New Testament 5
Lecture 17
Romans 4:1-4:25
Finished with the OT?
•	Not yet. It looked like we were about finished with it when Paul goes back to Abraham and Genesis. Chapter 3:31 shows why. He has to prove his point to his Jewish opponent. He points to Abraham for the Jews. He was not only the founder of the race, but the righteous man par excellence. The question is, how did he become righteous?? By keeping the law? Paul wrestles Abraham out of the hands of the law keepers and holds him as an example of men who are made righteous by faith.
Justification Illustrated (4:1-25)

•	The Jewish Christians in Rome would have immediately asked, “How does this doctrine of justification by faith relate to our ______________?” Paul, you say that this doctrine is witnessed to by the Law and the prophets.
 Well, what about Abraham?”
•	 Paul accepted the challenge and explained how Abraham was saved. Abraham was called “______________ ______________” referring primarily to the Jews natural and physical descent from Abraham.  
4:1-8
•	The appeal is made to Genesis 15:6. Here Abraham is shown to have found favor with God for his faith and not for anything he had done. Paul is saying, “Look at your ______________ and see what they say. Don’t take my word for it.” It was reckoned to him. 
In verses 1-3 
•	Paul examined the experience of Abraham as recorded in Genesis 15. Abraham had defeated the kings (Gen 14) and was wondering if they would return to fight again. God appeared to him and assured him that He was his shield and “______________ ______________ ______________”. But the thing Abraham wanted most was a son and heir. God had promised him a son, but as yet the promise had not been fulfilled.
Paul called 
•	two great ______________ to prove his statement: 
•	Moses (Gen 15:6) and 
•	David (Ps 32:1-2).  
Reckoned
•	Implies Abraham had no righteousness of his own, but was credited with what he did not have.
•	See Psa 32:4ff and find David with the same thing.
•	The ______________ man is not the man who is ______________, but the man who sins God does not count, the man whose sins he ______________.
4: 9-10
•	What does Paul do with circumcision here? The Jews may say, “Yes, Abraham did keep the law and was circumcised.” But Paul would say, “yes, but read your bibles again by looking at Gen 17:11. This came later than Genesis 15:6 didn’t it?” Yes, he was circumcised later as a seal affixed between his acceptance with God which he enjoyed prior to being circumcised.
But look at 4:11. 
•	What is said there? Abraham was the ______________ of all them that believe, meaning all who have trusted in JC (See Gal 3:1-18).  Paul stated three important facts about Abraham’s ______________ that prove that the patriarch’s spiritual experience was like that of believers today.
What is “reckoned”?
•	It is a book ______________ metaphor that reminds us that man’s account may be credited with something he has not fully earned. 
Paul’s Illustration
•	What is the difference between a ______________ and a ______________? When a man works, he can claim his wage as a rightful due. Grace does not come into the picture. A gift, because it has not been earned, is quite different. So is righteousness that is credited or reckoned. It is not by earning. 
The Jews gloried 
•	in circumcision and the Law. If a Jew were to become righteous before God, he would have to be ______________ and ______________ the Law. Paul has made it clear in 2:12-29 that there must be an inward obedience to the Law, and a “circumcision of the heart.” Mere external observances can never save the lost sinner.  
But Abraham
•	 was declared righteous when he was in a state of uncircumcision. From the Jewish perspective, Abraham was a Gentile. He was 99 years old when he was circumcised (Gen 17:23-27).  This was more than 14 years after the events of Gen 15. The conclusion is obvious: circumcision has nothing to do with his ______________! 
These verses 
•	are an expansion of verse 17…who qickeneth the dead.  Paul saw the rejuvination of Abraham’s body as a picture of the ______________ from the ______________; and then he related it to the resurrection of Christ. 
One reason
•	that God allowed Abraham and Sarah to get old before given them the son of promise was to ensure that all their natural strength had declined and then disappeared.  It was unthinkable for a man of ______________ and a wife of ______________ to have a child.  From a human reproductive viewpoint, that is impossible, both of them were dead as it were.  
But Abraham 
•	did not walk by ______________, but by ______________. What God promises, he performs.  All we need do is believe. Abraham’s initial faith in God is recorded in Gen 15 and this faith did not diminish over the years. In Gen 17 and 18 Abraham was strong in the faith. It was this faith that gave him strength to begat a son in his old age. 
The application 
•	to salvation is clear: God must wait until the sinner is “______________” and unable to help himself before God can release His saving, resurrection power. As long as the lost sinner thinks he is strong enough to do anything to please God, he cannot be saved.  It was when Abraham admitted that he was dead, that God could do something to help him. 
The Gospel
•	 is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16).  Because the resurrection of Jesus from dead. Romans 4:24 and 10:9-10 parallel one another. JC was “______________ up to die on account of our offenses, and was raised up because of our justification”. 
This means
•	 that the ______________ of JC is the proof that God accepted His Son’s sacrifice without God  violating His own Law or contradicting His own nature. 
The key,
•	 is “if we ______________” (v. 24). There are over 60 references to believe or faith in Romans. God’s saving power is experienced by those who believe in Christ (Rom 1:16). His righteousness is given to those who believe (Rom 3:22). We are justified by faith (Rom 5:1) . The object of our faith is JC who died for us and rose again.
Abraham’s faith
•	 is remarkable since he did not have a bible to read, only the simple promises of God. He was almost alone as a ______________, surrounded by ______________. He could not look back on a long line of faith and believers.  Yet, he believed God. 
So, how are men saved today? 
•	Read Hebrews 11…21 times you find the word “______________”. How were the OT saints saved? By faith of course!
4:13-25 Abraham’s Promise by Faith
•	The people of faith and promise may be considered the children of Abraham, not the people of the ______________. 
4: 13-15 The Question
•	Is raised by Paul, “Does inheriting the promise depend on law or faith?” His answer is “______________”. He proves this by showing the foolishness of the alternative: the law.
•	A promise dependent on keeping the law which no man can keep is a chimera (an impossibility or foolish notion). What the law does is to condemn a man, not bless a man. 
4:16
•	The ______________ depends on faith shows ______________ meant it for all of Abraham’s descendents—Gentiles and Jews with a faith like Abraham’s. 
4:17-22 The Character of the Faith
•	Is that which brings life to what was dead. When Abraham and Sarah seemed too old to have children, God promised them a male child. ______________! But against all odds, Abraham believed God and took God at his word. He faith, instead of wilting, grew even stronger. This faith is what God counted as righteousness. Abraham honored God by believing God’s word. God honored Abraham for his faith.
4:23-25—The Argument Applied
•	 Like Abraham, men who apply faith to what God has said are counted righteous. Men who put their ______________ in a God who brings ______________ from that which is dead are counted as righteous. 
Application 1:
•	Paul is showing that faith is something that did not begin with Christianity, but lies deep in the ______________ of real ______________. 
Application 2:
•	Paul shows the nature of ______________—essentially taking God at His word—as Abraham-like obedience, in face of all odds, to the God who reveals Himself to us. 
•	Since God’s highest revelation has been in Jesus Christ—we must take His word in Christ by faith. We must no longer live by our own desires and directions, but yield to God’s salvation by grace through faith.