romans 4

Read Romans 4 at Bible Gateway.

Outline:

Rom 1:1-7, Greeting and benediction;
Rom 1:8-15, Desire to visit Rome;
Rom 1:16-17, Theme of the letter: the Gospel reveals the righteousness of God;
Rom 1:18-5:21, Justification and the righteousness of God;

Rom 1:18-3:19, The unrighteousness of man;
Rom 3:20-31, The Law cannot solve the problem of unrighteousness;
Rom 4:1-22, The faith of Abraham imputed as righteousness (justification);

Rom 4:1-3, Abraham not justified by works but by faith;
Rom 4:4-5, He who works receives earnings, but he who believes receives righteousness as a gift;
Rom 4:6-8, Blessed is the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works;
Rom 4:9-12, Abraham justified prior to circumcision that he might be the father of both the uncircumcised and circumcised;
Rom 4:13-22, Abraham received the promise by faith not works;

Rom 4:23-5:21, Righteousness (justification) also imputed to us by faith …

Rom 4:1-22 chiastic structure:

1a.1) Rom 4:1-3, Abraham not justified by works but by faith;

1a.2) Rom 4:4-5, He who works receives earnings; he who believes receives the gift of righteousness;

central axis) Rom 4:6-8, Blessed is the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works;

2a.1) Rom 4:9-12, Abraham not justified by circumcision;

2a.2) Rom 4:13-22, Abraham received the promise by faith not by works;

1a) Rom 4:13, For the promise was not to Abraham + his seed through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith;
1b) Rom 4:14-16c, The promise is sure to those who are of the faith of Abraham, according to grace;

1a) Rom 4:14a, For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void;
1b) Rom 4:14b, And the promise made of no effect;
central axis) Rom 4:15-16a, Because the Law brings about wrath; for where there is no Law there is no transgression. Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace;
2b) Rom 4:16b, So that the promise might be sure to all the seed;
2a) Rom 4:16c, Not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham;

1c) Rom 4:16d-17a, Who is the father of us all (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”);
1d) Rom 4:17b, In the presence of Him whom he believed;
central axis) Rom 4:17c, God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
2d) Rom 4:18a, Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed;
2c) Rom 4:18b, So that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be;”
2b) Rom 4:19-20, Abraham was not weak in faith + did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief;

1a) Rom 4:19a, And not being weak in faith;
1b) Rom 4:19b, He did not consider his own body, already dead + the deadness of Sarah’s womb;
2b) Rom 4:20a, He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief;
2a) Rom 4:20b, But was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God;

2a) Rom 4:21-22, Being fully convinced that what He promised He was able to perform/ therefore it was accounted to him for righteousness.

Several points from today’s chapter:

First, Abraham believed God, and because of that faith God imputed righteousness or justification, to Abraham;

Second, as a consequence of faith which resulted in justification, God established His covenant with Abraham;

Third, the command to be circumcised was given to him, a work which Abraham was required to perform. Even so, it was nevertheless a sign of his covenant status with God (Rom 4:11) which followed faith (as a wedding ring is a sign of the covenant status between a man and wife, which follows their entering into a love relationship) and not the cause of the relationship (as the wedding ring is not the cause of the love between a man and his wife in the first place).

Does a man, now that he is in covenant with his wife, go out and have affairs (break the Law), because his wife’s love and her heart has been given to him by faith? No, he obeys the Law of fidelity to his wife, because they are now in covenant relationship, and he desires to do that which reveals his love for his wife.

For further study:

romans 4, faith and works of the law