Romans

The Letter from Yeshua's Emissary Sha’ul(Paul) to the Messianic Community in Rome

Chapter 4 - (CJB)*

A Study to Help New and Young Christians - Previous Study

Chapter 4:1-25 (CJB)

1. Then what should we say Avraham, our forefather, obtained by his own efforts?

2. For if Avraham came to be considered righteous by God because of legalistic observances, then he has something to boast about. But this is not how it is before God!

3. For what does the Tanakh say? “Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.”

4. Now the account of someone who is working is credited not on the ground of grace but on the ground of what is owed him.

5. However, in the case of one who is not working but rather is trusting in him who makes ungodly people righteous, his trust is credited to him as righteousness.

6. In the same way, the blessing which David pronounces is on those whom God credits with righteousness apart from legalistic observances:

7. “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered over;

8. Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will not reckon against his account.”

9. Now is this blessing for the circumcised only? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say that Avraham’s trust was credited to his account as righteousness;

10. but what state was he in when it was so credited — circumcision or uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision!

11. In fact, he received circumcision as a sign, as a seal of the righteousness he had been credited with on the ground of the trust he had while he was still uncircumcised. This happened so that he could be the father of every uncircumcised person who trusts and thus has righteousness credited to him,

12. and at the same time be the father of every circumcised person who not only has had a b’rit-milah, but also follows in the footsteps of the trust which Avraham avinu had when he was still uncircumcised.

13. For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces.

14. For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless.

15. For what law brings is punishment. But where there is no law, there is also no violation.

16. The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God’s free gift, a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avraham had — Avraham avinu for all of us.

17. This accords with the Tanakh, where it says, “I have appointed you to be a father to many nations.” Avraham is our father in God’s sight because he trusted God as the one who gives life to the dead and calls nonexistent things into existence.

18. For he was past hope, yet in hope he trusted that he would indeed become a father to many nations, in keeping with what he had been told, “So many will your seed be.”

19. His trust did not waver when he considered his own body — which was as good as dead, since he was about a hundred years old — or when he considered that Sarah’s womb was dead too.

20. He did not by lack of trust decide against God’s promises. On the contrary, by trust he was given power as he gave glory to God,

21. for he was fully convinced that what God had promised he could also accomplish.

22. This is why it was credited to his account as righteousness.

23. But the words, “it was credited to his account...,” were not written for him only.

24. They were written also for us, who will certainly have our account credited too, because we have trusted in him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead —

25. Yeshua, who was delivered over to death because of our offenses and raised to life in order to make us righteous.

Study - Chapter 4

Ch 4: verses, 1-8,

The question now comes as to how we who are not part of Isreal, would come that into this same Blessing that was the promise of Salvation through Jesus the Messiah to the Jewish Nation?

We need to look back to Avraham (Abraham) {verses 1 and 2} and we will see just how Avraham was made Righteous as well as just how the Non-Jew could become part of The Blessing.

If Avraham gained Righteousness from something he worked at then he had something to be proud about. But what the Scriptures say?

Now {verse 3} says; “Avraham put his trust in God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.”

Paul continues; If a person is engaged in some form of 'work', they earn it, then they should get paid for that 'work'. But if that person obtains favour or credit then what is "credited" is not earned but they receive whatever because of Grace, non-earned merit. {Verses 4 and 5}

David in the Psalms says that the one who God credits with Righteousness apart from their observance of The Torah, legal oberservance is blessed.

V 7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered over;
V 8 Blessed is the man whose sin Adonai will not reckon against his account.” {Psalms 32:1-2}

Paul continues on explaining how all this works in the next section.

........

Ch 4: verses, 9-16,

Now is this Blessing for the Circumcised, the Jewish Nation or can it be acredited to those that are Gentiles, all peoples that are not Jews?

We need to look to Avraham and see how this Blessing was credtied, reckoned to him. Was Avraham circumcised or uncircumcised when it was reckoned to him?

We see in v 11 that circumcision was given to him as a sign or a seal of his Righteousness. He had been credited with this Righteousness on the ground of the trust he had while he was still uncircumcised.

This happened so that he could be the father of every uncircumcised person who trusts and thus has righteousness credited to them, v 11. So Avraham became "the father of every circumcised person who not only has had a b’rit-milah, {Hebrew: The act of being Circumcised} but also follows in the footsteps of the trust which Avraham avinu {Our Father} had when he was still uncircumcised" v 12.

Avraham became the Father of everyone that was not circumcised because of the Trust they have, the same Trust that Avraham had. v 14 If we become "heirs" because of us doing and trusting in the legal act of The Law then the gaining The Promise become worthless, voided by our actions. It is not by Trust, Grace.

When we trust in The Law for favour we fail and are due punishment. But where there is no Law there is no offence to punish so we are free.v 15

"The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as God’s free gift," v 16 and the Promise we have as "the seed" is not only for those that live under The Torah but us who live by the Trust that Avraham our father had.

........

Ch 4: verses, 17-21,

We can understand from the verses above that God Our Heavenly made Avraham our Spiritual Father because of our Trust in that Promise which resulted in Grace being credited to us because of that Trust.

Avraham trusted "as the one who gives life to the dead and calls nonexistent things into existence" V 17. He didn't consider the fact he was old and that "Sarah’s womb was dead too". He believed that "the Seed" would become many as to fill much of the earth. He would become the Father of a great nation and the that 'The Nations' would be blessed through his Trust (Faith).

V 21 "for he was fully convinced that what God had promised he could also accomplish". Because of his Trust God was able to bring about His Great Salvation to the world.

........

Ch 4: verses, 22-25,

So now you can see why righteousness can be given to the Jewish Nation, because they are of "The Seed" of Avraham and those outside of the the nation of Israel who Trust in the Promise are also added to The Family of God.

As it says in Verse 24, "They were written also for us, who will certainly have our account credited too, because we have trusted in him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead —"

So we can have confidence because "Yeshua, who was delivered over to death because of our offenses and raised to life in order to make us righteous." Verse 25

As we move into the next Study we continue to see how this Righteousness gives us so much more.

........

Go To The Next Study

Home

(CJB)* The Complete Jewish Bible" used with permission.