what Jesus did, and not as a result of anything we have done, we have absolutely no right to boast.
29) Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too,
30) since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith.
NOTE: All Jews, who have the Law, and all non-Jews, who don’t have the Law, are sinners. Consequently, there’s only one way of salvation for all mankind. That way is through faith in Christ.
*31) Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Romans 3:20) [NIV] Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.
QUESTION: How does the plan of salvation “uphold the law”?
ANSWER: The purpose of the Law was for us to “become conscious of sin.” When we go to Jesus for salvation it’s because we are “conscious” of our need for a Savior because we are aware that we are sinners. The Law brought that awareness.
This Week’s Lesson: “Justified By Works? God Doesn’t Think So!
Romans 4:1-5) [NIV] What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?
2) If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God.
Concerning “but not before God,”
(NLT) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What were his experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith?
2) Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted him? If so, he would have had something to boast about. But from God’s point of view Abraham had no basis at all for pride.
“If Abraham was justified by his works, he might boast of his own merits. But he has no ground of boasting before God. Therefore he was not justified by works” [Calvin, quoted by Barnes].
Romans 3:27) [NIV] Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
QUESTION: What is Paul doing here?
*ANSWER: He is underlining Romans 3:27-28, 31. He claims that no man can brag about his righteous standing with God. To illustrate that point Paul now turns to the example of Abraham.
NOTE: It might appear easy to brag about your righteousness before your fellow man, because we get diluted into thinking that righteousness by comparison judges me to be a pretty good fellow. But how are we going to brag about our righteousness to God? He sees all the filth in our hearts. Calvin concludes that if we can’t brag about our righteous before God, then we have nothing to brag about before man.
3) What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
NOTE: It’s always good to go back to the Scriptures!
4) Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
5) However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
NOTE: Paul continues to utilize the example of Abraham to make his point.
QUESTION: What’s Paul’s message to any believer who feels righteous as a result of his/her actions?
*ANSWER: If you were righteous because of the purity of your heart and actions, then God owes you Heaven; salvation isn’t a gift.
QUESTION: According to vs. 5 whom does God justify?
ANSWER: He “justifies the wicked.”
QUESTION: What happens when we put our faith in that God?
ANSWER: Our “faith is credited as righteousness” to our account in Heaven.
James 2:14-26) [GW] My brothers and sisters, what good does it do if someone claims to have faith but doesn’t do any good things? Can this kind of faith save him?
15) Suppose a believer, whether a man or a woman, needs clothes or food
16) and one of you tells that person, “God be with you! Stay warm, and make sure you eat enough.” If you don’t provide for that person’s physical needs, what good does it do?
17) In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.
18) Another person might say, “You have faith, but I do good things.” Show me your faith apart from the good things you do. I will show you my faith by the good things I do.
19) You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.
20) You fool! Do you have to be shown that faith which does nothing is useless?
21) Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar?
22) You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did.
23) The Scripture passage came true. It says, “Abraham believed God, and that faith was regarded by God to be his approval of Abraham.” So Abraham was called God’s friend.
24) You see that a person receives God’s approval because of what he does, not only because of what he believes.
25) The same is true of the prostitute Rahab who welcomed the spies and sent them away on another road. She received God’s approval because of what she did.
26) A body that doesn’t breathe is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.
***QUESTION: Who’s telling the truth about faith, Paul or James?
ANSWER: Both! Paul is talking about works of the Law; James is talking about living out what you believe.
*QUESTION: How many of us are currently walking by faith?
*ANSWER: Every one of us! We all walk out what we believe!
QUESTION: In what way do you walk by faith; i.e., walk out what you believe?
ANSWER: Politics! What you think of yourself! What you think of others! What you think is safe!
2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 4, Verses 6-16
Guaranteed Promise!
[6-17-18]
Review: “Justified By Works? God Doesn’t Think So!”
Romans 4:1-5) (NLT) Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What were his experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith?
2) Was it because of his good deeds that God accepted him? If so, he would have had something to boast about. But from God’s point of view Abraham had no basis at all for pride.
3) What does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
NOTE: It’s always good to go back to the Scriptures!
4) Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
5) However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
*NOTE: If you were righteous because of the purity of your heart and actions, then God owes you Heaven; salvation isn’t a gift.
**NOTE: God “justifies the wicked,” not the righteous! Our “faith is credited as righteousness” to our account in Heaven.
James 2:17-26) [GW] In the same way, faith by itself is dead if it doesn’t cause you to do any good things.
19) You believe that there is one God. That’s fine! The demons also believe that, and they tremble with fear.
21) Didn’t our ancestor Abraham receive God’s approval as a result of what he did when he offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice on the altar?
22) You see that Abraham’s faith and what he did worked together. His faith was shown to be genuine by what he did.
26) A body that doesn’t breathe is dead. In the same way faith that does nothing is dead.
***QUESTION: Who’s telling the truth about faith, Paul or James?
ANSWER: Both! Paul is talking about works of the Law; James is talking about living out what you believe.
*NOTE: All of us are currently walking by faith! We all walk out what we believe! We walk out what we believe in politics! What we think of ourselves! What we think of others! What we think is safe!
This Week’s Lesson: “Guaranteed Promise!”
Romans 4:6-16) [NIV] David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7) “Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8) Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
Psalm 32:1-2) [GW] Blessed is the person whose disobedience is forgiven and whose sin is pardoned.
2) Blessed is the person whom the LORD no longer accuses of sin and who has no deceitful thoughts.
QUESTION: What man does David say is blessed?
ANSWER: It’s the “man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works.”
“What did Paul see in these verses? First of all, he noticed that David said nothing about works; forgiveness is a matter of God’s grace, not of man’s efforts. Second, he saw that if God doesn’t impute sin to a person, then that person must have a righteous standing before Him. Finally, he saw that God justifies the ungodly; David had been guilty of adultery and murder, yet in these verses he is tasting the sweetness of full and free pardon” [BBC].
QUESTION: How could David, living under the Law, discover this blessedness?
ANSWER: He discovered it through repentance and the sacrificial system of the Law.
QUESTIONS: Why does Paul add the words “the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works” when referring to David’s comments? Isn’t the sacrificial system a system of works?
ANSWER: The sacrificial system of the Law of Moses is a system God put in place because of the absolute fact that no one under the Law of Moses ever perfectly kept the Law of Moses, which was a Law of works! That is, of course, until Jesus did! God initiated animal sacrifices to look toward the eventual sacrifice of His Son. When the sinner sinned and then offered, by faith, the appropriate sacrifice his/her sin was covered; and God could then accept that individual as “right” with Him.
NOTE: Once you sin, regardless of the system you are under, you must trust God to forgive you. Even though the Law required a sacrifice, ultimately David’s faith in a forgiving God resulted in that forgiveness.
ANOTHER NOTE: The fruit of the forgiveness offered by faith, through the sacrificial system, was the blessing of going to “Abraham’s bosom”/”Paradise” to await the Sacrifice represented by the sacrifices of the Mosaic system, that sacrifice being the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9) Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
10) Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!
QUESTION: What is Paul’s strategy now?
ANSWER: After bringing David into his discourse he now returns to Abraham, who is the father of the Jewish race.
*NOTE: Circumcision was the one ceremony the Jews acquainted with the Law that was there before the Law. So Paul had to demonstrate that credited righteousness occurred prior to circumcision.
11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
12) And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
QUESTION: Why does Paul bring out the timing of the declaration by God of Abraham being declared righteous compared to the timing of his circumcision?
ANSWER: Moses, the giver of the Law, was a descendent of Abraham. Therefore, Abraham lived prior to the Law. The command of God that Abraham be circumcised was later to become a part of the Law for all Jewish males. God commanded them to be circumcised as well. Consequently, Abraham had the beginning of the Law in the commandment to be circumcised. In other words, to all his Jewish readers, circumcision represented the Law. Paul wants to show those readers that God pronounced Abraham righteous before He commanded Him to be circumcised.
QUESTION: Was that a coincidence that Paul sought to take advantage of?
ANSWER: No! As we will see at the conclusion of this chapter, God had you in mind the whole time.
13) It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
*14) For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
Romans 11:6) [KJV] And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Romans 11:6) (GNB) His choice is based on his grace, not on what they have done. For if God’s choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be real grace.
QUESTION: Why would faith have no value if the promise was given to those who could attain it by doing?
15) because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
ANSWER: You can’t break a law if there isn’t a law; but the Law was given to convince us of sin.
16) Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
QUESTION: Why did God devise a system that depended on His promise, and not our Law keeping?
ANSWER: It was the only way to guarantee our salvation.
QUESTION: Why do I say that?
ANSWER: We can’t keep the Law! God can, and God will, keep His promise!
NOTE: To get you and I to Heaven God had to create a system, “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” [Ephesians 1:9], that depended on His faithfulness, not ours!
2018 STUDY OF ROMANS
Chapter 4, Verses 17-25
You Were Always On His Mind!
[6-24-18]
Review: “Guaranteed Promise!”
Romans 4:6, 9-16) [NIV] David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
NOTE: The sacrificial system of the Law of Moses is a system God put in place because of the absolute fact that no one under the Law of Moses ever perfectly kept the Law of Moses, which was a Law of works! That is, of course, until Jesus did!
9) Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
10) Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!
*NOTE: Circumcision was the one ceremony the Jews acquainted with the Law that was there before the Law. So Paul had to demonstrate that credited righteousness occurred prior to circumcision.
11) And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
12) And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
NOTE: Moses, the giver of the Law, was a descendent of Abraham. Therefore, Abraham lived prior to the Law. The command of God that Abraham be circumcised was later to become a part of the Law for all Jewish males. God commanded them to be circumcised as well. Consequently, Abraham had the beginning of the Law in the commandment to be circumcised. In other words, to all his Jewish readers, circumcision represented the Law. Paul wants to show those readers that God pronounced Abraham righteous before He commanded Him to be circumcised.
13) It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.
*14) For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless,
Romans 11:6) (GNB) His choice is based on his grace, not on what they have done. For if God’s choice were based on what people do, then his grace would not be real grace.
15) because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
16) Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring-not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
NOTE: To get you and I to Heaven God had to create a system, “according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself” [Ephesians 1:9], that depended on His faithfulness, not ours!
This Week’s Lesson: “You Were Always On His Mind!”
Romans 4:17-25) [NIV] As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed-the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.
QUESTION: Was Abraham the father of many nations?
ANSWER: Keturah, Abraham’s last wife, gave birth to six boys. Genesis 25:1-4 tells us that Jokshan, a son of Keturah was the ancestor of the Assyrians, and Midian, another son of Keturah, was the ancestor of the Midianites. Ismael, Hagar’s son was the ancestor of many of the Arab nations. Esau, Abraham’s grandson, was the ancestor of the Edomites, and some say, Turkey, and the Palestinians.
- Jokshan – Assyrians; * Midian –
- Esau – Edomites; * Esau – Turkey.
- Esau – Palestinians; * Ismael – Saudi Arabia.
- Ismael – Iraq; * Ismael –
- Ismael – Jordan; * Isaac –
NOTE: I don’t know if this is an exact representation of the descendents of Abraham, but it is an example of what they might be. The purpose is simply to show that Abraham is the father of many nations.
(GNB) as the scripture says, “I have made you father of many nations.” So the promise is good in the sight of God, in whom Abraham believed—the God who brings the dead to life and whose command brings into being what did not exist.
QUESTION: What can our God do?
ANSWER: He can resurrect the dead, and He can speak something into existence that wasn’t there.
18) Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
(CEV) God promised Abraham a lot of descendants. And when it all seemed hopeless, Abraham still had faith in God and became the ancestor of many nations.
19) Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead.
20) Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
21) being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
QUESTION: What are the two reasons that Abraham should have quit believing?
- He was almost 100 years old, and thought “his body was as good as dead.”
- Sarah’s womb was dead.
NOTE: Sarah had always been barren, but now she was past the age to have children.
QUESTION: Why didn’t he waver in his faith?
ANSWER: God strengthened Abraham’s faith causing him to be “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
QUESTION: Why was Abraham’s faith so much stronger than our faith?
ANSWER: It wasn’t! It took Abraham a 25-year journey to reach this steadfastness.
*NOTE: It was a journey, but he did reach that point where he unwaveringly believed God. Even after those 25 years “God strengthened Abraham’s faith.” It still took God’s intervention. He was as feeble as we are.
22) This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”
QUESTION: What was the result of his believing God in a seemingly hopeless case?
ANSWER: God “credited” his faith “to him as righteousness.”
(BBE) For which reason it was put to his account as righteousness.
(CEV) So God accepted him,
(GNB) That is why Abraham, through faith, “was accepted as righteous by God.”
(GW) That is why his faith was regarded as God’s approval of him.
(MSG) That’s why it is said, “Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right.”
Genesis 15:6) [NIV] Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
*23) The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,
24) but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.
QUESTION: What is this verse telling us?
ANSWER: Way back when the Holy Spirit was giving the Genesis account to Moses by Divine inspiration, and He had Moses record those words, “he credited it to him as righteousness,” HE HAD YOU IN MIND!
QUESTION: Who did He have in mind?
ANSWER: He had all believers in mind, all of us who have put our faith in the One Who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead.
QUESTION: What is this passage telling us?
ANSWER: It’s telling us that when we trust Jesus to be our Savior God accepts us as right with Him.
25) He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
QUESTION: What is this verse telling us?
ANSWER: Jesus faced the wrath of God for our sins, and when He stepped out of that tomb it was settled; ALL WHO TRUST GOD WILL BE DECLARED RIGHT WITH HIM!