God’s
Righteousness (Rom 1:16, 17; 3:21-31)
Thus far we have learned that God is a Righteous God (Rom
1:16, 17; 3:21-31).
Now we will learn that he is Righteous
because he is also
a faithful God.
This should not surprise us for we learn from the Old
Testament, and especially the Psalms (see Ps 136) that God’s steadfast live
never ceases!
He is a God who is faithful to his creation, and especially
to the human race he created.
When sin looked like overtaking his creation completely, he
brought the flood to bring about a new start.
When the sons of Jacob were taken into Egyptian captivity God
delivered them through Moses.
He fed Israel in the wilderness and settled them in the land
he and promised Abraham.
A major problem surfaces for the Jew in Paul’s teaching when
he stresses that a covenant relationship, that is, righteousness, is not
based on law keeping, but solely on faith, for Jews believed that a special
covenant relationship with God was based solely in Torah faithfulness.
Therefore, if the Gentile was to share in this covenant relationship with
God it had to be through Torah keeping and circumcision.
Paul appropriately rejects and condemns this false covenant
relationship view!
Paul had stressed (Rom 3) that a covenant relationship with
God, being based on faith in Jesus Christ and not in law keeping, is open to
all humans, both Jew and Gentile, without favouritism and ethnic distinction
(Rom 1:16, 17, 3:21-31).
That this covenant relationship, therefore, which in Romans
Paul calls righteousness, is grounded in God’s grace and faith in Jesus
Christ, and not in law (Torah) keeping (Rom 3:21-31) disturbed the Jews in a
major way, for it seemed to them to undermine all that God had done for them
through Moses and the law.
It was not that God would grant covenant relationship to the
gentile that distressed the Jews, it was that this was not through Torah
keeping, but solely by faith in Jesus.
To his Jewish readers Paul’s gospel of grace, extended to
Gentiles apart from the law, seemed to undermine the Torah and Holy
Scriptures, as well as the Jew’s promised place as God’s chosen and elected
nation.
To the Jew, covenant relationship with God had to be through
the Torah, now Paul was challenging this by claiming that covenant
relationship was not through Torah, but through faith in Jesus Christ!
It became important for Paul, therefore, to insist that his
gospel did not nullify or eliminate the Torah, or God’s election of Israel
(Rom 3:31).
The Jew might have felt that Paul’s Gospel was something new,
but in Rom 1:2 he had claimed that his gospel was not something new for it
had been promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Again, in Rom 3:21 Paul stressed that the Torah and the
prophets bore witness to the message of faith and grace.
The Jew probably thought they were morally superior to the
Gentiles and that being a covenant people they had an advantage over the
Gentile because of the Torah. They knew they were not sinless (the
sacrificial system reminded them of this), but nevertheless, because they
had the Torah, and because they believed that it was through the Torah that
they had a special relationship (covenant relationship) with God, they felt
superior to the Gentile.
This is precisely the point Paul was in Rom 2:17-24 where he
argues that the Jews thought they were above the Gentile and were better off
than the Gentile because they had the Torah.
Paul’s argument so far had been more by way of teaching
rather than explanation or providing irrefutable proof of the validity of
his message. He had stated that the Torah and the prophets bore testimony
to his message, but had given no specific proof!
But the stubborn Jews needed a stronger argument than Paul
had given up to this point, so he turned to an argument that even the
strictest Jew could not reject, Abraham, the father
of their race, the source of their promises and covenant relationship with
God, became the basis of Paul’s irrefutable proof!
Abraham had
been declared righteous by God while still uncircumcised and without the
law, namely, when he was still a Gentile!
This is the point Paul will argue and demonstrate in Rom 4.
Israel’s covenant relationship with God, and election as his
people, came through Abraham long before the law had been given, and his
righteousness was simply, yet firmly based on faith in God and his promises!
Gen 15:1-6
records “After
these things the word of the
Lord
came to Abram in a vision, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward
shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what wilt
thou give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer
of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, thou hast given me no
offspring; and a slave born in my house will be my heir.” 4 And
behold, the word of the
Lord
came to him, “This man shall not be your heir; your own son shall be your
heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward
heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said
to him, “So shall your descendants be.” 6
And he believed the Lord; and
he reckoned it to him as righteousness.”
Who could argue that Abraham was not in a covenant
relationship with God, and that he and his seed were not chosen by God!
So Paul proceeds with his proof that God’s promises and
covenant relationship are not grounded in Torah, but in faith, and that
God’s original promise to Abraham included the Gentiles!
God’s
Promise To Abraham, and Paul’s Argument That God is Faithful to His Promise
Paul in Rom 4 addresses the Jew’s concerns, demonstrating
that God’s faithfulness to Abraham in the birth promise of Isaac is proof
that the basis of the fulfilment of His promise to Abraham was Abraham’s
faith, and that it included all nations.
The statement “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to
him as righteousness” is drawn from Gen 15:6 which was in the context of
God’s promise to Abraham that he would have a son and that Abraham’s
generations would be as many as the stars of heaven.
Later at Rom 4:13-17 Paul develops this argument further by
showing that in these promises, God had promised that Abraham would be the
father of many who were not descendents according to the law, but were
descendents according to promise. The point being that the Gentiles were
also beneficiaries of the promise, for Abraham would be “the father of all”
(Rom 4:16).
The interpretation of Rom 4:1 has some interesting
possibilities!.
There are
several textual variants in this text.
The
RSV reads “What shall we say about Abraham our
forefather according to the flesh”.
The
NIV reads “What
then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?”
The KJV reads “What
shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath
found?”
The ASV reads “What
then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the
flesh, has found?
The most likely Greek text literally reads “What
shall we say is to be found about Abraham our forefather according to the
flesh?”
The Greek could also read “What then can we say
Abraham our forefather found according to the flesh?”
Or maybe, “What did Abraham our forefather find as a result
of ‘the flesh’?”
The bottom line here is “What can we learn from Abraham and
God’s promises to him?”
Flesh
in Paul’s use represents our human nature.
Did Abraham find that his standing with God was the result of
his human nature or something he possessed or had done?
Was God’s promise to Abraham based on the fact that Abraham
was a good person?
Or did God “owe” Abraham any recognition because of what
Abraham had done?
No, God
owed Abraham
nothing!
It was God himself who encouraged the powerless Abraham to
trust in God’s promise to give Abraham, a helpless old man with a barren
wife a real biological son (Rom 4:17-21).
However, the promise arose out of God’s love and concern for
Abraham and out of God’s grace. God did not
owe Abraham a
son!
Certainly, God had called Abraham for a purpose, but both
Genesis and Paul explain that the fulfilment of God’s promise was grounded
not in a debt God owed Abraham, but in Abraham’s faith alone, and not in the
law (Torah) or Abraham’s circumcision (which had not yet been given or taken
place when God made his promises to Abraham and declared him righteous).
At this point all Paul wanted to show was that the Jew’s election by God in
Abraham occurred before the Torah was given and even before Abraham was
circumcised (Rom 4:10)., and that their election lay in God’s grace and
Abraham’s faith in God’s promises.
What we see here is God working out his faithfulness to
Abraham, the Jews, and to all the nations, and doing it through an
uncircumcised, Torah-less Gentile, Abraham!
So what did Abraham have going for him?
He was without physical power, without a fine religious
pedigree, without moral perfection, without circumcision and without the
Torah!
Just about everything the Jew said you had to have if you
wanted to claim Abraham as your father Abraham lacked when God made a
covenant with him!
According to the Jew’s mindset in Paul’s day,
Abraham would have been rejected by his own
descendants (which should have told the Jews something) but he was
chosen by God without Torah and circumcision and that’s what he had going
for him when God made a covenant with him and declared him righteous!
A righteous and
faithful God who would not go back on his commitment to his creation and to
the promises he had made with Abraham, a Gentile, now offers to Abraham’s
descendents the same kind of righteousness and covenant relationship that he
had made with their forefather, Abraham, a righteous based on faith and not
the Torah (Rom 4:13-15)!
But God didn’t choose Abraham simply to bless Abraham and the
Jews!
God chose him so that through Abraham God might bless all
nations.
Israel, then, was not an end to themselves; they were to be
blessed in Abraham, and to be a blessing to the Gentiles who through a like
faith as Abraham’s would also be come Abraham’s descendents.
Abraham’s glorious place in history was purely a gift and
God’s grace, based on faith rather than Torah (Rom 4:1-5).
Abraham’s and Israel’s blessing and promises were independent
of circumcision and the keeping of Torah.!
Abraham’s whole experience with God shows us God being
faithful to the entire human race (note Genesis 12:3; 18:18; 22:18).
It’s true, of course, that this section relates to
individuals and how God blesses them but the central
thrust is not about us at all; it’s about God and the way in
which he showed his righteousness through faithfulness.
In addition, it isn’t about God’s faithfulness only to
Israel; it’s about God’s faithfulness to the entire human race (see Rom
4:9-12).
The promise to Abraham was not simply that he would become the father of the
Jewish nation, but that he would become the father of the uncircumcised
(Gentiles) who would believe in Him like Abraham believed, and also the
father of the circumcised who had faith like that of Abraham (Rom 4:11-13).
In this case neither circumcision nor uncircumcision mean anything (see
Gal 5:6; 6:14)! It is faith that means everything!
It was because no-one, Jew or Gentile, had any moral right to expect God to
keep his creation commitments that God’s faithfulness shines all the
brighter!
He was faithful because he was righteous, and he was
righteous because he was faithful!
So the faithful and righteous God made inheriting the
promises made to Abraham a matter of faith (trusting rather than earning)
and grace (Rom 4:16), rather than Torah and Torah keeping which would then
have excluded the Gentiles who did not have Torah.
The reason God made righteousness and covenant relationship a
principle of grace and not a Torah covenant relationship was so that all
Abraham’s children would be able to receive the inheritance, not only those
who possessed the Torah.
The serious question Paul lays before the Jews, and us, is
“Who are Abraham’s seed?”
The answer is “Those who have Abraham’s faith whether or not
they have his flesh (biological descent)” (Rom 4:17-25 and see this
developed in Rom 9:6-12).
Abraham looked at his own aged body and Sarah’s barren womb and believed
that God could give life to the dead (Rom 4:17-22).
Paul says this was to assure us (Rom 4:23-24) who also
believe that God gave life to the once dead Jesus Christ that he can give
life to us who believe (Rom 4:24-25).
According to God’s purpose those who have Abraham’s faith
(Rom 4:12) are Abraham’s children (Rom 4:17-18) are consequently they are
his heirs (Rom 4:13-16) whether or not they are his biological descendents.
Summary of Rom 4
The key to this chapter is the understanding when God blessed
Abraham and under what conditions he blessed him and entered into a covenant
relationship with Abraham.
What was the basis of God’s covenant relationship with
Abraham?
Was it the law (Torah) and circumcision?
Obviously , NO!
All this happened long before the
Torah
and circumcision were given by God to the Jew.
The promise of a covenant relationship and righteousness is
not based on Torah keeping and circumcision because God declared Abraham
righteous and in covenant relationship with him long before the giving of
Torah.
Paul is not negative about the Torah and Torah keeping, but
is opposed to the Jew’s practice of making covenant relationship with God
dependent on Torah keeping.
Later in Rom 7 Paul will argue that the law (Torah) is holy,
good, and spiritual.
The problem with Torah was the Jew’s abuse of Torah, using it
in a manner never intended by God.
Torah was intended by God to instruct the Jew how to live in
covenant relationship (righteousness) with God, and not to bring them into
such a relationship with God.
Finally, Paul uses this Abraham argument to prove that
righteousness and covenant relationship have long been based on faith and
not Torah keeping.
No Jew would differ with Paul on this point, and no Jew would
argue that Abraham was not righteous before the law was given!
If righteousness was given to Abraham based on faith before
Torah was given, then righteousness is not dependent on Torah, but is
dependent only on faith.
