The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

Forgiveness of Sin Through Jesus Christ - 2

Note: See the Answer Key at the bottom of this page to fill in the blanks.

Overview:

Romans 4:1-23

As we turn to Romans chapter 4, Paul uses the “case study” of the life of Abraham to demonstrate salvation by grace alone through faith.  Throughout this chapter Paul’s main point is that Abraham was NOT saved by his knowledge of the Law—indeed the Law of Moses was not given for hundreds of years after Abraham had died; but Abraham was saved by his__________   ____    ________, and his reception of God’s free gift of salvation.

1Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What were his experiences concerning this question of being saved by faith?  2Was 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.

These first two verses have been given a lot of interpretation in the New Living Translation, which adds words not found in the original text, to give a more sensible rendering of the Greek.  The Greek text reads:

1What, therefore, shall we say our forefather Abraham has found according to the flesh?  2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

The translators of the NLT take the gist of Romans 3:21-31 and sum it up in verse one of chapter 4, in order to include a statement about  “this question of being saved by faith.”  These words are not found in the Greek text of verse one.  The reference there is simply to what “Abraham has found according to the flesh.”  When the NLT has Paul say, “Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of the Jewish nation,” it is rendering the original words about Abraham being our “forefather”, and “according to the flesh,” into a more understandable form for readers in the 21st century.  That Abraham was “our” forefather according to the flesh, demonstrates that he was, indeed, “humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation.”  This statement makes more sense to us, particularly if we aren’t from a Jewish background. 

In verse two, the NLT translators, hold closer to what is in the original text, as the phrases clearly parallel a stiff, “wooden” translation: 

2Was 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.

2For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 

The key message here is that Abraham was chosen by God, and accepted by God not on the basis of works, but on the basis of faith.  Paul is going to follow up his premise in verses one and two, with a quote from Scripture in verse three that will illustrate his point.

3For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.”

This quote comes to us from Genesis 15:6.  It is interesting that Paul uses this verse to demonstrate that Abraham was saved by grace alone through faith—that his righteousness came as a gift from God, while James uses the very same verse of Scripture to demonstrate that the effectiveness of faith is demonstrated through works!!!!

In James 2:21-24 we read:   21Don’t you remember that our ancestor Abraham was declared right with God because of what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22You see, he was trusting God so much that he was willing to do whatever God told him to do. His faith was made complete by what he did—by his actions. 23And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.” He was even called “the friend of God.” 24So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not by faith alone.

Both Paul and James quote Genesis 15:6 “Abraham believed God, so God declared him to be righteous.”  So who was right—Paul or James? 

APPLICATION POINT:  We believe the Bible is the Word of God—our faithful guide for all matters of faith and practice.  Therefore when the Bible seems to “contradict itself,” we must look at the verses in question in light of the greater context of the whole Bible.  This points out our need to have a general understanding of the ____________ Bible.  “Proof-texting,” taking one verse here or there out of the Bible and pasting them together to form a certain teaching, doctrine, or practice based on the biblical “proof” has been commonly practiced down through the centuries.  It has resulted in much harm.   Such activity has been used to build a case for slavery, for the subjugation of women, for various types of church governments, for absolute adherence to the laws of a nation, or for anarchy. 

Today’s example gives us the perfect opportunity to see that Paul and James were pointing out two realities, both of which are affirmed in the Scriptures:  Salvation is by grace alone through faith in Jesus Christ,  AND righteousness before God is demonstrated through good works.  Therefore, both are right, even though they are affirming “opposite” points of view.

Salvation IS by grace alone through faith.   We see this in Romans, in Ephesians 2:1-10, in Galatians 2:14-16,  in Jesus’ own words in Matthew 10:32-33:   32“If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will openly acknowledge that person before my Father in heaven. 33But if anyone denies me here on earth, I will deny that person before my Father in heaven,” and in many other places. 

The demonstration of our right relationship with Jesus Christ IS demonstrated through ____________   ____________.  We see this in Ephesians 2:10,  Matthew 7:21:23,  James, 1 John 4:20-21, and many other places.

The Bible doesn’t contradict itself on the matter of faith and works, it complements itself:   faith is a gift from God, good works are a response to having received the gift of faith by God’s grace.  Faith without works IS dead, but there are no good works without faith compelling us to carry them out.

This is but one example of dozens of examples where the Bible is often said to be contradictory, but is not.  Sometimes the matter may not be as “black and white” as we wish it would be, nor as easy to understand as we would like, but the Bible’s teachings are always available to those who trust in Jesus Christ, live in the power of the Holy Spirit and are seeking to honor and glorify our heavenly Father.  

4When people work, their wages are not a gift. Workers earn what they receive.   5But people are declared righteous because of their faith, not because of their work.

Here Paul continues to set forth his logical rationale for why salvation is a gift of God, by grace through faith, and not of works.   In this illustration Paul points out the simple reality that _______________ are not a gift.  When we take a job, we expect to receive the wages of our labors.  If we don’t, we quit or file a grievance or find some form of satisfaction (in the legal sense of that word).   We are declared righteous before God because of faith—which we receive as a gift, not because of our work.  In that case faith we be the “wages” for our efforts.

INTERPRETATION POINT:  Paul uses the word “righteous” here in two senses:  1) the legal sense; and ) the relational sense.   When we receive the salvation God offers us by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ our offenses against the law are “cleared from our record.”  We no longer face punishment for our sins.  Just as importantly, when we receive salvation we enter into a “right relationship” with God, through Jesus Christ.  God has more in mind for us than simply _________________ of sin.  He wants to forgive us, to be sure, but He also wants to have a relationship with us that is real and personal, indeed more real and personal than any other relationship in our lives!  This stands in stark contrast to the gods of the religions of the world.

6King David spoke of this, describing the happiness of an undeserving sinner who is declared to be righteous:

7“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight.

8Yes, what joy for those whose sin is no longer counted against them by the Lord.”

Paul again appeals to Scripture to make his case.  This time he moves away from the life of Abraham for a moment, to the writings of King David (Psalm 32:1-2)  Paul briefs us on the context of King David’s statements by telling us that it is the description of the “happiness” (“blessing” is probably a better translation) of an “undeserving sinner” who is “declared to be righteous.”  As with many cases in the Psalms, the second verse is simply a restatement of the first and serves to underscore the importance and truth of the statement.  The key point is:  God forgives the sins of people and declares them righteous.  It has nothing to do with our action.  There is no merit in asking for forgiveness.  The merit comes in declaring another forgiven!

APPLICATION POINT:   There is a key reality for ALL relationship stated here.  When one person offends God (or another person) only the person who has been offended (sinned against) can ______________ the relationship.  Many times when we have offended God or another we do good works in an effort to make up for it.  A broken relationship cannot be restored with money, or works, or any other action on the part of the offender.  It is totally up to the offended to say, “I forgive you.”  Thus, when we are the offender, it is never enough to say, “I’m sorry,” and walk away.  Saying, “I’m sorry,” only lets the offended person (or God) know how we feel.  That can never restore the relationship.  Many times we make the mistake of assuming that saying, “I’m sorry,” FIXES a relationship.  It doesn’t.  We must move to the next step and say, “Will you forgive me?”  This acknowledges that we have no ____________ over the restoration of the relationship, that it is totally in the hands of the offended party.

As King David rightly points out, it is in God’s nature to forgive the “undeserving sinner,” and by definition all sinners ARE undeserving, because it is the sinner who has broken the relationship, who has offended the other party.  As we become followers of Jesus Christ, one of the chief ways we demonstrate that to others is in the manner in which we are able to forgive those who have offended us.  If we hold onto grudges, if we always bring up another’s prior sins whenever an opportunity to forgive presents itself, we can be sure that we have not yet attained an identity with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was able to say, “Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing,” even as people were driving spikes into his hands and feet.  It has been written, “To err is human. To forgive divine.”  Although these words don’t come from Scripture, they sum up King David’s words in Psalm 32:1-2

9Now then, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too?

Paul now returns to his question of the distinction between Jews and Gentiles.  Is God’s blessing of bestowing grace and forgiveness available only to Jews or is it also for Gentiles?  We know this is a rhetorical question on Paul’s part, because he has already established that all alike have sinned, and that all alike may be forgiven and restored to relationship with God by receiving His free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ.   In order to strengthen the conclusion that God’s blessings are for all, Paul now returns to the life of Abraham.

Well, what about Abraham? We have been saying he was declared righteous by God because of his faith.  10But how did his faith help him? Was he declared righteous only after he had been circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? The answer is that God accepted him first, and then he was circumcised later! 

Paul’s point is as clear as it is obvious:  Abraham was accepted by God FIRST, and then he was circumcised.  Therefore, our acceptance—whether we are Jews or Gentiles—comes BEFORE any action on our part.  God always “gets up before we do!”

11The circumcision ceremony was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are made right with God by faith.

Here Paul describes the place the circumcision ceremony played in Abraham’s life and in the life of the larger faith and non-faith communities around him.  Circumcision was a sign that Abraham ALREADY had faith, that God ALREADY had accepted him and declared him _________________.  Paul’s first conclusion is that Abraham is therefore, the “spiritual father of those who have faith, but have not been circumcised.  They are made right with God by faith.”

APPLICATION POINT:   Paul here demonstrates a crucial point concerning our rituals and traditions as believers:  they are all signs THAT we already believe.  He underscores that reality in verse 12:

12And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.

It was not the act of being circumcised (and it is not the act of being baptized, or attending worship, or joining a church) that makes anyone right with God. It is the ________________ acceptance by God, and act of grace through faith that makes us righteous, and brings us into relationship with God and one another as believers.  Much argument and dissension could be avoided among Christians and various groups of Christians if we grasped and lived this simple truth!

13It is clear, then, that God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was not based on obedience to God’s law, but on the new relationship with God that comes by faith.

Paul continues in the same line of reasoning.  God accepted Abraham.  Abraham’s response was obedience.  God’s promises to Abraham were not based on Abraham’s obedience, but on the prior relationship.  Abraham lived in obedience, not so he would receive God’s favor and the fulfillment of God’s promises, but because Abraham _________ God and wanted to demonstrate his ______________ for God’s acceptance in His life.

14So if you claim that God’s promise is for those who obey God’s law and think they are “good enough” in God’s sight, then you are saying that faith is useless. And in that case, the promise is also meaningless.   

Paul makes it clear in this verse that “works righteousness” mitigates faith.  He will tell us in the next verse that since we cannot live in obedience, it also means that God’s promise is “meaningless.”

15But the law brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)

How does the law “bring punishment on those who try to obey it?”  Through the reality that no one can live it, which Paul established in chapter 3, through Scripture proofs, and through chapters 1 & 2, by practical example from human experience.

Paul’s parenthetical statement shows the absolute futility of righteousness based on the law—the only way it could happen is if there was not law to break.  Since Moses had delivered more than 600 laws to the Jews, the possibility of there being no law to break was nil. 

16So that’s why faith is the key! God’s promise is given to us as a free gift. And we are certain to receive it, whether or not we follow Jewish customs, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe.

Paul reminds us again that God’s promise to us is a FREE GIFT.  The prerequisite for receiving the gift is to have faith “like Abraham’s”  This doesn’t mean faith in as great a quantity as Abraham, but faith in the same God as Abraham, faith in the same certainty as Abraham—that God’s intentions toward us are to bless us, and do us good.

[NOTE:   Last week, I stated that God doesn’t care how much faith we have, that He cares that our faith is in Him.  As with all sweeping generalizations, the statement contains truth, but it also contains a potential error.  I was not saying that God doesn’t want us to develop our faith, that our faith ought not to be growing on a daily basis.  Indeed, it is God’s fervent desire that our faith grows throughout our lives.  My point was that it is not the quantity of our faith that saves us, but the object (or subject) in which we place our faith.  A little faith in Jesus Christ will save a person.  Great faith in the “god within” will not.  That was my point.]

 17That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who brings into existence what didn’t exist before.

Paul now moves in using Abraham as the example of one who was credited as righteous because of his faith, to Abraham as the “father” of all who believe.  Paul tells us that God “rewarded” (my word, not Paul’s) Abraham’s faith by making him the father of many nations.  Paul’s words are that “this happened because Abraham believed in God”  It is interesting that Paul points out that Abraham believed in “the God who brings the dead back to life,” since in Abraham’s experience, he never saw God bring anyone back to life!  (Although in a figurative sense, God’s giving Sarah the ability to have a child as a senior citizen, may qualify as bringing the dead back to life!)  Paul’s reference here is looking forward to the resurrection of Jesus, and perhaps to the resurrection of all the faithful one day.  He also attributes to God the creation of everything that exists out of nothing.

18When God promised Abraham that he would become the father of many nations, Abraham believed him. God had also said, “Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars,” even though such a promise seemed utterly impossible!

If we know the history, Abraham’s belief that God could fulfill His promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations, is evidence of tremendous faith.  As Paul puts it—such a promise seemed “utterly impossible.”  Both Abraham and Sarah were old.  They had not children.  Sarah was “past child-bearing years.”  Everything pointed to the ___________________ of God’s promise being true.  Yet, Abraham believed.

19And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though he knew that he was too old to be a father at the age of one hundred and that Sarah, his wife, had never been able to have children.

The first portion of verse 19 is underlined to point out what has been called by Max Lucado “the editing of grace.”  AND ABRAHAM’S FAITH DID NOT WEAKEN.  Paul’s statement makes it sound like Abraham received God’s promise that he would have a son at the age of 100, even though Sarah had never been able to have children, and said, “Praise the Lord.  May it be to me even as you have said.”  That was not the case.  Abraham laughed when he heard the news.  Sarah laughed when she heard the news.  When Sarah didn’t get pregnant in what she considered a timely fashion, she suggested that maybe Abraham ought to “help” God fulfill the promise, by having a child to Sarah’s slave-girl, Hagar.  Abraham obliged, and Hagar did have a son, named Ishmael.   How could Paul, who knew all of this history better than we do write, “And Abraham’s faith did not weaken.”   He could do it, because he saw the story through the “editing of grace.”  The “details” of Abraham’s weakening, of his impatience, of his following Sarah’s will rather than God’s, are glossed over, left out, because the reality is Abraham DID believe God.  He and Sarah did have a son, Isaac, who became the father of Jacob and Esau, and Jacob had twelve sons, he became the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Abraham carried out God’s will and plan—Abraham believed God.  When he faltered and stumbled, grace and forgiveness came and so to God, and to Paul—Abraham’s faith did not weaken.

APPLICATION POINT:   This is wonderful news for us.  When we “weaken,” when our faith falters, when we succumb to temptation, all is not lost.  We, too, we see our lives edited by grace, if we persevere in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Paul will tell us in chapter 8, “There is now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  We would do well to allow the editing “pen” of God’s grace to work in our own lives, and to enjoy the great freedom and power it releases as we identify with Jesus more and more!

20Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God.

This statement strengthens the statement of verse 19.  The editing of grace is getting stronger.  Again this is good news for us, because it tells us that God’s grace IS sure!

 21He was absolutely convinced that God was able to do anything he promised.

Paul now uses the phrase “absolutely convinced” to underline for a third time how strong Abraham’s faith in God’s promise was.  If we knew nothing of Abraham’s life except what Paul wrote in Romans 4, we should think that he was truly a saint (the stained-glass window variety!).  Thank God that we have the book of Genesis to show us that Abraham’s faith—great as it was—continued to demonstrate evidence the fallen humanity within us all.  We don’t take heart in Abraham’s weakness, but we certainly see his weakness as reason for hope when we are weak.  In the end it was Abraham’s reliance on God’s grace, forgiveness and power, that strengthened his faith, and empowered him to live boldly and righteously.

22And because of Abraham’s faith, God declared him to be righteous.

Here Paul states again that it was because of Abraham’s faith that God declared him to be righteous.  This Paul has underlined from Romans 3:24 to this point---salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  We shall never be saved by our works.  We will never be declared righteous, we will never have a right relationship with Jesus except by means of faith in Him! 

23Now this wonderful truth—that God declared him to be righteous—wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit.

 24It was for us, too, assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead.  25He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.

As we reach the conclusion of chapter 4, Paul points out the marvelous reality that salvation by grace through faith is not for Abraham alone.  NO!  It is for anyone who believes in God, and acknowledges that He brought  Jesus Christ our Lord back from the dead.  Paul makes the jump from the specific case:  Abraham, to the general: all people who believe in God through Jesus Christ.

Paul here makes it clear again that Jesus died because of our sins, and was raised from the dead to make us right with God.  He doesn’t go into the whole argument once again, about the necessity for Jesus’ blood to be shed, so that we may be made right with God, but he here sums up his argument in Romans 3:21-31, and sets the stage for what he will say in the second half of chapter 5 about Jesus being the “second” Adam, who came to undo the great damage done to humanity by the original Adam.

APPLICATION POINT:   As we have seen in the life of Abraham, faith in God is everything!  We cannot save ourselves.  Our good works are never good enough, or abundant enough, or consistent enough to ensure our salvation.  Only God can do that—and he has.  The life of Abraham gives us hope, because we see one person whose life was incredibly transformed through God’s grace.  He became a man of great faith, and the “father” of all who believe in God through faith.  The “editing of grace” evident in chapter 4, also serves as a great promise in our lives, because as we move through life, constantly receiving God’s love, forgiveness, grace and power, our lives are edited.  They are edited to the point that one day when we stand before God, He will see nothing but His Son, Jesus in us.  He died to take away our sins—to “edit” our lives clean.  His blood is the great “eraser,” or “delete all” button, that assures us that no matter what others may think, or even what we may think ourselves God loves us—period.

ANSWER KEY:   Faith in God,  whole, good works,  wages, forgiveness, restore, control, righteous, prior, loved, gratitude, impossibility.

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