Justification by Faith (Romans 4: 1-16)

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Episode Title: Justification by Faith
Passage: Romans 4:1-16

Episode Summary:
In this episode, we explore Paul’s argument in Romans 4:1-16 regarding justification by faith. We examine how Paul uses Abraham as the prime example of righteousness being credited by faith rather than by works. This foundational passage highlights the biblical truth that salvation is a gift of grace and is not earned through human effort.

Key Themes Covered:

• Abraham’s faith and righteousness (Romans 4:1-5)
• The role of grace in justification (Romans 4:6-8)
• The promise to Abraham and his descendants (Romans 4:9-12)
• Faith, not the law, as the basis of righteousness (Romans 4:13-16)

Discussion Points:

• What does it mean to be justified by faith?
• Why does Paul emphasize Abraham’s example?
• How does this passage shape our understanding of grace and works?
• What implications does justification by faith have for Christians today?

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Chapters

• 14:42 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 15:30 (Cont.) Justification by Faith (Romans 4: 1-16)

Transcript

Justification by Faith (Romans 4: 1-16)

 Transcript: 

A newspaper article in Australia once reported on an elderly woman who spent years collecting beer bottles for charity. Over the course of a decade, she gathered more than 300,000 bottles, selling them in sacks for about $1.25 per bin bag. Through her efforts, she raised over $4,000 for charitable causes. Now, at age 72, she said was ready to retire. Reflecting on her years of work, she said, "I've tried to build a bit of a ladder for myself up to heaven." (Led Zeppelin?)

Her words reveal a mindset that is common not only in Australia but also all around the world. Many people believe that getting to heaven is a matter of effort—constructing their own “ladder” of good deeds and personal merit. They assume that by accumulating enough righteous acts, they can one day reach God. 

But often when people hear the message that salvation doesn’t come through effort but solely through faith in Jesus Christ, they are often taken aback.

Some even respond with skepticism or anger: Thinking it can't be that simple, surely my good deed put me ahead of other people.

This challenge is not new. The Apostle Paul encountered the same issue when he wrote his letter to the Romans. People, it seemed were asking how do we prove that salvation is by faith alone and not by works? Which is why Paul addresses that very question in Romans 4.

By the time we reach chapter 4 of Romans, Paul has already made several key points:

·         Every person—Jew and Gentile alike—is a sinner.

·         No one is righteous before God.

·         Jesus Christ died for all sinners.

·         Ane Justification is by faith alone.

That word justification is crucial, in all this. It means to be declared righteous by God. 

This is the profound truth: Because through faith in Christ, my sin is removed, and more than that—I am declared righteous. 

God doesn’t just erase my sins; He thereafter credits me with righteousness. And all of this happens as a gift received by faith alone.

Now, as we arrive at Romans 4, the natural question arises: Can he/Paul prove it? If we are staking our eternal destiny on the simple act of trusting in Christ, people will want proof. 

And Paul provides that proof in the first 16 verses of chapter 4.

His argument is straightforward: Paul supports this claim by turning to Abraham and to David.

We will begin today by looking at Abraham….

Paul’s argument that people have always been justified by faith. He say that even the Old Testament also confirms that justification is by faith, not by works. Paul supports this claim by turning to two key figures in Scripture, first Abraham and then David.

Let’s begin with Abraham.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?

(Romans 4:1)

The question Paul asks is did Abraham’s own efforts—his works make him right with God?. What did he find when he tried to earn righteousness through his own labor? Paul answers in verse 2:

If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.

Let’s imagine Abraham being a model citizen—helping others, being honest, and living a morally upright life. He might have had reason to boast before others, saying things like, “I’m not so bad—I pay my debts, I don’t harm anyone.” 

But Paul makes it clear that standing before God, even Abraham had nothing to boast about. 

While human beings tend to judge by external actions, God instead looks at the heart and the full scope of a person’s life. No one, not even Abraham, can claim to be righteous before God based on their own deeds , he says.

Then Paul reminds us of what Scripture actually says about Abraham’s righteousness. In verse 3, he quotes from Genesis 15:6:

"Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness."

Here’s the key point: Abraham wasn’t declared righteous because of his good works but because he believed in and trusted God. The word credited is a bookkeeping term—it means God credited righteousness to Abraham’s account as a free gift of grace.

Paul will draws two significant conclusions from Genesis 15:6.

4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.

(Romans 4:4)

So first, Righteousness is a gift, not a wage/salary paid as a result of work.

If Abraham had earned his righteousness through works, it would be something God owed him, like wages for work. But righteousness isn’t something we earn—it’s something God freely gives.

Righteousness is granted to the ungodly through faith (v.5)

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

This is a radical statement: God justifies the ungodly. In other words, righteousness isn’t dependent on our past, our moral efforts, or our religious rituals—it’s purely based on faith in God.

Paul’s argument is crystal clear: Abraham’s righteousness came through faith, not works. And if that was true for Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, then it must be true for everyone else as well.

David is now given as his Second Example

After establishing Abraham as proof that justification is by faith, Paul turns to another Old Testament figure, David. In verses 6–8, he quotes Psalm 32, where David describes the blessedness of a person whose sins are forgiven apart from works:

6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven,

    whose sins are covered.

8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

(Romans 4: 6-8)

David’s life also then provides a vivid example of God’s grace. While Abraham demonstrates the fact of justification, David reveals the experience of it.

The Greek word blessed here means deep happiness or joy—the kind of joy that comes from knowing one’s sins are completely forgiven.

In other words, Abraham shows us that righteousness is received by faith, and David shows us the overwhelming relief and joy that comes with knowing we are forgiven—not because of what we’ve done, but because of what God has done for us.

Remember the type of guy David was for a minute.

David committed adultery. Then, to cover up his adultery, he committed murder. Now, you may look at Abraham and say, "Well, at least he didn't beat his wife, and he paid his bills."

But look at David and we are talking about scandal—murder and adultery. 

Paul deliberately chooses David because he was, in fact, an ungodly man. And yet, according to Psalm 32, he reached a point in his life, many times, when he simply cast himself on the mercy of God, and God forgave him. 

As a result of receiving this forgiveness David penned Psalm 32, which Paul quotes for us in verses 7 and 8 of Romans 4:

"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven." And you have to understand the weight of that statement. What were those lawless deeds? Adultery, murder—beyond that, lying, covetousness, and everything else. "And whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin."

(Romans 4: 7-8)

David is saying, I am a sinful wretch, but I trusted in the living God and he forgave me. And Paul says, that’s further proof even Davis didn't do that by living right, he also achieved forgiveness and righteousness by faith.

God declared David righteous. 

So, in these first 8 verses all Paul is doing is demonstrating that the in the Old Testament it was the same. Salvation is by faith. 

And the answer is the scriptures themselves.

He begins by saying, does this blessedness then come upon the 

In the 1st century because many of the people around the periphery of the emerging church were Jews and they believed that God only gave his forgiveness to people who've gone through this ritual of circumcision. So Paul adds:

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

(Romans 4:9)

Now he started out using Abraham and now he's going to go back to Abraham again to talk about circumcision. Verse 10. 

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

When he answers his own question here. 

Remember a moment ago I told you that Paul quoted Genesis 15-6. In which he said Abraham believed God and that is when righteousness was credited.

Well, if you keep reading the book of Genesis, you'll get to chapter 17  verse 10, and you will discover that it was not until later that he got circumcised.

That event took place when he was 99 years old, 14 years after it says he was credited with righteousness.

So Paul says, OK,  I'll talk about circumcision. Look at Abraham. Did he get declared righteous when he was circumcised or before he was uncircumcised? The answer is before he was uncircumcised, 14 years before he got circumcised. 

Talk about refuting an argument. I mean, that just demolishes that. 

His point is that the scripture proves that salvation is by faith. Apart from circumcision. As a matter of fact, he now goes on in this passage to argue that God deliberately put a gap between the time when Abraham believed and Abraham was circumcised. He continues in verse 11.

And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

(Romans 4:11-12)

If all that sounds very a little repetitive and complicated, all these verses are simply saying is that God allowed Abraham to do this so that he might be representative as the father of all anybody, uncircumcised or circumcised who trust in him. 

You see, some of those around him were saying that in order to get to heaven, the Gentiles had to now become a Jew. And Paul is saying, you got it wrong, the Jews have to now go through the same gate as the Gentiles, which is through faith. 

Now, the problem with this is we don't grapple with issues like circumcision in the Christian church anymore, that’s not an issue for Christians today. But let me tell you what I think is a modern parallel. I mean, I'm very good parallel to this. I think it's baptism. We know that the New Testament teaches you to be baptized. And many people today grow up thinking I got a crack in heaven because I've been baptized. 

David’s point is clear—the Old Testament itself proves that salvation is and has always by faith, not by works, and not by any religious ritual we may have gone through as an infant. It

I don’t believe there is anything wrong it what it originally used to represent as a hope that would later by fulfilled in the coming of God’s spirit into the life of that child and later confirming that person in the faith. But the act itslef, like circumcision, can never in and of itself save anyone. 

Paul expands by showing us that even Abraham, the great patriarch, was justified by faith, not by adherence to these sorts of things.

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith.

(Romans 4:13)

This is a key point in this chapter is that, Paul has already ruled out justification by works (verse 2) and by circumcision (verse 9). And now, in verse 13, he addresses those who think salvation comes through keeping the law—whether that means obeying the Ten Commandments, observing the Sabbath, or following Old Testament feasts and rituals.

Paul’s argument is simple: the Old Testament itself proves that righteousness comes by faith. Abraham simply believed, and through that faith, he became an heir of the world.

But, what does heir of the world mean? There are four common interpretations:

·         That Abraham would inherit the land of Canaan.

·         That he would have a son.

·         That all nations would be blessed through him.

·         That he would inherit the earth itself.

And I believe all four apply even the fourth. The Old Testament repeatedly affirms that God promised Abraham not just a strip of land, but ultimately, through the seed of faith his spiritual heirs would inherit the whole earth. 

And I believe that when Christ returns, that promise will be fulfilled.

Many Christians miss this and, as a result, fail to grasp the Old Testament’s broader message.

But Paul’s focus here is not on the land promised itself, rather it is in how Abraham received it. And the answer is clear: by faith, not by legalism.

Which is why he returns to reinforces this in verses 14-15:

For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

(Romans 4: 14-15)

If Abraham had to keep the law to receive the promise, then faith would be useless, and God’s promise would be meaningless. Worse yet, Paul says, the law brings wrath. 

Because the law sets a boundary, and as soon as we cross it, we have transgressed. You can’t sin without a law to define the boundary of our action, you can’t transgress unless there’s a line to step over. That’s what the law does, it marks the line, and once you cross it, you stand under judgment.

So, if you try to earn salvation by keeping the law, here’s what happens:

·         Faith becomes meaningless.

·         God’s promise is nullified.

·         Instead of blessing, you inherit wrath.

That’s why Paul concludes his argument in verse 16 by saying:

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

(Romans 4:16)

Salvation is by faith and that it can be by received as a gift of grace. If it depended on law-keeping, it wouldn’t be grace at all—it would be earned. But God’s way is different.

The law commands but doesn’t empower.

Grace calls and then enables.

So, what’s Paul’s ultimate point? Not just that justification is by faith—we already saw that at the end of Romans 3. The point here is that the Old Testament itself proves it.

So, If you ask, “What’s the proof?” the answer is Scripture itself.

That leaves us with two key takeaways:

1.     You cannot do anything to make yourself right with God. No amount of good works, religious rituals, or moral efforts will earn salvation.

2.     Salvation has always been by faith. That’s not a New Testament idea—it’s been God’s plan from the very beginning.

I started with the story of a woman collecting stuff for charity. That’s a good thing, helping others is commendable. But here’s the truth: No amount of good deeds will make you right before God. 

That’s exactly Paul’s point.

If salvation could be earned, we’d have every reason to boast. But God knows our hearts. He knows mine, He knows yours—and the reality is, we’re all sinners. We can’t build our own stairway to heaven.

The truth is heaven isn’t something we climb toward. It’s something God gives.

How do we know? Because He told us in His Word. He wrote it down in a book called the Bible. And in that book, from Genesis to Revelation, the message is clear: salvation is a gift.

So, hear me—please hear me. Many of you may already know this, but I’m certain there are some who don’t. If you’re not sure where you stand with God, don’t leave that question unanswered. Come before Him and simply say:

"God, I know I’m a sinner. But I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe He died for me, and that He rose from the dead. And right now, I put my trust in Him."

And on the authority of the Bible, I can tell you, if you do that, God will save you. Right now - Guaranteed.

It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? Where’s the catch? There isn’t one. 

This passage, and others tell us: “The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” A gift. Freely given. All you have to do, is receive it.

Here’s the point: Truth isn’t based on what we see or feel—it’s based on what’s written. And God has written it down for us. “By grace, you are saved through faith.”

That’s the proof. And this book we call the bible says so.