[Romans Study 9-2]
Grace And Faith [Romans 3:27-4:25]
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. 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. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.
Receive God’s Free Gift, Grace
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.
This passage points the attitude of those who are under the law. Just like hired workers, they request God pay them their due wages. God is obligated to pay them for what they work for. Therefore, instead of giving thanks to God, they drive God to be the debtor and place themselves in the position of creditor.
But God gives His grace to the ones who do not work but who trust in Him. It reminds us of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in Matthew 20. Workers were hired to work in a vineyard at different times from early in the morning to late in the afternoon. Those who joined the labor “at the eleventh hour” barely worked at all, but when the day was over, the landowner said to his foreman, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.” (Matthew 20:8) “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius.”(Matthew 20:9-10) As expected, complaints against the landowner followed. “These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.” (Matthew 20:12)
What was happening in this vineyard? Why does God give us this bizarre story?
He is explaining to us the character of grace. The landowner bestowed grace and was merciful to those who did not work.
A similar story is told in Genesis with Jacob and his son Joseph. Jacob clothed Joseph, the eleventh son, in a richly ornamented robe. (Genesis 37:3) The robe was provided for Joseph not because of Joseph’s good acts but because of his father’s mercy. When grace falls on us, instead of complaining or analyzing it, we should accept it by faith. Then God will justify us. This is very simple but in our arrogance and anxiety many of us reject this free gift of God.
The ultimate test of our spirituality is the measure of our amazement at the grace of God. Now the question is how much do we appreciate the grace of God?
6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
David’s Story of Blessedness
How did David become a king of Israel? Was it because of his flesh? No, it was also because of his faith in God. When Saul the king of Israel and all the Israelites were terrified and fled in great fear of the Philistine giant Goliath, David courageously volunteered to fight against him. When Saul said that, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth,” David replied, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17:33; 17:37) When David approached Goliath with staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, and his sling in his hand, the Philistine despised the small boy. (1 Samuel 17:45) David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45; 17:47)
David triumphed over Goliath with a sling and a stone; without a sword–in other words, he struck down Goliath with his faith, trusting that the battle was not his but the Lord’s. With this kind of faith, David became the king of Israel.
Paul quotes David’s Psalm 32:1-2. Works are deeds done by merit, but how blessed are those to whom God credits righteousness without any deeds or merit. Blessed are those who are forgiven, whose sins are covered, and who are not condemned.
My Debt of Sin Was Paid For By Christ
Paul wrote a letter to Philemon telling of a slave named Onesimus who ran away after stealing money from his master Philemon. Onesimus, however, was later saved by the gospel preached by Paul, and in an effort to return Onesimus to his original master, Paul urges Philemon: “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me. I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back–not to mention that you owe me your very self.” (Philemon 1:18-19) Philemon, charge whatever Onesimus owes to me, says Paul. When Paul carries his sin instead of him, Onesimus is not a thief anymore and freed from his debts.
This is the same experience that all true believers have had. Jesus transferred all our debts to his account and liberated us from that burden.
Transformed by the love of the Lord, Paul not only said beautiful word but he also lived the word. As Jesus Christ carried debts of his sin, Paul also carried the burden of Onesimus. The book of Philemon is the living proof of his life.
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! 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.
Abraham First Justified, Later Circumcised
Paul again goes back to Abraham to speak about the matter of circumcision, which was a huge topic of interest to the Jews in the early church. Was Abraham blessed after he was circumcised, or before? “It was not after, but before!”says Paul. To the Jews, this must have been an earth-shaking declaration, because for them, a man who was not circumcised was quite literally not a Jew, no matter what his parentage was.
But Paul debunks this belief by showing that Abraham was called and set up as an ancestor of faith by the sheer grace of God. Only after then was he circumcised. God credited Abraham’s faith to him as righteousness in Genesis 15:6, and after fourteen years had passed, God gave the covenant of circumcision in Genesis 17:9-12.
Fourteen years stands between Chapter 14 and 17 of Genesis. Now Paul points to two key moments of Abraham’s life journey. Wasn’t Abraham declared righteous here in Chapter 15 and only after then was he circumcised in Chapter 17? Abraham first became an ancestor and then he was circumcised.
Circumcision was not the gateway to the right relationship with God; it was only the sign and the seal that a man had already entered into that relationship.
What about the law? When did God first pronounce the law? The law did not even exist at the time of Abraham. The law was proclaimed through Moses in Exodus, not in Genesis. After 430 years following Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, did the law come into existence.
“What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.” (Galatians 3:17-18)
How did Abraham who was born before Moses become an ancestor of faith? Was he declared righteous and become an ancestor because somehow he knew and kept the law that was yet to be given? While he was still uncircumcised and before the existence of the law, he was blessed because of his faith. Therefore, Abraham is not the father of the circumcised but he is the father of every man who in every age takes God at His word as he did.
13 It was not through the 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, 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 have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.
The Promise Comes By Faith, Grace
The promise of God given to Abraham, as Paul saw it, was dependent on two things and two things only—the free grace of God and the perfect faith of Abraham. It is such a great hope to us as well. No matter how evil a father we may have, we too have received the promise to be heirs of God. And the way to be an heir has nothing to do with where we came from or what we did but it is only by grace and faith. The true people of God are ancestors of the faith of Abraham. As Paul affirms: “For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless” (4:14)
So Paul sets before the Romans the two ways. The one is a way in which a man seeks a right relationship with God through his own efforts. It is a way which is doomed to failure. The other is the way in which a man, in absolute faith, enters into a relationship with God–an opportunity given only by grace.
17 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. 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.” 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. 22 This is why “it was credited 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. 25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.
Republished with permission from Dr. Christy Tran, the author of “The Epistle to the Romans: Paul’s Love Letter from God.”