Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

4:2 If Abraham stood in the right before God on the basis of his good works, then he could truly boast, since his obedience would function as the basis of his relationship with God. But Paul insists that Abraham could not boast before God.

4:3 The point of the previous verse is not that Abraham could boast before men. Instead, there was no basis for boasting at all, for Abraham stood in the right before God by believing, not by doing, as Gen. 15:6 proves.

4:4 Paul uses an example from everyday life. If salvation were based on works, then God, in granting a person salvation, would merely be repaying what he owed that person, just as an employer gives a worker wages for his work.

4:5 Under the gospel, however, works come under a completely different equation. Righteousness does not come to those who work for God, since all, like Abraham (Josh. 24:2), are by God's absolute standards ungodly. Rather, right-standing righteousness comes, as it did for Abraham, by believing in place of working.

4:6-8 Paul introduces David as a second example of righteousness by faith, citing Ps. 32:1-2 to demonstrate that David's righteousness ("whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered") was not based on his works.

4:9-10 Abraham was righteous before God (Gen. 15:6) before he was circumcised (Genesis 17), and therefore circumcision is unnecessary in order to belong to God.

4:11 Circumcision was the sign and seal of Abraham's righteousness that belonged to him by faith. In other words, circumcision documented and ratified the righteousness by faith that Abraham enjoyed before his circumcision.

4:13 The promise given to Abraham embraces not only the land of Canaan but also the whole world. The final reward (the inheritance, which is another term for final salvation) that will be given to Abraham and all believers is the world to come (cf. Heb. 11:10-16; Revelation 21-22).

4:14 If the inheritance is gained by observing the law, then righteousness is no longer by faith but by works. Faith and works are fundamentally opposed, for faith means trusting in or relying on a promise of God's work and not depending in any way on human performance.

4:15 Paul explains why one cannot be an heir through the law: human beings cannot keep the law, and they therefore face God's wrath. Paul uses the word transgression technically, so that it is distinguished from sin. Transgression is defined as the violation of a revealed command, which means that the Jews, who had the written law, had even greater responsibility for their sin and as great a need to be saved from God's wrath and justified by faith. (Paul elsewhere argues that sin also exists where no written law specifies the malfeasance; see 2:12, and note on 5:13).

4:16 That is why points to the special relationship between faith and grace: Faith means trusting in another, not in one's own efforts. Faith therefore corresponds exactly to grace, which involves trusting God's gift of unmerited favor. The adherent of the law refers to the Jewish believer in Christ.

4:17 many nations. Abraham's universal fatherhood is confirmed by Gen. 17:5. Calls into existence the things that do not exist underscores the doctrine of creation ex nihilo or "out of nothing." Before God created the universe (Gen. 1:1), only God existed, nothing else. Paul uses this general truth to affirm the great power of the God whom Abraham trusted: Abraham believed in a God who could raise the dead and summon into existence what did not exist (e.g., new life in Sarah's womb).

4:19 Abraham squarely faced the fact that he and Sarah were too old to have children.

4:20-21 Abraham's faith actually increased as the time of waiting went on: he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. He continued trusting that God could be relied on to do what he had promised, and as Abraham trusted God, he honored and glorified him.

4:23-24 Paul applies Gen. 15:6 to his readers. but for ours also. Paul sees that, in God's plan, Scriptures as far back as Genesis were written also for the benefit of Christians in the new covenant age.

4:25 Both the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are necessary for forgiveness of sins and justification. raised for our justification. When God the Father raised Christ from the dead, it was a demonstration that he accepted Christ's suffering and death as full payment for sin, and that the Father's favor, no longer his wrath against sin, was directed toward Christ, and through Christ toward those who believe. Since Paul sees Christians as united with Christ in his death and resurrection (6:6, 8-11; Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:12; 3:1), God's approval of Christ at the resurrection results in God's approval also of all who are united to Christ, and in this way results in their "justification."