Anticipating that his Jewish readers may need further explanation, Paul details how Abraham was made righteous (4:1). All Jews would agree that Abraham was a righteous man, so Paul’s illustration of how he was declared righteous would be of special interest to them – was he justified by his deeds or through faith? Paul writes, “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 accounted [credited] to him for righteousness’” (4:2-3). God bestowed His righteousness upon Abraham not on the basis of his works, but based on the fact that Abraham believed in God (Genesis 15:6). The word Paul uses here, accounted, carries the idea of taking what is owned by another and giving it to someone else; specifically, God gives His righteousness to those who believe in Him. What Paul writes next is so profound and cannot be missed, “But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness…” (4:5). As Abraham was justified by faith, David also expresses the joy of being declared righteous apart from works but through God’s mercy (4:6), “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute [charge his account with] sin” (4:8; see also Psalm 32:1-2).
If Abraham was declared righteous through faith alone, then Paul’s Jewish readers were probably curious as to why God commanded Abraham and his descendants to be circumcised. Paul presented this thought to them, “For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised” (4:9-10). We can safely conclude that Abraham was made righteous prior to being circumcised, making it only “a seal of the righteousness of faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also…” (4:11). What does Paul mean when he says that Abraham is the father of all those who believe? Spiritually speaking, Abraham has become the father of both believing Jews (circumcised) and believing Gentiles (uncircumcised) who have faith in God.
Most world religions have been set up to include a “works-based” salvation which is dependent on human effort; however, one must not fail to realize that human effort does not negate the sinfulness of man. Man is still guilty of sin no matter how much he tries to make up for it and therefore can never be declared righteous before a holy God. Man clearly needs something or someone outside himself to provide the righteousness he so desperately needs. Christianity takes the pressure off the individual to “perform” and trusts that God will accept the righteousness of His Son, Jesus Christ, as a substitute for my lack of it.
Dear God, I’m done with trying to obtain righteousness on my own and instead I am trusting the righteousness of Jesus Christ to be sufficient for salvation.
