June 2, 2002
Chapter 4 – Study Questions
Although we have
answered these questions repeatedly during our discussion of the chapter, it is
helpful to go back and answer all of them together and thus get a nice review
of chapter 4.
1.What
is the connection between chapters 3 and 4?
We
can approach this question in two ways: one that we have talked about
specifically and one that we have mentioned a few times in passing. We will start with the latter. One way these two chapters are connected is
by the fact that chapter 4 is an illustration of the teachings of chapter 3.
What was the main idea of chapter 3? What was the principal doctrine that Paul
presented in chapter 3? It was the
doctrine of justification by faith alone
(sola fide), was it not? In chapter
4, he shows how this teaching applied to the life of Abraham. He shows that not even Abraham, the famous
patriarch, the forefather of the Jews, a man who actually talked with God, the
man with whom God established a covenant, not even he was justified by works, but by faith!!
Another
way that the chapters are related is based on a closer look at the last verses
of chapter 3 and the first of chapter 4. (The first way mentioned had more to
do with a connection as far as the general ideas of the chapters.) How does
Paul end chapter 3? The main question he is asking is in verses 27 and 28 that
say: “27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded.
By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from
works of the Law.” He picks up on this
idea at the beginning of chapter 4 in the context of Abraham’s life. He says that if Abraham had been justified
by works then he would have had something to boast about (just like a wage-earner
sees his pay as duly his not as a favor that his employer bestows upon
him). However, the Scriptures say that
Abraham was justified by faith (“he believed God and it was accounted to him as
righteousness”) and thus, even in his case, boasting is excluded.
(Note: Regarding the beginning of the
chapter, please also keep in mind the connection with Genesis 15 and the
symbolism of God’s actions in establishing his covenant with Abraham
(specifically, why God asked Abraham to cut the animals in half in Genesis 15
and why God was the only one to walk between the pieces). This is an awesome presentation of the
Gospel message in the Old Testament.)
2.What
can we claim as our contribution to salvation?
Short answer:
nothing. Long answer: in light of what
we have talked about so far in the book of Romans, it should be clear that
nothing that we can do can justify us before God. Salvation is by grace and through faith both of which are God’s
gifts. The fact that we cannot
contribute anything to salvation has a couple of interesting implications. One of them is the obvious gratitude that we
are to show towards the Almighty God who has preordained and also fulfilled
this wonderful plan of salvation independently of any of our achievements or
merits (or rather, in spite of our
wicked deeds. Isaiah says that even our
good deeds are like “filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6, NKJV)). The second implication that we have not
emphasized as much but is equally relevant is the fact that since nothing that
we can do can save us, nothing that we can do can unsave us. This does not
mean that God’s bestowing His grace upon us is equivalent to a license to sin
with the attitude of “Well, there is no way I can lose my salvation because of
my deeds so I might as well live like a hedonist heathen.” Salvation is not just something we profess
with our mouths but is something that has to show in our lives. One cannot profess he is a child of God and
live like a child of Satan. It just does
not work! To summarize, the fact
that we do not “bring anything to the table” when it comes to salvation should
first of all humble us, then show us how grateful we should be for our
salvation, and, finally, assure us of our eternal life in heaven “glorifying
and enjoying God” forever.
3.Why
is it important that the promise was given to Abraham before he was
circumcised?
It is important
for at least two reasons. One reason
ties in with the idea that it is not what we do that saves us but God by His
sovereign grace. It was not a physical
act (circumcision) that justified Abraham but it was rather the faith that he
showed with regard to God’s promises.
Circumcision was rather a symbol of what had already happened in
Abraham’s life. It acted as the seal of a transformation that had already taken place. The second reason why this is important is
that since Abraham was justified before he was circumcised that showed that
circumcision (or being circumcised) is not a pre-condition to one’s
justification. This is why Abraham is
the father of the faithful, both those who are ethnic Jews (descended
physically from him) and those who are Gentiles (spiritual descendants of
Abraham). The fact that he was
justified before he was circumcised was a wonderful sign that God’s grace was
not limited to the ethnic Jews but was to be extended to the Gentiles as well.
(Note: Another aspect that we discussed
in this context was that presented in Romans 2:28-29, that we are Jewish in a spiritual sense. Romans
2:28-29: 28 For he is not a Jew who is one
outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one
inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the
letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.)
4.How
did Abraham “believe God”? In what way? And concerning what?
First,
it would be good to review what the promise that God made to Abraham was. It
regarded two things and these two things had both an immediate application and
a future one. The two things that the
promise contained were a son (and numerous descendants and the fact that all
the nations will be blessed through his descendants) and a land. The immediate fulfillment of the promises
was the birth of Isaac and, eventually, arriving in Canaan. Abraham believed God regarding these in
spite of the fact that all evidence (his age, for instance) seemed to make the
promise impossible to come to fruition. More importantly, however, he also was
looking forward to the fulfillment of the first part of the promise in Christ
(John 8:56) and of the second part in eternity, in the place that the Lord
prepared for His chosen (Hebrews 11:9, 10).
Abraham believed that the One who made the
promise would keep it and bring it to fulfillment.
5.Why
is this account of Abraham’s justification important to us?
Simply
put, because we are saved by the same God and through the same faith that
Abraham was saved by and through. In
verses 17-19 we are told that Abraham believed “God, who gives life to the dead and calls
those things which do not exist as though they did;” (v. 17). Who
is the God that we believe in? He is the God who raised Christ from the dead!
What Paul is talking about in these three verses (17-19) is the resurrection of
Christ. God is the One who gives life
where there is none (and no possibility of obtaining any!). The fact that life came forth from Abraham’s
body (“good as dead”) and the “deadness of Sarah’s womb” was an amazing
miracle. God who performed this lesser
(but still unbelievable) miracle is the same God through Whose power the Lord
Jesus Christ was raised from the dead – the “God who gives life where there is
none.” (Read verses 23-25.) Praised be
His name forever!
"The
promise is fulfill'd, (Chapter 4)
Redemption's
work is done, (Chapter 3)
Justice
with mercy's reconciled, (Chapter 3)
For
God has raised His Son."(Chapter 4)
If you have any
questions, comments, additions, opposing viewpoints, suggestions, or concerns,
please let me know.
Sorin
Voicu-Comendant (sorinvc@sbcglobal.net)
Soli Deo Gloria!