Romans 4 1 12 The Friend of God

Romans 4: 1 -12 The Friend of God

Friends Agree Can two walk together, except they be agreed? --Amos 3: 3 KJV Are Loyal Confide

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father's house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ” --Gen 12: 1 -3 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward shall be very great. ” --Gen 15: 1 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them. " And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be. ” Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. -- Gen 15: 5 -6

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. --Heb 11: 6 By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised; therefore, also, there was born of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants as the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore. --Heb 11: 8 -12

Abram high father Abraham father of a great multitude --Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names

And God, furthermore, said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, 'The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. ' This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations. --Exod 3: 15

"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad. " The Jews therefore said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham? " Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. " --John 8: 56 -58 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. " --Gen 3: 15

"To be blessed" means 'to be favored by God'. Blessings therefore are directly associated with God and come from God.

and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness, " and he was called the friend of God. --James 2: 23

Friends Agree Can two walk together, except they be agreed? --Amos 3: 3 KJV Are Loyal for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you, ” --Heb 13: 5 Confide Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah. --Ps 62: 8

Rom 4: 1 -12 1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, that no one should boast. --Eph 2: 8 -9

“ 4: 2 justified by works. The supposed contradiction between Paul and James has been widely noted. Paul says Abraham was not justified by works; James says he was (James 2: 21). The point is that Abraham was justified by faith in God’s Word, but he then was asked to demonstrate that his faith was genuine by his works. He was justified before God by faith but was justified before men by his works (see James 2: 21 -24). ” --Henry Morris

3 For what does the Scripture say? "And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. "

4: 3 what saith the scripture. The Scripture cited is Genesis 15: 6. As Paul notes later (Romans 4: 9 -15), Abraham was justified by faith before he was given the sign of circumcision (Genesis 17: 9 -14) and before the law was given, so justification by faith is God’s original and basic standard (that is, of course, a genuine faith in God and His Word, a faith which then causes one to obey God’s Word). --Henry Morris

“Does the gospel agree with the teachings of the OT? The answer to this question would be of special importance to the Jewish people. Therefore the apostle now shows that there is complete harmony between the gospel in the NT and in the Old. Justification has always been by faith. Paul proves his point by referring to two of the greatest figures in Israel's history: Abraham and David. God made great covenants with both these men. One lived centuries before the law was given, and the other lived many years afterward. One was justified before he was circumcised, and the other after. ” --William Mac. Donald

4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness,

Justification— derived from the Greek verb dikaioo, meaning “to acquit” or “to declare righteous, ” used by Paul in 4: 2, 5; 5: 1. It is a legal term used of a favorable verdict in a trial. The word depicts a courtroom setting, with God presiding as the Judge, determining the faithfulness of each person to the law. In the first section of Romans, Paul makes it clear that no one can withstand God’s judgment (3: 9– 20). The law was not given to justify sinners but to expose their sin. To remedy this deplorable situation, God sent His Son to die for our sins in our place. When we believe in Jesus, God imputes His righteousness to us, and we are declared righteous before God. In this way, God demonstrates that He is both a righteous Judge and the one who declares us righteous, our justifier (3: 26). --John Mac. Arthur

Abraham was justified by faith in Genesis 15: 6 when he believed God's promise concerning a numberless posterity. It was thirty or more years later that he was justified (vindicated) by works when he started to offer Isaac as a burnt offering to God (Gen. 22). This act of obedience proved the reality of his faith. It was an outward demonstration that he had been truly justified by faith. --William Mac. Donald

6 just as David also speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. 8 "Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account. "

4: 7 Saying. This quote is from Psalm 32: 1 -2. This was David’s psalm of thanksgiving after his repentance over his notorious sin of adultery and homicide. Paul thus notes that justification by faith was true both before and after Moses—before, in Abraham, Israel’s great patriarch, and after, in David, Israel’s greatest king. --Henry Morris

1 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! 2 How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit! --Ps 32: 1 -2 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked; but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him. 11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones, and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart. --Ps 32: 10 -11

9 Is this blessing then upon the circumcised, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say, "Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness. " 10 How then was it reckoned? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;

He shows that Abraham was justified (Gen. 15: 6) before he was ever circumcised (Gen. 17: 24). If the father of the nation of Israel could be justified while he was still uncircumcised, then the question arises, "Why can't other uncircumcised people be justified? " In a very real sense, Abraham was justified while still on Gentile ground, and this leaves the door wide open for other Gentiles to be justified, entirely apart from circumcision. 4: 11 Circumcision, then, was not the instrumental cause of Abraham's justification. It was merely an outward sign in his flesh that he had been justified by faith. --William Mac. Donald

11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be reckoned to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

Paul insists that physical circumcision is not what counts. There must be faith in the living God. Those of the circumcision who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are the true Israel of God. To summarize, then, there was a time in Abraham's life when he had faith and was still uncircumcised, and another time when he had faith and was circumcised. Paul's eagle eye sees in this fact that both believing Gentiles and believing Jews can claim Abraham as their father and can identify with him as his children. --William Mac. Donald

Through the merits of the risen Savior, God clothes him with righteousness and thus makes him fit for heaven. Henceforth God sees him in Christ and accepts him on that basis. To summarize, then, justification is for the ungodly—not for good people. It is a matter of grace—not of debt. And it is received by faith—not by works. --William Mac. Donald

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. --2 Cor 5: 21

Friends Agree Can two walk together, except they be agreed? --Amos 3: 3 KJV Are Loyal for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you, ” --Heb 13: 5 Confide Trust in Him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah. --Ps 62: 8

Friends with God "If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love. "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. "You are My friends, if you do what I command you. "No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. --John 15: 10 -15

And Samuel said, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. "For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king. " --1 Sam 15: 22 -23

Thus says the LORD, "Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the LORD. "For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. "Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD and whose trust is the LORD. "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. --Jer 17: 5 -8

Blessed Luke 11: 28 28 But He said, "On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it. " James 1: 21 -25 Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man shall be blessed in what he does.

Prov. 13: 20 He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.