Romans 4

1. What then should we say that Abraham our father according to the flesh has found?

What did Abraham find in the flesh? Nothing!

It is as if Paul was saying, "Now that we have seen how hopeless men are chained in sin and guilt, let us see if Abraham found a way to escape."

2. Because if Abraham was made clear before God by works he would have something to be proud about, but not according to what God said.

Abraham could have said, “I heard God's voice and left my hometown and went where He told me to go. Later I was willing to sacrifice my son Isaac."

Abraham could have said these things but that is not what God said when He counted him as clear before Him.

3. But what does the Book of Genesis say? Abraham believed God, and he was counted as clear before God.

God will do exactly the same for us in everything that we trust Him for. We all need to have impossible situations if we are going to learn to live by faith.

Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. Genesis 15:6

4. For if a man works then his payment is not said to be a gift, but it is a payment.

If we are saved because of something that we have done then God owes it to us. God does want to owe it to us, but he wants to show His favor towards us

5. But if man does not work (but believes in Him who clears the ungodly) his faith is counted as one who is clear before God.

We are seen as if we had kept the entire law. This not just playing with words but a miracle!

6. This is what David said about a man being clear before God even though he had not done anything to deserve it.

David wrote this after his sin with Bathsheba was forgiven. He knew that he did not deserve it. The guilt was strong in his life, until he finally said, "I cannot take it anymore!”

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah. Psalm 32:5

Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. 2 Samuel 12:13

7. Blessed is the man whose sin is forgiven, and his sin is covered!

Our sin is not overlooked but it is covered. The evil things that we have done cannot be compared to the amazing way that they are covered by the blood of Jesus,

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity. Psalm 32:1–2

8. How blessed is a man when God does not count his sins against him!

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21

9. Is David talking about happiness for the one who is circumcised or for someone who is uncircumcised also? Because the book of Genesis says Abraham was counted as clear before God because of his faith.

Faith is like a tool which does nothing and wish you pick it up and use it. Faith is not something that you just think about is something that you use to face life.

10. When God said this, was Abraham circumcised? No, he was not.

Just think of the kind of world we would have if everybody was circumcised but did not follow God in their heart.

Abraham was circumcised when he was 99. See Genesis 17:24. Genesis 15:6 says he was justified by faith fourteen years earlier.

11. It was many years later that he was told to be circumcised as a seal that showed that he belonged to God even during the years he was an uncircumcised man! This was so that he could be the father of all trust God without being circumcised, so that they could be made clear before God.

We can see that faith puts a fence of safety around those who trust in God's Word without any other requirement.

12. And that he might be circumcised as a father, not only of all those who are circumcised, but also the father of anyone who follows in his steps by faith – the same faith he had before he was circumcised.

Abraham's children are those who trust.

13. The promise was made to Abraham and his seed that they would inherit the world. This promise was not given because of any obedience to the law, but by being clear before God by faith.        

If you inherit something by law then it would not be from faith

Abraham was counted clear in God's sight God before the law was given. God promised this to Abraham 400 years before He ever gave the law.

14. If those who keep the law expect to inherit the world, then it would make faith have no meaning, and would destroy the promise.

Sometimes we are tempted to show God that we are following Him in some way that does not include faith. We may suddenly have our eyes opened and see that this would be a lie. Sometimes after we fight off a temptation we discover that this sin was hiding an even bigger temptation that was waiting for us.

Those who give up their rights will inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5

15. The law brings judgment, but if there were no law there would be no way to break the law.

If you inherit by law then you would destroy the law's purpose.

16. Because of this, it is by faith on man's part and by grace on God's part so that the promise can be sure to all of Abraham's seed. Not only to those who are Jews but also to those who have the same kind of faith that Abraham had. Abraham is a father to both.

God wanted His plan to be by faith so that His part could be by grace. Any kind of a promise is something you have to take by faith.

17. As the book of Genesis says, “I have made you a father of many people in all the nations.” God saw Abraham this way because He gives life to the dead and make things exist which did not exist before.

God sees the future as something that already is.

18. Abraham, when his hope was dead inside of him, went on trusting by faith, believing that he would become the father of many nations.

Faith always comes with a test. Your descendants will be people of faith. Genesis 15:5

19. And he did not become weak in his faith, even though he knew that his own body was as good as dead (since he was about 100 years old) and Sarah was past the age of having children.

God purposely waited until they were too old to have children so that it would be seen as something that He did, not what they did

If Isaac would have been born when they were younger who would have believed and given God the glory?

20 – 21

He was not wandering in unbelief, but he took strength from his faith and trusted God's promise and gave the glory to God. He was sure that God was able to do what He had promised.

He did not wander in being double–minded.

22. This is why he was counted as being clear before God.

God said, "That is a good man. He believes My word. He trusts Me."

23. Now Moses did not write this in the book of Genesis only to keep a record of Abraham's faith.

And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your seed be.” (Genesis 15:6) This means that the ones who trust God the way Abraham did are his spiritual children.

24 – 25

But Moses wrote this for us to see how those who believe that God raised Jesus from the dead will be counted in the same way that Abraham was.

 Jesus was delivered to death because of our sins and was raised from the dead to make us clear before God.

What more can a judge do to show his justice than to make his own son pay the penalty and let a stranger go?