Tuesday: The Promise
It was 500 years ago this day that Martin Luther hung his 95 theses on the door of the Wittenberg church. How fascinating that the subject for today also gets right to the heart of salvation by faith.
In Romans 4:13, “promise” and “law” are contrasted. Paul is seeking to establish an Old Testament background for his teaching of righteousness by faith.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
He finds an example in Abraham, whom all the Jews accepted as their ancestor. Acceptance or justification had come to Abraham quite apart from law. God made a promise to Abraham that he was to be “heir of the world.” Abraham believed this promise; that is, he accepted the role that it implied. As a result God accepted him and worked through him to save the world. This remains a powerful example of how grace was operating in the Old Testament, which is no doubt why Paul used it.
Read Romans 4:14-17. How does Paul here continue showing how salvation by faith was central to the Old Testament? See also Gal. 3:7-9.
As we said in the beginning, it’s important to remember to whom Paul is writing. These Jewish believers were immersed in Old Testament law, and many had come to believe that their salvation rested on how well they kept the law, even though that was not what the Old Testament taught.
In seeking to remedy this misconception, Paul argues that Abraham, even prior to the law at Sinai, received the promises, not by works of the law (which would have been hard, since the law-the whole torah and ceremonial system-was not in place yet) but by faith.
If Paul is referring here to the moral law exclusively, which existed in principle even before Sinai, the point remains the same. Perhaps even more so! Seeking to receive God’s promises through the law, he says, makes faith void, even useless. Those are strong words, but his point is that faith saves, and the law condemns. He’s trying to teach about the futility of seeking salvation through the very thing that leads to condemnation. We all, Jew and Gentile, have violated the law, and, hence, we all need the same thing as Abraham did: the saving righteousness of Jesus credited to us by faith – the truth that ultimately led to the Protestant Reformation.
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No matter how intelligent or wise I may think I am, no matter how much I may think I am in control of the situation, only through the saving conscience of the presence of God in my life I may see a little! There is no vision in this world that can save me without the comprehension of God's love for me! Trying to understand this enigma may clarify the mystery of life itself! How fool I am when I think I can do anything without God's mercy allows me to!
We see the doctrine of justification by faith in the Old Testament though not clearly spelled out like in the New Testament by the apostle Paul. This points to the truth that sin is universal, but God provides pardon and restoration.(Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Psalm 130).The prophet Micah emphasizes that God is a God and is the God "who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance" and that he"delights to show mercy" (7:18-20 ).We get an understanding that God imputes righteousness to people as He did to Abraham, who believed "and he counted it to him for righteousness" (Gen 15:6). The prophet Isaiah says of God, "He who vindicates (or justifies) me is near..." (50:8 ).NIV.
Now the problem is, whereas Paul says quite plainly that we are justified by faith alone and not by works, James seems to believes that "a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone" (2:24 ). James chooses Abraham and Rahab as examples of people who were justified by works (James 2:21,25). Here we notice the fact that both James and Paul quotes Genesis 15:6.
In Romans 4:14-17 Paul presents a strong argument that it was not works that commended Abraham to God, but faith. As a result Abraham is an example of a man who believed and who was accepted by God because of his faith.The good thing is that even James accepts the truth that Abraham's faith paid a pivotal role in his justification. He says "Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do" (2:18 ). James as well as Paul are both correct.
The act of offering of Isaac showed that Abraham was justified. He trusted God and obeyed his commands. This is the fruit of faith which bears nothing but obedience. We should not overlook the fact that James as well as Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 to make it clear that Abraham was justified by faith. It's true to say we are made righteous by our trust in the one who justifies by laying hold of the promise of salvation which is only through Jesus Christ and his merits for the pardoning of sins
There is one Biblical quote that says it all, regarding justification, faith, grace, and salvation. 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.Ephesians 2:8,9. Some opinions often have little application.
Just a comment and question. In the beginning of this lesson the writer comments on Romans 4:13 stating that in this the promise and the law are contrasted. Isn't the contrast between faith and the law? The promise to Abraham was given because of his faith, and not by the keeping of the law.
The contrast is between law and faith. Note the second part of the sentence:
I left out a few words to make the contrast clearer and now clearer yet: