Romans 4 (Pt 2)

Romans 4:23-25 (ESV)

[23] But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, [24] but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, [25] who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

These words were written in a particular context. Abraham, the Father of the Jews, had faith that was counted to him as righteousness before circumcision. The significance of that gets lost in our day. Circumcision was a sign for Abraham and his family that they belonged to God. Abraham was not circumcised until he was an adult man, long after he moved his household to the Promised Land, long after he was given the promise that he would be a blessing to the world. Circumcision was a symbol, but it was faith that caused him to be counted as righteous.

 

That makes the Gospel of Grace Through Faith such good news. Anyone can be declared righteous by God. Jesus was delivered up, he was crucified, for our trespasses. Sin demands judgment. Jesus death satisfied God’s justice. He was raised for our justification. Justification means to be declared righteous. In church circles we talk often about Jesus’ death, but the resurrection was a necessary part of the process. By the death and resurrection of Jesus, any human being can be declared righteous by God through faith.

 

This declaration of righteousness is not reserved for a special race or ethnicity. It is for everyone. It is not reserved for a special language or culture. It is for everyone. It is not for a certain class of people or special strata in society, it is for everyone. It is not for people who are good, or who appear righteous, holy, or just nice, it is for everyone. That is what makes it Good News, which is what the word gospel means.

 

Being declared righteous by God will change your life. There is not doubt of that. God is a God “who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Rom 4:17). “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all [Abraham’s] offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Rom 4:16). It is not turning over a new leaf, changing your lifestyle, or trying really hard to be good that causes us to be considered righteous before God. It is faith in the grace of God and by the grace of God that sets us on the right path for life. When we believe God he moves us from death to life. He instills his life in us by his indwelling Holy Spirit. He begins the process of transforming us into his image. Romans 12 calls that a process of metamorphosis. We are not declared righteous by changing, but we are certainly changed by being declared righteous. That was the good news that Abraham rested in and it is the good news for us as well.