Romans – A Treatise
Chapter Four
NO OUTWARD CLAIM
Scripture Reading: verses 8-13
BLESSED IS THE MAN TO WHOM THE LORD WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN. COMETH THIS BLESSEDNESS THEN UPON THE CIRCUMCISION ONLY, OR UPON THE UNCIRCUMCISION ALSO? FOR WE SAY THAT FAITH WAS RECKONED TO ABRAHAM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. HOW WAS IT THEN RECKONED? WHEN HE WAS IN CIRCUMCISION, OR IN UNCIRCUMCISION? NOT IN CIRCUMCISION, BUT IN UNCIRCUMCISION. AND HE RECEIVED THE SIGN OF CIRCUMCISION, A SEAL OF THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE FAITH WHICH HE HAD YET BEING UNCIRCUMCISED: THAT HE MIGHT BE THE FATHER OF ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE, THOUGH THEY BE NOT CIRCUMCISED; THAT RIGHTEOUSNESS MIGHT BE IM-PUTED UNTO THEM ALSO: AND THE FATHER OF CIRCUMCISION TO THEM WHO ARE NOT OF THE CIRCUMCISION ONLY, BUT WHO ALSO WALK IN THE STEPS OF THAT FAITH OF OUR FATHER ABRAHAM, WHICH HE HAD BEING YET UNCIRCUMCISED. FOR THE PROMISE, THAT HE SHOULD BE THE HEIR OF THE WORLD, WAS NOT TO ABRAHAM, OR TO HIS SEED, THROUGH THE LAW, BUT THROUGH THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH.
To superficial readers, the reasoning here may be somewhat intricate. However, keeping in mind the courtroom scene we will have little difficulty in following the logical steps presented by Paul, the lawyer for the defense and writer of this Epistle.
Keep in mind that Jew and Gentile still stand in the prisoners’ dock. The case for the prosecution has been presented, and the attorney has brought in evidence of the criminal’s unquestioned guilt. Now, step by step, Paul, as counselor for the defense, takes up how a person, having been condemned as a criminal can be cleared of guilt on the principle of faith. On this principle the prisoner’s condemnation or justification depends.
In presenting the case for the defense, Paul calls in Abraham, the father of the faithful, as witness. Then in verses 6, 7, and 8 he, as it were, has asked Abraham to momentarily step aside in order that he might introduce the second witness who is none other than David the king. The testimony from the lips of David is that his happiness did not consist in the good works he did – surely David had plenty of good works to his credit – but his happiness subsisted in the fact that God had forgiven his sin and had covered it out of sight. So he says: “Happy is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
In other words, Paul has called in David the king, the most illustrious champion of valor in the Hebrew Bible, and from his own lips he has obtained testimony which will shut the door against any hope of mankind, the criminal, being justified on the principle of works, but will open the door of hope for him to be justified by faith. Surely if Abraham, the father of the faithful, could not be justified by works, but by faith, and surely if David the king had not enough good works to give him a righteous standing before God but was also justified by faith, then the evidence is clear. The criminal, Jew and Gentile, can have no hope on the principle of works, but will have every hope on the principle of faith. That is Paul’s line of argument and the more we listen, the more its brilliance is revealed. No eloquent attorney in man's courts of law has ever presented a case with such masterly legal skill as Paul is doing in this chapter. Of course, we are not forgetting that he is inspired by the Holy Spirit, but one can only admire the vessel used.
The unique place of the Jew before God, i.e., he was circumcised and the nations around him were not, now comes under review in this court of law. Circumcision is brought in almost as if Paul asked a third witness to take the stand. Shall it be possible that the Jewish criminal, who stands side by side with the Gentile criminal in this chapter, might be justified on the principle that he was circumcised? In other words, will some outward sign God has given to that people as a token of His loving-kindness and care be accepted in this court of law as a reason for excusing the criminal for his wicked deeds? This is not an uncommon practice in courts of law today, and occasionally a clever attorney will present some outward advantage displayed in the criminal excusing him from the motive, and therefore from the guilt of his crime. Notice how Paul takes up this question; how he deals with it not simply as a personal or national issue on behalf of the Jews, but how he carries it right to its origin and again asks Abraham to take the stand.
What is the evidence deduced from what Abraham has to say regarding circumcision? Surely, if circumcision or any other outward token of God’s goodness to a particular people shall be deemed as giving them a righteous standing in the favor of God, Abraham will be the one to examine, being their father on the line of faith. What then shall be said of him? The attorney for the defense astutely points out that Abraham was justified long before circumcision was instituted. Therefore, it will not be by this outward act that any people shall be justified before God. In verse 9 he says: “For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision?” And his answer is: “Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.” He goes on to say that he received this sign as “a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised.”
The contention of this legal argument is that none of us can claim righteousness before God because of any outward sign or seal along religious lines. The argument is conclusive and shows that this righteousness, which is presented by God Himself for every guilty sinner, is a free gift to be accepted by faith and cannot be claimed because of any traditional rights. In other words, man cannot be justified by a sign, religious advantage, culture, circumcision – nothing that can ever happen to us as men and women, human beings in the flesh, will bring us into a right relation with God. We must accept the righteousness of God in Christ on the principle of faith in the faith of Jesus Christ. It is a free gift; one which we cannot earn or merit by work. “By grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
