What About Abraham?
Romans 3 closed every mouth. Jew and Gentile alike stand guilty before God (Romans 3:19). Then Paul announced the righteousness of God without the law, given freely by his grace to everyone who believes (Romans 3:21–24), and he drew his conclusion: a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28). Boasting is shut out (Romans 3:27).
A Jewish reader in Rome would have one name ready to answer him: Abraham. He was the father of the nation, the friend of God, the first man circumcised by God's command. If anyone was accepted for what he did, surely it was Abraham. Paul does not avoid the objection. He takes it head on, and he answers it from the Law itself.
Paul had said that this righteousness was witnessed by the law and the prophets (Romans 3:21). In chapter 4 he calls the witnesses. Abraham speaks from the Law, from Genesis. David, whom Peter called a prophet (Acts 2:30), speaks from the Psalms. Then Paul asks three questions of Abraham's story. Was he justified by works (4:1-8)? By circumcision (4:9-12)? By the law (4:13-17)? Each time the answer is no. Finally Paul shows what Abraham's faith looked like (4:18-22) and tells us why it was written down (4:23-25).
To credit something to a person's account. One Greek verb, logizomai, appears eleven times in Romans 4, and the King James Version renders it three ways: counted, reckoned, and imputed. When Abraham believed God, God credited righteousness to him (Romans 4:3).
Romans moves from Guilty (1:18-3:20) to Justified (3:21-5:21). Chapter 3 announced justification by faith. Chapter 4 proves it from Scripture. Chapter 5 shows what it brings. For the full doctrine, see Justification.
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For Deeper Study
- Romans: The Gospel of God's GraceAmazon Alva J. McClainDispensational. Lectures by the founding president of Grace Theological Seminary, clear on justification and on God's plan for Israel.
- Faith Alone: The Doctrine of JustificationAmazon Thomas R. SchreinerReformed Baptist. A New Testament scholar explains justification by faith alone from Scripture and church history, and answers Trent and the New Perspective. We differ with him on election.
- Counted Righteous in ChristAmazon John PiperReformed Baptist. A short defense of the imputation of Christ's righteousness from Romans 4 and 5, written in answer to Robert Gundry.
- The Message of RomansAmazon John StottEvangelical Anglican. A warm, readable exposition in the Bible Speaks Today series, good for personal study.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
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Romans 3: All Have Sinned, Justified Freely
Paul answers a Jewish hearer's objections, calls the Old Testament to witness that the whole world is guilty before God, and then announces the turning point of the letter: God's righteousness, given freely through faith in Christ, whose blood is the propitiation that lets God be both just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
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