I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In the previous lessons, we have studied that Paul declared the universal need of both Jews and Gentiles for salvation through the gospel of Christ (Rom. 3:22-24).

B.      In our present lesson, we see that Paul showed how both Jews and Gentiles can find a common role model in the person of Abraham, the father of all who have faith in God (Rom. 4:1-25).

C.      Before we begin our study, it is important that we understand the term “reckon.”

                                                             1.      This term “reckon” appears in various forms eleven times in this chapter.  Therefore, it is necessary to understand the meaning of this term in order to get the meaning of the chapter.

                                                             2.      To reckon is to count, to take into account, to judge, or to consider.  Therefore, when the Scripture says that Abraham’s faith was reckoned as righteousness by God, it means that God considered Abraham to be righteous because of his faith.

II.      ABRAHAM’S RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS NOT BY WORKS, CIRCUMCISION, OR THE LAW

A.      Abraham was not righteous according to his works, but God justified him because of his faith (Rom. 4:1-8).

                                                             1.      Abraham’s works were not such as to earn his righteousness from God.  God did not owe it to Abraham to recognize him as righteous, but rather God made him righteous by His own grace (v. 4).

                                                             2.      In fact, this context suggests that Abraham’s works, like our own works, were sinful, making him unrighteous.

a.       Notice that verse 5 says that God justifies the ungodly.  Before God justified Abraham, he was in the category of the ungodly.

b.       Verses 7-8 are from Psalm 32:1-2, and they speak of lawless deeds being forgiven, sins being covered, and sin not taken into account (or reckoned).  Before Abraham was justified, he was guilty and accountable for his lawless deeds and sins.

                                                             3.      The sins, lawless deeds, and ungodliness of Abraham were forgiven (i.e., he was justified) because of his faith in God when God reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness.

                                                             4.      It is a blessing by the grace of God whenever a person is forgiven, justified, and counted as righteous.  “All have sinned” (Rom. 3:23), and therefore the only way to become righteous is by the grace of God.

B.      Abraham became righteous before he received the sign of circumcision (Rom. 4:9-12).

                                                             1.      God had already reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness before He gave Abraham the sign of circumcision.  Therefore, circumcision was not the reason for Abraham’s righteousness.

                                                             2.      God’s purpose in these things was not to make Abraham a father to the Jews (i.e., “the circumcised”) only, but rather to make him a father to all who have faith in God.

                                                             3.      The application of this is that it is the similarity of Abraham’s faith (spiritual similarity) and not the sign of circumcision (physical similarity) that makes us heirs to the promise of Abraham.

C.      Abraham was made an heir of the world because of his faith, not because of the Law (Rom. 4:13-15).

                                                             1.      Simple chronology tells us that God’s promise was not through the Law of Moses, for the Law was given four hundred and thirty years after the promise (Gal. 3:17).  Abraham was never under the Law, but he was given the promise by God because of his faith in God.

                                                             2.      Recall that Romans 3:31 said that faith did not nullify the Law of Moses.  However, if righteousness was through the Law, then the Law would nullify faith because Abraham’s faith and the promise of God preceded the Law of Moses.  Again notice Galatians 3:17.

                                                             3.      While these things may seem very technical to us, understand that it was essential for the early Jewish Christians to understand the separation that God made between the Law of Moses and the gospel (Rom. 3:21).  Drawing back to the story of Abraham was a good way of clarifying that distinction.

III.   ABRAHAM’S RIGHTEOUSNESS WAS BY FAITH

A.      Abraham is the father of all who have faith in God (Rom. 4:16-17).

                                                             1.      The first statement of verse 16 indicates that God’s plan all along was to bless the spiritual descendants of Abraham by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8).

a.       God’s blessings through Abraham were not intended for his physical descendants only, but rather they were intended for those who shared his faith in God.

b.       Notice Galatians 3:29 – “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

                                                             2.      Whereas the Jews claimed Abraham exclusively as their own father, in the eyes of God he is truly the father of all those who imitate his faith, whether they were under the Law of Moses or not.  See Luke 3:8; John 8:39.

B.      Consider Abraham’s faith in God regarding God’s promise to make him a father of many nations (Rom. 4:18-22).

                                                             1.      In Genesis 12:1-3, Abram received the promises of God when he was seventy-five years old and had no children.

a.       These promises were repeated and expanded in Genesis 13:14-17 when God told Abram that his descendants would be innumerable.

b.       When Abram appealed to God about his childlessness, God again assured him that his descendants would be innumerable (Gen. 15:1-5).

c.        Finally, when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, God told Him that Sarah would bear him a son in the next year (Gen. 17:1, 15-21).

                                                             2.      In spite of the physical impossibility of Abraham and Sarah to bear children at their advanced ages, Abraham believed God, and God reckoned it to him as righteousness (Gen. 15:6).

a.       Even though his own body was “as good as dead” and Sarah was old and had always been barren, Abraham still believed that God would do as He promised.

b.       At last when Abraham was one hundred years old and Sarah was ninety years old, God gave them a son (Gen. 21:5) just as He had promised and as Abraham had believed.

c.        Notice the great strength and confidence of Abraham’s faith:

i.         “In hope against hope he believed…” (Rom. 4:18)

ii.        “And without becoming weak in faith…” (Rom. 4:19)

iii.      “…he did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God” (Rom. 4:20)

iv.      “…being full assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Rom. 4:21)

C.      When God favored Abraham, He did not do it for Abraham’s sake alone, but for ours also (Rom. 4:23-25).

                                                             1.      Abraham was asked to believe in something that was impossible by the laws of nature.  Because of his trust in God, he believed it, and God reckoned his faith as righteousness.

                                                             2.      Now we have also been asked to believe in things that are seemingly impossible.  If we will believe as Abraham believed, then our faith will be reckoned as righteousness also.

a.       The gospel calls on us to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the means by which God declared Him to be His Son (Rom. 1:4).  It also calls on us to believe in our own resurrection and the Judgment.

b.       Although we may be challenged to believe these things because we have never seen them, we must believe them in the likeness of Abraham in order to be counted as righteous.

i.         Abraham believed God’s promises to such a degree that he was willing to do anything that God commanded him.  See Hebrews 11:8-19.

ii.        If we believe in God’s promises of forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life, then we must also do the things which He commands us through the gospel of Christ.

IV.    CONCLUSION

A.      By having a faith similar to that of Abraham, we may likewise have our ungodliness justified, our lawless deeds forgiven, and our sins covered and not taken into account.

B.      In the next lesson, we will consider just how blessed we are through faith in Christ Jesus.