Take Two: Romans 4, Proverbs 10

Romans 4 deals with our justification (our right standing before God) and its relationship to the Law. To grasp the thrust of this...you almost have to picture the circumstance in your mind. Paul is writing to Jews who have been taught all of their lives that they are right with God because they are Jews and keep the Law. Their relationship (mostly ethnic) was the reason they held onto hope. Paul is trying to undo their presupposition (inherited from thousands of years of tradition) by pointing out what should have been obvious all along. Bear in mind, Paul is not anti-Judaism...He is a Jew. Paul is not saying that since the Law cannot save (justify) it should be ignored (3:31). He is drawing a logical conclusion (and leading them to as well) based on the flow of arguments he is making.

In vv.1-3, Paul argues what everyone in the room agrees with. Abraham was righteous before God. One cannot argue with that.

In vv.4-8, Paul points out that Abraham was "righteous" because of a gift from God (grace), and not because he was being rewarded for keeping the Law. He even cites King David when making this case (v.7-8).

In vv.9-12, Paul notes that Abraham's righteousness was pronounced while he was uncircumcised (v.10). Circumcision (the covenant sign of a Law keeper) was a symbol/seal (permanent too...but that is not the argument here) of what had already occurred while Abraham was uncircumcised. Therefore, Abraham becomes the father of all who believe (both circumcised and uncircumcised.)

In vv.13-15, Paul notes that the promises made to Abraham were made to him, not because he kept the Law (circumcised) but because of his faith. If it was because of keeping the Law, then that would BY DEFAULT eliminate anyone who was uncircumcised (including Abraham himself).

In vv.16-25, Paul summarizes his argument for us. Since vv.13-15 are true and no one would claim now that justification comes by the Law, It must come by faith (v.16). Faith persevered...since Abraham continued to walk by faith during his life. He was not perfect, but he grew in his faith. In vv.18-20, it presents Abraham's faith toward God as growing in respect to the promise...even though he did consider in his own body how unreasonable having children was. Even though the promise was unreasonable, (just like justification by faith rather than keeping the Law) Abraham believed God and glorified Him (v.20-21). Paul even observes that this was recorded in Scripture...not just for Abraham's sake...but for ours also who read of the account and saw how it turned out. The implication being that we are now able to have even more confident assurance of God's promises than Abraham...since we have seen God's promises come to pass time and time again.

So to recap and draw a conclusion here. Paul certainly is not claiming that Abraham was justified by keeping the Law; rather, he kept the Law because he had been justified by faith. For us, we need to understand what people have struggled with for at least 2,000 years. Just because we believe in being justified/saved by faith, does not mean we are absolved from living according to God's plan and purpose...according to His guidelines/Law. On the contrary, Because we believe in God, believe in who He is and what He said, we are compelled to live according to His plan/purpose/Law...as people who are declared righteous by placing our faith in Him. The Law is not NULLIFIED (to quote Paul) because of our faith; rather, it is fulfilled because of our faith.

Stated another way, just because you can't keep the Law of God perfectly, and don't have to keep it perfectly to be justified before God (who justifies according to our faith), doesn't absolve us from living according to the Law of God which He gives us. You cannot honestly say you LOVE God, are JUSTIFIED by FAITH in Him, and LIVE according to your own MANDATES, while ignoring His. That is intellectually dishonest and falls far short of fooling anyone, especially God.

SOAPBOX: Isn't it interesting how tolerant we become of our own unwillingness to conform to God's standards for our lives? We have come to accept sin as normal...embrace sinful people as equals, and even overlook sin in the life of the believer as "OK," or something he will grow out of. As people who really have FAITH in God...who believe He is who He is...sees what He sees...acts against sin as He does...we should be all the more filled with terror at claiming to know Him and living as though we don't! Okay, I know that is a bit preachy...but isn't it true?

Proverbs 10:9 is the takeaway today (maybe because of its relationship to the passage in Romans). "He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out." Ultimately, all things will come to light. Living lives of truth according to God's plan allow a man to walk with assurance and security. Shortcuts and sins...while even expedient at the time, will all be revealed. No one who walks in them can be secure at all.