Ro 4:13-4:17 - The Promise Was By Faith, Not Law

Calvin (6/7/01-6/8/01)

4:13: That faith, in justifying, takes nothing of the Law is now shown more fully. It is not 'spiritual holiness of life,' but the righteousness of faith that is contrasted to the Law. And it is the whole of the Law that is contrasted, not just the ceremonial. "Consciences can then only enjoy solid peace, when they know that what is not justly due is freely given them." Being as this salvation is solely by the goodness of God, it is clearly of equal benefit to both Jew and Gentile, and to prevent the Gentile from receiving that gift is to hinder the course of God's will. As odd as it may seem to have our attention turned to the world in this passage, yet it is fitting. (Heb 1:2 - Christ was made heir to all things; He through whom the world was made.) Through the adoption He has made possible, our inheritance, lost in Adam, is regained, and, with peace of mind we may partake of those things God has provided in His creation, bearing always in mind that they are but a foretaste and pledge of the eternal kingdom that is our inheritance. If the ungodly are seen to prosper in this world, and the godly to be poor, yet we are at peace, knowing that what the ungodly take, they take as thieves, and as under the curse of God. Further, we are at peace, knowing that God provides our needs. Both heaven and earth will be renewed so as to contribute by their measure to the glory of the kingdom of God.
4:14: Surely, there is no one who could honestly feel their works were of such a quality as to deserve God's promises! Far from it, any who thought their justification rested solely upon their own efforts must needs be driven to fear and anxiety by an earnest assessment of their merits. In such an economy, faith and belief in the promise would be impossible, for we would see only the impossibility of attaining to the required conditions. Were salvation dependent upon our works, we would have no certainty and no peace, but be constantly harassed by our own insufficiency, until lost in despair, the promise - made void by our inability to qualify - would be no more than empty words. Recognize in this that a reliance on works makes faith to be nothing. It will perish except where the soul relies on God's own goodness. Faith is not simply knowledge of God or His truth, nor is it just being convinced of His existence. Rather, it is a certain, unshakable knowledge of His mercy, bringing peace of mind and peace of soul. "We must thus become wretched and lost, if we are sent back to works to find out the cause or the certainty of salvation."
4:15: The Law indeed describes the way of life for the good person, but it is given to sinners, and it gives no power to obey as it describes the proper course of life. Thus, it can but show more clearly the condemned state of the one depending upon its rule to please God. The Law, by itself, can bring only condemnation and punishment from God, for it is beyond our ability to keep it. Whereas by the Law we are shown what is expected by God, our sins become the greater, as we willfully violate the boundaries He has set. Footnote: Calvin sees the sin still present in the absence of Law, and simply intensified by increased knowledge. Others see this more simply: as saying that in the absence of Law, there can be no transgressing of the Law, and thus no just cause for God's wrath. [It strikes me that this would need to forget what Paul said at the beginning: that all had sufficient understanding of 'natural law' to stand condemned already.]
4:16: If salvation were by works, then faith must vanish, and the promise become void, as we see the impossibility of attaining to it. Rather, faith must stand sure and certain, indicating that it must be by faith that our salvation comes. Hesitancy and doubt are part and parcel to unbelief, the absence and abolition of faith. And that faith cannot be in our works, for we see that our works must ever be insufficient. Rather, Paul tells us that faith is in God's grace, and that it is God's grace that brings us the assurance of salvation. What then is that grace? It is not our regeneration, for that lies incomplete in this life, and thus cannot bring us any assurance. Rather, it speaks of the gratuitous, unearned nature of God's countenance toward us. When Paul speaks of 'those who are of the Law' in this passage, it cannot refer to those sects that strove to perfect their compliance to the Law, for such, we are told stand under the curse. Rather, he speaks of those among the Jews who, having been raised in the Law, yet professed the name of Christ, intending simply to show that all who come by faith - Jew or Gentile - follow in the footsteps of Abraham, and thus show themselves heirs to the promises he received. Abraham is father to all who come to God in faith.
4:17: This is what was meant in the words Moses recorded. It was not of physical lineage that he spoke, but of the spiritual lineage of faith, for Abraham is the father of us all in the sight of God, he was a father to us all in God's eyes before ever their was a single, physical descendant to be pointed to. Paul points out that Abraham's belief was in the One who gives life to the dead. God's promise to Abraham was very much a promise of life to one as good as dead. How, then, can one deny God's ability to bring life to the Gentile, as good as dead in his sins? Abraham's faith had to look beyond the circumstance to the power of God, and so for every believer. His faith was in a God able to create, to cause to exist, that which was not existent. He is the only One who can bring something out of nothing, and this He does in every believer. For every believer, prior to God's call, had nothing of good, nothing of worth in himself. He was dead in his sins. But at a word from God, he is raised up to life, and a goodness he had not so much as a shadow of begins to form within him. This is the call of God, to raise to life and to goodness, to create an acceptable soul where no such acceptability existed.

Matthew Henry (6/8/01)

4:13: Having addressed those who sought justification in circumcision, Paul now turns to those who sought it in the Law, showing that Abraham's justification preceded the Law by an even greater period of time. (Gal 3:17-18 - The Law came 430 years later, and even in that, could not be viewed as voiding God's prior promise, already ratified by God. Were our inheritance to depend on the Law, it could no longer depend on the promise, but it is the promise that God gave to Abraham, not the Law.) How then was Abraham made heir of the world? To him was given the choicest ground in the world - Canaan. From him descended not only the Israelites, but many other nations as well. He was given to enjoy the comforts of this life, much as the meek are given to inherit and enjoy the world. Most wonderfully, though, it points to Christ, the seed of the promise (Gal 3:16 - the promise was not to seeds, but to his seed, who is Christ. Ge 12:3 - In you , all the families of the earth will be blessed.) The promise was Christ, the One who possesses the very ends of the earth. This promise could not be given to Abraham by the Law, for the Law had not been given. Rather it was his believing God that was declared as righteousness. He showed his trust in God when he left his country behind at God's command (Heb 11:8 - when he was called, he obeyed, leaving although he knew nothing of where he was going.)
4:14: Since faith and law stand in opposition, his justification could not be by the law, if it were also by faith. If justification were restricted to those obedient to the law, then faith could have no place. After all, if the promise depends on our perfect obedience to the whole law, then it can never be effected, because such obedience is beyond us.
4:15: The law works wrath both from us towards God, who by it irritates us, and seeks to restrain our desires, and from God towards us, who then willfully break His command. Clearly, if the law is not declared, there can be no breaking of that law, but once declared, all violations of that law must draw punishment.
4:16: Three reasons are now given why the promise is by faith. First, it is so given that the grace of God may be honored by the act. All room for debt or merit having been removed, the praise for our salvation must needs go to God alone. (Eph 2:8 - It is by grace that we are saved through faith; and - lest we find yet a cause to boast - even that faith is a free gift of God, it is nothing we have in ourselves.) Secondly, the promise comes by grace so as to make certain the fulfilling of the promise. So long as it depended upon works, it was subject to our own frailty, and so, most uncertain. Now, finding its basis in God alone, the promise is made most certain, as God is most certain and true. (2Sa 23:5 - God has made an everlasting covenant, properly ordered in all ways, and fully secure. This, for my salvation and my desire.) Finally, salvation coming by grace and through faith, the promise is made to apply to all true believers, which had otherwise been restricted to the Jews (Ro 9:4 - to whom were the glory, the adoption, the covenants, and the Law, the temple service and the promises).
4:17: But now, the grace of God has brought about that which He had promised in changing Abraham's name. (Ge 17:5 - No longer Abram - high father, but now Abraham - father of a multitude, for so I will make you: a father of many nations). And this, He has done, for Abraham is the pattern for all believers, before and after Christ's coming. Having declared Abraham's example, Paul now begins to describe that example. His faith was upon God, and no other foundation. In God, he saw first that God could bring life from death, and that such He must needs do to bring the promise to pass (Heb 11:11-12 - By faith, Sarah was able to conceive in spite of being well beyond the right time of life. And by this, a man as good as dead was made to have descendants more numerous than the stars or the sand.) "He that quickens the dead can do any thing." He can give Abraham a child. He can bring the Gentile, dead in sin, to divine life. (Eph 2:1 - You were dead in your sins. Eph 1:19-20 - Know the greatness of His power toward the believer, the same might by which He raised Christ from the dead, and placed Him at His own right hand in the heavens.) He who created all things when there was yet nothing (Ge 1:3 - God said, and there was. 2Co 4:6 - He who called light into being is the same One who has shed light into our hearts, so as to know His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.) In like fashion, he justifies the sinner, he makes the Gentiles to be His own people, making to be, that which was not. He is sovereign absolutely, on which our faith may be assured, though all else fail. To this power, Abraham's faith turned, and so, in God's eyes, he was seen already as the father of many nations. By faith we are accepted. By faith, we are conformable to Him.

Adam Clarke (6/9/01)

4:13: The promise was both that Abraham was the vehicle chosen by God to show His mercy, and that the same manner by which Abraham was justified would be the manner by which all others could be justified. Thus, the whole world is inherited by him as they are blessed in him, and so the promises must belong to the whole world, without restriction. All may claim that justification that is by the blood of Christ, if they come by faith.
4:14: If the promise is only to apply to the Jews, and is based upon their obedience to the law, then faith is made useless, and the promise is made empty.
4:15: Laws are not made to extend mercy, but to define the rules, and, in defining them, define also the punishment that must come by their breaking. If the promises were made to the law, which law the Jews had, then "they must be finally miserable, because they have all broken the law, and the law exacts punishment."
4:16: For this very reason, the promise was most mercifully given to faith, rather than to legal obedience. And so, that promise is made sure for all God's people, both Gentile and Jew. The Gentiles must be included, for such was Abraham when the promise was made. The Jews must be included, for such are fully descended from Abraham. God's grace and our faith cannot be separated, for His grace requires faith of us, and any faith we might have must be in His grace. Faith being the basis of our hope and our action, we see that the blessing cannot be the work of strict justice, but must be a gift of His good will, given to whom He will.
4:17: Abraham's heritage as the father of nations is strictly connected with the covenant God made with him. (Ge 17:4-5 - My covenant is with you, and [so] you shall be the father of many nations. Your name shall be Abraham, for I will make you the father of many nations.) God, being almighty, eternal, unchangeable, and Creator, is the sole reasonable object of our trust and dependence. He who created can certainly raise the dead to life at His choosing. He alone, who 'gave being when there was none' can assure the existence of what He will, whether or no it had existed before. He who alone can do such things, can 'never fail of accomplishing whatsoever He has promised.'

Barnes' Notes (6/9/01)

4:13: Since it could be shown that Abraham's justification came prior to the Law, it could not depend upon it as cause. Thus, his acceptance had to be by faith, and not works. Abraham was the heir of the world, inasmuch as his posterity would come to possess it. This particular phrase is not found directly in God's recorded promises to Abraham. (Ge 12:2-3 - I will make you a great nation, blessed and a blessing. Who blesses you, I will bless, and who curses you, I will curse. All the families of the earth shall be blessed in you. Ge 15:5 - Your descendants shall be as numerous as the stars. Ge 17:5 - I will make you the father of a multitude of nations.) These promises clearly have reference to the Jewish nation possessing the land of Canaan. But they also, as clearly now, point to the Messiah, and His inheriting the whole world (Gal 3:16-18 - The promise was to his seed, not to his seeds, that seed being Christ. The later Law did not invalidate the prior covenant, nor nullify the promise made - for God granted Abraham his inheritance by the promise, and not by the Law.) The promise, having preceded both circumcision and Mosaic Law must be recognized as independent of both. Rather it was given because of his strong confidence in the promises of God (Ge 15:6 - He believed the LORD, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.)
4:14: If those who seek acceptance by the Law are right, then faith is meaningless in this regard, and the LORD's commendation of Abraham is made to be without reasonable cause. It cannot be by both Law and faith, for faith is made useless by the Law. Promises are given to promote trust and confidence, and so, God gives many promises to more fully promote a lively faith in His people. If it were the Law that justified, if it were conformity to the Law that made one acceptable, then the faith engendered by His promises could not be depended on, for they are independent of that Law, as has been shown. Thus, dependence on the Law cuts one off from the promises. For, if such justification were possible, the promise would be useless. As then, so now. Any who would stand on their own morality, their own rites and forms of religion, can by no means depend upon God's promises, for they have, in so doing, set up a scheme of their own, and by that action, attempted to make God's plan vain and useless. In so doing, they make Christ's atonement and the Spirit's works to be of no value. Clearly, such attempts cannot succeed.
4:15: All law tends more towards condemning than towards justifying. It produces suffering rather than peace. (Ro 2:8 - Indignation, shown in punishment, comes to those who follow after unrighteousness.) God's Law demands perfect purity, and condemns every sinner to punishment. Thus, since all are sinners, it becomes clear that all attempts to be justified by the Law can only lead to condemnation and punishment. If there had been no law, be it the Mosaic Law of the Jews or the natural law of the Gentiles, there could be no breaking of that law. However, since both Jew and Gentile have some form of law, and since both Jew and Gentile have been shown to be in violation of their own laws, there is no hope of escape from the charges of that law. The more just and reasonable the law, the less hope for a sinner to be justified by it, and the more certain their condemnation.
4:16: By all this, one must conclude that justification is by faith (Ro 3:26 - thereby demonstrating His righteousness as the just justifier of the faithful.), and that solely due to God's mercy, being wholly unmerited. In this way the promise is firmly established to all Abraham's posterity, both Jew and Gentile, who come by faith.
4:17: God has declared that He has already granted Abraham to be the father of many nations (Ge 17:5). In His mind, it was already accomplished when the promise was declared, being His will, and so, certain to be accomplished. This was God's view of Abraham, who trusted Him. God alone gives life to the dead (Eph 2:1 - You were dead in your sins. Eph 2:5 - But even being dead, He made us alive together with Christ.) Here, the view is perhaps to the way this life-restoring power of God was needful to fulfill the promise to Abraham and Sarah, advanced in age as they were. His promises are so certain, that He may speak of them as accomplished fact when He promises future fulfillment. It is already done in His eyes, and as good as done in our own eyes of faith.

Wycliffe (6/10/01)

4:13: Although the covenant promises to Abraham do not specifically speak of him inheriting the world, yet it is implicit in their wording. (Ge 15:5-6 - Your descendants will be as numerous as the stars. So he was told, so he believed, and it was counted as righteousness. Ge 22:15-18 - Because you have not held even your son higher than My command, I will make you more numerous than the stars or the sands, possessing the gates of your enemies, and blessing all the nations of the earth.) He is heir because he is the father of all believers, for the promise is through the righteousness God gives on the basis of faith.
4:14: If the path of the law is chosen, then faith must be abandoned, and so, the promises made to faith must also be abandoned.
4:15: As the law declares God's standards of conduct, His demands of men, those who, having that law, proceed to act as they please with total disregard are brought under His wrath. The word transgression, used here, speaks to the violation of specifically stated rules.
4:16: The promise comes by faith so as to make certain that it is recognized as a favor and not a payment due. It comes to all who believe God as Abraham did, and so the seed refers to all believers, and Abraham is father of us all.
4:17: Meet the God Abraham believed. With Abraham, the Christian concurs that God gives life to the dead. When God changed Abraham's name (Ge 17:1-5), He declared that He had made Abraham a father of many nations. Here, Abraham stood before the God he trusted. And this God he trusted had, in Isaac's birth, already demonstrated to Abraham that He could bring the dead to life (even as we know Him to have raised Christ from death to life). He is the sole creative power, the One who calls into being what does not yet exist. Their creation and their maintenance are God's activities alone. We may discuss their nature, but can only know their purpose and how they came to be to the degree God reveals such things to us.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown (6/10/01)

4:13: The promise ought not be understood in terms of a territory gained, be it Canaan, heaven, or any other such kingdom. Rather, it speaks to his religious heritage, as father of the nation who received God's oracles, through whom Salvation came, of whom was Christ's physical birth, and in whom, because of all this, all the nations of the world were blessed. Clearly, the promise was not given in response to obedience to the Law, but rather by virtue of his faith in God's promise.
4:14: "If the blessing is to be earned by obedience to the law, the whole divine method is subverted."
4:15: The law can do nothing for its transgressor, except to condemn and exact vengeance. Transgression cannot occur without the law, nor would the law exist without transgression.
4:16: Justification comes by faith so as to make its gracious character clear to our sight. And, knowing it to be of faith, they who believe - whether Jew or Gentile - are assured of justification, even as Abraham was.
4:17: In God's eyes, Abraham is the father of all who believe, even though they were not in existence in his day. It is God's prerogative, and only His, to give life to the dead, and to bring the non-existent into being. This is power above all nature, and it was in this that Abraham's faith had to believe, as the promises would require such power to accomplish. And in spite of all obstacles, his faith did believe that God was able.

New Thoughts (6/11/01-6/12/01)

(6/11/01) All the power of this particular section seems to be wrapped up in the 17th verse. However, a couple of thoughts bear noting before looking at the focal point. Calvin has pointed out something that we indeed need to be reminded of time and again, especially the more conservative among us. For he reminds us that this world we are in is yet God's creation, and as such, we may most assuredly partake of those things He has provided in that creation. And, we can do so with peace of mind, as we recognize in them a sampling, as it were, of those things to come in His eternal kingdom. The balance of this, for as Paul tells us, not all things are profitable, is to listen to the Holy Spirit of God speaking to our conscience. Calvin, later in this section, points out that hesitancy and doubt are indications of unbelief, and faith's absence. This is true. It is also true, that, as Paul has said, anything that we do in spite of doubt, without the foundation of faith, is sin. Putting these two thoughts side by side, it's easier to see why they are true. The believer is walking in the presence of a holy God, a God who does not leave him without instruction, but is ever speaking direction into his life and mind. This direction is often perceived by us as a doubt or hesitancy in regard to a particular course of action. Where He has indicated, by this hesitancy, that we ought not to proceed, our then proceeding anyway would indeed be sinful, as it would directly contradict His desire for our course. But, if we are rather guided in our decisions by man's opinions, be they brother, or be they not, we cannot have that faith that our guidance is true. We may unnecessarily restrict ourselves from things that God intended us to enjoy in their proper use. We may unwisely allow ourselves to partake of things that God has declared not necessarily evil, but unwise for us. And, we must be able to accept that what He allows for one, He may not allow for others. God created us as unique individuals, with unique strengths and weaknesses. And, as a wise creator, He is able to tailor His guidance of our lives according to the uniqueness He has created in us.

(6/12/01) Wycliffe's comments point up the fact that the promise was given to faith so as to ensure that we would recognize it as a favor, and not a well-earned payment to our account. This is true enough, and takes the 16th verse as offering two reasons built one upon the other. But to my mind, the context far better supports two parallel reasons being given. The first reason put forth, is that the promise might be in accord with God's grace, His mercy. After all, if all He was doing was settling accounts, there would be nothing of mercy or grace in it, but only administrative justice. The second reason offered is so that we would recognize the certainty of those promises. Throughout this letter, Paul has been working to show how weak a structure our works are, how absolutely uncertain they are of bringing us reward, being absolutely certain to rather bring punishment. Punishment is the only assurance we can have from our works, for they are ever and always fraught with failures. Our promises, being promises made by men are not always trustworthy. But God's promises, on the contrary are absolutely certain. They are so certain, Barnes tells us, that He may speak of them as accomplished fact when He promises future fulfillment. It is already done in His eyes, and as good as done in our own eyes of faith. Consider Who it is that has made these promises to you! This is the observation of verse 17; that the same God who has raised the dead to life, the same God who created all that we see out of nothing, who can at His whim call into being things that never existed before; that same God, is the very One who has made these promises. Mr. Henry, upon observing this, says "He that quickens the dead can do any thing." Mr. Clarke, seeing the same, reminds us that He who alone can do such things, can 'never fail of accomplishing whatsoever He has promised.' What has God promised you? First and foremost, He has promised your salvation, as you come to Him in faith. Every believer comes to recognize that prior to God's call, they had nothing good or worthy within themselves. This is one of the hardest things to get through to the non-believer, as we try to lead them to Christ. This is why the Law is one of those things that absolutely must be understood before one can come at salvation. Until we understand the Law, we won't understand the need. I know I was long in being convinced that I was somehow not a good person. Jan tried to tell me this when we were courting, and it about broke things off. How we don't want to hear this judgment on ourselves. How dare you say I'm not good enough! But eventually, truth sinks in. Eventually, our judgment finds its true basis to compare against, and then we realize that all depends upon God's grace. Praise be to our God and Father that His promises are so absolutely certain! He has promised that He will raise us from the death of our sins. He has promised that He will bring about that goodness in us that we once thought we had, and that He will bring it to be in truth, once more creating something that didn't exist before. This is the God we are called to have faith in. In His mind, in His view, He declares His promises as things accomplished, not things that will come, or things that might come, but things done. He can be this certain because His promises are the expression of His will, and so, are absolutely certain to be accomplished. He who created all, can assuredly do what He desires. If all the powers of Hell cannot stand against Him so as to prevail, if all the powers of creation are at His disposal, and are His to override by His very command, if all creation lives, and moves, and continues to exist by His power alone, what will stop Him from accomplishing all His purpose? Will your unbelief stop Him? I rather think not. Will your unwillingness to do as He commands stop His purpose from being accomplished? It cannot be but that He will find another who is after His own heart, just as David was found when Saul would not obey. God's faith in Himself is rightly unshakable. Abraham's faith was shown to be upon God, and upon no other foundation. And His faith was unshakable, in spite of all the evidence of His eyes, the word of God was more convincing. We are called to have that same unshakable faith in our Creator. But don't fall into the trap of thinking your faith is the controlling factor, that the promise depends on your faith. Remember, the promise was given by faith to make it certain, absolutely certain. If it is absolutely certain, it cannot depend on anything in you or me, for we are uncertain creatures. If it comes by faith, rest assured that the faith it comes by is in Him as well. He provides the faith to believe. It is God who is at work both to will and to do in you, all that He desires. If God has made the promise, you can be assured, it will come to pass. You ought to be assured that it will come to pass. But, even if your faith is weak, and wavers, His faith is not, and the promise will stand firm.

Oh Lord, let my faith in Your promises be strengthened by this lesson! Even last night, oh God, You reminded me of promises made that recent times have seemed to disprove. I see my wife sick and disheartened, I see her faith wavering in spite of promises made to her by You. And I confess I am easily shaken in my own confidence, and all too prone to declare it futile to hope. Oh! But my Anchor yet holds, and my Anchor is the Rock firmly planted in Your very throne room! How, oh God, can I have doubted? Restore faith and confidence to me, and to my wife. Restore confidence, oh LORD, in Your all powerful presence backing the currency of Your promises! Amen.