Father Abraham (Rom. 4:9-16)

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The apostle Paul makes a very big deal about Abraham being the father of both Jews and Gentiles, circumcised and uncircumcised, and that the way he is their father is through faith rather than through law.  Notice what he says in verses 11-12: “And he received the sign of circumcision . . . that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 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.”  Then in verse 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.”  

Now why is this such a big deal, and why should we think it is a big deal?  Well, it has to do with the promise – “to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed” (16).  God gave Abraham a promise, a promise which extends through him to others.  To have Abraham as your father means that you too are heir to this promise.  

Now this promise had both a physical and a typical (in the sense of being a type and shadow of spiritual realities) aspect to it.  God did promise Abraham a large family in terms of physical descendants, and he also promised to them the land of Canaan.  But this was not all that was promised.  God promised that in his seed, which Paul interprets in Gal. 3:16 to be Christ, all the nations of the earth would be blessed.  The blessing of Abraham (Gal. 3:14) is the blessing David speaks about (Rom. 4:6-9), which is the blessing of justification before God.  As Paul put it to the Galatians, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:8).  

But that was not all there was to the promise.  Those who were made righteous by faith would inherit the world.  Note how Paul puts it in verse 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.”  Now there is no promise in the OT that is worded like that to Abraham in those exact words, “that he should be the heir of the world.”  I think what Paul is seeing is the spiritual side of the Abrahamic promises.  To be the heir of the world is to see the fulfillment of Mt. 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”  There is coming a day when the inheritance of God’s people will not be confined to Palestine, but will include all the earth.  They will inherit the world, for there is coming a day when we will be able to say, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever” (Rev. 11:15).  I think he sees in the promise of Canaan an adumbration, a foreshadowing, a pointer to, the promise of a new heavens and a new earth. 

I think it’s important that we understand this dual nature of the Abrahamic covenant, physical and spiritual.  Both have to do with a people and a place, but other than that they are very different in nature, although the physical was meant to prepare for and point to the spiritual.  On the one hand, there was the promise of a physical people (children) and a physical place (Canaan).  These two promises are tied together in the sense that the physical descendants could expect the promise of a physical inheritance.  But on the other hand, there was the promise of a spiritual people (those who belong to Christ) and a spiritual place (that over which Christ will rule).  Again, these two things are tied together.  Those who belong to Christ live in expectation of inheritance which is undefiled, incorruptible, and that fadeth not away.  We will come back to this, but Paul’s concern here is not with the physical aspects of the Abrahamic covenant, but with the spiritual and enduring aspects of it.

This is a big deal.  Now the question is, who will inherit these spiritual blessings?  And the answer is, the seed of Abraham, those who can call Abraham their father.  The promise is to Abraham and to his seed, to Abraham and those to whom he is their father.  But you will notice that Paul does not define this relationship in terms of physical descent.  No, it is in terms of spiritual likeness.  You might remember what he has already said: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Rom. 2:28-29).  What Paul is saying here is basically the same thing.  Abraham is your father if you walk in this footsteps of his faith, if you embrace the promise of God in Christ by faith. 

And this is where we get to the rub of Paul’s argument.  There were those who, in Paul’s day, took refuge in aspects of their culture and habits that they thought commended them to God and made them heirs of the Abrahamic promise.  Those things were circumcision (which Paul deals with in verses 9-12) and the Law of Moses (which he deals with in verses 13-16).  

Now I know that probably no one in this audience is trusting in their circumcision or keeping of the Law of Moses as such when it comes to their salvation.  How then do we read these words and apply them to ourselves? 

First, we need to ask how circumcision functioned in the Jewish mindset, which is not necessarily how God intended it to function.  Circumcision was the physical reminder of the Abrahamic covenant (in fact, it is called the covenant of circumcision), and their relationship to Abraham.  In other words, circumcision was about a person’s identity as a Jew.  Many believed that because they were Jews, because they were related to Abraham, that they were automatically saved (unless maybe they messed up really bad).  You can see this misplaced confidence in Paul’s words back in chapter 2 of Romans: “For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law” (2:25).  You see it in John the Baptist’s warnings against the Jews of his day: “O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Mt. 3:7-9).  They thought that being the physical sons of Abraham meant they were automatically the sons of God.  

Second, when it came to the law of Moses, many of Paul’s fellow Jews, and perhaps Gentile proselytes to Judaism as well, trusted in their keeping of the law of God to keep them in good graces with God.  Though Second Temple Judaism certainly wasn’t so crass in its legalism to exclude all language of grace, there is no doubt that many of its adherents trusted in their obedience as the platform on which they would be recommended to God.  You see this in the attitude of the Pharisee in the story of the Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18, for example.  They trusted in themselves, that they were righteous and despised others.  These were folks who sought to be justified by the works of the law, who saw salvation as a matter of merit and debt, of doing and obeying (Rom. 4:3-5).

I think these two things can be seen today, as well.  They are still problems.  And they are problems precisely because people still avoid the gospel and their need for Christ through religious identity and legalistic industry.  In other words, they think because of who they are and what they have done (or will do), they shouldn’t have any worries about getting into heaven.  I wonder if there is anyone here who falls into that category.  Let’s see what the apostle Paul has to say about this and why these are not the places to put your confidence.  

Trusting in one’s Identity (9-12)

We need to take seriously the religious significance of circumcision.  Stephen calls the covenant with Abraham “the covenant of circumcision” (Acts 7:8).  In this covenant, God promises to be a God to the descendants of Abraham (Gen. 17:7-8).  It was to the circumcised that God gave his law (cf. Rom. 3:1-2).  There were tremendous religious advantages to being circumcised.

It was in the context of circumcision that children were brought up in the fear of God, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (cf. Deut. 6).  We should not discount this or the blessing that it was.  And we should still not do this.  Christian parents are still to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).  The expectation is that our children will come to follow Jesus as we do.  This is a blessing both for the parents and the children.  And, on the other hand, it is not a good thing when the religious instruction of children in the home is neglected.  Families ought to pray together, read the Bible together, and live it out together.  Parents ought to be the first and primary evangelists for the children.  

But the danger is for children to think that religion is inherited, and that their identity of members of a Christian home makes them automatically Christian.  It is like a Jewish man thinking that his being circumcised made him automatically a candidate for heaven.  You can really begin to think that you will ride the coattails of your parents into the kingdom of God.

But, as much as a blessing as Christian upbringing may be, it does not guarantee faith and repentance, does it?  There are unfortunately too many examples of children refusing to follow Jesus as their parents follow him.  We want to acknowledge and thank God for the benefits of religious education and a Christian environment in the home.  The rhythms of godliness in the home do matter.  Living by godly principles will keep you from making a lot of dumb mistakes in this life.  But it will not get you into heaven.  Each of us must come to embrace Christ by faith (cf. John 1:12).  Each of us must repent of our sins.  Have you?  The greatest gift does not come through our identity as children of a Christian home.  It comes through a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and trusting yourself to him.

Notice how Paul puts it here in Romans 4.  He begins by saying, “Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision” (9-10).  God gave circumcision to Abraham.  But the argument is that God gave Abraham something much more important long before he was circumcised.  Abraham was circumcised at the age of 99.  But God called him to faith at the age of 75, and according to Gen. 15:6, it was by faith that righteousness was imputed to Abraham. This blessedness doesn’t come by circumcision, for it was given to Abraham long before he was circumcised. It comes by faith.  Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness.

But that’s not all that Paul has to say about this.  His point is that this actually has ramifications beyond Abraham, and that’s the point of the next two verses: “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: 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” (11-12).  God was making a point here, and the point is that by giving Abraham a righteous status before God by faith long before he was circumcised, Abraham was intended to 

be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. . . . and the father of the circumcision . . . who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham.”   What matters in the matter of justification is not circumcision but faith.

You will also note that Paul says something about the purpose of circumcision (11).  It was not something that made anyone righteous before God.  Rather, it was a sign and a seal, a sign that pointed to the gift of righteousness through the grace of God, and a seal that authenticated the righteousness of faith as a gift from God.  It didn’t create the righteousness; it pointed to it.  So you see, the problem was not with circumcision, but with the way people misused it and trusted in it instead of putting their faith and hope in the God who justifies.

I feel like I need to say at this point that though baptism is not the NT equivalent of circumcision, because it isn’t, yet for some people baptism can operate like this.  It wasn’t meant to.  Baptism is meant to be for those who show visible signs of discipleship (Mt. 28:18-20).  Baptism is not for the children of believers unless those children are believers too.  Now some argue that just as the sign of the covenant (circumcision) belonged to believers and their children under the old covenant, even so the sign of the new covenant (baptism) belongs to believers and their children.  But there actually is no parallel here.  The principle that the sign of the covenant belongs to “believers and their children” cannot be found anywhere in the old covenant or new covenant.  Rather, the principle is Abraham and his seed, which in the new covenant, as Paul teaches here, is his spiritual seed, determined by faith.

But as I say, people can nevertheless treat baptism in this wrong way.  They can begin to think that it is the baptism that saves them.  In fact, there are some Christian traditions that teach this, and I’m not just talking about Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox but even some Protestant denominations teach some version of baptismal regeneration, that baptism actually confers justifying grace and unless you do something really stupid to mess that up, you’re in.  And the fact of the matter is that even true Christians can become presumptuous and trade on their identity as Christians instead of maintaining a real and vibrant relationship of faith with the Lord.

Friend, don’t trust in your baptism.  Don’t trust in your identity as a Christian.  Baptism is a visible sign of faith in Christ.  But it is of no use if we don’t have faith in the first place. Trust in Christ!  It is not our membership in the church that saves us; it is our union with Christ through faith.  

At the same time, I don’t want anyone hear me saying that baptism and church membership are not important.  Of course they are.  Part of following Christ is being part of his church.  Now some people try to dodge the real impact of that duty by saying, “Well, I’m in the invisible church.”  And my response to that is, where is that in the NT?  Every church I see in the NT is visible.  You need to be a part of a visible, local church!  Do you love Jesus?  Join the church.  The doors of the church are open.  Don’t hesitate!  For it’s in the context of the church that true believers can grow spiritually.  But on the other hand, we always remember that church membership belongs to those who are already saved.  Church membership is not a replacement for true, vital, real, spiritual union with Christ by faith.

Trusting in one’s Industry (13-15)

Paul does not stop with circumcision, however.  He goes on to deal with the works of the law in the following verses.  Some people trusted in the circumcision and that was it.  But others went beyond that.  They wanted to make sure they did enough, were good enough, to get into heaven.  I think the “rich young ruler” of Matthew 19 fits the category here.  Remember what he asked the Lord as he rushed up to him, breathless and in urgency?  His question was, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” (Mt. 19:16).  There are people who are not satisfied with merely identifying with a church or religion.  They feel like they need something more.  They need to be doing something.  They understand perhaps more clearly their own sin and the problem of guilt, and they want to do something about it.  But instead of turning to God in Christ and putting their trust in him, they seek to remedy their situation by doing enough good deeds to hopefully put God in their debt and merit the reward of the age to come.

This is the question Paul is dealing with now.  He opens this part of the argument by saying, “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” (13).  Notice that though this is in some sense a new argument, yet it is tied to the previous one by the word “for.”  I think the connection is this: the blessing of justification (9) is for those who have Abraham as their father, and that is for those who like him put their faith in the God of the Bible.  Now Paul is going to show that not only is circumcision powerless to justify a person, but neither can law-keeping.  It is faith, not works, that is the alone instrument of our justification.  

As we’ve seen Paul ties the promised people (those who are of faith) to the promised place (the world to come).  How is the world to come to be inherited?  Not by the works of the law.  In fact, not by good works of any kind, and Paul explains why in verse 14-15.  He writes, “For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.”  

There are two reasons why we can’t inherit the future eternal inheritance by works.  The first reason is because by works “faith is made void.”  The point is this: when you are relying on your works to get you into heaven, you are not putting your trust in Christ and in the grace of God.  You are putting your trust in yourself.  Works and self-reliance go together, just as faith and grace go together (16).  So if you are seeking to get to heaven on the ladder of your own personal goodness, you have left faith aside, you have made it void.  

What is the problem with this?  Well, the problem is just that the people of God have always been people of faith.  “The just shall live by faith,” is what Paul says in Rom. 1:17, but this is a quote from the OT prophet Habakkuk (Hab. 2:14).  This is simply the way it’s always been.  Salvation has never been a matter of working your way to heaven.  Never.  Salvation has always been by grace through faith.  To seek to be justified by works is to seek to be saved by a way that God has never ordained.   It’s either works or faith, works or grace: it can’t be both.  And God’s way of salvation is the way of faith.

The second reason why we can’t inherit the future eternal inheritance by works is that works makes “the promise of none effect,” it abolishes the promise.  The reason why is given in verse 15: “Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.”  

This has been interpreted in a couple of ways, both of which I think are true.  The first has to do with the response to the law and the second with the role of the law.  The first is that the law of God by putting our sin in the light of its commands, actually stirs up the sinful nature within us and provokes us to sin.  We are not just neutral people.  We are sinners.  We aren’t just sinners because we sin; we sin because we are sinners.  When the law of God comes up against our natures, obedience isn’t the default response, rebellion is.  It is in that sense that “where no law is, there is no transgression,” but, as Paul himself puts it later, “sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead” (7:8).  And hence it is that the law works, or produces wrath, by stirring up the sin within us.

The other way this is interpreted is that the role of the law is to define our sin and to condemn us when we sin.  It defines transgression and then denounces it.  This is what Paul was getting at back in 3:20 when he wrote, “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”  

Either way, the law cannot save us.  It doesn’t restrain sin in rebels; it stirs it up.  It doesn’t pardon sin for transgressors; it dooms them and brings wrath upon them.

Why it matters (2, 16)

I wonder if there is anyone here who is trying to recommend himself or herself to God by your good works?  Are you trusting in that?  Are you trusting in your industry?  Now you may respond to that by saying, “But why is that such a big deal?  I mean, at least I’m concerned about my salvation!  Think about all the other people who aren’t!  At least I’m trying to do something about it.  Why should God care whether or not I put my faith in Jesus or whether I just try to be a good person?  Why should it matter whether I choose the path of faith or the path of works?”  

The answer is that it matters because salvation is not primarily about you.  It’s not even primarily about you or I escaping hell!  Praise God, that’s a big part of it, but it’s not even the main thing.  What is the main thing?  The main thing is the glory of God.  The Scriptures everywhere teach this.  In fact, God does all he does for his glory.  Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God says: “I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him” (Isa. 43:6-7).  It is God’s aim and purpose that “as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:21).  And it therefore ought to be the aim of our lives as well: “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” (1 Chron. 16:29).  

So it should not surprise us that God saves people in a way that brings glory to him, and in no other way: “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:27-31).  “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).

This gets back to how Paul started out in this chapter: “For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory” (Rom. 4:2).  If it were possible for a man to justify himself before God by good works, he would have a ground of boasting before God.  But remember what the apostle immediately goes on to say: “But not before God!”  He utterly denies even the possibility.

So it does matter, and it matters more than anything else, because this is tied to the reason anything exists, to the purpose why anything exists, which is the declaration of the glory of God in all things.  To ignore the gospel and to ignore faith in Jesus Christ and instead to satisfy yourself with confidence in your own good intentions and good works is to live a life that is fundamentally subversive to the central reality behind all that exists, the glory of God.  And that cannot be successful in the end.  To live by faith is to live to the glory of God.  To live any other way is to live in a way that is seditious to that end.  Don’t expect that to work out for you.

But it also matters because of what the apostle says next: “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” (16).  In other words, it’s not only that people should be saved by grace through faith; it is that this is the only way the promise of salvation can be sure to all the seed of Abraham, both Jew and Gentile.  If salvation were by works, the fact of the matter is that no one would be saved.  Sinners cannot be saved in any other way than grace.  By sinning against God, we have forfeited any right to the blessing of God. It is by grace alone received by faith alone that we can inherit the blessing and the promise.

In other words, salvation by grace is fitted both for our purpose (the glory of God) and our predicament (the guilt of man).  And grace not only makes salvation possible but sure for all those who are embraced in the promise, to all who are the children of Abraham by faith in Christ.  

My friend, the point is this: there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12).  We are saved by faith in Christ and in no other way.  There is no hope for those who are without Christ.  Our Lord himself told men who trusted in their religious identity and industry, in circumcision and the law, “Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:23-24).  I know that some people find that offensive.  Actually, a lot of people do.  But to reject the gospel is to do what Paul said to those who rejected his message: “It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles” (Acts 13:46).  The gift of God is wonderful and sweet.  Will you reject it and judge yourself unworthy of everlasting life because you find it offensive?  May the Holy Spirit draw you to the blessing of righteousness by faith and to the promise by which you become an heir of the world to come.