The instant we believe in Jesus, God bangs the gavel and declares, “Not guilty!” But He not only removes our sin and guilt. Paul quotes from Genesis 15:6. But looking at the last 2,000 years there is not much reason to expect that thing, even … “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted (Greek: elogisthe—it was credited) to him for righteousness“ (v. 3). He also refers to Genesis 17:5, where God promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations (4:17), and concludes that descent from Abraham includes all “of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (4:16). Since Adam, humans chose to live sinful and selfish lives. She writes: “Several years ago in Peru, during the insurgence of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path), a Wycliffe couple was travelling to show the film in a village. Undoubtedly, he could think of n… Finally (4:23-25), Paul applies the lessons of Abraham’s faith to his readers. Jesus Himself said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). “As it is written, ‘I have made you a father of many nations‘” (Greek: ethnon—can be translated “nations” or “Gentiles”) (v. 17a). Why/why not? You do not understand His grace. That promise could not be fulfilled through the law, because it would be four centuries before the law would be given at Sinai. He came to the studio the next day, but the artist sent him away because he had washed his face, combed his hair, and put on a suit of clean clothes. Paul does not say that our faith makes us righteous, but that “faith is accounted for righteousness”—which is to say that God, seeing our faith, credits our account to wipe out our insolvency—freeing us of debt—God’s grace undoing our unrighteousness. She replies, “Because I have devoted my life to serving Him. 3:10), “There is none righteous, not even one.” We’re all bugs! If it is true that Abraham did not earn his righteousness by his deeds, it is also true that he did not earn it by his belief. God justifies us as a gift through faith (3:24). Who can boast of personal accomplishment in the presence of the creator of the universe? Now, to demonstrate that what he is saying is no innovation, Paul uses Abraham, the great forefather of Judaism, as an example of what he is saying. If you feel bad about your sins and are trying to get them under control so that God will accept you, you have not ceased working. If it were, verse 5 would be saying the opposite of what Paul is arguing! Is faith simply another form of works-righteousness? I hope that I have added enough merits that God will accept me.” She dies and faces God’s eternal wrath because her faith was in her own good works, not in the shed blood of Jesus Christ alone. Spurgeon applies it by saying that even so, God invites sinners to come at once for salvation, just as they are. 3 For what does the Scripture say? From 1977-1992 he was the pastor of Lake Gregory Community Church in Crestline, California. 13 Let every person p be subject to the governing authorities. You must be somewhat surprised to read a text like this: “Him that justifieth the ungodly.” I do not wonder that you are surprised; for with all my familiarity with the great grace of God, I never cease to wonder at it. No political volunteer can demand to visit the Oval Office. So the artist found the man and told him that he would pay him well if he would come down to the studio so that he could paint him. Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2010, All Rights Reserved. ROMANS 5:1-21 THE Apostle describes in this chapter the blessed accompaniments, the security, and the foundation of justification.This last branch of the subject is interwoven with an account of the entrance of sin and death into the world; while a parallel is drawn between the first and the second Adam in their opposite tendencies and influences. I have heard that men that hate the doctrines of the cross bring it as a charge against God, that He saves wicked men and receives to Himself the vilest of the vile. Romans 4 Commentary, One of over 110 Bible commentaries freely available, this commentary, as set of 17 volumes on the New Testament, the result of Barclay's dedicated work To be justified, you must see yourself as ungodly and deserving of God’s righteous judgment. A street sweeper who was unkempt, ragged, and filthy was known to everyone and there was a suitable place in the picture for him. Come with your confusion. A chaplain visits this killer and finds that he has been reading the Bible. Rather, you believe God’s promise to declare righteous any sinner who trusts in Jesus and His shed blood as the propitiation for his sins (3:25). Rather, he had no grounds for boasting at all. Derek Kidner (Genesis [IVP], p. 124) notes that Abraham’s faith was both personal (in the Lord) and propositional (the Lord’s promise concerning a son). It was common for letters to begin with the name of the person writing the letter and the If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. after the Spirit. He graduated from Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., 1976 in Bible exposition) and Califo... More, 3. “Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed” (v. 4). Do these two stories grate on your soul? Grace is “God’s unmerited favor toward humanity and especially his people, realized through the covenant and fulfilled through Jesus Christ” (Myers, 437). Is it fair (just) for God to forgive an evil murderer who trusts in Christ, but to condemn a loving person who didn’t trust Christ? Romans 8:1-4 Under the gospel we are free from condemnation, walking. The book of Romans is a Pauline Epistle (letter from Paul). The employer has enjoyed the benefit of the employee’s service, and is under obligation to compensate the employee. No hero can require that the president pin on his medal. God saves those who come acknowledging their need and trusting “him who justifies the ungodly.”. “This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were” (v. 17). 3:16). 1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh? 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