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In the following article it is my hope
to set forth an exhortation to Christians to live more
by faith. It is also my hope to showcase the absolute
necessity of faith as the preeminent posture one can
have before God. Faith is the victory that overcomes
the world. Faith trumps any so-called righteousness
of man by grasping the righteousness of Christ and entering
into union with Christ. Faith eliminates all boasting
before God. The ungodly are justified by faith alone
and every Christian is called to imitate the faith of
those who have gone on before us.
It is no wonder then that the apostle
Paul sets faith in contrast to law keeping as the way
in which God justifies the ungodly. Paul extols faith
to the heights of virtue by calling the faith of Abraham
the righteousness of faith. While it may be
argued that “the righteousness of faith” may refer to
the righteousness which comes from faith; it is equally
imperative that we see the grandeur of faith and the
subsequent call to walk with such faith before our living
God.
In preparing this article I have been
overwhelmingly conscious of the pressure to find the
imputation of the righteousness of Christ in the context
of Romans chapter 4. I am aware that there is in our
day a general assault on the positive imputation of
the righteousness of Christ as the sole and entire ground
of justification. I am also aware that the Roman Catholic
community denies, as a tenant of their religion, the
imputation of Christ’s righteousness as the ground of
justification.
The question of Christ’s righteousness
being the only ground of our justification comes to
the front in Romans 4 because Paul uses imputation language
[Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as
righteousness]. Notice how Paul positions faith in
relationship to righteousness in Romans 4:9: “Is this
blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, "FAITH
WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Rom
4:9-10 NASU
This kind of language seems to put
faith in the place of the righteousness of Christ as
the sole ground of justification. This is not my conclusion
from Romans 4 or the rest of the Bible. However, I
believe it is not Paul’s purpose in Romans 4 to decide
the question of the positive imputation of Christ’s
righteousness for our justification.
I have a suspicion that the apostle
Paul is focused solely upon the contrast between any
would be law keeping righteousness [including the Romanist
religion] and the faith of Abraham which brought to
him the justification of God. Because of this contrast
and Paul’s absolute commitment to show that faith trumps
law keeping for justification, faith ends up raised
to heights that may make us a little uncomfortable.
We tend to guard against the idea that faith itself
is the righteousness that supplants the righteousness
of Christ. Hopefully, this article succeeds in raising
faith on high but raising the end of faith even higher,
namely the righteousness of Jesus Christ and His atoning
death.
The faith of Abraham, as illustrated
in Romans 4, is ours to imitate. Salvation is dependent
upon our confidence in the promises of God in Christ.
It is this kind of faith that Paul is most burdened
to set forth.
19 Without becoming weak in faith he
contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since
he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of
Sarah's womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of
God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in
faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured
that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
22 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.
23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it
was credited to him, 24 but for our sake also, to whom
it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who
raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 He who was delivered
over because of our transgressions, and was raised because
of our justification. Rom 4:19-25 NASU
Faith brings to us Jesus Christ and
His righteousness becomes ours as we are put in Christ
and He in us by faith alone.
May we read rightly the words of the apostle, “Now not
for his sake only …..but for
our sake also… as those who believe in Him who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead.” RMZ
In the fourth chapter
of the book of Romans, the apostle Paul toils to set
forth once for all that the justification of the ungodly
cannot be a reward of work if it is to be reckoned according
to grace.
“Now to him
that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but
of debt.”
Rom 4:4
Paul reasons with passion
that if Abraham was justified by works he has a boast;
but never with God.
The Scripture is clear that Abraham believed
God and it was reckoned to him for righteousness.
That no man on earth
could, or ever will, be justified by works seems perfectly
clear. Works
put God in debt. A
work is rewarded and cannot be reconciled with grace
freely given. One
either works for a reward deserved; or one does not
work but rather receives a grace gift.
To work for a reward, no matter how just, is
the opposite of a grace gift.
“But to him
that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Rom 4:5
Paul carries this contrast
between doing works and receiving a grace gift forward
in the epistle to the Romans and states emphatically
that the two cannot be conceived of as the same thing.
“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
11:6
To make his case even
more strongly, if this could be possible, the apostle
appeals to Psalm 32 where the great King David writes
of the blessedness on the man to whom God reckons righteousness
apart from works.
“Even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom
God imputeth righteousness without works,” Rom 4:6
It seems to me that
the question of the role of works, in the verdict of
justification of the ungodly, is settled. Works are simply not taken into account when
God justifies the ungodly.
This point is perfectly punctuated by Paul in
his letter to the Ephesians.
“For by grace
are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Eph
2:8-9
Yet, Romans four remains
a pivotal battle ground in the ongoing struggle to preserve
the Gospel of the grace of God. There are many voices objecting to what is thought
to be a too simplistic approach to the text. There are at least two critical questions that
have been raised in objection to the view that Paul
is preaching a workless justification “not of works”.
By workless I mean that works do not cause or
create or merit or increase justification.
By workless justification I do not mean that
the justified man will not produce good works as the
fruit of justification.
I mean rather that works play no role in the
declaration of justification.
The first critical
question asked of Romans four is, “What works are excluded
by the apostle Paul in the justification of the ungodly?”
It is the opinion of
many, including most in the Roman Catholic community,
that Paul is only excluding two kinds of works. The first kind is Mosaic Law works. The second kind is any work that is conceived
of in the mind of the worker to put God at debt.
The answer to the first
supposition (Paul excludes only Mosaic Law) is that
Abraham was justified before the Mosaic Law was introduced.
It is hardly possible for Paul to be concerned
only with
the Law of Moses in excluding works that justify.
It is clear that Abraham was justified apart
from works while uncircumcised and long before the Law
of Moses. The
answer to the second supposition (Paul excludes works
that obligate God) is that there is no such subtlety
in the text. Paul does not directly state or infer that he
is concerned only with works that put God in our debt.
In reality every kind of work that could justify the
ungodly would automatically put God at debt to the sinner.
The Scriptures state simply, “but to the one
not working” without remotely holding out for an acceptable
imaginary work that could some how merit justification
without putting God at debt.
The creation of a secondary set of works, which
are not excluded in the verdict of justification, and
could possibly merit justification, is completely foreign
to the text.
The second critical
question is much more difficult because there is much
tension in Christian theology surrounding the issues. How is faith viewed by God in the verdict of
justification? Paul
says this:
4:1 What shall
we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God,
and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 4 Now
to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth
on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. 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 4:1-10
The crux of the issue
comes down to a combination of words.
They are reckon [Greek: Logizetai], faith [Greek: Pistis] and for/as/unto [Greek:
Eis] and righteousness [Greek: Dikaiosunen]. There are a number of texts that cause us to
pause and evaluate the relation of faith to justification
and righteousness. Let us begin with Romans four.
The text of Romans
four convinces us that Abraham was justified by believing
and not by working.
But this begs the question.
How was Abraham justified by believing?
There are two schools
of thought. The first says that Abraham’s faith is not the
thing reckoned as righteous.
Rather, Abraham’s faith triggers the counting
or reckoning of an outside righteousness to the account
of Abraham. For
instance, God views faith as the conduit through which
the righteousness of Jesus Christ is given to the ungodly.
However, faith itself is not reckoned as righteousness.
Faith brings on board a foreign or alien righteousness
which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Even though Abraham’s faith pre-dates the atonement
of Jesus Christ, it will be on account of Abraham’s
faith that he is given the righteousness of Christ for
justification.
Let us take this view and apply it
to Romans 4:3.
“For what
does Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to
him for righteousness.” Rom.
4:3
This interpretation
understands that Abraham’s faith is viewed by God as
the reason to reckon an alien righteousness to Abraham. Righteousness is reckoned to Abraham through
faith. But faith itself is not reckoned as righteousness. Citing Romans 4:6, (“Even David speaks of the
blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness
without works”), proponents see Abraham’s act of believing
as the occasion for God to put righteousness to Abraham’s
account. By reckoning
Paul means that God puts to Abraham’s account something
not inherent to Abraham.
God reckons Abraham as righteous because He puts
righteousness to Abraham’s account.
The second school of
thought understands Paul to teach that Abraham’s faith
is reckoned as righteousness and the nature of this
faith is that it trusts God completely and takes God
at His Word. In the case of Abraham, he believed that God
would keep His promise that he would be heir of the
world. Even though Abraham’s faith was not sufficient
to atone for sins, nor was it efficacious to appease
the wrath of God; it was viewed by God, or reckoned
by God, as righteousness. God reckons this kind of faith as righteousness
and justifies the ungodly by reckoning their faith as
righteousness.
It should be noted
that Abraham was justified by faith alone.
However, Scripture does not tell us that Abraham’s
faith grasped the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He simply believed God’s promise to him. The content of the promise does not change or
lessen the faith required to believe the promise.
For instance, the content
of faith is now the completed satisfaction of the Son
of God at Calvary
to propitiate sin.
As Abraham trusted the promise of God to him,
so now must ungodly sinners, who wish to be saved from
the wrath of God, trust His one and only provision for
sin. Abraham did not trust the finished work of Christ
on the cross but had faith that God would keep His promises. Some of God’s promises included the sending
of a messiah who would fulfill God’s promise to Abraham. It is unclear how much Abraham understood things
to come. But here Paul is only concerned to show that
Abraham believed God.
He trusted that God would do what God said He
would do.
Let us take this view and apply it
to Romans 4:3:
“For what
does Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to
him for righteousness.” Rom.
4:3
This interpretation
understands the act of believing [Abraham’s faith itself]
was reckoned to him as righteousness. Citing Romans 4:5, (“But to the one not working,
but believing on the one justifying the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness”), proponents of this view
see God reckoning faith as righteousness.
It is interesting to
note that we can view one or the other interpretation
of this text from the English translations. Let us take a look at Romans 4:9. The literal Greek reads as follows:
Was this blessedness
then on the circumcision or also on the uncircumcision?
For we say it was reckoned to Abraham his faith
eis [for or as or to] righteousness.
Here are the translations:
- “Is
this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also
for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's
faith was credited to him as righteousness.” NIV
- “Cometh
this blessedness then upon the circumcision only,
or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith
was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.” KJV
- “Is
this blessing then pronounced upon the circumcision,
or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say, To Abraham
his faith was reckoned for righteousness.” ASV
- “Is
this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised
also? For we say, "FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM
AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." NASU
If we can back up a
moment we can begin to appreciate what might be at stake
if we misinterpret the text.
Christian theology has long affirmed two negative
reckonings of God. This
word “reckon” [Greek: Logizetai] is also translated impute or
count or to put to one’s account or to take a view of
things. It is used to describe the non-imputation of
sin to the sinner in Romans 4:8.
“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never
count against him."
Romans 4:8 NIV
We see how David speaks
of the blessedness upon the one to whom the Lord will
not (double negative) put to his account, reckon, view
or impute his sin! Impute
carries with it the idea of placing something to one’s
account. In a
calculated sense, sin is not placed to the sinner’s
account. It is not imputed.
It is important for us to see that something
actual [a man’s sinning] is not put to his account.
This can only mean that it is not held against him.
The net result however is that someone who is a sinner
is treated as though he is not a sinner. Thus, non imputation involves a consideration
to not impute the action of a man against his own account.
The real sinner is not held accountable for his real
sinning because his real sins are not counted against
him. If the sinner
was named John, we might say, “John’s sinning was not
reckoned to him for unrighteousness.”
Scripture not only
affirms the concept of not placing to an account something done
by someone but also the placing to an account something
not done by someone. The something placed to one’s account
can be something of one’s own or something alien that
is imputed or placed or reckoned to be him. The sin
of Adam is imputed or placed to the account of his posterity.
In this case those not actually sinning are said
to bear the sin of Adam because his sin is counted or
considered to be on their account. Hence something that
is not one’s own by action is put to his account or
imputed.
“14 Nevertheless
death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those
who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of
Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” Rom 5:14
“22 For as
in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made
alive.” 1 Cor 15:22
The second placing
of something alien to one’s account and imputing it
as though it were his own is the imputation or the placement
of the sins of sinners onto the Lord Jesus Christ at
the cross. In this case something that is outside of Jesus
Christ i.e. sin, is reckoned or accounted to the savior. Jesus Christ is reckoned by God as though He
were a sinner as the sins of His people are imputed
to His Son.
“21 He made
Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2
Cor 5:21
We can readily see
that the word imputation is an important word to Christian
theology. However,
the nuance of the word is sometimes hard to grasp.
We can translate Logizetai
with the English word “count” or “put to account”
or “credit”. Or, we can translate it as “to view” or “to
take into account” or to “consider”
It appears that the
word Logizetai
can be used in at least two ways in relation to faith. Either faith takes another’s righteousness.
Or, faith is considered as righteousness.
The theological theatre
of war is concerned with this question, “what is Paul
getting at in Romans 4?” Does God reckon someone’s faith as righteousness?
Or, does God put to an account the righteousness
of another through faith? When Paul says, “Abraham’s faith is reckoned
unto righteousness”, does he mean that God reckons faith
as righteousness or that God puts an alien righteousness
to a man’s account through faith?
What does God set to an account of
a sinner for righteousness?
Does God set the sinner’s faith to his account
for righteousness or does God set the righteousness
of Jesus Christ to his account for righteousness?
John Piper in his excellent
book entitled “Counted Righteous in Christ” argues that
Paul has in mind an alien righteousness when he says,
“Abraham’s faith is reckoned as righteousness.”
Dr. Piper translates the eis
“unto” and calls our attention to Romans 10:10 where
Paul uses a similar construction and the eis
is better translated as “unto” rather than “as”.
“For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with
the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Rom 10:10
We notice the NIV and
the NASB face the same eis and offer up a different translation.
“for
with the heart a person believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting
in salvation.” Rom 10:9-11 NASB
“For
it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are
saved.” Rom 10:10-11 NIV
We should note that
there is no time frame given to us in Romans 10.
It is not clear whether “unto righteousness”
settles the question.
Dr. Piper is correct that Romans 10 does not
make much sense translating the eis by the English “as”. But Romans 10:10 could be translated by the English “for” and not be
contradictory to Abraham’s faith credited to his account
“for” righteousness in Romans 4.
Romans 10 could be
translated as follows: “For with the heart the person
believes for
righteousness and with the mouth a person confesses
for salvation.”
A stronger argument
for an alien righteousness [the righteousness of Christ
imputed] is made by Dr. Piper within the context of
Romans 4. Dr.
Piper calls into question why the apostle Paul would
construct Romans 4:4-5 as follows:
“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,”
Rom.
4:4-5 NASU
Dr. Piper notes that
Paul introduces an outside wage of work into the equation
of imputing. The
outside reward [wage] is not put to the account [credited]
as a favor. It is put to the account [credited] as what
is due. Hence,
the word imputation involves the putting to an account
something due [a wage for work]. The observation is made by Dr. Piper that the
work itself is not reckoned as a reward but receives
an outside reward. He wishes to see the same parallel with faith.
He argues that one’s own faith is not reckoned
as a reward [righteousness] but is only worthy of a
reward from the outside which is alien righteousness.
Dr. Piper points out that if faith were the thing
reckoned as righteousness then work, not wage,
should have been the thing reckoned as a reward in the
clause preceding. He
asserts that Paul would then have written the passage
as follows:
“Now to the one who
works his work is not credited to his account
as a reward but 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.”
This construction,
according to Dr. Piper, would make a much better parallel
if the apostle had in mind crediting something we do
as righteousness.
Instead of this, Dr.
Piper sees the introduction of an outside reward [wage]
as a sign post that the next clause assumes that an
outside alien righteousness is meant by the phrase,
“his faith is credited as righteousness.”
This line of reasoning
is at first convincing. But the trouble is in the reconstruction of
the verse to try to make it parallel.
If Paul had said, “now to the one who works his
work is not credited to his account as a reward but
what is due”, we would not be able to comprehend it.
How is work ever credited to one’s account as
what is due? Paul
is forced to introduce an outside reward to make sense
of what is due. But he does not make the same outside source
remark with regard to faith.
For him to keep the parallel he would have had
to say something like this:
“But to the one who
does not work but believes in Him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is not reckoned as righteousness
either. Rather, that it may be of grace, his faith receives
an award which is the righteousness of another.”
We would have expected
Paul to say this if he was trying to stay parallel with
a reward outside of faith itself.
In other words, it
could be argued that since Paul introduces an outside
wage as a reward in so far as works are concerned; he
should have done the same with regard to faith receiving
an outside reward. But he does not.
Where
does this leave us?
The problem in trying
to arrive at a biblical position of the positive imputation
of the righteousness of Christ to sinners for their
justification is in the terminology and the fact that
such a direct statement is not found in the Bible. It
should be noted that direct statements that sum up deep
theological truth are not necessary for a position to
be in fact biblical. The Trinity is a perfect example. The word Trinity is not found in the text but
the Scriptures teach us about a Triune God.
Another problem in presenting a biblical argument
for the positive imputation of Christ’s righteousness
is the terminology. The Greek word Logizetai can be translated with a variety
of concepts. It
does mean an actual crediting to one’s account.
But what is credited may be something external
or something internal. In other words faith itself may be credited
to one’s account as righteousness.
Or the righteousness of another may be credited
to one’s account. Or the word Logizetai may be translated simply as take into account or view in
a certain manner. In
this case this word carries the idea of “consider” in
the English. God considers those who keep the law, though
they are not circumcised, as if they are circumcised. Will not his uncircumcision be considered as [logisthesetai eis] circumcision?
It comes down to this.
A thing which is one thing can be considered
as another thing if God so considers it to be so.
Or, things can be put to the account of people
in the place of things they do not have if God so wishes.
Or, things that people have can be put to their
account as a signification of something greater. Or something a person has can be considered
as something or viewed as something different and put
to his account.
Let us test this terminology
out in Romans 4:6. This passage along with Philippians 3:9 serve
those who resist the idea that faith could be the thing
considered by God as righteousness in the life of Abraham.
They point out that righteousness is imputed.
The text does not say faith is imputed.
Here are the two texts side by side:
“6 just as
David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom
God imputes righteousness apart from works:”
Rom 4:6 NKJV
9 and be found
in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from
the law, but that which is through faith in Christ,
the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Phil 3:9-10 NKJV
In the case of Romans
4:6, God reckons, imputes, considers, and puts to the
account righteousness apart from works. But how does God do it? Does He impute righteousness by considering
faith as righteousness?
Does He impute righteousness by putting another’s
righteousness to the account? If by the word imputation is meant something
from the outside put to the account of someone then
the righteousness imputed must be a Divine righteousness.
We may infer this as the meaning in Philippians 3:9
when Paul says, “the righteousness which is from God.” But if the righteousness imputed is the consideration
of something already present as righteousness [by reason
of reckoning or considering or viewing something as
something] then the equation is altogether different.
In this case the man is blessed to whom God reckons
his faith as righteousness.
In the case of Philippians
3:9 the contrast is between any law righteousness that
the apostle calls his own and that which comes through
faith [dia pisteos]
and from God [ek Theo] based on faith [epi
pistei].
The question remains.
How are we to view the righteousness which comes
from God? Is it a righteousness that is divine and outside
of man or is it a righteousness reckoned by God on the
basis of faith being considered or counted as righteousness?
This question comes
to the front as we take a close look at each verse in
Romans 4 and try to discern if the apostle Paul is teaching
here that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to
Abraham for righteousness.
Romans
4
4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
2 For if Abraham were justified by
works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham
believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward
not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
5 But to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his
faith is counted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works,
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin.
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.
10 How was it then reckoned? when he
was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision.
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:
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.
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.
14 For if they which are of the law
be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of
none effect:
15 Because the law worketh wrath: for
where no law is, there is no transgression.
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,
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.
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.
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:
20 He staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving
glory to God;
21 And being fully persuaded that,
what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
22 And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness.
23 Now it was not written for his sake
alone, that it was imputed to him;
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;
25 Who was delivered for our offences,
and was raised again for our justification.
KJV
It seems to come down
to this. Can we understand Romans 4:6 and 4:9 as saying
the same thing and then agree on what is said?
6 Even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Romans
4:6
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. Romans 4:9
God imputes righteousness
without works by reckoning the faith of Abraham for
righteousness. For
the promise was through the righteousness of faith. Therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
But this is not for Abraham only but for us as
well.
What
have we lost in this interpretation of the text?
It seems very, very
clear that God accepts poor lost sinners on the basis
of the righteous work of Jesus Christ alone. His substitution as an atonement for the sins
of His people is the only reason why God can accept
sinners. It is for the sake of Christ that we have eternal
life and a never ending hope. Furthermore, His people are justified by His
blood. They are
redeemed by His perfect sacrifice and it is by God’s
doing alone that His people are in Christ Jesus. This is grace and love at work on behalf of
the elect of God.
All of the benefits
of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are gained
by or through faith.
This is the divine arrangement that without faith
it is impossible to please God and all who come to Him
must come by faith. All the promises given by God in Christ Jesus
are gained by faith and faith alone.
This is the divine arrangement of things. God’s elect are justified by faith and by faith
stand in His grace.
For by grace through faith are all of God’s elect
brought home to glory.
Faith sees the righteousness
of Jesus Christ and all the benefits that God has promised
in Christ. Faith
is confidence in God’s promises.
Whenever it appears
that another gospel, other than faith in God’s promises
in Christ, is introduced to the congregation of the
hopeful faith is brought to the rescue.
For this reason the apostle Paul extols the virtue
and magnificence of faith. When the need arises to shut down law righteousness
Paul has only one answer.
It is what he calls the righteousness of faith. It is a faith that takes on board the promise
of God to save a people unto Himself for the sake of
Jesus Christ alone.
For those who would
be righteous according to the law Paul has no other
answer than the righteousness of faith. It is unlikely that Paul has the righteousness
of Christ imputed in mind when he contrasts the faith
of Abraham with the inept hope of a righteousness based
upon law keeping. And,
herein is the dilemma.
There is a real danger in grounding justification
on individual faith as opposed to the righteous sacrifice
of Jesus Christ. But
also, there is a real danger in reading into the apostle
Paul something that is not in the text.
It appears to me that Paul’s burden in Romans
4 is not the imputation of Christ’s righteousness by
faith. It is
rather the stark and eternal contrast between working
for God to achieve a just reward based upon merit which
puts God at debt and risks a boast in distinction to
the absolute free grace from God through faith alone.
Some are going to be
nervous about this exegesis. They are more than concerned with good reason
that the gospel can be lost if faith becomes the ground
of justification rather than the free gift of Christ
to the sinner. But
biblical faith finds its origin in God and not in man.
Biblical faith is self disclaiming and trusts another
and not itself. Biblical faith sees the need for forgiveness
and sees an end to self righteousness.
Any attempt to ground justification in the self
generated faith of the individual denies the very essence
of faith. Abraham was justified by God on the basis of
faith. If Abraham’s
faith was reckoned as righteousness then we have lost
nothing for the gospel. For, we are to have the same faith. Or as Paul says so eloquently,
18
Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became
the father of many nations, just as it had been said
to him, "So shall your offspring be." 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced
the fact that his body was as good as dead-since he
was about a hundred years old-and that Sarah's womb
was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief
regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in
his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded
that God had power to do what he had promised. 22 This
is why "it was credited to him as righteousness."
23 The words
"it was credited to him" were written not
for him alone, 24 but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness-for us who believe in him who raised
Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 He was delivered
over to death for our sins and was raised to life for
our justification.
Rom 4:18-25
NIV
It is my hope that
the faith of Abraham will be proclaimed throughout the
Body of Christ. It
is a faith that ends all talk of “works” righteousness. By its nature, it is a faith that believes the
promise of another at the moment when everything possible
to man is exhausted.
It is a faith born from above.
So, what is a Christian
to believe? The answer comes to us forcefully from the New
Testament. Christians
are to believe that the promises of God in Christ are
true and He will not fail. Part of God’s promise is complete forgiveness
of sins for the sake of Christ’s atoning perfect sacrifice
alone. Ironically, part of the promise of God is that
His promises can only be gained by faith alone. Faith empties itself of self righteousness so
there is no danger of assuming that faith takes the
place of Christ’s perfect righteous atonement.
All that Christ means to God in the redemption
of the lost is given by God through faith. Perhaps this is why Paul constantly calls for
faith. In God’s
inscrutable wisdom the righteousness of faith consists
in trusting another’s perfect sacrifice for salvation.
Any other kind of faith is not imputed for righteousness.
6
Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was
credited to him as righteousness." 7 Understand, then, that those who believe
are children of Abraham. 8 The Scripture foresaw that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced
the gospel in advance to Abraham: "All nations
will be blessed through you."
9 So those who have faith are blessed along with
Abraham, the man of faith. Gal 3:6-9 NIV
RMZ
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