1. If someone were to ask you to explain how you are justified before God, how would you answer this question?
We have always heard and read that the Old Testament Jewish people were trying to be justified before God by their works and through circumcision. Here, in Romans 4:1-12, Paul is making the case that Abraham was justified by faith, not as a part of works or circumcision.
Romans 4:1-3 says, “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 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 counted to him as righteousness.’”
2. In verses 1 and 2, Paul asks the question as to what did Abraham gain according to the flesh. What did he conclude?
3. So, how was Abraham justified? Or, how was he found righteous?
Yes, Abraham was the forefather to God’s people. If he had the power to follow all of the rules, then he would have had a reason to believe that he had earned his righteousness before God. He could have given himself a big pat on the back. However, Genesis 15:6 reads, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” We know that being perfect is impossible, but many today still struggle and try to prove themselves as righteous so that God will love them. Ephesians 2:8-9 reads, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
4. Why do we struggle to accept that it is through faith that we are saved?
5. Please list all the works that were attributed to Abraham in Romans 4:1-3.
The last question was kind of a trick question. One commentator wrote, “Abraham was justified by faith. It was just as simple as that. Works had nothing to do with it. They are not even mentioned.” Romans 4:4-5 reads, “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
6. When you receive your wages for your work, do you think of your employer as gracious and kind? Why or why not?
7. Verse five says that the justified man is the one who does not work and believes. Again, why do we struggle to grasp this?
Now, Paul goes on to explain that King David, also a Jewish hero, had the same experience that Abraham had. Romans 4:6-8 reads, “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” The Apostle Paul is paraphrasing Psalm 32:1-2 in this section of Scripture where David declared that his sin is forgiven and covered. Furthermore, these sins will not be counted against him because of what Jesus did for him. We must also recognize that this justification comes from Jesus forgiving sin so that God will not hold that sin against him. Remember, we see no evidence of David’s efforts to earn this standing before God.
8. What was it that King David was referencing in his life? What were these lawless deeds?
Picking up in Romans 4:9, we read, “Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
9. This last section speaks to those who are circumcised and those who were not circumcised. Why was this a question?
10. What effect do you think it had on the Jewish people to know that Abraham was justified before his circumcision?