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Romans

Romans 4 – Faith Illustrated in Abraham and David

Published since 02. Dec. 2025
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Romans 4
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The fourth chapter is essentially a parenthesis. In verse 28 of chapter 3, the conclusion is reached that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. We are brought to the same point again in Romans 5:1, and only then—and not until then—does the Apostle carry us further into the blessings of the Gospel. In chapter 4, he devotes considerable attention to certain Old Testament passages that support his main point: that before God, a person is justified by faith alone.

When, in Romans 3, the Apostle set out to convince the Jew of his sinfulness—that he, just as much as the Gentile, was subject to God’s judgment—he drove his point home by quoting what the law said. Now the point is to prove that justification is by faith, with the works of the law excluded, and again he appeals to the Old Testament. Long ago, the faith of the Gospel was already anticipated, both before the law was given (as in Abraham’s case) and after it was given (as in David’s case.

The first question is: What about Abraham? He is called “the father of circumcision” in verse 12, and as such, the Jew boasted greatly in him. He is also “the father of all who believe,” as verse 11 says. If Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had something to boast about—but not before God. Notice these two words: before God. They clearly show that this passage deals with what is valid before God, not what is valid before people. That is the key difference between this chapter and James 2, where the emphasis is, “Show me your faith” (James 2:18). We may also note that while Paul shows that works of the law must be excluded, James insists that works of faith must be included.

We can summarize it this way: Before God, a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law; but to be recognized as justified before people, the faith one professes must show its reality by producing works of faith.

The case is clear for both Abraham and David. We only need to look at Genesis 15 on the one hand and Psalm 32 on the other to see that faith was the way of their justification and that works were excluded. The wonder of the Gospel is that God is presented as “the One who justifies the ungodly.” The law contemplated nothing beyond this, that judges “shall justify the righteous and condemn the wicked” (Deut. 25:1). The idea of justifying the ungodly simply did not arise. But this is precisely what God does in the Gospel—on the basis of Christ’s work, since “Christ died for the ungodly.” This opens the door of blessing for sinners like us.

We find the expression “this blessedness” in verse 9. It refers to faith being “counted for righteousness,” or “reckoned for righteousness,” or righteousness being “imputed.” These and similar expressions occur several times in the chapter. What do they mean? Whether speaking of Abraham, David, or us who believe today, they mean that God regards us as righteous in His sight in view of our faith. We must not imagine that all the virtue lies in our faith. It does not. Faith simply establishes contact with the work of Christ, where all the virtue truly lies. In that sense, faith justifies. Once that contact is made and we stand before God in the full justifying value of Christ’s work, we are necessarily justified. It could not be otherwise without injustice. God considers us righteous because of our faith.

The question in verse 9 is this: Is this blessedness only for the Jew, or also for the Gentile who believes? Paul knew very well how determined the narrow-minded Jew was to push all condemnation onto the Gentile and claim all blessing for himself. The answer is that Abraham’s case—of whom they boasted so much—proves that this blessedness is for all. Abraham was justified before he was circumcised. If the order had been reversed, the Jew might have had some basis for his claim. As it was, he had none. Circumcision was only a sign, a seal of the faith by which Abraham had already been justified.

Abraham, then, in his justification, stood entirely outside the law. In fact, as verse 15 says, the law brings wrath. There was plenty of sin before the law was introduced, but not transgression. To transgress is to step over a clearly defined boundary that has been forbidden. When the law was given, the boundary was clearly drawn, and sin became transgression. “Sin is not imputed when there is no law” (v. 13). That is, as long as an evil act had not been explicitly forbidden, God did not put it to man’s account in the same way as when a clear prohibition had been given. That was the function of the law. But long before the law was given, Abraham had been justified by faith. Does this not show how God delights in mercy? Justification was clearly revealed four hundred years before the law was given, underscoring the urgent need for it.

“Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.” If it had been based on works, it would have been a matter of debt, not grace, as verse 4 has already told us. On the principle of faith and grace, the blessing is made “sure to all the seed”—that is, to the true spiritual descendants of Abraham, in other words, true believers. For Abraham is “the father of us all.” Notice the phrase “us all”—meaning all true believers.

Once this is established, the final nine verses of chapter 4 apply the principles of Abraham’s justification to believers today.

Abraham’s faith had this distinctive feature: it was centered in God as the One who can raise the dead. In Genesis 15, we find that he believed God when the promise about Isaac’s birth was given. He believed that God would bring a living child from parents who, as far as reproduction was concerned, were as good as dead. He believed in hope when, from a natural standpoint, there was no hope at all that such a thing could happen.

If Abraham had been weak in faith, he would have focused on all the circumstances that were against the promise. He would have concluded that the promise was too great and thus staggered in doubt. He did neither. He took God at His word with childlike simplicity. He believed that God would do exactly what He had said. And this, we should note, is what is called strong faith here. Strong faith is not so much the faith that performs miracles, but the faith that completely trusts God to do what He has promised, even when all appearances, logic, and past experience seem to contradict it.

These things were not written only for Abraham’s sake, but also for us. The same principles apply exactly. There is, however, one important difference. In Abraham’s case, he believed that God would bring life out of death. We are not asked to believe that God will do it, but that He has done it—by raising Jesus our Lord from the dead. How much easier it is to believe that God has done something after it is accomplished than to believe that He will do it before it happens. Keeping that in mind, we can see that in terms of the quality of faith, we can hardly claim to match Abraham.

Yet in another sense, Abraham’s case is far surpassed by ours, because of the glorious facts presented to our faith and the glorious light in which God now reveals Himself. Not simply as the God who will raise an Isaac, but as the God who has raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Christ—who was delivered over for our offenses and raised again for our justification—is presented as the object of our faith. And through Him we believe in God.

It is, of course, possible to believe in Him who raised the Lord Jesus without understanding what that fact involves. The last verse of the chapter explains what is involved. Let us give it close attention so that we truly take it in. The word “our” appears twice in that verse. It refers to believers—and only to believers.

Jesus, our Lord, has died. But He did not die for Himself; He died for us. Our offenses were in view. He was our Substitute, and having taken on Himself all our liabilities, He was handed over to judgment and death because of them.

He has been raised again by God’s act. But this, too, was not merely a matter of His own personal position. We still view Him as acting on our behalf, as our Representative. He was raised on our account. God raised Him with our justification in view. His resurrection certainly was His own vindication in the face of the world’s hostile verdict. Just as certainly, it was our justification in the face of all our offenses, which—apart from His death—remained on our record.

His death was the complete settlement of our entire debt. His resurrection is the receipt that everything has been paid—the divine declaration and proof that we are completely cleared. And that is exactly what justification is: a full clearance from all that once stood against us. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. We must read straight on from the end of chapter 4 into chapter 5 without any break.

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