Title: Justification by faith: Learning from Abraham, Paul and David

Text: What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is
due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom
God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have
been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will
not take into account” (Romans 4:1-8).

Introduction:

In verses 27-31, we saw the implications of justification by faith, which demand our humility,
unity, and obedience. As we come to chapter four, we move to the illustration of this core
doctrine. We have gone from the instruction, to the implications, to the illustration of justification
by faith.

As the apostle Paul teaches us about justification, he does not merely tell us this truth, but
shows us. In these verses, we find Paul’s vivid illustrations of the doctrine of justification by
faith.

Paul will use the supreme examples of Abraham, David, and himself to make his point. If
anyone has been made to have a right standing with God, it was surely these three men. Paul
first makes his case with Abraham. Likewise, he uses David in verses 6-8 to establish
Abraham. The apostle is making an argument from the greater to the lesser. If the supreme
example, Abraham, was justified by faith alone apart from works, then how much more is
everyone else who exercises faith in Jesus Christ enter the kingdom of heaven. These are
some of the most important verses for clarifying the gospel in the entire Bible.

Outline for Romans 4:1-8 will cover, one, what Abraham found, in verses 1-3. Two, what Paul
taught, in verses 4-5. And three, what David declared, in verses 6-8.

I. What Abraham Found (4:1-3)

Paul begins with what Abraham found in verses 1-3. The apostle writes in question form, “What
then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” (verse 1).
Paul brings to our attention the chief example of one who has attained a right standing before
God, namely, Abraham. It is noteworthy that Paul goes back to the Old Testament to make his
case for justification by faith. This clearly establishes that there is only one way of salvation in
both the Old and New Testaments. As Paul teaches justification by faith in the New Testament,
he uses the Old Testament to make his point. This case is legitimate if there is only one way of
salvation in both Testaments. Everyone who has ever been saved in the history of the world
has been saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
What did Abraham discover regarding how to be right with God? This is the question Paul
raises in verse one. This was the primary issue of every generation. How can a sinful man be
made right with holy God? This is the very question that the gospel addresses and answers.
How can we find acceptance with God?

Not Justified By Works

Paul next makes a hypothetical statement, “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has
something to boast about” (verse 2). When Paul writes, “justified by works,” he is talking about
Abraham’s self-righteousness, his own morality and self-perceived goodness. What did he do
to contribute to his salvation, whether in full or in part? If Abraham was justified by works, then
he could legitimately have a reason to brag that he contributed to his own right-standing before
God and purchased his own salvation.

This is merely a hypothetical statement, because the Bible clearly teaches that by man’s own
works, he cannot be justified. If Abraham could be justified by works, then he would have
something to brag about.

However, at the end of verse 2, Paul shut the door on this line of faulty thinking. He answers,
“But not before God” (verse 2). Even Abraham’s best deeds appear as filthy rags to God. There
is nothing he can do that will merit his favor before God. When he stands before God, there will
be no boasting of what he did.

“Abraham Believed God”

Paul continues to decry this line of thinking. He writes, “For what does the Scripture say?
‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness’” (verse 3).

Here, Paul uses the Scripture to anchor his point. He quotes from Genesis 15:6, showing that
what he is teaching is not new, but goes back to Genesis.

Who was Abraham? When God called him, there was absolutely nothing good in Abraham. He
lived in the pagan land of Ur of Chaldees and was a pagan idolater who worshiped the moon
god. When we think of Abraham, we think of Abraham the believer. But Abraham was not a
believer when God first called him. He was Abraham, the idolater and blasphemer.

Notice, “Abraham believed God.” The order that the words appear in the original Greek New
Testament placed the word “believed” first in the sentence. It literally reads, “believed Abraham
God.” When the biblical authors wanted to draw attention to a word, they put it at the beginning
of the sentence in what is called the emphatic position. This placement draws the attention of
the reader to the first word. Paul wants to emphasize the word “believed.” Abraham took God
at His word and believed.

What was the result of Abraham believing God? God had previously promised Abraham that a
great nation would come from his loins. From this great nation would come the Messiah, who
would be the Redeemer of God’s people. According to John 8:56, the gospel was preached to
Abraham. Abraham knew the gospel, because God made it known to him. Abraham believed
God. That is all he did to find acceptance with God. He did not believe and work, but simply
believed God.
Righteousness Credited to Abraham

What was the result of Abraham’s belief? Paul continues, “And it was credited to him as
righteousness” (verse 3). This word “credited” (logizomai) is found nine times in Romans 4

The word “credited” comes from the Greek word logizomai. You can hear the English word
‘logarithms’ or ‘logic’ in this word. It is a bookkeeping or accounting term that means ‘to post to
the account of,’ ‘to credit to the account of,’ or ‘to put to the account of.’ It is when something is
moved out of one side of a ledger account and transferred into the other side of the ledger. In
the world of banking, one may take an asset out of one account and transfer it over to a
different account. That is what the word “credited” means. God takes the perfect righteousness
of Jesus Christ and transfers it into the account of the sinner who believes.

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him” (verse 3). Note to whom it was credited –
“to him.” Not to Abraham and Sarah. Not to him and his children. Not to him and his servants.
Only to Abraham. This teaches that very person must believe on their own. Just because the
father believes the gospel does not mean righteousness is credited to the whole family. Just
because mom believes the truth does not mean all her kids are saved. It is only imputed to the
one person who believes. The perfect righteousness of God was purchased by Jesus Christ
and transferred into Abraham’s account. Abraham has done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or
work for it. It is credited purely by the grace of God.

This is what Abraham discovered, that he was justified by his faith rather than by his works. I
pray that you have discovered this as well. If you have believed in Jesus Christ, the
righteousness of God has been transferred from His divine account to your account. By faith
alone, you now have received the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ that you need to stand
faultless before God. This righteousness does not come from you or anyone else. No other
person, church, pastor, or denomination can transfer this deposit into your account. Only God
can deposit what you need from His account into your account.

II. What Paul Explained (4:4-5)

Second, Paul explains this truth in the next two verses in order to show that Paul and Abraham
are in perfect agreement. Verse four gives one scenario and verse five gives another. Paul will
make a contrast between wages and a gift. Wages are what you work for. They are earned
through hard work. A gift is freely given without anything done to merit the gift. Paul will use the
general principle that the worker is worthy of his wages.
The apostle writes, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what
is due” (verse 4). If you make an agreement to pay someone twenty dollars to perform a
service, when they have finished the job, you cannot say that you have a gift to give them. Not
when they have worked for it. Rather, you are paying them the wages for which they worked.
On the other hand, it could be that you see a man on the street corner, and out of the
goodness of your heart you walk up and hand him twenty dollars. That would not be wages, but
a gift based upon your own benevolence. Paul begins with this example of a wage that is due
to the workman.

Faith is Credited as Righteousness

Paul next gives the other principle, which is how the gospel works. The apostle writes, “But to
the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly” (verse 5). We cannot
work to earn our salvation. It is a free gift of God. God does not justify the godly, because there
are none who are godly. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans
3:23).

We see the result of his belief, “His faith is credited as righteousness” (verse 5). It is the idea of
transferring into Abraham’s account from God’s account His perfect righteousness that was
secured by Christ through His sinless life and substitutionary death. Abraham’s faith activated
the transfer by which God credits the righteousness of Christ to his account. It is abundantly
clear that our salvation is by faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

III. What David Declared (4:6-8)

Finally, we see what David declared in verses 6-8. Paul uses one of David’s psalms as the
confirmation for the case that he has made with Abraham. Paul writes, “Just as David also
speaks of the blessing,” referring to divine favor in salvation, “on the man to whom God credits
righteousness apart from works” (verse 6). Then he quotes Psalm 32:1-2, that teaches that
salvation is apart from works. “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven”
(verse 7).

He is telling us that there are whom God does not count their sin against them. There are
ungodly people much like king david whom God does not count their sin against them. Paul
add this to his list of proof because even David understood that sin is to dark to ever be made
up for or cancelled by human efforts. King David in the OT waited for his savior too.

Psalm 32 says “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven”

To be blessed means he is under the favor of God and finds acceptance with God.
Sins Forgiven

Paul stresses that our sins “have been forgiven.” This verb tense indicates that this forgiveness
has already happened. It is not a progressive forgiveness that happens over time. It is not that
one day in the future we will be forgiven. Divine pardon occurred the moment you believed in
Jesus Christ.

Paul follows up with a parallel phrase, “And whose sins have been covered” (verse 7). Not only
are our sins canceled out and sent away, they are also covered over, meaning God can no
longer see them. They are under the blood of Christ. Again, “sins” is in the plural. It is not
merely an isolated sin that is covered, but all of them. The whole package has been concealed
from God’s sight.

Applications

1. First, we see the importance of the Old Testament. As Paul makes his case for
justification by faith, he repeatedly goes back to the Old Testament. The way of salvn in
the OT is the same in the NT

2. Second, we see the importance of sound doctrine. Paul is belaboring this doctrine of
justification by faith. So here, Paul is laying a doctrinal foundation, which should impress
upon us the importance of theology. Let us hold unto this very important doctrine.

3. Third, we see the hopelessness of our works to save us. Our righteousness is not
achieved by our own deeds. Not by our morality. Not by our religiosity. Christ paid in full
for our salvation. Our works contributed nothing to our right standing before God.
Absolutely nothing.

4. Then fourth, we see the power of the gospel. God made Abraham, an idolatrous
heathen, to be the premiere example of a true believer and to be the father of a nation.
The gospel made him the father of the faithful. This is the power of the gospel to take
someone who is a nobody, and make them into someone of strategic importance
through the merit, power, and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. This should encourage us,
that God can bring to Himself people who are not yet united in Him.