Romans 4:13-25, “Righteousness by Faith in Christ Alone.”
Verse 13... The promise of God was to provide Abraham with descendants (too numerous to count, like the stars in the heavens, Genesis 15:5); these descendants would be considered righteous by God, not by keeping the law, offering sacrifices, or performing rituals, but by faith.
Verses 14-15... If, by keeping rules and rituals, we could somehow earn what
God has promised to give us (eternal life with Him in heaven), then faith alone would have no value and God’s promise would have conditions that could void the promise of God.
The law of God (God’s standard for righteousness) only brings God’s wrath. If there was no law (divine rules and requirements to be met) then there would be no penalty (no expected punishment, no just payment) on behalf of the Law Giver, given to law breakers.
Romans 1:18-20... God’s existence has been clearly demonstrated, so that no one is excused from personally accepting or rejecting God’s revelation.
Romans 2:12-15... When we know what is right and we don’t do it; and when we know what is wrong and we do do it, we have sinned against (broken) God’s law.
Romans 3:10-12... We are all sinners, there is no one who is good on his or her own merit, not one!
Romans 3:23... We are all sinners, and we all have broken God’s Law (the Ten Commandments - we each at the very least, are liars, thieves, and idolaters).
Romans 6:23... The penalty for sin is death, but God, who is rich in grace and mercy, exchanges our death penalty for eternal life, in Christ.
Romans 8:1-5... By believing in and confessing Christ, we are eternally set free from sin’s penalty.
In Christ, we are forgiven our sins and made alive by God’s Spirit. We are no longer under law, for the law only exposes our sinful nature and condemns us, where as, the Spirit sets us free and works to conform us to Christ, in order that we do that which pleases and honors God (see Ephesians 2:8-10).
Verses 16-17... Our relationship with God is by faith, not by works. Abraham was saved by faith (by believing God), it was counted to him as righteousness; it was not the rite of circumcision that made Abraham righteous.
We are considered righteous in Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:29), as descendants of Abraham by faith. God told Abraham (Genesis 15:5) his offspring would be numerous as the stars in the heavens (his spiritual descendants).
Notice the last part of verse 17, God “gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” Abraham was 100, Sarah was 90, when Isaac was born to them. Sarah had been barren, yet God brought life to her womb: Isaac would father Jacob, who would have twelve sons, of which Judah would be the bloodline through which the Savior would be born.
Verses 18-22... Abraham was told he would be father of a multitude, even though he and Sarah were both old at that time, but God fulfilled His promise (Genesis 12-17).
Abram (exalted father) - left UR at age 75, obeying God, without knowing where he was going.
Abram - at age 85, was told he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens.
Abram - at age 86, had a son (Ishmael) through his wife’s handmaiden, Hagar.
Abram - at age 99, has his name changed by God to Abraham (father, of a multitude or of many nations).
Abraham - at age 100, has a son (Isaac) through Sarah, just like God promised.
This would seem a rather late and meager start, to one who would have
descendants as numerous as the stars in the heavens. But Abraham had faith that both believed and obeyed God, that is why God credited him with righteousness.
Verses 23-25... Notice, saving faith genuinely believes God concerning the
coming of God’s own Son who would die for our sins and then rise from the grave, proving He had the authority and power of God.
Turn back to Romans 1:1-4. Clearly, the gospel was promised through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures to all those who would believe.
The very first account of the Gospel of Christ is in the OT (Isaiah 53:1-12); it tells us God’s Son will come as a guilt offering sacrifice for sins; taking our punishment to the point of death, yet the grave could not hold Him.
See Romans 1:1-2... 1Corinthians 15:1-4 says Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, He was buried, and He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures (Acts 2:23-24; Romans 10:9-10).
See Romans 1:3... Jesus was God’s Son (Divine Spirit), He was also a Son of Man (flesh & blood), just as God had predestined, through the line of David (Isaiah 7:14).
God sovereignly determined and declared (Genesis 3:15) that through the seed of a woman (Mary), the victorious Savior & Lord would come to defeat sin’s curse. In Luke 3 and Matthew 1, we are given the lineage of Christ through Adam’s son Seth to Noah’s son Shem, Abraham’s son Isaac, Isaac’s son Jacob, Jacob’s son Judah, on and on to David, and all the way to the fathers of both Mary and Joseph.
See Romans 1:4... Jesus is God the Son, demonstrated sovereignly by His resurrection from the dead. We are redeemed from both sin and death; by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are made righteous.
See Romans 3:22-24... Righteousness does not come through our ancestry, our religious practice, or our good works; our righteous standing before God is a gift from God, for if we could earn our own forgiveness for sin, our own entrance into heaven and eternal life, it would then not be a gift, it would be a payment for something we have done, something we have acquired, or for something we have become (see Ezekiel 18; Acts 2:38, 41).
Romans 10:17, “faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (John 1:1-4; Hebrews 1:1-3a).
The righteousness from God is a gift, to all who trust in Jesus, believing in Him as Savior and serving Him as Lord. By faith, God’s righteousness is imputed [placed upon, credited] to us, totally removing sin’s penalty, making full payment for our sin, eternally changing us.
Jesus came to remove sin’s condemnation, at the same time, granting us His own righteousness. He did this because He loves us so much, that He took our punishment upon Himself. While on the cross, God’s wrath was poured out upon Him.
2Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Righteousness is a right standing before God, having been made acceptable, in fact, having become God’s very own children, now and forever, by faith in Jesus Christ.
No wonder Paul declared (2Corinthians 9:15), “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”