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Father Abraham
​Romans 4

In the previous chapter the Apostle Paul asked the question, “What advantage is there in being a Jew?” We observed that there was absolutely no advantage at all, historically speaking. The Jews have been a down-trodden, despised race of people. From their earliest history there was slavery, wandering in a desert for forty years, having to take was to be their homeland, from people who were already occupying the land. Once they were 'in', often they were involved in defending the land from surrounding 'enemies'. When they forgot God and turned to idols, God allowed them to be taken captive … twice … for many years. When they were freed, it was not long until they were forced to be under Greek rule … then Roman. And finally, the Roman army devastated Jerusalem and Israel in general, causing the Jews to scatter all over the world. When groups of them seemed to be getting things together, they found that they were hated by everyone. Millions died in the holocaust. Countries, even Canada, discriminated against them by rejecting boat loads of Jewish refugees.
  There really was no advantage in being Jewish … from an historical perspective.
  Yet Paul affirms that there WAS an advantage. They, as a nation of people, were given the Word of God. They were to treasure it, apply it to their daily living and use it to convert the nations into becoming believers in the one true God.
But then Paul removed one of their treasured points of pride … their nationality. He said that it was of no advantage.
  Their birth in the Jewish race, their identifying physical mark of circumcision, Paul said … was of no advantage.
  A true Israelite, Paul said, was one who was a Jew … inwardly. That means every true believer, whether a Jew or a gentile, is a true Israelite. That mean any of us reading these words … if we have received the gift of forgiveness of sin on the basis of Jesus' blood shed for us, if we have called out to him for eternal life … we are spiritual Israel.
  Now Paul sets out to prove his point by using Abraham as his evidence.
Ro 4:1 ¶ What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?
  In this instance allow me to insert and comment on the NIV variation of this verse: What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
First of all, who is Abraham? What did it mean to the Jews of Biblical times? What should it mean to us?
  I will answer the second question first.
The Jews gloried much in their relationship to Abraham. They put it first in rank, their Number One privilege, that they had Abraham as their forefather.

John 8:33 (ESV) (The Pharisees) answered (Jesus), "We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?"

37 “I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38  I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father."

39 They answered him, "Abraham is our father."
Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did."
They said to him, "We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father —  even God."
42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
  As you can 'get' from this discussion between the Jews and Jesus, being connected to Abraham was super important. No wonder they wanted to kill Jesus after being told by Him that they were actually children of the Devil.
  So what was so special about Abraham?
Abraham is the 'transitional person' between the dealings of God with people on an individual basis, to moving toward a method of having a whole body of people who would be His representatives to the world.
  God's first representative was Adam. He was to be multiply his descendants to fill the earth. He did that. But his ability to 'reach' his descendants with the gospel became increasingly difficult. If his son, Cain had not made the choices he did, Adam might have had some kind of a Godly influence on his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And I am sure he did have influence with his other son, Seth's, children. Cain moved away and it would seem that Adam and his God were not welcome in his family. Seth was a follower of God, and ultimately Mary, the mother of Jesus was born as a descendant.
  Adam had more children than just these two. I believe that Adam did his best to communicate the love and justice of God to any of his descendants who would listen. But the task becomes huge as the family grows.
  In my own case, I am a great-grandfather. Some of my great-grandchildren I have met, others I have not.
  Whose responsibility is it to communicate the gospel to them? Quickly, some of us would answer … It is the parent's responsibility. What if they are not doing it? Biblically speaking, the responsibility goes back to the earliest patriarch … and that would be me.
  At any rate, the task continues to grow. In Adam's day, especially given the fact that human life extended up to a thousand years of age … for Adam to communicate the gospel to his descendants, who are now filling the whole world, was literally impossible. And, at that time there was no designated organization to which had been given the following command:
  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
  So Adam, and any of his descendants who were Godly, were fighting a losing battle.
  After the unbelief and wickedness of man reached its fullness, God had no choice but to start over. After the global flood God would expect Noah and his three sons to communicate to their descendants who God is. They should not have too difficult of a time convincing their descendants that God is both loving and just. And that His justice can and will require judgment.
  And yet, in not too many generations, once again … great-grandchildren are walking away from God.
  We are not told much about the spirituality of Two of Noah's sons, Japheth and Ham. But we do learn that Shem is in the 'faith' line which leads ultimately to Mary and Joseph (Luke 3:23).

  By looking carefully at the genealogies of descendants from Noah and onward … we discover that Shem was still alive when Abraham was born. Abraham was the ninth generation from Shem. Actually Shem lived until Abraham's grandson, Jacob was born.
  Abraham's father, Terah, however, appears to have been a worshiper of idols (Joshua 24:2). He had the opportunity to talk with Noah, himself. He had every opportunity to learn all about God, about the incredible sinfulness of the old world. He could have heard about the righteous judgment of God upon them.   And yet, he seems to have chosen to not follow God, but to turn to idol worship. And this idol worship was relatively new. This is not something that has gone on for thousands of years.
  From the year of the flood to the year that Terah was born was right at two hundred years. The three sons of Noah were not idol worshipers. Terah was related to both Shem and Shem's father, Noah. But he chose the 'new' idol worship of the day.
  Compare this with age of America. From the declaration of independence in 1776 to the present is 242 years. America is a nation that did its best to start out being a godly nation. How far have they slipped? But their situation is much different when we compare it the 200 years following the flood. Imagine what America might be like to today if George Washington, Abraham Lincoln … and ALL the former presidents were still alive.
  That was what Terah lived with. All the good ones were still alive. And yet majority of the people chose to exclude God. Terah was one of them.
  Abraham most certainly would have spoken with his (very great) grandfather, Shem. What Abraham learned from Grandpa Shem went deep into his heart. Of Abraham it was said that he was the friend of God (James 2:23). God spoke to Abraham in an audible voice, asking him to leave his relatives, leave his idol worshiping father, and go to a land that God would give to him and his descendants.
  Abraham had chosen to believe in the God of Noah and Shem, in spite of his upbringing under his father, Terah. And God chose him. God chose him to be the forefather of a new group … not tied to tradition, but tied together by faith.
  Paul brings Abraham into his letter for an example of how God justifies people.
Verses 2-3
Ro 4:2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
  It is like Paul is saying the Jewish Christians in the church of Rome, “OK, so there you have it. Abraham … your idolized forefather, received the righteousness of God … simply by believing God.”
  Here is what the writer of Hebrews said about Abraham. (Hebrews 11:6-12)
By faith (belief) Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith (belief) he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. And by faith (belief) even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
Now Paul spends some time explaining the difference between wages and gifts … and how it applies to what he has been saying.
Ro 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.
  That is simple and clear. Are we 'entitled' to eternal life? Is it something that God owes us? If we are trying hard to be good people and make it into heaven … then yes, God owes us eternal life because we tried so hard.

5 However, to the one who does not work (for his/her salvation) but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
Here Paul shows the other side of the coin … he or she who is not trying to earn a right standing with God … but, instead, trusts Him for it, then obviously they expect to get it (right standing) simply as a gift.
  Abraham trusted God. God honored that trust by ascribing to him … right standing. What do we mean by using the phrase right standing? Only this; either we stand before Him … condemned. Condemned people will end up in hell, and then the lake of fire forever. Or we stand before Him … un-condemned. Un-condemned people are those who have placed their trust in God - their faith in God … that He exists … and that He alone has the ability to justify us. He alone has the ability to cleanse us. And so we trust and we call out to Him for mercy and forgiveness, and he cleanses us of all sin.
  Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3,
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:17-18)

  Paul cites Psalm 32:1-2 and uses David to illustrate his point:
Ro 4:6-8 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.
  Paul has made the point that forgiveness, right-standing, righteousness etc. is not based on 'law-keeping' especially since Abraham was counted as righteous long before the law was even given.
But now he adds the other thing that Jews clung to (and still cling to). And that is the 'seal' of circumcision.
  He asks this question;
Ro 4:9a ¶ Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also?
  Does this blessedness … Paul is asking in other words, “Does this right-standing with God come upon the circumcised only? Paul has already said that right-standing does not come by keeping the commandments. Now he asks, does right-standing only come upon those who have the physical mark of circumcision. Is right-standing with God also available to the uncircumcised?
  Put yourself in the Jews position for a moment. This would be their objection; “Can forgiveness, right-standing or being counted righteous … come to somebody that is not keeping the law, and also uncircumcised? No way! Not a chance!”
Ro 4:9b For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
  So, back to Abraham, Paul asks the question … Since Abraham was counted as clean, holy and forgiven ...in total right-standing with God … solely because 'He believed God ...' , when did that happen to him? Before he was circumcised or after?
Ro 4:10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
  He received circumcision as a 'seal' – what do we mean 'seal'? Seals have been used the same way for years. Today we buy meat at the market and it has a seal that has been stamped on it. The seal might say something like, 'Government inspected Grade A beef'. If that is the kind of meat for which you are shopping, you think, Yes, that is good. I will buy that. Did the seal have some magic power to make the meat 'Grade A'? Of course not. The type and quality of the meat has to exist before the seal goes on.
  We treat water baptism the same way. The change in the heart … the birth happens first, then the seal goes on. So that is what Paul is saying here. Abraham had come into right-standing with God FIRST. Then later came the seal.
  The Jews however, were told to circumcise their boy babies at eight days old. This would cause a problem in their following Paul's logic. They might be thinking … Abraham may have been counted righteous before he was circumcised, but our baby boys are not. I will get into this in a later study, so for now we will continue with Paul's teaching/argumentation.
Ro 4:13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law (the Jews) who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.
  Heirs of the world? Quite a promise. I won't take the time or space to comment on that here. So just bear in mind that it is something wonderful and huge.
15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring —  not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
  Becoming 'heir of the world' is obviously something wonderful. If becoming the heir of the world was based on our being good and keeping the law ...we are in trouble. Because, in reality, we break laws left, right and center. And if there were no grace and forgiveness … we would be constantly in trouble and making God very angry. Wrathful even.
  But if we can take 'the law' out of the equation … we would have nothing to break. Hence, no angry God to face.
  So, because we cannot keep the law, God made the promise regarding being heirs of the world to be based on faith.
  So, Paul says, the promise of right-standing with God … and of one day becoming an 'heir of the world' is now guaranteed to all of Abraham's offspring … not the Jews … but to everyone who shares the faith of Abraham. Do you share his faith? In other words, do you believe in Abraham's God? Do you talk with him? Do you want him to be your friend?1 (Isa 41:8, James 2:23)
  So Abraham is the father of us all.
Ro 4:17 ¶ as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" —  in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness."
  God said to Abraham, “I have made you the father of …” But he hadn't yet. God talks about it as if it were already done. And that is what he means in the last part of 17 … Calls things into existence that do not exist. God considers them as 'done'.
  The God who gives life to the dead … Most likely is referring to both Abraham and Sarah as being past childbearing age2. (Heb 11:12) I will add that Abraham, after having been asked to offer his only son as a sacrifice, moved forward to do it fully believing, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. Heb 11:19
  We note that Abraham did not waver in his faith that he would be given an heir when they were both past childbearing years. I am so encouraged by that statement. Because from my point of view, I say … he DID waver. Because, when it (the pregnancy) was just not happening, Sarah suggested that perhaps this 'chosen seed' was to be Abraham's and not necessarily hers.
  So she said, Why don't you have a child via my servant girl, maybe that is what God wants. So Abraham did that. Baby Ishmael was born … and then God said,   
No, that is not what I meant. SARAH will be one of the parents.
  That sounds like wavering to me. But the scripture says that he did NOT waver. There is only one way that I can take this. After that last talk with God, Abraham believed God. It was 'counted to him for righteousness'. This means … God forgave the wavering … and is saying, 'It never happened'. Wow.
  And the most wonderful news of all … Abraham is not the only one who experiences this marvelous forgiveness.
Ro 4:23 ¶ But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
  So at this point in Paul's writing to the Christians in Rome, most of whom he had never met, he has become very direct and specific. He apparently has knowledge that the church is comprised of both Jews and non-Jews. But he seems to believe that the Christian Jews may be lording it over the non-Jewish Christians in the church. Likely cliques have formed. We tend to bring our 'human nature' with us to church, don't we?
 There will be more on this later.
  If there was any doubt … now Paul has removed it … there is no spiritual advantage to being Jewish. As proven by Paul's account of Abraham's relationship with God … these blessings are for us too. We can approach God in FAITH, be counted as clean … as if we had never done it (the sin) to begin with. We can look forward to being an 'heir of the word'.
  From this point onward in the book of Romans, Paul talks to us directly. He has dealt with the horrible downward spiral of unchecked sin, both in the world and in the church (implied as a principle). He talked about hypocrisy. He has talked about supposed ethnic advantages. He 'leveled the playing' field … God is rich in grace toward all who believe... all who believe that Jesus our Lord, was raised from dead after having been delivered up for your sin and mine. He was raised to make us just. To take our sin off the record.
​  We walk forward, pardoned … and blessed with an expectation of being an heir of the world.
1Isaiah 41:8 “But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.
James 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
2Heb 11:12 Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.