Some Key Words (7/12/00)

Blessing (makarismos [3108]):

declaration of blessedness, to pronounce one blessed; attribution of good fortune

Faith (pistis [4102]):

being persuaded, belief, knowledge of, assent to and confidence in divine truths; conviction of the truth, belief regarding man's relationship to God, trust, holy fervor joined with faith, belief in God, and in salvation through Christ, belief in Christ as Messiah, confidence in God or Christ; moral conviction, reliance upon Christ for salvation, constancy in profession of belief, the system of religious truth

Reckoned (logizomai [3049]):

To count to somebody, to put to his account either in his favor or as a debt, the imputation of righteousness which brings freedom from guilt, to impute in a substitutionary manner; to calculate, to take into account, to pass to one's account, impute, to consider as equivalent to another thing, to number among, to account, to infer by counting the reasons, to consider, meditate on, to suppose, judge, to determine, decide; to take inventory, estimate

Righteousness (dikaiosune [1343]):

the essence of that which is just, that which fulfills God's claims, conformity with the claims of a higher authority, the state commanded by God, conformity to all that He commands, God's uprightness - to which man is expected to conform, God's right upon man; the state of him who is as he ought to be, the doctrine of how man may attain to God's approval, integrity, virtue, purity, correctness of thought, feeling, and action, justice; equity of character or act, justification

Sign (semeion [4592]):

sign, miracle with ethical end, finger-posts of God - valuable more for what they indicated than for their immediate content; a mark, a token, that which distinguishes a person, a portent, an unusual occurrence, the miracles by which God authenticates his messengers; an indication - ceremonial or supernatural

Seal (sphragis [4973]):

the seal placed upon books, a signet ring, the impression made by a seal - used of God's name stamped on the forehead, that by which a thing is confirmed and authenticated; a signet, the stamp impressed as a mark of privacy or genuineness

Father (pater [3962]):

a human father, a remote progenitor, one respectable for age or dignity, a spiritual father, one whom another resembles by their actions, a first author or beginner of anything, God in His divine essence as Creator; male ancestor, the originator of a thing, a title of honor for a teacher by virtue of their wisdom and experience, God the Father; a father - literally or figuratively

Believe (pisteuo [4100]):

to believe, give credit to, to have a mental persuasion, to be of opinion, to give credit to, belief in Christ; to consider as true, place confidence in, the conviction and trust to which man is impelled by the law of soul, trust in Jesus, saving faith, intellectual faith; to credit, entrust

Follow (stoicheo [4748]):

to proceed in a row - as soldiers march, to go in order, to turn out well, to direct one's life, to live; to march in rank, keep step, to conform to virtue and piety

Steps (ichnos [2487]):

a footprint, track, used of imitating another's example; a track

 

Paraphrase: (7/12/00)

9 Is this blessing only for the circumcised, or does it also apply to the uncircumcised? After all, we say, "faith was put to Abraham's account as righteousness." 10 When was this accounting done? After his circumcision, or before? Not after, but before, 11 for the sign of circumcision was something he was given as a seal of that righteousness he had attained by faith. Thereby, he was enabled to be the father of all who come to belief without the sign of circumcision, that they too might have righteousness accounted to them. 12 At the same time, he remains the father of circumcision to those who in their circumcision follow the path of faith that father Abraham followed before his circumcision.

Key Verse: (7/12/00)

4:11 - That work of circumcision that others clung to was given as a seal and sign of what had already been accomplished for Abraham. Such was its intended purpose - to seal an active faith, not to justify in itself.

People Mentioned: (7/12/00)

Abraham

See previous study.

 

Some Parallel Verses (7/13/00)

4:9

Ro 3:30 - The circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith - in all cases, it is God who will justify. Ge 15:6 - God reckoned Abraham's belief as righteousness.

4:10
4:11

Ge 17:10-14 - Circumcision is given as the sign of the covenant ("And you shall be circumcised"), to neglect circumcision is seen as a sign that the covenant is broken. Jn 3:33 - To receive Christ's witness as true is to put your seal of authentication on the truth of God [making it akin to signing the covenant]. Lk 19:9 - In Christ, salvation comes to all of Abraham's children. Ro 3:22 - God's righteousness is made available to all who have faith in Jesus, without distinction.

4:12

 

New Thoughts (7/13/00)

The thing that really strikes me out of this is the parallel between the sign of circumcision and the sign of faith. God declared circumcision to be the sign of valid and accepted covenant between Himself and His people. To refuse the circumcision was to reject the covenant and separate oneself from God. In Lk 19:9, we have it declared to us by Christ Himself that belief in Him - in His Word - is to place our sign upon the truth of God. In believing Him, we have both declared that we accept Him as the Word of God, and committed ourselves by our seal to the covenants of God which He represents. We are bound to God by our own oath. Oh, that we would explain this to those who come to Him! It is not a light thing to come to the feet of Jesus. It's not something to toss off one day and forget the next. We have signed with God in a fashion more binding than any human contract. How dare we take that lightly! Lord, I pray that You would help me to be more constantly aware of the commitments we have made one to another. Help me, oh God, to walk in conformance with Your command, as I promised You I would. Forgive me, please, for the many times I've failed to even try. Help me today, oh God, to be free of the grumbling and complaining that always seem to accompany a trip to work. Help me today, oh God, to represent You, to represent the way of peace, to walk according to our covenant together. Help me to really, truly, take that contract between us seriously, to believe that it is a contract, to accept without qualification Your claims upon my life and my time.