In Romans 4, Paul is making the case for justification by faith. He will use two Old Testament examples to solidify his argument. He begins with Abraham.
Rom 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
In Judaism, Abraham is held in the highest regard. As a matter of fact, three of the world’s largest religions trace their roots to Abraham. God promised in Genesis 12:2 that He would make Abraham’s name great, and history has vindicated this. The rabbis have such a high view of Abraham that some had the impression that he was justified by his good works. We can look back at Abraham’s offering of Isaac as the supreme example of obedience and he is known as “the friend of God.” (2 Chron 20:7, James 2:23).
But this is not what Paul chooses to focus on. Let’s follow his train of thought.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
The first question is of the utmost importance. It doesn’t matter what our opinions are, or even the opinions of those held in high esteem. But what do the scriptures say about the subject? That’s what matters! So, Paul directs us to Genesis 15 for the answer.
Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
This is the first mention of “belief” in the scriptures. This is not by accident; this is by design. People often wonder how folks were saved under the Old Covenant. My answer is, “the same way they are in the New Covenant.” People are saved by grace, through faith! Paul uses Abraham (the “father of faith”) to make this point. Abraham was not righteous because of his good deeds. He was declared to be righteous because he believed in the LORD!
The major theme of Romans is “the righteousness of God.” This is a righteousness that is bestowed upon us, apart from any goodness in us. Paul spends the first three chapters of Romans proving that the whole world is guilty before God and there are none righteous…no not one! The key word in Romans chapter 4 is the Greek word logizomai. The word is used 11 times in chapter 4. The KJV translators chose to translate this in a myriad of ways. They translated logizomai using the words, “counted”, “reckoned”, and “impute(d).” Those are all accurate ways to translate the word, but in my humble opinion, they obscure the argument Paul is trying to make. The NASB (New American Standard Bible) sought to alleviate this issue by the consistent translation of logizomai as “credited.”
Abraham believed God, and on that basis, righteousness was credited to him. “Credited” has more of a financial connotation whereas “imputed” carries more of a legal connotation, but both are accurate. Righteousness was “credited” to Abraham’s account. The reason Abraham can’t boast of his good works as a means of justification is because the righteousness was not his own! This righteousness was placed on his account, not because of works but because of faith! We will develop this further in our next post. Thanks for reading!
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