Romans Chapter Four
Lesson
51
Justification Illustrated
#1 Destruction of faith; 4:13-15
- Paul is still answering the larger question; How does man attain a standing before God!
Every
approach that man comes up with revolves around the idea of appeasing God
somehow!
- What's the B.L. with man's answer??
It's
basically find out what you think God expects and then
perform, do your best to live up to that standard!
* God's
answer and that of Scripture is much different!
"by
faith" believe what God says; this dominates the rest of the chapter.
- What was the pattern with Abe; Abraham was justified, he
became an heir of the promise of God by believing the promise of God not by law
performance.
- Paul says it was not through the Law, but through the
agency of righteousness by means of faith.
When was
the M/L given? Just after the Exodus in
1445 BC.
- The way Paul puts it here, the point he is trying to drive
home is that even later, for those descendants of Abe's who do come along after
the M/L is given; even for them it must be through the agency of righteousness
by means of faith.
- In this way Paul makes his point very vividly to all
that any kind of law performance does
not establish a relationship with
God, ever; its always by faith!
- To what does the phrase "heir of the world" refer??
- Think about it; his seed is the Messiah, the Christ; who
will rule the whole world! Millennium.
- Paul's response I believe would be to any of their
arguments, "Yes, but don't forget that this promise that Abraham would be
the heir of the world, in which you Jews are boasting, was not received through
the law or through works or through any rituals.
Next we find how faith is destroyed
"For if those who are of
the Law are heirs” if it was possible for one to become
an heir by law performance; its not, but if it were true!
- If they did inherit on that basis,
that is on the basis of personal merit, What would it do??
"faith is made void and the promise is nullified;"
As soon
as we mix any thing with faith, with the promise; here human merit of law
performance/observance it empties the faith of its value;
Paul's
idea here is that faith would fail to attain its proper end or goal.
Whenever we add conditional elements to faith and therefore to grace
it loses its value.
4:15b
- "but where there is no law neither is no violation.” para,basij go beyond the
limits; law sets a boundary; without the law no limits; no line in the sand!
Paul's
point here is not that there is no sin where there is no law but that there can
be no deliberate disobedience of a command from God where there is no positive
command for one to disobey.
What the
Mosaic law does is to create even more wrath; rather than curing people from
the sentence of condemnation, what it does is to confirm their status, that of being under
condemnation.
#2 Necessity of faith;
Faith is
the only condition that fits grace! Only thing compatible with grace!
- If we conclude that its drawing a conclusion from the
previous, then
we could say this; "For this
reason, ...."
Because works will not secure for you a standing before
God!
Because participating in a ritual will not secure for you
a standing before
God!
Because law performance is unable to secure for you a
standing before God!
In fact
the only thing that law performance does is what? brings wrath.
- If we conclude that it looks forward; this is possible
when you have a following
i[na
purpose clause; as we do here; then it would be "For this reason, that it might be
in accordance with grace it is by faith"
- "That"
introduces us to the ultimate end that God had in view in making the promise,
the blessing, being justified to be dependent on faith, "That
it might be in accordance with grace"
If
justification is by works, by ritual or by law performance it is by personal merit, it
depends on man and it is insufficient and must fail because man is a sinner.
If
justification is by faith it is by grace which depends solely and totally on
the finished work of
Christ on the cross and cannot fail because God cannot fail.
Paul says
here that since it is by faith therefore according to grace a result flows out
of that; in order that the promise may be certain to all the descendants.
Who are the descendants in view??