Lessons From Romans – Lesson 6
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.
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Rom 4:7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Rom 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
All religions will fall into two camps. The camp of doing, and the camp of done.
The camp of doing is the camp of never really knowing your destination. It is a hope that somehow my good will outweigh my bad. That if I do enough good then God will owe it to me to let me into heaven because I earned it. Or I am saved but only if I hold on to it and if I don’t ruin it. This is the work my way to heaven camp of thought. The camp of doing.
In this camp would be the Catholics, the Mormons, the 7th day Adventists, the church of Christ, the Assembly of God, and a host of others. This view does not and cannot offer any peace. They never have any security. They are always in doubt of where they will end up because there is no it is finished in their religion. There is no it is done.
Pope Leo (2025) warns against presuming you are saved. He states “[The Lord wants to] challenge the presumption of those people who think they are already saved…”
They never truly know if they are saved. But God tells us that He wants us to know that we have eternal life.
1Jo 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
And if you can lose your salvation, then it was not eternal was it. If you have any doubt that you will make it to heaven, then you don’t know that you have it. And God says that we may know that ye have eternal life.
This is the camp of Done. This is the camp of once I am saved, then it is finished. Well actually 3 camps. There is the camp of forced and you do not have a choice which is a huge error.
This is the view that salvation is a gift of God. That man cannot work his way to heaven because man is a sinner and even the works that he does are still stained with sin. Our works will always fall short. This is the Biblical view. This is the reality of it.
Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Rom 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Whosover believes has everlasting life. That is the done view. You believe and it is finished. This is the Biblical view.
In the verses before us we see how God justifies man and it is not by works. We see that if Abraham was justified by works, then Abraham would get the glory.
Rom 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God.
If Abraham had been justified by works, then he could boast. He would have reason to regard himself as the author of his salvation. If he was justified by works, then Abraham could have taken the praise to himself. Look at what I did.
I worked hard enough. I did enough. I was good enough. Abraham would get the glory instead of God. But all Glory belongs to God and God alone.
Rom 11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
But our verse says; but not before God. There is nothing in the scriptures that say anything about Abraham being able to boast. He had absolutely no ground for boasting before God.
The Bible clearly says that Abraham could not glory before God, so Abraham was not justified by works.
Look at how the scripture says that Abraham became to be counted as righteous?
Rom 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
This is a reference to the promises that God made Abraham and how Abraham believed. God told Abraham to leave and go to a land that God would show him and Abraham believed. And real belief acts on that belief so Abraham left and went walking by faith and not by sight.
And God promised Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars of heaven in number. Now this promise was made to Abraham before he had any children and he and his wife were past the age of child bearing. It took faith to believe what God said when in human reasoning it did not make sense. And by human sight it looked like he would die childless. Abraham decided to walk by faith and not by sight. He decided to simply believe what God said. This is faith.
The law did not demand faith. The law demanded complete and perfect obedience. This is something that man is not capable of doing.
If man is to be justified it must be on a principal totally different than justification by the law, by justification by works. And that principal is Faith. Faith is what God appointed as a condition on which men may be treated as righteous.
Works had absolutely nothing to do with it. God made the promise, Abraham believed, and that is the extent of it. Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham was saved by faith. Abraham was saved by grace. Grace is undeserved and unearned favor. Man has always been saved by faith. This is the same way that we are saved.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Next we see that if it was possible that you are saved by works then it is not of grace. The two are opposites. They cannot both be true.
Rom 4:4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
If salvation is of works, then the reward is not of grace. If salvation is of works, then the reward that you get, is out of debt. You would have earned it. God would be in debt to you. He would owe it to you.
Rom 4:5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
That is grace pure and simple. Faith is only counted for righteous for those that worketh not. It is for only those who are not trying to work their way to heaven.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called [us] with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
The Bible says that it is not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. Grace that was given to us in Christ Jesus.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
This is a very strong verse. If righteousness comes by the law (works), then Christ is dead in vain.
If we were justified by works, then there would have been no need for Christ to die. What a shame if Christ left heaven for no reason. What a travesty if He died in vain. How awful if He shed His blood without a cause. What a crime if Christ died without a reason.
Jesus did not die in vain. Jesus died for a reason. Jesus died for a purpose. Jesus died so that we might live.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Not only do we see that that if Abraham was justified by works, then Abraham would get the glory and not God
And secondly Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
3rd we see that if you are saved by works then it is not of grace.
4th This way of justifying man is not unique to Abraham. Others in the Old Testament were also saved by faith without works.
By two or three witnesses is a matter established and Paul gives a 2nd witness right here.
Rom 4:6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
Rom 4:7 [Saying], Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
David was also saved without works. David’s iniquities were forgiven and his sins were covered. And David had some of the worst sins that you can imagine. David was guilty of adultery with the wife of one of his loyal supporters. Then he in effect had the man killed by sending him to the worst part of the battle. And David had his iniquities forgiven. David’s sins were washed away. And it was done without works.
The Bible says “unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”
David was saved the same way that Abraham was saved and that was by faith without works. Abraham was saved before the law was given and David was saved after the law was given and they were saved the same way. By faith.
And you can only be saved the same way.
Rom 4:8 Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
It is truly a blessing to have no doubt as to where I am going to be when I die. I have a know so salvation. All it takes is like Abraham and David believing what God says.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Paul has already shown that Abraham was justified before God by faith and not by works. He now tackles the question of exactly when was Abraham justified. For if it was after his circumcision then the Jew might still maintain that Abraham was justified by complying with the rule of circumcision. They might argue that Abraham was saved by faith but only after he was circumcised.
They might argue that Abraham’s faith was acceptable because of his circumcision (his works).
There are many groups today that try to blend faith and works. They say it takes both. Paul is countering the faith plus something argument.
If Abraham was justified before his circumcision, then he was justified and accepted without conformity to the Jewish law. And the Jews argument could not hold water. And if the father of the Jewish nation was justified without being circumcised, then it would follow that the Gentiles might be justified in a similar way now without circumcision.
It would not be a departure from the spirit of the Old Testament that justification was independent of circumcision, independent of works. It is not a departure from the Old Testament that salvation comes first and is independent from works. Therefore justification is available to all regardless of their works.
And because of this the new gentile converts would not have to be circumcised to be saved.
If Abraham was saved before his works, then Abraham was saved by faith and faith alone.
In these verses Paul is countering the works plus grace mentality.
This mentality is still with us today. I have seen a seventh day Adventist track entitled Grace Plus Works. They maintained that we are saved by grace but only if we work. And I have heard Mormons say that we are saved by grace but only after we do all that we can do.
It is amazing that they can often use the words that we do, but you need to understand that they do not mean the same thing to them. They twist the definition of the words. The Bible is clear what grace is.
That grace must stand alone apart from works or it is not grace. Grace and works are opposites and cannot go together. Grace plus works is impossible because as soon as you add works to grace it is no longer grace. Grace is unmerited favor. As soon as you work for it, it is no longer unmerited. The moment that you add works, then you take away the unmerited in unmerited favor because you worked for it. And it is no more grace. This is what romans 11:6 is talking about.
Rom 11:6 And if by grace, then [is it] no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if [it be] of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
Rom 4:9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.
Rom 4:10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
Abraham was saved in uncircumcision. He was saved before he was circumcised.
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
Circumcision did not save. It never did. It was just a sign between God and the Jews.
Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness , he was saved by faith, so we need to know what did he have faith in. Paul spells that out next.
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
The faith that Abraham had was that he believed the promise of God that he would be the father of many nations. Abraham did not have faith in himself or in his works. His faith was simply that he believed the promise of God.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Abraham believed even though his own body now was now so old that it is described as now dead. His body was past the age of being able to produce seed. And he believed even though Sara’s womb was also dead. She was way past the age of bearing children.
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
God made the promise, Abraham believed it, no matter how incredible it sounded.
Abraham put his trust in God and he was saved. Abraham had faith in God’s promise and not in his works. For Abraham it was not God will save me only after I do all that I can do. No!
Abraham simply had faith in what God said. This is faith. And it was counted unto Abraham for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
How Abraham was saved was written in scripture for our sakes. It is recorded as an example of how faith saves so that people today will believe the promise of salvation for believing in Jesus.
The example of Abraham being justified by faith is an example for people today of how God justifies by faith and not of works.
Rom 4:12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which [he had] being [yet] uncircumcised.
The bible is clear Abraham had this faith before he was circumcised.
This is the order that took place.
First God gave the promise.
Second Abraham believed.
Third Abraham showed the outward sign of his salvation and got circumcised.
This is the natural order. First you have to hear God’s promise.
Rom 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
You cannot believe God’s promise until you hear it. First people must hear.
Then second comes faith. Faith is not first and faith is not third. Faith comes second. First you hear then you believe.
Rom 10:17 So then faith [cometh] by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
This is why it is so important that we are involved in telling people.
Then third comes the signs that they are saved which come after salvation.
Circumcision was only a sign of Abraham’s salvation. It was not involved in getting him saved.
Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which [he had yet] being uncircumcised:
It showed that there was a covenant between Abraham and God. It was just a token, an outward sign, of the relationship that he had to God.
It was a seal; a mark to confirm the reality of his justification.
The good works and or obedience that we do after we are saved do not have anything to do with getting us saved. The good works that we do after we are saved are an outward sign of the salvation that has taken place. Just like Abrahams circumcision that was just a sign.
Jam 2:17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
Jam 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
James is not saying that you have to work to get saved.
No James is saying that true faith will produce works. He is saying that his works are a sign that shows forth the reality of his faith.
Works is the natural result of faith. We do not work to get saved, we WORK BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED.
If a man claims that he has faith in Christ, but there is no outward sign of it, then his faith is dead. He does not really have it. He is a false professor. He needs to get saved.
Act 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
He needs to become a new creature.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The natural order is first God makes the promise and we hear it, next comes belief, then after that the outward sign.
This is the natural order. Now a word of caution is needed here.
First you must understand that a person does not become Mr. Super Christian overnight. When you first get saved you are carrying a lot of baggage in your life and it takes time to put off the old man. Your Christian life is a growth process. We are to be always pressing toward the mark of the high calling in Jesus.
Christians do make mistakes and Christians do fall into sin from time to time. This does not mean that they are not saved. And every Born again Christian will be in at a different level of growth.
But understand there should be some outward sign of what has happened on the inside. Granted it might be small but there has to be some.
Second understand that although works is the natural order after salvation, works does not mean that someone is saved.
Lost people can do good works. They might do them because it makes them feel important, or needed, or because it makes them feel good, or even because they think that it is the proper, and the civilized thing to do. Or they might even do them because they think they are fooling people.
The natural order is first God makes the promise and we hear it, then comes belief, then after that there are outward signs in their life that they got saved. Granted sometimes they might be small changes and some Christians never grow a whole lot but there should always be some kind of outward sign that they got saved and now have the Holy Spirit indwelling them.