What then shall we say that Abraham our forefather according to the flesh, has found?
Paul is still addressing the Jewish believers in Rome, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.
If Abraham could work his way into justification, then it would only apply to his life here on Earth, as getting along with other people, not with God, who is also in charge of the after-life, forever.
For what does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15: 6).So Abraham's faith, in believing God, even before he saw anything that was promised, was why God put righteousness on his side of the ledger.
Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
Anyone who tries to work his way into righteousness will not end up with any credit to his account, but rather debt, for when he couldn't do everything perfectly all the time.
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
But the person who gives up trying to work for salvation, and just trusts God, believing that Jesus paid his debt on the Cross for him: God will put Jesus's suffering and death in payment for the debt, and Christ's righteousness onto his side of the ledger, balancing the books for each of us.
just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account (Psalm 32: 1-2).God is just and fair, and His justice needs to balance the books. All of our sins put that debt in our ledgers, that takes death to pay of to balance. That's why they needed to bring the animal to die in their place on the altar, according to the Law in Leviticus 1. They let the bull or lamb die for them, and its blood was splattered on the sides of the altar to cover their sins, and they could then be forgiven. Their faith in God's faithfulness to His promise is what saved them, not just going through the motions of the sacrifice.
Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say,
Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness (Genesis 15: 6).How then was it credited? While he was circumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised;
The Law of sacrifice was not given until Moses, but the idea of an animal death in the place of the person for sin was given to Adam and Eve, as an animal had to die for each of them to cover their nakedness because of sin, and they taught this lesson to their children, Cain and Abel.
So people even in that early day of Man knew about the penalty for sin. And faith in what God said has always been the standard for salvation, even before it was standardized in Law. So Abraham's faith in what God promised was credited as righteousness on Abraham's ledger even before he was circumcised, two chapters later.
and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised,
And, two chapters later, Abraham was given the ritual of circumcision to be a sign in his flesh of the agreement he made with God to believe everything He said.
so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them,
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 is saying here that, whether someone is circumcised or not, it's his faith that determines his righteousness. So just because someone happens to have been circumcised as a baby, it doesn't matter if he doesn't decide to believe God.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the World was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
When God told Abraham that he would have a multitude of Nations as descendants, and that kings would come from him, and that the land of Canaan would be given to them, is when God also told him to be circumcised, as the sign that he believed these promises from God. This is why it is called the Promised Land. God said He'd give it to Abraham's descendants through his son Isaac, and also his grandson Jacob.
Before Moses was born, to receive the Law.
For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;
So if just following the letter of the Law and getting circumcised is enough, then we wouldn't even need to believe God at all.
for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.
When we have written rules to follow, and we don't, then we break that rule. But if there's no written rule, then there's no violation of a rule, but we still know the difference between right and wrong, and we are aware that going the wrong way leads to disaster.
For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham,
So if trying to follow a set of rules is fatal, then those who have tried to follow them, as well as those who didn't have the rules at all, are all saved the same way, through the gracious gift from God of His righteousness on our ledger, so we all can be saved through our faith in believing Him.
who is the father of us all,
(as it is written,
A father of many nations have I made you (Genesis 17: 4-5))So Abraham has become the father of everyone everywhere from every branch of humanity in every place in the World who decide to believe God.
in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.
In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken,
So shall your descendants be (Genesis 17: 4).This was when he was a really old man and Sarah had always been barren and wasn't even having cycles any more, and God told him he would have a son, named Isaac.
Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb;
yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,
Abraham thought about his own aged condition, and Sarah's barren condition, realizing that there was absolutely no hope at all of any life coming from either of them by now; but decided to trust God anyway, believing that He could bring life from what was dead.
and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform.
So because he believed God, he went ahead and did what was needed to conceive a baby in Sarah's womb. Remember, Sarah had laughed when she thought about Abraham being able to "perform" again (Genesis 18: 12).
Abraham's faith was active, in following through doing what he believed God was able to do in him and Sarah. I find this really amazing! He trusted God, not having seen anything yet!
Therefore
Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,it was also credited to him as righteousness (Genesis 15: 6).
but for our sake also,
God wanted Abraham and Sarah to be blessed in their faith, but He also had the story written down, so that we also, living so much later in time, could know and also be strengthened in our faith in trusting God to do what He said He would do for us, too.
to whom it will be credited,
We are in Abraham's future.
as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
Because God brought Isaac out of the deadness of Abraham's and Sarah's bodies, we can now believe that He also raised Jesus our Lord from having died and been buried for three days. We are still believing what God is saying.
He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.
Jesus was given over to a criminal's execution death, because that is how God's wrath fell upon the sinfulness and sins of each of us, Him in our place; and God raised Him from that death with a new, Resurrection Life, to show us that He accepted His payment of our debt in full, justifying us, and will also raise us up with a Resurrection body like His, either from our death or being changed at His coming.
O my Father, Your Plan is so perfect! You have done and are doing and will do everything so perfect! Because You are perfect! And You are also making us perfect!
O Father, please help us to see ourselves and one another with Your eyes, to look past all of our faults and failures and sins, past the wounds and hurts, past all the stuff that irritates; past everything that isn't perfect.
So that we can accept one another as You have accepted us, cleansing us and saving us from the power of sin over us, and redeeming us out of the slave-market of sin, into Your glorious household as Your own sons and daughters!
You have made us into Your kings and queens to help you govern all Your future creation, all the continually increasing Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, because we believe You, we put our faith into what You have said, and we live our lives according to the Truth You have taught us.
O my Abba Daddy, my Father God, please fill Your house with Your uncountable family! Send us out, Father, into all Your fields, that every living person will be able to hear with understanding how much You love them, and have already met all their needs with Your unlimited, gracious, generous provisions! Let every human being know to accept Your bountiful gifts, or reject You.
And every eye shall see, every knee will bow, and every tongue of every created being everywhere will confess and proclaim that Jesus is our Christ, our Lord God Almighty, the King of the Universe, to the eternal glory of Almighty God the Father, forever and ever. Amen.
Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!
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