Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 4

Paul now asks what Abraham had “discovered” about getting into right relation to God. In calling Abraham “our forefather,” he is not addressing Jewish believers only, because he makes the point in this chapter that Gentile believers also have a stake in Abraham (v.16). In his answer, Paul picks up the matter of boasting from 3:27, but denies that it is possible to boast of works “before God.” Abraham was not guilty of pharisaic folly. To show that his close relation to God was not based on works, a simple appeal to Scripture (Genesis 15:6) is sufficient: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3). That appeal was necessary because Judaism even before Paul’s day placed great emphasis on Abraham’s piety and grounded his justification in his obedience. But Paul selects a text that emphasizes Abraham’s faith and mentions nothing about his obedience.

At the time referred to in the Ge 15:6 quotation, Abraham was in the promised land but had as yet no progeny. Reminding God of this fact, he protested that “a slave born in my house will be my heir” (Genesis 15:3), i.e., that he would have to adopt Eliezer his servant to be his heir. As time went on and Sarah did not bear a son, Abraham saw no prospect other than this. But God directed him to look up into the heavens and count the stars, promising that his descendants would be as numerous. Abraham accepted this promise, relying on God to fulfill it. This was the basis on which God pronounced him righteous.

The nature of Abraham’s faith described here was essentially the same as that of the NT believer despite the difference in time. That is, Abraham trusted in a promise that looked forward to Christ (Galatians 3:16), even though at this time it may not have been clear to the patriarch. Christians, on the other hand, look back to what God has provided in Christ. When God saw Abraham’s faith, he credited it to him “as righteousness,” which means that faith itself is not righteousness.

Paul goes on to contrast faith with works (vv.4–5), noting that work yields wages that must be treated as an obligation for an employer, whereas faith means that the one who exercises it receives a righteous standing from God simply as a “gift” (lit., “grace”; GK 5921). So grace is pitted against obligation and faith against works (cf. 11:6).

How far grace goes beyond justice is seen in the statement that God “justifies the wicked” (or ungodly). Not only does God justify people apart from works but he does so contrary to what they deserve. OT law required a judge to condemn the wicked and to justify the righteous , but where God is both Judge and Savior, the wicked have an opportunity denied to them in human reckoning. The prophetic word anticipated this result through the work of the coming Servant of God (Isaiah 53:5–6, 11).

Paul now asks what Abraham had “discovered” about getting into right relation to God. In calling Abraham “our forefather,” he is not addressing Jewish believers only, because he makes the point in this chapter that Gentile believers also have a stake in Abraham (v.16). In his answer, Paul picks up the matter of boasting from 3:27, but denies that it is possible to boast of works “before God.” Abraham was not guilty of pharisaic folly. To show that his close relation to God was not based on works, a simple appeal to Scripture (Genesis 15:6) is sufficient: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3). That appeal was necessary because Judaism even before Paul’s day placed great emphasis on Abraham’s piety and grounded his justification in his obedience. But Paul selects a text that emphasizes Abraham’s faith and mentions nothing about his obedience.

At the time referred to in the Ge 15:6 quotation, Abraham was in the promised land but had as yet no progeny. Reminding God of this fact, he protested that “a slave born in my house will be my heir” (Genesis 15:3), i.e., that he would have to adopt Eliezer his servant to be his heir. As time went on and Sarah did not bear a son, Abraham saw no prospect other than this. But God directed him to look up into the heavens and count the stars, promising that his descendants would be as numerous. Abraham accepted this promise, relying on God to fulfill it. This was the basis on which God pronounced him righteous.

The nature of Abraham’s faith described here was essentially the same as that of the NT believer despite the difference in time. That is, Abraham trusted in a promise that looked forward to Christ (Galatians 3:16), even though at this time it may not have been clear to the patriarch. Christians, on the other hand, look back to what God has provided in Christ. When God saw Abraham’s faith, he credited it to him “as righteousness,” which means that faith itself is not righteousness.

Paul goes on to contrast faith with works (vv.4–5), noting that work yields wages that must be treated as an obligation for an employer, whereas faith means that the one who exercises it receives a righteous standing from God simply as a “gift” (lit., “grace”; GK 5921). So grace is pitted against obligation and faith against works (cf. 11:6).

How far grace goes beyond justice is seen in the statement that God “justifies the wicked” (or ungodly). Not only does God justify people apart from works but he does so contrary to what they deserve. OT law required a judge to condemn the wicked and to justify the righteous , but where God is both Judge and Savior, the wicked have an opportunity denied to them in human reckoning. The prophetic word anticipated this result through the work of the coming Servant of God (Isaiah 53:5–6, 11).

Paul now asks what Abraham had “discovered” about getting into right relation to God. In calling Abraham “our forefather,” he is not addressing Jewish believers only, because he makes the point in this chapter that Gentile believers also have a stake in Abraham (v.16). In his answer, Paul picks up the matter of boasting from 3:27, but denies that it is possible to boast of works “before God.” Abraham was not guilty of pharisaic folly. To show that his close relation to God was not based on works, a simple appeal to Scripture (Genesis 15:6) is sufficient: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3). That appeal was necessary because Judaism even before Paul’s day placed great emphasis on Abraham’s piety and grounded his justification in his obedience. But Paul selects a text that emphasizes Abraham’s faith and mentions nothing about his obedience.

At the time referred to in the Ge 15:6 quotation, Abraham was in the promised land but had as yet no progeny. Reminding God of this fact, he protested that “a slave born in my house will be my heir” (Genesis 15:3), i.e., that he would have to adopt Eliezer his servant to be his heir. As time went on and Sarah did not bear a son, Abraham saw no prospect other than this. But God directed him to look up into the heavens and count the stars, promising that his descendants would be as numerous. Abraham accepted this promise, relying on God to fulfill it. This was the basis on which God pronounced him righteous.

The nature of Abraham’s faith described here was essentially the same as that of the NT believer despite the difference in time. That is, Abraham trusted in a promise that looked forward to Christ (Galatians 3:16), even though at this time it may not have been clear to the patriarch. Christians, on the other hand, look back to what God has provided in Christ. When God saw Abraham’s faith, he credited it to him “as righteousness,” which means that faith itself is not righteousness.

Paul goes on to contrast faith with works (vv.4–5), noting that work yields wages that must be treated as an obligation for an employer, whereas faith means that the one who exercises it receives a righteous standing from God simply as a “gift” (lit., “grace”; GK 5921). So grace is pitted against obligation and faith against works (cf. 11:6).

How far grace goes beyond justice is seen in the statement that God “justifies the wicked” (or ungodly). Not only does God justify people apart from works but he does so contrary to what they deserve. OT law required a judge to condemn the wicked and to justify the righteous , but where God is both Judge and Savior, the wicked have an opportunity denied to them in human reckoning. The prophetic word anticipated this result through the work of the coming Servant of God (Isaiah 53:5–6, 11).

Paul now asks what Abraham had “discovered” about getting into right relation to God. In calling Abraham “our forefather,” he is not addressing Jewish believers only, because he makes the point in this chapter that Gentile believers also have a stake in Abraham (v.16). In his answer, Paul picks up the matter of boasting from 3:27, but denies that it is possible to boast of works “before God.” Abraham was not guilty of pharisaic folly. To show that his close relation to God was not based on works, a simple appeal to Scripture (Genesis 15:6) is sufficient: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3). That appeal was necessary because Judaism even before Paul’s day placed great emphasis on Abraham’s piety and grounded his justification in his obedience. But Paul selects a text that emphasizes Abraham’s faith and mentions nothing about his obedience.

At the time referred to in the Ge 15:6 quotation, Abraham was in the promised land but had as yet no progeny. Reminding God of this fact, he protested that “a slave born in my house will be my heir” (Genesis 15:3), i.e., that he would have to adopt Eliezer his servant to be his heir. As time went on and Sarah did not bear a son, Abraham saw no prospect other than this. But God directed him to look up into the heavens and count the stars, promising that his descendants would be as numerous. Abraham accepted this promise, relying on God to fulfill it. This was the basis on which God pronounced him righteous.

The nature of Abraham’s faith described here was essentially the same as that of the NT believer despite the difference in time. That is, Abraham trusted in a promise that looked forward to Christ (Galatians 3:16), even though at this time it may not have been clear to the patriarch. Christians, on the other hand, look back to what God has provided in Christ. When God saw Abraham’s faith, he credited it to him “as righteousness,” which means that faith itself is not righteousness.

Paul goes on to contrast faith with works (vv.4–5), noting that work yields wages that must be treated as an obligation for an employer, whereas faith means that the one who exercises it receives a righteous standing from God simply as a “gift” (lit., “grace”; GK 5921). So grace is pitted against obligation and faith against works (cf. 11:6).

How far grace goes beyond justice is seen in the statement that God “justifies the wicked” (or ungodly). Not only does God justify people apart from works but he does so contrary to what they deserve. OT law required a judge to condemn the wicked and to justify the righteous , but where God is both Judge and Savior, the wicked have an opportunity denied to them in human reckoning. The prophetic word anticipated this result through the work of the coming Servant of God (Isaiah 53:5–6, 11).

Paul now asks what Abraham had “discovered” about getting into right relation to God. In calling Abraham “our forefather,” he is not addressing Jewish believers only, because he makes the point in this chapter that Gentile believers also have a stake in Abraham (v.16). In his answer, Paul picks up the matter of boasting from 3:27, but denies that it is possible to boast of works “before God.” Abraham was not guilty of pharisaic folly. To show that his close relation to God was not based on works, a simple appeal to Scripture (Genesis 15:6) is sufficient: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (v.3). That appeal was necessary because Judaism even before Paul’s day placed great emphasis on Abraham’s piety and grounded his justification in his obedience. But Paul selects a text that emphasizes Abraham’s faith and mentions nothing about his obedience.

At the time referred to in the Ge 15:6 quotation, Abraham was in the promised land but had as yet no progeny. Reminding God of this fact, he protested that “a slave born in my house will be my heir” (Genesis 15:3), i.e., that he would have to adopt Eliezer his servant to be his heir. As time went on and Sarah did not bear a son, Abraham saw no prospect other than this. But God directed him to look up into the heavens and count the stars, promising that his descendants would be as numerous. Abraham accepted this promise, relying on God to fulfill it. This was the basis on which God pronounced him righteous.

The nature of Abraham’s faith described here was essentially the same as that of the NT believer despite the difference in time. That is, Abraham trusted in a promise that looked forward to Christ (Galatians 3:16), even though at this time it may not have been clear to the patriarch. Christians, on the other hand, look back to what God has provided in Christ. When God saw Abraham’s faith, he credited it to him “as righteousness,” which means that faith itself is not righteousness.

Paul goes on to contrast faith with works (vv.4–5), noting that work yields wages that must be treated as an obligation for an employer, whereas faith means that the one who exercises it receives a righteous standing from God simply as a “gift” (lit., “grace”; GK 5921). So grace is pitted against obligation and faith against works (cf. 11:6).

How far grace goes beyond justice is seen in the statement that God “justifies the wicked” (or ungodly). Not only does God justify people apart from works but he does so contrary to what they deserve. OT law required a judge to condemn the wicked and to justify the righteous , but where God is both Judge and Savior, the wicked have an opportunity denied to them in human reckoning. The prophetic word anticipated this result through the work of the coming Servant of God (Isaiah 53:5–6, 11).