Romans 4

Romans 4:1-12

The apostle here shews, that Abraham and David sought justification in such a way as the gospel recommends; that is, by faith. Rom. IV 1—12.

ROMANS IV. 1.

I HAVE been observing to you, that we Christians, by maintaining the doctrine of justification by faith, instead of superseding and enervating, do indeed establish the Divine law, and assert in the most convincing manner both its authority and purity. For the illustration of this therefore, let us consider the important instance of Abraham, and the manner in which he was justified. What then shall we say, that the holy patriarch Abraham, our reverend father, according to the flesh, hath found effectual in this respect?ᵃ and to what must his justification and acceptance with God be ascribed? For if Abraham were justified by circumcision, or by the merit of any other works, rather than by the free grace and mercy of God, then he hath something in which he may glory:ᵇ but it is certain, by what the sacred oracles express, that, though the behaviour of this celebrated person was indeed innocent, fair and honourable before men, yet [he hath] not any thing to boast in the sight of God. For what saith the scripture upon this

ᵃ Hath found] Some would transpose the words, and render them, “Shall we say that our father Abraham hath found, that is, obtained justification and life, according to the flesh, that is, by circumcision, and observing the carnal rites of the Mosaic economy?” But when the natural order, and usual import of the phrase makes so easy and so good a sense, I can see no reason for admitting this construction. Raphelius shews, that Herodotus, and other authentic Greek authors, use ωριτικω for

obtaining, and that by merit. Annot. ex Herod. in Loc.

ᵇ He hath something in which he may glory.] This seems to intimate, that the Jews maintained not only the necessity, but the merit of the Jewish observances; else it might have been replied, that Abraham was indeed justified upon his being circumcised, but that it was by the grace of God, in freely annexing the promise of justification and life to such a rite.

But his faith was imputed for righteousness

head? (Gen. xv. 6.) Abraham believed God, “when he made him the promise of that miraculous and important Seed, and so it was imputed to him, or placed to his account, for righteousness, or in order to his justification:” that is, God was pleased graciously to accept it, though he had not that complete and perfect righteousness which might in strict justice be demanded of every rational creature, as the only condition of his being acquitted at the Divine bar. Now to him who thus worketh to the utmost extent of all that was required, the reward proportioned to that work is not charged to account, as matter of grace, but of debt; and he may glory, at least in having diligently earned it. (Compare chap. xi. 6.) But to him who in this sense worketh not, who can by no means pretend to have wrought all righteousness, but humbly believeth on him who declareth the freeness of pardoning grace, and by that justifieth even the ungodly, if he repent and return, the phrase used concerning Abraham may be applied with the strictest propriety, and it may be said, that his faith is imputed to him, or placed to his account, for righteousness, or to the purpose of his being accepted and treated by God as righteous.

And [this is] very agreeable to what we read elsewhere; particularly as David (Psal. xxxii. 1, 2,) describeth the blessedness of the man who is accepted of God, whom he speaks “of as one to whom God, according to the method of proceeding we now maintain, imputeth righteousness without any supposition of, or regard to a former series of good works, supposed to have been performed by him.” For he expresses himself thus, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are pardoned, and whose sins are, as it were, covered by the veil of Divine mercy:

As of grace.] Raphelius has shewn, that μίξεν does not only signify a reward of debt, but also a gift of favour; and that the phrase μίξεν δωρεάν occurs in Herodotus; so that a reward of grace or favour is a classical as well as theological expression. Could we be sure that Abraham was once an idolater, it would be some illustration of the apostle’s reasoning here; but the validity of it by no means depends upon what fact.

d Whose iniquity is pardoned, and whose sin is covered.] Archbishop Leighton has so elegantly and beautifully illustrated these words, that I must beg leave to refer those of my readers that cannot use his Latin meditations on the xxxii Psalm, to review the English translation of it in the 2d volume of his Expository Discourses, printed at Edinburgh, 1748.

justified by faith before he was circumcised.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin. Which plainly implies, that sin had been committed by the best and happiest of men, and that it is matter of mercy and favour, that it is not charged to account, so that he should finally be condemned for it.

Now while we are speaking of this blessedness of the pardoned and accepted sinner, give me leave to ask, [doth it come] upon the circumcision [only,] or also on the uncircumcision? The celebrated instance we have just been mentioning will shew how far circumcision is from being necessary to a share in it. For [when] we say, as above, that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness; How and when was it thus imputed, and charged to his account, in this view? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? [Truly] the history plainly shews us, that it was not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision; for it relates this important circumstance of Abraham, as taking place many years before circumcision was instituted. And it assures us, that he received the sign of circumcision, not as the means of making him acceptable to God when he was not before so, but as the token of his being already accepted; and therefore as the seal of the righteousness of that faith which he had in uncircumcision: that

Imputed to him for righteousness. I think nothing can be easier, than to understand how this may be said in full consistence with our being justified by the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, that is, our being treated by God as righteous, for the sake of what he has done and suffered: for though this be the meritorious cause of our acceptance with God, yet faith may be said to be imputed to us in uncircumcision, in order to our being justified, or becoming righteous: that is, according to the view in which I have elsewhere more largely stated it, as we are charged as debtors in the book of God’s account, what Christ has done, in fulfilling all righteousness for us, is charged as the grand balance of the account; but that it may appear, that we are, according to the tenour of the gospel, entitled to the benefit of this, it is also entered in the

book of God’s remembrance, “that we are believers:” and this appearing, we are graciously discharged, yea, and rewarded, as if we ourselves had been perfectly innocent and obedient. See my Sermons on Salvation by Grace, p. 14—19, which account is perfectly agreeable to what Witxius has remarked. Oecon. Fæd. lib iii. chap. viii. § 36.

Many years before circumcision was instituted. It is said this imputation was made on Abraham’s believing the promise, Gen. xv. 6, about a year before the birth of Ishmael; but he did not receive circumcision till Ishmael was thirteen years old, Gen. xvii. 27, consequently, Abraham was declared justified at least fourteen years before he was circumcised.

Seal of the righteousness of faith. This seems an incontestable roof, that

Reflections on the happiness of a justified s

so he might be the father of all those who believe in uncircumcision, that righteousness may also be imputed unto them, that they may be justified in the same means, and that it may be written down in the book of God’s remembrance, that they are so. And he received this right by Divine appointment, that he might also be the father of the circumcision, that is, to those who should afterwards practice it, and were not only partakers of the external ceremony of circumcision, which in itself indeed can have no efficacy; but shall also walk in the footsteps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision, and which rendered him so dear to God while he was in that state.

IMPROVEMENT.

Ir there be indeed such a thing as happiness to be enjoyed by mortal man, it is the portion of that man of whom David speaks, even of him whose iniquity is pardoned, and whose sin is covered, and who enjoys the manifestation of that pardon. Well may he endure the greatest afflictions of life with cheerfulness, and look forward to death with comfort; when the sting of all these evils is taken out, and the returning tokens of the Divine favour convert them into blessings. O let us earnestly pray that this happiness may be ours: that the great and glorious Being whom by our sins we have offended, and in whom alone the right and power of pardon resides, would spread the veil of his mercy over our provocations, and blot them out of the book of his remembrance!

Let us on the one hand fix it in our mind, that it is the character of that man to whom this blessedness belongs, that in his spirit there is no guile; and on the other, let us often reflect that it is in consequence of a righteousness which God imputes and which faith receives and embraces. We are saved by scheme that allows us not to mention any works of our own, a if we had whereof to glory before God, but teaches us to ascribe our salvation to believing on him who justifieth the ungodly Nor need we be ashamed of flying to such a method to which Abraham the father of the faithful had recourse himself, and o which he built his eternal hope. May we share his disposition of mind, that we may inherit the same promises; walkin in the footsteps of our father Abraham. So shall we also be

circumcision was a seal of the covenant of siderable objection that hath ever been grace, and not merely of temporal promises; urged against infant baptism. and consequently obviates the most con-

ation on y y the aw makes void the promise.

and children of God, and sit down with Abraham, , in his heavenly kingdom.

Romans 4:13

mend the scheme of justification, by believing God’s apostle shews, that it was an illustrious act of tailed everlasting honours on the great patriarch which he was intended for an example to us. Romend.

ROMANS IV. 13.

I HAVE spoken of Abraham as the father of uncircumcised believers, as well as those of the circumcision, (ver. 11, 12,) and that with evident propriety; for the promise to Abraham and his seed, that he should be heir of the world, that is, that he should inherit all the nations of the earth, as a seed that should be blessed in him, was not, and could not be by the law of circumcision, or of Moses; being, as we have already observed, prior to both; but it was by the righteousness of faith. God gave him that promise on his exerting a remarkable act of faith, on which God in the most gracious and honourable manner declared his acceptance of him as righteous. Now if they who are of the law, and depend upon that alone, [are] heirs, exclusive of all others, (as some so eagerly contend,) then that faith, which in the instance before us was so eminently honoured of God, is made useless, and treated as a thing of no value; and so the promise made to it is in effect abrogated, the performance of it being put, not only on new conditions, but on such as cannot be perfectly performed in this: sinful state. For the law of God, consid-

a Heir of the world.] Κοσμος cannot here signify, as γν sometimes does, one country, or land, how fine or large soever. It must therefore imply his inheriting a seed out of all nations, whom he might be said to possess, in such a sense, as children are said to be an heritage, Psal. cxxvii. 3. Compare Gen. iv. 1; Prov. xvii. 6. See also Psal. lxxxii. 8, where God is said to inherit the nations that are taken into his family in the profession of the true religion.

b Cannot be perfectly performed.] This is here said with reference to a moral impossibility. It seems evident from what follows, that the law is to be considered as insisting on an obedience absolutely perfect; so that these good men who were justified under it, were not justified by it, but by the dispensation of grace under which Abraham was, which, though not a part of the covenant of God by Moses,

VO . 4.

The promise was, that he should be the father of mu

ered in itself alone, and without any regard to that grace, which, though it was in fact mingled with it, yet makes no part of the legal dispensation as such ; is so extensive and difficult, and we are so weak and sinful, that in fact, instead of securing to us the promised blessings, it only worketh wrath, that is, it becomes to us accidentally an occasion of wrath, and exposes us to punishment as transgressors ; for where there is no law, either revealed or intimated, [there is] no transgression ; but the multiplication of precepts increases the danger of offending, and the clearer declaration of those precepts aggravates the guilt attending the violation. But therefore [it,] that is, the promise, and the inheritance to which it relates, [is] of faith, or annexed to it, that it [might be] of grace, that God might magnify the riches of his grace in proposing justification and life to us in a way that might in multitudes of instances be effectual ; that so the blessing exhibited in the promise might be firm, and secure to all the believing seed ; not only to that part of his descendants which was placed under the dispensation of the Jewish law, who are not indeed excluded from it, if they seek it in a proper manner ; but to that which is the seed of that holy patriarch, to whom the promise was made, by a nobler relation, even by a participation of the faith of Abraham, who is in this view the father of us all : As it is written, (Gen. xvii. 6,) I have made thee a father, not of one family alone to descend from Isaac, or Jacob, but of many nations ; so that he is in some degree even like God himself,ᶜ who is the father of all good men ; like that Almighty Being in whom he believed, as reanimating those who are dead, and calling into action and enjoyment things that are not now in existence, with the same ease as those that are.ᵈ

And since I have begun to touch upon it, permit me, my brethren, to animate your faith,

was not, and could not be, abrogated by it. Compare Gal iii. 17.

ᶜ Like God.] So I think κάλυψι may here signify ; and accordingly it is ren-

ᵈ Calling things that are not.] That this is to be understood of summoning them, as it were, to rise into being, and appear before him, Elsner has well proved on this place. closed, ad instar Dei by Paræus.

As Abraham was, so are we, justified by faith.

by dilating a little farther upon that of this illustrious patriarch. It was he, who against all human and probable hope, believed with an assured and joyful hope, on the security of the Divine word, that, unlikely as it seemed, he should be a father of many nations, according to that which was spoken to him, (Gen. xv. 5.) when he was called to take a view of the stars of heaven, and God said, “So numerous and glorious shall thy seed be.” And having received such a promise, not being feeble in faith, how feeble soever he might be in his animal constitution, he considered not his own body, which with regard to the probability of begetting children was now dead, being about an hundred years old; nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb, of whom the sacred historian tells us, “that it ceased to be with her after the manner of women :” (Gen. xviii. 11.) Amidst all these difficulties and discouragements, he objected not to the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened by the exercise of the most vigorous and triumphant faith, thereby giving a due and becoming glory to the great God, the Lord of universal nature; And was confidently persuaded, that what he had thus graciously promised, he was, and ever is, able to perform, though that performance should to sensible view seem ever so improbable. And therefore this heroic faith was so acceptable to the Divine Being, that it was, as we have heard again and again, imputed or accounted to him for righteousness, that is, in order to his justification. Neither was it written in the sacred records, which are to reach the remotest ages, with regard to him only, or chiefly to do a personal honour to that illustrious patriarch, that it was thus imputed to him; But also for our sakes, to whom it, that is, the like faith, shall also be imputed, if we steadily believe in him, who not only brought Isaac as from the dead womb of Sarah, but, in the most literal sense, raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, when he lay among them slain and mangled by his cruel enemies; Even that great and glorious Redeemer, who was delivered up to them by the determinate counsel of God, that by his death and sufferings he might atone for our many offences, and when he had fully satisfied

Reflections on the faith of Abraham, &c.

the Divine justice for them, was raised again ces, and was raised ix. for our justification; that putting our trust in again for our justification. him, who was thus apparently discharged from Rom. all farther claim upon him, as our surety, we iv. 25 might obtain, by virtue of our relation to him, plenary pardon and eternal life.

IMPROVEMENT.

LET us continually bear in our mind the great and venerable verse example of our father Abraham: labour to the utmost to trace 17 his steps; and have faith in God, who at his pleasure quickeneth the dead, and calleth things which are not as if they were. If sense were to judge, it would pronounce many of these difficulties in- 20 vincible, which lie in the way of the accomplishment of his promises; but they shall all be fulfilled in their season. Let us therefore be strong in faith, remembering that thus it becomes us to glorify that God, who condescends so far as to engage the honour of his word for the support of our souls. He who hath promised is able to perform, for with him all things are possible. Already hath he done that for us which we had much less reason to ex- 25 pect, than we now have to hope for any thing that remains. He delivered his son Jesus for our offences, to redeem us by his blood from final and everlasting ruin. 24 Let it be our daily joy that he was raised again for our justification; and let his resurrection be continually considered as a 22, 23 noble argument to establish our faith in him who performed this illustrious work of power and mercy. So shall it be imputed to us likewise for righteousness; yea, so shall the righteousness of our Redeemer be reckoned as ours, to all the purposes of our justification and acceptance with God. And though, by our transgression of the law, we can never inherit by any claim from 14, 15 that, which only worketh wrath and condemnation in conse- 16 quence of our breach of it; yet shall we, by believing and obeying the gospel, find the promise sure to us, as the spiritual seed of Abraham, and be for ever happy in the enjoyment of that better Canaan; when every earthly inheritance shall be no more found.

• Fully satisfied the Divine justice for them.] By satisfying the Divine justice, I mean, “doing all that was necessary, amply and perfectly to secure the honour of the Divine government, in the pardon and acceptance of penitent and believing sinners;” but I do not mean “the payment of the debt, in such a sense as that our engagements to holiness should be dispensed with, or in any degree weakened, or our obligation to the free grace of the Father in our salvation transferred, or enervated.” And I desire it may be remembered, and attended to throughout, that this is the sense in which I would use the phrase, wherever it occurs in any of my writings, and I hope it will not be found that I have ever deviated from it.

justified by faith, we have peace with God.