For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.” Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
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Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them. He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision. For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect. For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were. Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.” Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform. Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.” Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone, but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead, who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
Parallel Translations
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For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.”
Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
-
Therfore by fayth is the inheritaunce geven that it myght come of faveour: and the promes myght be sure to all the seed. Not to them only which are of the lawe: but also to them which are of the fayth of Abraham which is the father of vs all.
As it is wrytten: I have made the a father to many nacions even before god whom thou hast beleved which quyckeneth the deed and called those thinges which be not as though they were.
Which Abraham contrary to hope beleved in hope that he shuld be the father of many nacions accordynge to that which was spoken: So shall thy seed be.
And he faynted not in the fayth nor yet consydered hys awne body which was now deed even when he was almost an hondred yeare olde: nether yet that Sara was past chyldeberinge.
He stackered not at the promes of God thorow vnbelefe: but was made stronge in the fayth and gave honour to God
full certifyed that what he had promised that he was able to make good.
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Therefore it is by faith, that it might come by grace, and the promise might be sure to all the seede, not to that onely which is of the Lawe: but also to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of vs all,
(As it is written, I haue made thee a father of many nations) euen before God whom he beleeued, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those thinges which be not, as though they were.
Which Abraham aboue hope, beleeued vnder hope, that he should be the father of many nations: according to that which was spoken to him, So shall thy seede be.
And he not weake in the faith, considered not his owne bodie, which was nowe dead, being almost an hundreth yeere olde, neither the deadnes of Saraes wombe.
Neither did he doubt of the promise of God through vnbeliefe, but was strengthened in the faith, and gaue glorie to God,
Being fully assured that he which had promised, was also able to doe it.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (93)
- 1 Corinthians 1:28 (v17) God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that don’t exist, that he might bring to nothing…
- Genesis 17:4-5 (v17) “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. Your name will no more be called Abram, but…
- John 5:21 (v17) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires.
- Romans 8:29-30 (v17) For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Whom…
- Luke 1:37 (v21) For nothing spoken by God is impossible.”
Show all 91 cross-references
- John 6:63 (v17) It is the spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and are life.
- 1 Peter 2:10 (v17) In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
- Jeremiah 32:27 (v21) “Behold, I am Yahweh, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?
- Ephesians 2:1-5 (v17) You were made alive when you were dead in transgressions and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world,…
- Luke 1:45 (vv20–21) Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord!”
- Jeremiah 32:17 (v21) “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too…
- Romans 8:11 (v17) But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life…
- Hebrews 11:19 (v21) concluding that God is able to raise up even from the dead. Figuratively speaking, he also did receive him back from the dead.
- Genesis 18:14 (v21) Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.”
- Romans 3:24-26 (v16) being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus; whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith…
- John 5:25 (v17) Most certainly I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of God’s voice; and those who hear will live.
- 2 Timothy 1:12 (v21) For this cause I also suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, for I know him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to…
- Matthew 19:26 (v21) Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
- Romans 8:24 (v18) For we were saved in hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for that which he sees?
- Ephesians 2:8 (v16) for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
- Psalms 115:3 (v21) But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases.
- Romans 8:38 (v21) For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
- Romans 14:4 (v21) Who are you who judge another’s servant? To his own lord he stands or falls. Yes, he will be made to stand, for God has power to make him…
- 1 Corinthians 16:13 (v20) Watch! Stand firm in the faith! Be courageous! Be strong!
- 2 Corinthians 9:8 (v21) And God is able to make all grace abound to you, that you, always having all sufficiency in everything, may abound to every good work.
- Genesis 15:5-6 (v18) Yahweh brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the sky, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So…
- Isaiah 55:12 (v17) For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace. The mountains and the hills will break out before you into singing; and all the…
- Romans 3:29 (v17) Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
- Hebrews 11:7 (v17) By faith, Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared a ship for the saving of his house, through which…
- Hebrews 11:11-19 (v19) By faith, even Sarah herself received power to conceive, and she bore a child when she was past age, since she counted him faithful who had…
- Hebrews 11:12 (v17) Therefore as many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as innumerable as the sand which is by the sea shore, were fathered by one man,…
- Genesis 17:17 (v19) Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah,…
- Isaiah 44:7 (v17) Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare…
- Isaiah 48:13 (v17) Yes, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has spread out the heavens. when I call to them, they stand up…
- Daniel 10:19 (v20) He said, “Greatly beloved man, don’t be afraid. Peace be to you. Be strong. Yes, be strong.” When he spoke to me, I was strengthened, and…
- Romans 4:20-21 (v19) Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully…
- Romans 5:5 (v18) and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
- 2 Corinthians 12:10 (v20) Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am…
- 2 Peter 3:8 (v17) But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
- Genesis 17:16 (v17) I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples…
- Acts 27:25 (v18) Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.
- 1 Timothy 6:13 (v17) I command you before God, who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate testified the good confession,
- 2 Timothy 2:1 (v20) You therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
- Hebrews 11:13 (v21) These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and embraced them from afar, and having confessed that they…
- Genesis 28:3 (v17) May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples,
- Isaiah 7:9 (v20) The head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah’s son. If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.’ ”
- Isaiah 35:4 (v20) Tell those who have a fearful heart, “Be strong! Don’t be afraid! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, God’s retribution. He will…
- Isaiah 43:6 (v17) I will tell the north, ‘Give them up!’ and tell the south, ‘Don’t hold them back! Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the…
- Isaiah 49:12 (v17) Behold, these shall come from afar, and behold, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim.”
- Romans 9:26 (v17) “It will be that in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘children of the living God.’ ”
- 2 Kings 7:19 (v20) and that captain answered the man of God, and said, “Now, behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, might such a thing be?” and he said,…
- 2 Chronicles 20:15-20 (v20) and he said, “Listen, all Judah, and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, king Jehoshaphat. Yahweh says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, and…
- Proverbs 13:12 (v18) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when longing is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.
- Jeremiah 32:16-27 (v20) Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to Yahweh, saying, “Ah Lord Yahweh! Behold, you…
- Haggai 2:4 (v20) Yet now be strong, Zerubbabel,’ says Yahweh. ‘Be strong, Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land,’…
- Zechariah 8:9 (v20) Yahweh of Armies says: “Let your hands be strong, you who hear in these days these words from the mouth of the prophets who were in the day…
- Zechariah 8:13 (v20) It shall come to pass that, as you were a curse among the nations, house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be…
- Mark 5:35-36 (v18) While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue ruler’s house saying, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the Teacher any more?”…
- Luke 1:18 (vv18, 20) Zacharias said to the angel, “How can I be sure of this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.”
- Genesis 25:1-34 (v17) Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan became the…
- Numbers 11:13-23 (v20) Where could I get meat to give all these people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat, that we may eat.’ I am not able to bear…
- 2 Kings 7:2 (v20) Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, “Behold, if Yahweh made windows in heaven, could this…
- Daniel 11:32 (v20) He will corrupt those who do wickedly against the covenant by flatteries; but the people who know their God will be strong, and take action.
- Romans 9:8 (v16) That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as heirs.
- Genesis 18:11-14 (v19) Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. Sarah laughed within herself, saying,…
- Ezekiel 37:11 (v18) Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is…
- Matthew 3:9 (v17) Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these…
- Matthew 6:30 (v19) But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you…
- Matthew 8:26 (v19) He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then he got up, rebuked the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm.
- Matthew 14:31 (v19) Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
- Mark 9:23-24 (v19) Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out with…
- John 20:27-28 (v19) Then he said to Thomas, “Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don’t be unbelieving, but…
- Acts 15:18 (v17) “All of God’s works are known to him from eternity.
- Romans 4:2 (v17) For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
- Romans 4:17 (v18) As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the…
- 1 Corinthians 15:45 (v17) So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
- Galatians 3:22 (v16) But the Scripture imprisoned all things under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
- Ephesians 6:10 (v20) Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
- Genesis 17:20 (v17) As for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He will become…
- Ruth 1:11-13 (v18) Naomi said, “Go back, my daughters. Why do you want to go with me? Do I still have sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? Go…
- Matthew 9:8 (v20) But when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
- Titus 3:7 (v16) that being justified by his grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
- Isaiah 51:2 (v16) Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who bore you; for when he was but one I called him, I blessed him, and made him many.
- Romans 4:19 (v18) Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and…
- Romans 5:1 (v16) Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
- Romans 14:21 (v19) It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
- Romans 15:8 (v16) Now I say that Christ has been made a servant of the circumcision for the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises given to the…
- Ephesians 2:5 (v16) even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
- Galatians 3:7-12 (v16) Know therefore that those who are of faith are children of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith,…
- Hebrews 6:13-19 (v16) For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless…
- 2 Peter 1:10 (v16) Therefore, brothers, be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble.
91 distinct cross-references across this passage (93 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv16–21 16. It is therefore of faith, etc. This is…
16. It is therefore of faith, etc. This is the winding up of the argument; and you may summarily include the whole of it in this statement, — “If the heirship of salvation comes to us by works, then faith in it vanishes, the promise of it is abolished; but it is necessary that both these should be sure and certain; hence it comes to us by faith, so that its stability being based on the goodness of God alone, may be secured.” See how the Apostle, regarding faith as a thing firm and certain, considers hesitancy and doubt as unbelief, by which faith is abolished, and the promise abrogated. And yet this doubting is what the schoolmen call a moral conjecture, and which, alas! they substitute for faith.
That it might be by grace, etc. Here, in the first place, the Apostle shows, that nothing is set before faith but mere grace; and this, as they commonly say, is its object: for were it to look on merits, absurdly would Paul infer, that whatever it obtains for us is gratuitous. I will repeat this again in other words, — “If grace be everything that we obtain by faith, then every regard for works is laid in the dust.” But what next follows more fully removes all ambiguity, — that the promise then only stands firm, when it recumbs on grace: for by this expression Paul confirms this truth, that as long as men depend on works, they are harassed with doubts; for they deprive themselves of what the promises contain. Hence, also, we may easily learn, that grace is not to be taken, as some imagine, for the gift of regeneration, but for a gratuitous favor: for as regeneration is never perfect, it can never suffice to pacify souls, nor of itself can it make the promise certain.
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Not to that only which is of the law, etc. Though these words mean in another place those who, being absurd zealots of the law, bind themselves to its yoke, and boast of their confidence in it, yet here they mean simply the Jewish nation, to whom the law of the Lord had been delivered. For Paul teaches us in another passage, that all who remain bound to the dominion of the law, are subject to a curse; it is then certain that they are excluded from the participation of grace. He does not then call them the servants of the law, who, adhering to the righteousness of works, renounce Christ; but they were those Jews who had been brought up in the law, and yet professed the name of Christ. But that the sentence may be made clearer, let it be worded thus, — “Not to those only who are of the law, but to all who imitate the faith of Abraham, though they had not the law before.”
Who is the father of us all, etc. The relative has the meaning of a causative particle; for he meant to prove, that the Gentiles were become partakers of this grace, inasmuch as by the same oracle, by which the heirship was conferred on Abraham and his seed, were the Gentiles also constituted his seed: for he is said to have been made the father, not of one nation, but of many nations; by which was presignified the future extension of grace, then confined to Israel alone. For except the promised blessing had been extended to them, they could not have been counted as the offspring of Abraham. The past tense of the verb, according to the common usage of Scripture, denotes the certainty of the Divine counsel; for though nothing then was less apparent, yet as God had thus decreed, he is rightly said to have been made the father of many nations. Let the testimony of Moses be included in a parenthesis, that this clause, “Who is the father of us all,” may be connected with the other, “before God,” etc.: for it was necessary to explain also what that relationship was, that the Jews might not glory too much in their carnal descent. Hence he says, “He is our father before God;” which means the same as though he had said, “He is our spiritual father;” for he had this privilege, not from his own flesh, but from the promise of God
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv16–21 The conclusion of this argument. The salvation and justification…
The conclusion of this argument. The salvation and justification of all the posterity of Abraham (that is, of the Church which is gathered together of all people) proceedeth of faith, which layeth hold on the promise made unto Abraham, and which promise Abraham himself first of all laid hold on.
That is to say, not only of them which believe and are also circumcised according to the Law, but of them also which without circumcision, and in respect of faith only, are counted amongst the children of Abraham.
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To all the believers.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv16–21 16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might…
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Ver. 16. It is of faith] Fidei mendica manu.
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That it might be by grace] Paul was a great advancer of the grace of God, and abaser of man. For he knew that as wax and water cannot meet together, so neither can Christ and anything else in the work of man’s salvation.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv16–21 Here are two new arguments to prove that the…
Here are two new arguments to prove that the inheritance is not of the law, but of faith.
It is of faith, that it might be by grace; for to he justified by faith and by grace are all one with the apostle. Again, that the promise might be sure to all the seed; whereas if it were of the law, it would be uusure and uncertain, because of man’s weakness, who is not able to perform it. Abraham’s seed is of two sorts. One sort is of the law, to wit, the Jews. Another sort is of such as walk in the steps of Abraham’s faith, whether Jews or Gentiles. To all these the promise must be sure; which cannot be, if the law be made the condition or the means of the inheritance.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv16–18 The apostle here assigns a double cause, why the…
The apostle here assigns a double cause, why the wisdom of God has appointed justification and salvation to be obtained in the way of faith:
namely, 1. That it might be of free and undeserved grace and favour; for to be justified by faith, and by grace, are all one with the apostle.
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And, 2. That the promise might be sure to all the seed: That is, that God’s promise might stand firm and sure to all the believing seed of Abraham, not only to all the children of the flesh, to whom the law was given, but to all the children of his faith, even Gentiles as well as Jews; he being the father of all that believe, whether Jews or Gentiles.
Learn hence, That if our justification and salvation did depend upon our performing perfect obedience to the law, it would never be sure, but always uncertain, because of our impotency and weakness to keep and observe it.
The apostle, Rom 8:3. tells us, That the law is weak through the flesh; though the truth is, the law is not weak to us, but we are weak to that; the law has the same authority for commanding that ever it had, but we have not the same ability for obeying. ’Tis our wickedness that is the sole cause of the law’s weakness: Had every man the same integrity, the law would have the same ability that ever it had, both to justify and save us.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v17 Having observed when Abraham was justified by faith, and…
Having observed when Abraham was justified by faith, and why, for the honour of Abraham and for example to us who call him father, the apostle here describes and commends the faith of Abraham, where observe,
I. Whom he believed: God who quickeneth. It is God himself that faith fastens upon: other foundation can no man lay. Now observe what in God Abraham's faith had an eye t - o that, certainly, which would be most likely to confirm his faith concerning the things promised: - 1. God who quickeneth the dead. It was promised that he should be the father of many nations, when he and his wife were now as good as dead (Heb 11:11, Heb 11:12), and therefore he looks upon God as a God that could breathe life into dry bones. He that quickeneth the dead can do any thing, can give a child to Abraham when he is old, can bring the Gentiles, who are dead in trespasses and sins, to a divine and spiritual life, Eph 2:1. Compare Eph 1:19, Eph 1:20. 2. Who calleth things which are not as though they were; that is, creates all things by the word of his power, as in the beginning, Gen 1:3; Co2 4:6. The justification and salvation of sinners, the espousing of the Gentiles that had not been a people, were a gracious calling of things which are not as though they were, giving being to things that were not. This expresses the sovereignty of God and his absolute power and dominion, a mighty stay to faith when all other props sink and totter. It is the holy wisdom and policy of faith to fasten particularly on that in God which is accommodated to the difficulties wherewith it is to wrestle, and will most effectually answer the objections. It is faith indeed to build upon the all-sufficiency of God for the accomplishment of that which is impossible to anything but that all-sufficiency. Thus Abraham became the father of many nations before him whom he believed, that is, in the eye and account of God; or like him whom he believed; as God was a common Father, so was Abraham. It is by faith in God that we become accepted of him, and conformable to him.
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II. How he believed. He here greatly magnifies the strength of Abraham's faith, in several expressions. 1. Against hope, he believed in hope, Rom 4:18. There was a hope against him, a natural hope. All the arguments of sense, and reason, and experience, which in such cases usually beget and support hope, were against him; no second causes smiled upon him, nor in the least favoured his hope. But, against all those inducements to the contrary, he believed; for he had a hope for him: He believed in hope, which arose, as his faith did, from the consideration of God's all-sufficiency. That he might become the father of many nations. Therefore God, by his almighty grace, enabled him thus to believe against hope, that he might pass for a pattern of great and strong faith to all generations. It was fit that he who was to be the father of the faithful should have something more than ordinary in his faith - that in him faith should be set in its highest elevation, and so the endeavours of all succeeding believers be directed, raised, and quickened. Or this is mentioned as the matter of the promise that he believed; and he refers to Gen 15:5, So shall thy seed be, as the stars of heaven, so innumerable, so illustrious. This was that which he believed, when it was counted to him for righteousness, Rom 4:6. And it is observable that this particular instance of his faith was against hope, against the surmises and suggestions of his unbelief. He had just before been concluding hardly that he should go childless, that one born in his house was his heir (Rom 4:2, Rom 4:3); and this unbelief was a foil to his faith, and bespeaks it a believing against hope. 2. Being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body, Rom 4:19. Observe, His own body was now dead - become utterly unlikely to beget a child, though the new life and vigour that God gave him continued after Sarah was dead, witness his children by Keturah. When God intends some special blessing, some child of promise, for his people, he commonly puts a sentence of death upon the blessing itself, and upon all the ways that lead to it. Joseph must be enslaved and imprisoned before he be advanced. But Abraham did not consider this, su katenoēse - he did not dwell in his thoughts upon it. He said indeed, Shall a child be born to him that is a hundred years old? Gen 17:17. But that was the language of his admiration and his desire to be further satisfied, not of his doubting and distrust; his faith passed by that consideration, and thought of nothing but the faithfulness of the promise, with the contemplation whereof he was swallowed up, and this kept up his faith. Being not weak in faith, he considered not. It is mere weakness of faith that makes a man lie poring upon the difficulties and seeming impossibilities that lie in the way of a promise. Though it may seem to be the wisdom and policy of carnal reason, yet it is the weakness of faith, to look into the bottom of all the difficulties that arise against the promise. 3. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief (Rom 4:20), and he therefore staggered not because he considered not the frowns and discouragements of second causes; su diekrithē - he disputed not; he did not hold any self-consultation about it, did not take time to consider whether he should close with it or no, did not hesitate nor stumble at it, but by a resolute and peremptory act of his soul, with a holy boldness, ventured all upon the promise. He took it not for a point that would admit of argument or debate, but presently determined it as a ruled case, did not at all hang in suspense about it: he staggered not through unbelief. Unbelief is at the bottom of all our staggerings at God's promises. It is not the promise that fails, but our faith that fails when we stagger. 4. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God, enedunamōthē - he was strengthened in faith, his faith got ground by exercise - crescit eundo. Though weak faith shall not be rejected, the bruised reed not broken, the smoking flax not quenched, yet strong faith shall be commended and honoured. The strength of his faith appeared in the victory it won over his fears. And hereby he gave glory to God; for, as unbelief dishonours God by making him a liar (Jo1 5:10), so faith honours God by setting to its seal that he is true, Joh 3:33. Abraham's faith gave God the glory of his wisdom, power, holiness, goodness, and especially of his faithfulness, resting upon the word that he had spoken. Among men we say, "He that trusts another, gives him credit, and honours him by taking his word;" thus Abraham gave glory to God by trusting him. We never hear our Lord Jesus commending any thing so much as great faith (Mat 8:10 and Mat 15:28): therefore God gives honour to faith, great faith, because faith, great faith, gives honour to God. 5. He was fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able to perform, plērophorētheis - was carried on with the greatest confidence and assurance; it is a metaphor taken from ships that come into the harbour with full sail. Abraham saw the storms of doubts, and fears, and temptations likely to rise against the promise, upon which many a one would have shrunk back, and lain by for fairer days, and waited a smiling gale of sense and reason. But Abraham, having taken God for his pilot, and the promise for his card and compass, resolves to weather his point, and like a bold adventurer sets up all his sails, breaks through all the difficulties, regards neither winds nor clouds, but trusts to the strength of his bottom and the wisdom and faithfulness of his pilot, and bravely makes to the harbour, and comes home an unspeakable gainer. Such was his full persuasion, and it was built on the omnipotence of God: He was able. Our waverings rise mainly from our distrust of the divine power; and therefore to fix us it is requisite we believe not only that he is faithful, but that he is able, that hath promised. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness, Rom 4:22. Because with such a confidence he ventured his all in the divine promise, God graciously accepted him, and not only answered, but out-did, his expectation. This way of glorifying God by a firm reliance on his bare promise was so very agreeable to God's design, and so very conducive to his honour, that he graciously accepted it as a righteousness, and justified him, though there was not that in the thing itself which could merit such an acceptance. This shows why faith is chosen to be the prime condition of our justification, because it is a grace that of all others gives glory to God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv16–21 As it is written I have made thee a…
As it is written I have made thee a father of many nations,.... The passage referred to, is in Gen 17:4; which proves him to be a father not of the Jews only, since they cannot be called "many nations", but of the Gentiles also; and which must be understood in a spiritual sense, for Abraham was the father of them,
before him whom he believed, even God; that is, he was so, either in the sight of God, who sees not as man sees; in his account, he was the father of many nations, long before he really in fact was; or "over against" or "like unto him", as the word may signify: as God was the Father of many nations, so was Abraham, though not in such a sense as he is; and as God is the Father of us all that believe, so was Abraham; there is some little likeness and resemblance in this between them, though not sameness. The object of his faith is described as he,
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who quickeneth the dead: meaning either the dead body of Abraham and Sarah's womb; or Isaac, who was given up for dead; or the Gentiles, who were dead in trespasses and sins; or rather the dead bodies of men at the last day, a work which none but the almighty God can effect; the consideration of which is sufficient to engage faith in the promises of God, and a dependence on him for the fulfilment or them: and who stands further described as he, who
calleth those things which be not, as though they were; so he called Abraham the father of many nations, when he was not in fact, as if he really was; and the Gentiles his seed and offspring, before they were; and when he comes effectually to call them by his grace, they are represented as "things which are not", whom he called, "to bring to nought things that are", Co1 1:28; they were not his people, nor his children, and he called them so, and by his grace made them so, and made them appear to be so; for as in creation so in regeneration, God calls and brings that into being which before was not: and the phrase seems to be an allusion to the creation of all things out of nothing; and it is a Rabbinical one, for so the Jews speaking of the creation say (s).
"Nya la arwq, "he calls to that which is not", and it is excluded; (i.e. all things are excluded out of it, as a chicken out of an egg;) and to that which is, and it is established, and to the world, and it is stretched out.''
(s) R. Solomon ben Gabirol in Cether Malcuth apud L. Capell. in loc.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv16–17 Therefore it - The blessing. Is of faith, that…
Therefore it - The blessing. Is of faith, that it might be of grace - That it might appear to flow from the free love of God, and that the promise might be firm, sure, and effectual, to all the spiritual seed of Abraham; not only Jews, but gentiles also, if they follow his faith.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 18, 19, 21 Verse 16. Therefore it is of faith, that it…
Verse 16. Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace] On this account the promise is mercifully grounded, not on obedience to a law, but on the infinite goodness of God: and thus the promise is sure to all the seed - to all, both Jews and Gentiles, who, believing in Christ Jesus, have a right to all the blessings contained in the Abrahamic covenant. All the seed necessarily comprehends all mankind. Of the Gentiles there can be no doubt, for the promise was given to Abraham while he was a Gentile; and the salvation of the Jews may be inferred, because they all sprang from him after he became an heir of the righteousness or justification which is received by faith; for he is the father of us all, both Jews and Gentiles. Dr. Taylor has an excellent note on this verse. "Here," says he, "it should be well observed that faith and grace do mutually and necessarily infer each other. For the grace and favour of God, in its own nature, requires faith in us; and faith on our part, in its own nature, supposes the grace or favour of God. If any blessing is the gift of God, in order to influence our temper and behaviour, then, in the very nature of things, it is necessary that we be sensible of this blessing, and persuaded of the grace of God that bestows it; otherwise it is not possible we should improve it. On the other hand, if faith in the goodness of God, with regard to any blessing, is the principle of our religious hopes and action, then it follows that the blessing is not due in strict justice, nor on the foot of law, but that it is the free gift of Divine goodness. If the promise to Abraham and his seed be of faith on their part, then it is of grace on the part of God. And it is of faith, that it might be by grace: grace, being the mere good will of the donor, is free and open to all whom he chooses to make the objects of it: and the Divine wisdom appointed faith to be the condition of the promise; because faith is, on our part, the most simple principle, bearing an exact correspondence to grace, and reaching as far as that can extend; that so the happy effects of the promise might extend far and wide, take in the largest compass, and be confined to no condition, but what is merely necessary in the nature of things."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Rom 4:16. Therefore it — The blessing; is of…
Rom 4:16. Therefore it — The blessing; is of faith, that it might be by grace — That it might appear to flow from the free love of God; that God might magnify the riches of his grace, in proposing justification and eternal life to us, in a way that might, in multitudes of instances, be effectual. A righteousness by the merit of works, or by perfect obedience to the law of nature, or of Moses, “being unattainable by men, the inheritance is by a righteousness of faith, that, being a free gift, it might be bestowed in the manner, and on the persons, God saw fit; namely, on believers of all nations, whether the objects of their faith were more or less extensive, and whether their good works were more or fewer; for in the faith and works of believers there must be great differences, according to the mental endowments and outward advantages bestowed on each. In this passage, by the most just reasoning, the apostle hath overthrown the narrow notion of bigots, who confine the mercy of God within the pale of this or that church; and by a noble liberality of sentiment, he hath declared that all who imitate that faith and piety which Abraham exercised uncircumcised, shall, like him, obtain the inheritance, through the free favour of God by Jesus Christ.” That the promise might be sure — Might be firm and secure; to all the believing seed of Abraham; not to that only which is of the law, &c. — “Here the apostle teaches, that Abraham had two kinds of seed; one by natural descent, called his seed by the law, and another by faith: see Gal 3:26. To the natural seed the promise of the earthly Canaan was made; but to the seed by faith, the spiritual seed, the promise of a heavenly country, typified by the earthly one, was given. And to each the promise that was made to them was sure.” As it is written, Gen 12:5, I have made thee a father of many nations — That is, as I have received thee into favour upon thy believing, so many of several nations, both Jews and Gentiles, shall receive favour from me by believing, and so be justified in the way thou art: before him whom he believed, even God — Though before men nothing of this appeared, those nations being yet unborn. To illustrate the greatness of Abraham’s faith, and to show with what propriety he was made the father of all believers, the apostle in these words observes, that the principles on which he believed the Lord, were proper views of his almighty power, and other perfections. Who quickeneth the dead — The dead are not dead to him. And even the things that have no existence, exist before him. And calleth those things which be not as though they were — Summoning them to rise into being, and appear before him. The seed of Abraham did not then exist, yet God said, So shall thy seed be. A man can easily say to his servant, actually existing, Do this, and he doth it; but God saith to light, while it does not exist, Go forth, and it goeth.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv16–21 Therefore - In view of the course of reasoning…
Therefore - In view of the course of reasoning which has been pursued. We have come to this conclusion.
It is of faith - Justification is by faith; or the plan which God has devised of saving people is by faith, Rom 3:26.
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That it might be by grace - As a matter of mere undeserved mercy. If people were justified by law, it would be by their own merits; now it is of mere unmerited favor.
To the end - For the purpose, or design.
The promise ... - Rom 4:13.
Might be sure - Might be firm, or established. On any other ground, it could not be established. If it had depended on entire conformity to the Law, the promise would never have been established, for none would have yielded such obedience. But now it may be secured to all the posterity of Abraham.
To all the seed - Rom 4:13.
Not to that only - Not to that part of his descendants alone who were Jews, or who had the Law.
But to that ... - To all who should possess the same faith as Abraham. The father of us all. Of all who believe, whether they be Jews or Gentiles.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv16, 18, 19 There are two kinds of children of Abraham, to…
There are two kinds of children of Abraham, to whom alone these promises are made; the one is according to the flesh, the other according to the spirit. The former of these had no part in the promises made to him and his seed than the Gentiles, unless they imitated the fidelity and obedience of their father. (Calmet) --- It is in this sense of spiritual father, that the [Catholic] priest at the altar, speaking in the name of the faithful, calls Abraham our patriarch. (Estius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv16–21 Therefore, &c.--A general summary: "Thus justification is by faith,…
Therefore, &c.--A general summary: "Thus justification is by faith, in order that its purely gracious character may be seen, and that all who follow in the steps of Abraham's faith--whether of his natural seed or no--may be assured of the like justification with the parent believer."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv16–20 16. Father of us all—A telling clause by which…
16. Father of us all—A telling clause by which Paul boldly and forever inserts the Christian Church into sonship to Abraham.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–20 16. Therefore, &c.] Lit. Therefore out of faith, that…
16. Therefore, &c.] Lit. Therefore out of faith, that according to grace; a singularly terse sentence even in Gr. “Therefore:”—q. d., “such being the case under Law, the Divine mercy acted accordingly on our behalf.” The clause may be expanded: “Therefore God took faith as the one condition of justification, so that justification might stand clear of the conditions laid down necessarily in His Law; i.e. those of perfect obedience, outward and inward. That is to say, the justification was ‘according to grace,’ for it treated man as having what he had not—meritorious righteousness.” We might of course supply “the promise,” or “the inheritance,” instead of “justification,” as the subject in these clauses. But the latter idea is so much the more prominent, that it is the safer suggestion.
sure] i.e. not imperilled by the conditions of the Law for the Jewish believer, and by the lack of its privileges for the Gentile believer.
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not to that only] The Gr. has grammatical difficulties, but the sense is practically as in E. V. The “seed” is regarded as in its two great divisions; and here first, that which is “of the law,” i.e. Jewish believers, not as really having a claim from the law, but taken as having one, to bring out the validity of the claim of faith on the Gentiles’ part.
the faith of Abraham] Abraham is here the example of manifestly extra-legal faith, and therefore the case in point for the Gentile. Not that the Jewish believer (Rom_4:12) did not equally need “Abraham’s faith,” but the stress here is on the case of the Gentile.
us all] i.e. all believers; the “nations of the saved” (cp. Gal_3:7). Here first St Paul seems distinctly to turn from his Jewish opponents to his co-believers, Jewish or Gentile. Henceforth there is little if any anti-Jewish reasoning.—Wonderful was the triumph of the Gospel, which made it not only possible but profoundly natural for former Pharisees and former idolaters to unite as “we” and “us” in Christ.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv16–20 (16) Therefore it is of faith.—The words “it is”…
(16) Therefore it is of faith.—The words “it is” have to be supplied. “It” stands for the Messianic inheritance, or, in common phrase, salvation. Faith on man’s part is correlative with grace on the part of God, and salvation being thus dependent upon grace is as wide and universal as grace itself. It knows no restriction of law.
Not to that only which is of the law.—Not only to that part of the human race which belongs to the dispensation of the Law, but also to that which is in a spiritual sense descended from Abraham by imitating his faith.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv16, 18 Vers. 16, 17. Therefore it is of faith, that…
Vers. 16, 17. Therefore it is of faith, that it may be according to grace (kata carin , as in ver. 4); to the end the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the Law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of all, (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee,) before him whom he believed, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth the things that are not as though they were. Ver. 16 introduces no new thought, being but a summing up of what has been said, except that, in ver. 17, the text Gen_17:5 is adduced in support of the extended sense in which "the seed of Abraham" has been understood. In ver. 17, too, the thought is introduced of how Abraham evinced his faith; and this with a view of showing it to have been in essence the same as the justifying faith of Christians.
Obtaining an inheritance.
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An honourable lineage is not to be despised. Many advantages accrue from the law of heredity, by which progenitors transmit distinguishing qualities to their descendants. But the text invites to an unusual course of begetting an ancestry and thus winning a noble inheritance nothing less than claiming Abraham as our father. The qualification is to exhibit like faith with the father of the faithful. Faith is thus like the horn of Egremont Castle"Horn it was which none could sound, No one upon living ground Save he who came as rightful heir.
I THE SIMILARITY OF ABRAHAM"S FAITH TO THAT REQUIRED BY THE GOSPEL.
1. Each has God as its supreme Object, and rests on some promise of God. As the patriarch had respect to the word and power of the Almighty, so the Christian"s faith regards the wonder-working might of him who "raised up Jesus from the dead." That in the latter case we look back, not forward, makes no difference as to the essence of faith, and this resurrection becomes itself the ground of believing expectancy in relation to our own future salvation.
2. The subject of faith thereby differentiates himself from his fellows. Out of a world in a condition of rebellion and distrust, Abraham stood forth a monumental pillar of faith. Sin first entered in the guise of a doubt of God"s Word, and faith is the throwing off of all suspicion and the adoption of a right attitude before God. Men find it hard to trust God"s assurance of pardon and life.
3. The effect of faith is the same. The believer is justified, for God rejoices in the altered state. The implicit credence honours him, and is for his creatures" lasting good. Christ"s mission was to show us the Father, revealing his displeasure at sin, and his self-sacrificing sympathy with the sinner.
II THE PROMINENCE OF GRACE.
1. That the inheritance is won by faith involves the absence of valid merit on the part of the recipient. He receives not the wages of a workman, but the free donation of his King. Pride is pulled up by the roots in this manifestation of the kindness of God. Justification is an exercise of clemency for established reasons.
2. The same truth is recognized in the use of the term "promise." We are entitled to claim the heritage on the ground of God"s own declaration, not on the score of our personal worthiness.
3. Only by such a method could the promise to Abraham be fulfilled, that is, "made sure to all the seed." If dependent on physical connection, who but the Israelites could hope for the inheritance? If dependent on obedience to the Law, neither Jew nor Gentile could show conformity to the conditions. A world-wide blessing means the removal of both local and universal restrictions.
III THIS DIVINE PLAN JUSTIFIED BY ITS RESULTS. Complaints of arbitrariness and indifference vanish before this apprehended scheme of mercy. Faith tends to produce a righteousness of life which the stern threatenings of Law could never effect. The despairing criminal begins to see that past transgressions and failures need not debar him from hope of the prize, and with the entrance of this thought, new energy is infused into his soul. The greater contains the less. If God promise to save, he will not withhold minor temporal blessings. Let us, like Abraham, view the land of promise, look away from all in our surroundings that would check faith in God, and say, "I will trust, and not be afraid. S.R.A.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv16, 17, 19 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be…
Rom_4:16
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.
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How is salvation received
I. The fact.
1. It is of faith. And what is faith? It is taking God at His Word, and acting upon that by trusting in Him. Some of the Puritans used to divide it into three parts.
(1) Self-renunciation, which is, perhaps, rather a preparation for faith than faith itself.
(2) Reliance, in which a man trusts, and leaves his soul in the Saviours hands.
(3) Appropriation, by which a man takes to himself that which God presents in the promise. We shall, however, better understand what faith is as we consider--
1. Abrahams case.
(1) He believed the promise of God firmly and practically. He was in Chaldea when the Lord promised to give him a land and a seed, and straightway he went forth, not knowing whither he went. When he came into Canaan he had no settled resting place, but still believed that the land wherein he sojourned as a stranger was his own. God promised to give him a seed, and he waited till he was a hundred years old and Sarah ninety when Isaac was born. Nor did he doubt when the Lord bade him take Isaac and offer him up as a sacrifice.
(2) He had an eye to the central point of the promise, the Messiah. When the Lord said that He would make him a blessing, and in him should all the nations of the earth be blessed, I do not suppose Abraham saw all the fulness of that marvellous word; but our Lord declares, Abraham saw My day and was glad.
(3) He considered no difficulties whatever (Rom_4:18-19). These were terrible difficulties; they were for God to consider, and not for him.
(4) He gave glory to God (Rom_4:20). God had promised, and he treated the Lords promise with becoming reverence. He knew that Jehovah is not a man that He should lie, nor the son of man that He should repent. Abraham glorified the truth of God, and at the same time he glorified His power. It belongs to puny man to speak more than he can do; but is anything too hard for the Lord?
(5) He rested upon the Lord alone (Rom_4:21). There was nothing whatever in his house, his wife, himself, or anywhere else, which could guarantee the fulfilment of the promise. He had only God to look to, and what could a man have more? And this is the kind of faith which God loves and honours, which wants no signs, evidences, or other buttresses to support the word of the Lord. Dictum! Factum! These twain are one with the Most High.
2. The faith of every man who is saved must be of this character. When we are saved--
(1) We take the promise of God and depend upon it.
(2) We believe in God over the head of great difficulties. If it was hard for Abraham to believe that a son should be born unto him, methinks it is harder for a sinner to believe the hopeful things which the gospel prophesies unto him.
(a) Can the gospel message be true to such a worthless rebel as I am? Despite the trepidation of the awakened spirit, the Holy Spirit enables it to quiet itself with the firm persuasion that God for Christs sake doth put away its sin.
(b) Another miracle is also believed in, namely, regeneration. This is quite as great an act of faith as Abraham to believe in the birth of a child by parents who were advanced in years. The faith which saves believes in Jesus and obtains power to become children of God and strength to conquer sin.
(c) Does it not seem incredible that such feeble, foolish creatures as we should continue in faith? Yet this we must do; and the faith which saves enables us to believe that we shall persevere, for it is persuaded that the Redeemer is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him.
(d) We believe, according to Gods promise, that we shall one day be without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. Without fault before the throne of God. But how is this to be? Surely our confidence is, that He who has promised it is able to perform it.
(3) This saving faith rests in the power of God as manifested in Jesus (Rom_4:24-25). It is not to us a thing incredible that God should raise the dead; we therefore believe that because God has raised the dead He hath raised us also from our death in sin, and that He will raise our bodies too.
II. The first reason why God has chosen to make salvation by faith, that it might be of grace. He might have willed to make the condition of salvation a mitigated form of works. If He had done so it would not have been of grace. As water and oil will not mix, and as fire and water will not lie down side by side in quiet, so neither will the principle of merit and the principle of free favour. Grace and faith are congruous, and will draw together in the same chariot, but grace and merit pull opposite ways, and therefore God has not chosen to yoke them together.
1. In Abrahams case, inasmuch as he received the blessing by faith, it is very evident that it was of grace. No man thinks of Abraham as a self-justifying person, saying, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men. His name is not the father of the innocent, but the father of the faithful.
2. Inasmuch as we are saved by faith, every believer is made to see for himself that, in his own instance, it is grace. Believing is such a self-renunciating act that no man who looks for eternal life thereby ever talked about his own merits. He cannot get away from simple faith, for the moment he attempts to do so he feels the ground going from under him.
3. Through the prominence given to faith, the truth of salvation by grace is so conspicuously revealed that even the outside world are compelled to see it, though the only result may be to make them cavil.
4. Moreover, faith never did clash with grace yet. When the sinner comes and trusts to Christ, and Christ saith to him, I forgive thee freely by My grace, faith says, O Lord, that is what I want. But if I give thee everlasting life it will not be because thou deservest it, but for Mine own names sake. Faith replies, O Lord, that also is precisely as I desire.
5. Faith is the child of grace. The believer knows that his faith is not a seed indigenous to the soil of his heart, but an exotic planted there by Divine wisdom; and he knows too that if the Lord does not nourish it his faith will die like a withered flower. Faith is begotten and sustained by a power not less mighty than that which raised our Lord from the dead.
III. A further reason. To the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed. For--
1. It could not have been sure to us Gentiles by the law, because we were not under the law of Moses at all. The Jew, coming under the law, might have been reached by a legal method, but we who are Gentiles would have been altogether shut out. Therefore grace chooses to bless us by faith in order that the Gentile may partake of the blessing of the covenant as well as the Jew.
2. The other method has failed already in every ease. We have all broken the law already, and so have put ourselves beyond the power of ever receiving blessing as a reward of merit. What remaineth, then, if we are to be saved at all, but that it should be of faith?
3. It is of faith that it might be sure. Under the system of works nothing is sure. Suppose you were under a covenant of salvation by works, and you had fulfilled those works up till now, yet you would not be sure. But after all you have done for these long years you may lose everything before you have finished your next meal. But see the excellence of salvation by grace, for when you reach the ground of faith you are upon terra firma.
4. If the promise had been made to works there are some of the seed to whom most evidently it never could come. If salvation to the dying thief must come by works, how can he be saved? but he believed, cast a saving eye upon the Lord Jesus and said, Lord, remember me, and the promise was most sure to him, for the answer was, Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Salvation of faith, that it might be by grace
I. Because faith is the gift of God, not the recompense of any previous desert. Were it otherwise, all would live and die in unbelief; for no one could deserve the gift, and no one would believe on whom it was not bestowed. Faith is a coming to Christ for life; but this coming is alone the effect of Divine influence (Joh_6:65). The habit, the exercise, and the increase of faith, are all from God.
II. Faith is a suppliant grace, sensible of its own poverty and inefficacy (Pro_18:23). One of the most modest, and yet importunate suppliants was the woman of Canaan; and our Lord attributed her importunity to the strength of her faith. The prayer of faith is the least assuming, the most submissive. Its language is, Lord, save, or I perish. God be merciful to me a sinner.
III. Faith receives all from Christ; it is the empty hand extended towards Him for a full and complete salvation. Love may be said indeed to give, but it is the office of faith only to receive. Faith receives the truths and blessings of Christ Himself; and is constantly receiving out of His fulness, even grace for grace. It is also of the nature of faith to receive all with humility and self-abasement (Psa_115:1; Rom_3:27).
IV. The entire dependence of faith upon the will of God. Its language is, Let Him do with me as seemeth good in His sight. If I am condemned, the sentence will be just; if saved, it will be owing to a multitude of tender mercies. Its hand is laid, not upon the duties it performs, but upon the head of the great atoning sacrifice. When it asks it is in the name of Jesus; what it expects is alone for His sake, both grace here and glory hereafter.
V. There is an imperfection in faith, which shows that it can have no meritorious influence on our salvation. If faith has any strength, it arises not from itself, but from its object; it needs continual support, and is often ready to sink under the weight of objections and oppositions. It may in this respect be said of graces as it is of persons, God hath chosen the things that are weak and despised (1Co_1:28-29; 1Co_12:24).
VI. Faith is humble and self-denying. Its language is, after all its laborious exertions, Yet not I--I can do nothing. It is Christ that has done, it is He that must do all. I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof, says the centurion. I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel, replied the Saviour. It puts on the robe, but it did not weave it; it shows the debt paid, but did not discharge it. We are said to live by faith; yet faith says, It is not I, but Christ liveth in me.
1. If salvation be of faith, what will become of unbelievers (Joh_3:18-36).
2. If salvation be of faith, that it might be by grace, then it is no wonder that Satan employs his utmost endeavours to prevent faith, and also to destroy it (2Co_4:4).
3. Let his malignant activity excite us to watchful. Less and diligence, and to beware of his devices. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
Salvation by grace through faith
I. Salvation is by faith in order--
1. That it might be by grace, or pure favour and goodwill. Coming thus--
(1) It honours God as an act of royal beneficence.
(2) It honours man as making him the object, not of Divine justice and wisdom merely, but of Divine charity.
(3) It blesses the recipient by culturing humility and gratitude.
2. That the promise may be sure to all--
(1) Were it by works, however, some may fancy themselves able to gain it, the mass of mankind must despair.
(2) Were it by works the original purpose of its provision could not be fulfilled, for the promise was to all nations.
(3) Faith in a condition which all may fulfil; the feeblest as the strongest, the most guilty as the least guilty, the debtor of ten thousand talents as the debtor of an hundred pence.
III. This faith is exemplified in Abraham. He is the father of all who believe, as Tubal is the father of iron workers, and Jubal of musicians. His faith is exhibited as--
1. A faith that regarded God as the quickener of the dead and Creator of things not existing--as a God with whom nothing was impossible.
2. A faith that looked for fulfilment of the promise when there was no probability of that fulfilment; as when he believed in his possession of Canaan.
3. A faith that expected when fulfilment seemed impossible; as when he believed the promise of a son to himself and aged, barren Sarah.
4. A faith that failed not when fulfilment seemed to be stopped by the acts of God Himself; as When the whole promised seed lay doomed to death upon the altar.
5. A. faith that staggered not--a full persuasion of heart.
6. A faith that practically confided: as when he went forth from his fathers house, and when he bound Isaac for death; thus a faith made perfect by works. His seed are all who imitate his faith. (W. Griffiths.)
Salvation by grace through faith
I. Salvation is by faith.
1. A deliverance.
2. Effected for us.
3. Through faith.
4. In Christ.
5. Without merit.
II. That it might be of grace.
1. Received.
2. Felt.
3. Recognised.
4. Enjoyed as grace. (J. Lyth, D. D.)
Salvation by grace
In a period of religious awakening, Sammy thought himself a subject of the work, and, with others, presented himself for admission to the Church. The office bearers hesitated, on the ground that he might not have sufficient capacity to comprehend the doctrines of the gospel and the evidences of conversion. They concluded, however, to examine him, and began with the subject of regeneration. Do you think, Sammy, said the pastor, that you have been born again? I think I have, was the answer. Well, if so, whose work is that? Oh! God did a part, and I did a part. Ah! what part did you do, Sammy? Why, I opposed God all I could; and He did the rest. The result of the examination was, that, so far as they could judge, the Holy Spirit had been Sammys theological teacher, and had indeed created him anew in Christ, not of works, lest any man should boast. (Christian Treasury.)
Faith not meritorious, but effectual
It does not stand in the place of obedience, as the terms of a new bargain, that has been substituted in room of an old one. It is very natural to conceive that, as under the old covenant we had salvation for our works, so, under the new, we have salvation for our faith; and that, therefore, faith is that which wins and purchases the reward. And thus Heavens favour is still looked upon as a premium, not for doing, it is true, but for believing. And this has just the effect of infusing the legal spirit into our evangelical system; and thus, not merely of nourishing the pride and the pretension of its confident votaries, but of prolonging the disquietude of all earnest and humble inquiries. For, instead of looking broadly out on the gospel as an offer, they look as anxiously within for the personal qualification of faith, as they ever did upon the personal qualification of obedience. This transfers their attention from that which is sure, even the promises of God--to that which is unsure, even their own fickle and fugitive emotions. Instead of thinking upon Christ, they perpetually think upon themselves. They ought surely to cast their challenged and their invited regards on Him, who calls them to look upon Him from all the ends of the earth and be saved! But no! they cast their eyes with downward obstinacy upon their own minds; and there toil for the production of faith in the spirit of bondage; and perhaps, after they are satisfied with the fancied possession of it, rejoice over it as they would over any other meritorious acquirement in the spirit of legality. This is not the way in which the children of Israel looked out upon the serpent in the wilderness. They did not pore upon their wounds to mark the progress of healing there; nor did they reflect upon the power and perfection of their seeing faculties; nor did they even suffer any doubt that still lingered in their imaginations, to restrain them from the simple act of lifting up their eyes. And when they were cured in consequence, they would never think of this as a reward for their looking, but regard it as the fruit of Heavens gracious appointment. Do in like manner. It will make both against your humility and your peace, that you regard faith in the light of a meritorious qualification; or that you attempt to draw a comfort from the consciousness of faith, which you ought directly to draw from the contemplation of the Saviour. If salvation be given as a reward for faith, then it is not of grace. But we are told in this verse that it is of faith, expressly that it might be by grace. In the one way, you can only be as sure of the promise as you are sure of yourself; and what a frail and fluctuating dependence is this! In the other way, you are as sure of the promise as you are sure of God; and thus your confidence has a rock to repose upon. And in the very act of leaning upon God, man is upheld not only in hope but in holiness. It is in the very position of standing erect upon the foundation of the promises that the promised strength as well as the promised righteousness is fulfilled to him. It is in the very act of looking unto Jesus, that the light of all that grace and truth which shine from the countenance of the Saviour is let in upon the soul; and is thence reflected back again in the likeness of this worth and virtue from his own person. (T. Chalmers, D. D.)
To the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed.--
The promise made sure--grace and faith
I. The end in view--that the promise may be sure to all the seed. Every promise of God is sure in the sense of being trustworthy. But the fulfilment is not necessarily sure to any, for they come short of its stipulations. The certainty here is the opposite of what is deprecated in Rom_4:4 : the promise being made of none effect, i.e., falling short of its full accomplishment. Let us think of the origin of the promise.
1. Let us behold the Father taking up the question of the inheritance. It is the heirship of the world (Rom_4:13). Who are ultimately to inherit? That must be settled before anything about it can become the subject of promise at all. And in settling that, there must be sovereign choice.
2. The Son has from everlasting an interest in the promise. The inheritance which it conveys is in the first instance destined to Him (Heb_1:2). He is the one seed; and others are included in the seed only as being one with Him. Through what a ministry on His part they are to become fellow heirs with Him He all along knows full well. He is to bear their griefs and carry their sorrows; to be made sin, to be made a curse for them. Through such sore travail of His soul in their stead He is to obtain the fulfilment of the promise: to see in them His seed; the seed that being one with Him is to be the heir of the world, to inherit all things in Him.
2. The Holy Spirit is one with the Father and the Son; as in the essence of the Divine nature, so also in this covenant of peace. He is a party to it. The seed who are to be heirs are to be put into His hands, to be made one with the Son in His heirship, and one with one another in the Son. That the promise may be sure, He must put forth His soul-subduing power. Is He to do so otherwise than on the footing of its being sure to all the seed?
II. The two steps by which alone it is to be reached. But why should there be any steps? Why may not the mere fiat of Omnipotence at once secure the end in view? God has but to speak, and Out of these stones He is able to raise up children unto Abraham. Yes! And if it were stones that He had to deal with, the old creation formula--Let it be--would suffice. The voice might go forth, not only figuratively, Thy seed shall be as the sand, but literally, Let the sand by thy seed. And if the seed could be as stones, or as sand, ever after, to be managed as stones or sand, the problem of securing that the promise should be sure might be easily solved. But it is not so. For the materials are not stone or sand, but beings who have possessed and abused the faculty of free will. The problem is solved, however, when we take into account the two steps here indicated as securing the result.
1. It is by grace. The whole economy is alive and instinct with grace.
(1) Its origin is very gracious. It has its rise in the favour which the Son ever finds in the Fathers right from everlasting. What but this grace moves the Father to appoint the Son heir of all things (Heb_1:2)? And that is at once the source and pattern of all subsequent exercises of the same grace in time.
(2) It is by the same grace that, in virtue of His being appointed heir of all things, the Son is the agent by whom God made the worlds, and who upholdeth all things by the word of His power (Heb_1:3). It is for the grace He ever has with the Father that, as the Lord of creation and providence, and now the Lord of the economy of redemption, He has in all the preeminence (Col_1:16-18).
(3) For very specially this grace appears in His having constituted the Saviour of men. When He comes into the world on His errand of redemption He finds grace and favour in the Fathers eyes (Mat_3:17). When He leaves the world, His work being finished, He finds grace and favour still (Rom_1:4). It is because the Father graciously accepts Him as the righteous one (Isa_53:11), that He sets Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places (Eph_1:20). This grace, love, on the Fathers part, how gladly does the Son always own (Pro_8:30-31)! How willingly does He welcome the task that is to cost Him so dear (Psa_40:7-8)!
(4) And now it may be seen how the Fathers treatment of those who are the Sons seed, is simply an extension of the favour which He bears to the Son Himself. They are embraced or comprehended in the grace which the Son ever finds in the Fathers sight. It is on this principle that the Father proceeds in pardoning, acquitting, justifying, glorifying them (Eph_1:6).
2. It is of faith. Why? Simply, that it may still be all by grace. We have seen that it is by grace alone that any are admitted into fellowship with the Son in His gracious work and ministry of substitution. Let us now see what grace there is in the terms, or the manner, of their admission, Freely, unreservedly, unconditionally; if they will; when they will. Ah! but does not this really destroy all certainty? If they will! Does it not cast doubt on everything? When they will! When will they? Will they ever? Of what avail then is all this grace to them? And yet how can the thing be otherwise? How can any enter into union with the Son, so as to have the promise made sure to them in Him, otherwise than by its being freely left to their own free choice? If the grace is to be free, it must be not only freely given, but freely taken. There can be no coercion. There must be cordial and congenial consent. No otherwise can the promise be sure to beings capable of choice. Their free, unforced yes must be got. And if that yes be got, all is safe. Hence the necessity of faith, which is simply that free affirmative response. This may be seen more clearly if we consider--
(1) Faith. The whole virtue of faith lies in its being your actual appropriation of the benefit. Its charm consists in dealing with what is presented to it as its object, not through anything, even itself, coming in between, but directly and immediately, without any regard to itself at all. Now the object with which it has to deal is the promise, or rather the Son, to whom, in the first instance, the promise belongs, and is sure. The only use of faith is that it embraces Christ.
(2) With its office, the nature of faith corresponds. Our entire moral nature is concerned in it. Every faculty and feeling is taken up with Christ. There is no unoccupied power of the mind within at leisure to take cognisance of the rest.
(3) But how shall this full, simple, direct, straightforward faith spring up in any soul? Plainly it is not natural to man. Witness the extreme difficulty of getting men to comprehend it. A Divine teacher is needed to purge the inward sight, and open the eye of the soul. And if, for simply lodging a clear idea of this Divine method of grace in the intellect, the agency of the Divine Spirit Himself is needed, how much more when we are asked to approve of it, to go along with it and become parties to it? Thus by grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv16–21 16–22. Therefore it is of faith. The inheritance promised…
16–22. Therefore it is of faith. The inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed. It comes through faith, and hence is a free gift (of grace). That it might be sure. It could not be sure if it had to be secured by the righteousness that is of law, since none can keep the law perfectly. But all can secure it through faith. To all the seed. To all children of Abraham, whether those of the law, the Jews, or those of the faith of Abraham, who become his children by exercising his faith, whether Jew or Gentile. See Gal. 3:7.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v18 Rom_4:18.—Against hope as man; but upon hope in God…
CRITICAL NOTES
Rom_4:18.—Against hope as man; but upon hope in God (Severian).
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Rom_4:19.—In this passage Abraham is represented as placed between two opposite forces—that of sight and that of faith. The look of faith fixed on the promises prevented every look cast on the external circumstances.
Rom_4:24. If we believe on Him, etc—Implies purpose, certainty, and continuance.
Rom_4:25.—Christians assured by Christ’s resurrection of the removal of their guilt. In the same way that the death and resurrection of Christ form an intimate unity, so also in man the death of the old and the rising up of the new cannot be conceived as existing without each other (Olshausen).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rom_4:18-25
Not for his sake alone.—It is a glorious sight, a good man struggling with adversity and endeavouring to bear patiently the ills of life—more glorious still a good man rejoicing in adversity and making difficulties minister to highest delights. Travel back many centuries to the olden time. See a good man believing, hoping, rejoicing, though the sphere of sense did not furnish ground for such mighty faith. Abraham was not a materialist. Matter, with sceptical materialism for our guide, crushes faith. Matter is mighty, but mind is mightier. We know not the omnipotent energy of the infinite Mind. Abraham did not believe that man is a mere creature of circumstances except in so far as they are directed by God. Man divinely strengthened is superior to circumstances. Abraham defied time. What are a hundred years to Him whose existence is not measured on human dial-plates! Abraham believed in a knowable God—one whose promise was equalled by His performance. Promise and performance are coequal with God. If they were not, God would be untrue to His nature, and that He can never be. Abraham had a noble ambition. He believed in hope to the intent that he might become the father of many nations. Spiritual fatherhood is the highest and the noblest. The patriarch looked forward to a glorious and ever-increasing family. His sons and daughters are numerous. Abraham lived, believed, hoped, and prayed not for himself alone: he lived in his God and in the thought of our ennobled race. “Not for his sake alone” is inscribed on his monumental pillar. How beautifully Abraham seeks to settle the dispute between his herdmen and Lot’s! Abraham’s kindly considerateness shows that he spoke not for his sake alone. Abraham the intercessor for the Cities of the Plain showed himself one living for the welfare of others. Not for his sake alone is the short biography written. We are the heirs of the ages. A down the stream of time come argosies laden with mental and spiritual wealth. We stand on the moral delta which is enriched by the alluvial deposits from the noblest men and times. We are rich, or ought to be, in the moral spoils of time. And yet how weak in faith, how puny in works! We shake in the presence of modern pretenders like reeds before the wind. If a woman writes a book against our religion, we pile up against her magazine articles and send forth Christian evidence lecturers, as if she could hurl the Omnipotent from His throne. Why is our faith weak? Because:
1. We look only at the things which are seen. Our vision is bounded by the things of sense. We must look at the things which are unseen. We believe in the unseen and unseeable things of this world—if we may use the word—on the testimony of observant men. Why not believe in the unseen things of the spiritual realm on the testimony of God and of His servants? The things unseen are the realities—the certain and abiding realities. Let faith thus exercise itself, and it will grow.
2. We dwell on the seeming. Our morbid fancy leads us astray. We first fancy, and then we believe that the creation of our fancy is a child of fact. Let us seek to be, like Abraham, strong in faith. In spite of all appearances, in spite of all seeming impossibilities, let us believe in God. Can it be that Abraham in the dawn of time by his might shames our weakness? By this weakness of faith we shut ourselves up in the gloomy castle of doubt, we lead miserable lives. Our harps are hung on the willows. Our swords rust in the sheaths. We impede true progress, and we dishonour God. We might be strong if we could look above and beyond our surroundings to the God who promises, and remember that with Him nothing is impossible. Delay there may be to human seeming, and yet that may be accomplishment in the divine purpose. Faith grows like all other powers and graces. Abraham by believing was strengthened in his faith. How wide the promise “To him that hath shall be given”! Faith is an increasing grace. In order to increase there must be growth; in order to growth there must be food and exercise. Faith is fed by the promise. Faith is exercised by the period of waiting. The very obstacles which would stagger the faith of a doubting soul will be made by the believing man into the means whereby his faith is strengthened. Let us not shame our noble father. A strong faith-soul he walks the upper plains. Does he look down on us as sickly members of his great family? Oh to be strengthened in faith! and then we should give glory to God by the fuller recognition of His power and faithfulness, we should be the better able to perform our duties, our lives would be filled with joy, and God’s blessing would rest upon us. Let us live for the sake of others. The inheritance which Abraham has handed down to us let us impart to our fellows and transmit unimpaired to our descendants.
Rom_4:20. The unwavering man gathers strength.—Physical and intellectual strength may be developed up to a certain limit, and then it declines. Physical strength, sooner or later, will be shorn of the locks wherein it lies. Intellectual strength will fade into the imbecility of age. But moral strength has no limit. It will grow through the longest life. It will develop in eternal cycles. How shall we grow in strength? By wavering not at the promises of God.
I. The unwavering man has a single eye.—He looks to the promise, and not to the improbability. He treads the plank of the divine promise, looking forward to the goal of fulfilment, and thus he is not disturbed by the surging waters of scepticism.
II. The unwavering man has a clear vision.—The divine promise reveals to his soul the divine Promisor. He is able to perform. He must be faithful. For God to break His promise, would be for God to be untrue to His covenant, to be untrue to His own nature, and that He can never be. How strong a man must grow who clearly sees the divine attributes behind the promise!
III. The unwavering man provides soul growth.—He feeds on the promise. It provides a banqueting table at which the unwavering man feeds. God provides by furnishing the food. Man provides by making use of the food. We put on moral strength as we feed on the promises. We increase in strength.
IV. The unwavering man reaches sublime heights.—He develops in faith, giving glory to God. The Infinite condescends to the finite, and seeks to raise man out of his human finiteness into the larger spaces of divine possibilities. We give glory to God, not by our weakness, but by striving to get out of our weakness and by putting on strength. Dispute not the faithfulness of the divine Promiser. Be firm in faith, and thou shalt stand even amid the shifting sands of scepticism. Have the spiritual knowableness of faith, and thou shalt not feel the touch of agnosticism. Feed on the promise, and thou wilt become stronger and stronger.
Rom_4:20-21. Religious faith rational.—It is not at all true that faith itself, i.e. trust, is a strange principle of action; and to say that it is irrational is even an absurdity. I mean such a faith as that of Abraham mentioned in the text, which led him to believe God’s word when opposed to his own experience. It is obvious that we trust to our memory. We trust the general soundness of our reasoning powers. From knowing one thing we think we can be sure about another, even though we do not see it. We continually trust our memory and our reasoning powers, though they often deceive us. This is worth observing, because it is sometimes said that we cannot be certain that our faith in religion is not a mistake. When we come to examine the subject, it will be found that, strictly speaking, we know little more than that we exist, and that there is an unseen Power whom we are bound to obey. Beyond this we must trust; and first our senses, memory, reasoning powers—then other authorities; so that, in fact, almost all we do, every day of our lives, is on trust, i.e. faith. Scripture, then, only bids us act in respect to a future life as we are every day acting at present. We are from our birth dependent creatures, utterly dependent—dependent immediately on man; and that visible dependence reminds us forcibly of our truer and fuller dependence upon God. It is a mistake to suppose that our obedience to God’s will is merely founded on our belief in the word of such persons as tell us Scripture came from God. We obey God primarily because we actually feel His presence in our consciences bidding us obey Him. And this, I say, confutes these objectors on their own ground, because the very reason they give for their belief is that they trust their own sight and reason, because their own, more than the words of God’s ministers. Now let me ask, If they trust their senses and their reason, why do they not trust their conscience also? Is not conscience their own? Their conscience is as much a part of themselves as their reason is; and it is placed within them by almighty God in order to balance the influence of sight and reason, and yet they will not attend to it. For a plain reason: they love sin; they love to be their own masters, and therefore they will not attend to that secret whisper of their hearts which tells them they are not their own masters and that sin is hateful and ruinous. For ourselves, let us but obey God’s voice in our hearts, and I will venture to say we shall have no doubts practically formidable about the truth of Scripture. Find out the man who strictly obeys the law within him, and yet is an unbeliever as regards the Bible, and then it will be time enough to consider all that variety of proof by which the truth of the Bible is confirmed to us. This is no practical inquiry for us. Our doubts, if we have any, will be found to arise after disobedience. It is bad company or corrupt books which lead to unbelief. It is sin which quenches the Holy Spirit. If we but obey God strictly, in time, through His blessing, faith will become like sight; we shall have no more difficulty in finding what will please God than in moving our limbs or in understanding the conversation of our familiar friends. This is the blessedness of confirmed obedience. Let us aim at attaining it; and in whatever proportion we now enjoy it, praise and bless God for His unspeakable gift.—Newman.
Rom_4:25. The possibility of a resurrection.—The presumptions against the possibility of a resurrection operate so strongly in the minds of some that they think it needless to inquire what evidence there is for it, being persuaded that the thing itself is not capable of being supported by any evidence. This prejudice was a very early one, for the apostle expostulates this case with King Agrippa: “Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?” Let us consider the force of this expostulation, and see whether it is strong enough to encounter the prejudice. Now nothing can be said to be incredible if there is a power in any person able to effect it; for if there is such a power, that power may bring into existence that very thing which you doubt of; and it cannot be incredible that a thing should exist which may possibly really exist. If we consider only the strength of children, it is incredible that they should build castles; but if we consider the strength and ability of men, it would be ridiculous to doubt whether they could or no. So that the credibility or incredibility of anything depends on knowing whether there is or is not a power adequate to the undertaking. The resurrection of the dead is in truth a very stupendous work; but neither you nor I am to undertake it: if it depended on us, it would be incredible indeed. It is the work of God, and of Him only; and surely I have named one of credit and power sufficient to be trusted in this great affair. And this is St. Paul’s argument, “Why should it be thought incredible that God should raise the dead?” Whoever, therefore, affirms that a resurrection is in itself a thing incredible must affirm that it is incredible that God has power to raise the dead. And now consider who it is that can, consistently with the common and allowed principles of reason and nature, deny this power to God. No one certainly who admits that God made the world can entertain this doubt; for if God has given us the life we now enjoy, what should hinder Him from restoring life again after this is lost? Can there be more difficulty in giving life the second time than there was at first? If there be any contradiction therefore in the notion of a resurrection, there must be the very same in the notion of creation. And therefore natural religion is just as much concerned in this point as revelation; for though the belief of the fact that the dead shall be raised depends on revelation, yet our belief that God has power to raise the dead depends, not on revelation, but on the clear dictates of reason—of that reason by which we discover Him to be our creator. And if you doubt even of this, His power of creation, you must bid adieu to all religion at once; for if God created not the world, how are you at all related to Him? If He did not make us, what right has He to govern us? or what pretence to our obedience? Neither you from nature nor we from revelation can ever be satisfied. The power of God being admitted to be equal to this work, the question of the resurrection of Christ comes to be a question of fact. And though I propose not to enter into the evidence of the fact, yet it may be proper to observe that a resurrection considered as a fact is a fact as capable of evidence as any whatever; it is an object of sense, of every sense by which we judge of the reality of things without us. We are told that “Christ died and rose again.” Of His death, I suppose, there is no great doubt—die He certainly did. And surely there could be no more difficulty to see and know that He was dead than in knowing when others were dead, from Adam to this day. One would think, therefore, that those about Him, who saw Him crucified and buried, might be trusted when they report that He died. But He came to life again. Very true; and it was very easy for those who conversed with Him to know whether He was alive or no. There was no more difficulty in judging of His being alive than of judging in any other case whether those we converse with are alive or no. His having been dead and buried could not possibly alter the case, or create any difficulty in judging whether He was really alive or no. So that the Resurrection, considered as a fact, was in every part of it an object of sense, and as capable of being well attested as any other object of sense whatever. Lay these things together—the romise of God to give us eternal life, His power to make good His word, the confirmation He has given us of our hope by the resurrection of Christ—and what is wanting to make the belief of this article a rational act of faith? The promises of God have never borrowed help from moral probabilities. The promises to Abraham were not of this kind; so far otherwise, that it is said of him that “against hope he believed in hope”—that is, he hoped where, humanly speaking, there was no ground for hope. There was no probability that his seed who was a stranger and pilgrim on earth should inherit the land of Canaan, possessed by great and powerful nations. Compare now this case with the case of Christians. We have great promises made to us by God in Christ Jesus, the promises of a resurrection to life. Inquire of the world; they know of no such thing—the ages past have afforded no instance of this kind; and, as far as they can see and judge, daily experience is a witness against this hope. Under these difficulties, whither shall we go for refuge and support? Whither but to the promises of God, and to this full persuasion, that what He has promised He is able to perform? If we hold fast this persuasion and stagger not through unbelief, then shall we indeed be the children of the faith of Abraham, whose “faith was imputed to him for righteousness.”—Sherlock.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Rom_4:18-25
These things are written not for Abraham’s sake alone.—These things were not written for Abraham’s sake alone; they were written for ours. Abraham trusted in God to quicken his unborn son—by-and-by to raise him (if need were) from the dead. We trust Him who did quicken in the flesh and raise from the dead His own supernatural Son Jesus. The gospel facts, the gospel promises, and the blessings of the new covenant in Christ are to us what the birth of Isaac was to Abraham: things all of them beyond the reach of experience or against it—things past or future or absent or spiritual—things in one way or another undiscerned by sense and to reason improbable; resting for their evidence solely on the word of the living God. To that man they are very real things—more real than anything else—who believes in God before all others. To other men they are quite unreal, shadowy, phantom-like, unbelievable. Such a faith in God is reckoned for righteousness to every man who has it, just as it was to Abraham, the father of all believers.—Dykes.
Christ died not as a mere teacher.—St. Paul first declares that Christ was “delivered for our offences.” Now, if the single service which Christ has rendered to mankind be, as the Socinian tells us, in the character of a teacher of religion; and if, by the discovery which our Lord has made of the different conditions of the righteous and the wicked in a future life, every man, once brought to a belief of the doctrine, might be reclaimed in such a degree as to merit, by his future conduct, not only a free pardon of his past offences, but also a share of those good things which “God hath prepared for them that love Him”; if our Lord’s doctrine might of itself, in this way, be a remedy for the sins of men, and if His sufferings and death were necessary only for the confirmation of His doctrine,—then might we admit it to be only in an indirect and a figurative sense that the sins of men are spoken of in this clause as having been the occasion of His death. For His doctrine would in that case be the means of their reformation, and His death would only be the means of establishing His doctrine. But if nothing future can undo the past; if we have incurred guilt without so much as the ability of meriting reward; if it is only through the power of divine grace that we can think or do anything which is right; and if, after all that divine grace has done for him, the life of the believer still consists in a perpetual conflict with appetites which are never totally subdued, and in an endeavour after perfection which never is attained; if the case really be that “if we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”; if, nevertheless, we are expressly assured that, on “confessing our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”; and if, as the beloved disciple assures us, it is the “blood of Jesus Christ” which “cleanseth us from all sin,”—then must it plainly follow that the Redeemer’s death was available to the expiation of the sins of men, far otherwise than merely as a solemn confirmation of the truth of the Christian religion; then must it plainly follow that Christ died to make an atonement for the sins of men, and that His blood has a direct and proper efficacy to expiate our guilt.—Bishop Horsley.
Faith against improbability.—For “against hope”—contrary to all natural reason for hope—“he believed in hope.” He trusted with the most immovable expectation that he should become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, “So shall thy seed be.” This was the promise on the fulfilment of which he so confidently relied. It was given many years before the birth of Isaac to which it relates. But though every year of delay increased the natural improbability of the event, it in no degree weakened the patriarch’s faith. He did not suspect that the circumstances on which its improbability depended rendered the promise unlikely to be fulfilled. He looked to nothing but the faithfulness of God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth things which be not as though they were. He knew that whatever the Almighty promised He was able to fulfil, and would fulfil. “He staggered not therefore at the promise through unbelief.” He did not deliberate on the improbability of the event, the possibility of his being deceived as to the divine authority of the communication, or the unlikelihood of the supernatural event taking place in order to raise up a family to him. The expression “He was delivered” means He was given up to death, as is plain from the immediately subsequent reference to His resurrection. He was given up to death in order to atone for our offences, and as a sacrifice in virtue of which it might be just in God to forgive our sins, and raised again for our justification. These words are not intended to imply that to particular parts of our Lord’s ministry particular parts of our salvation must be referred—the pardon of sin being the consequence of His death, and justification the effect of His resurrection. His whole ministry forms one connected series; and from the whole series of our Lord’s obedience, and death, and resurrection, and ascension into heaven, and intercession at the Father’s right hand, our salvation, and every particular part of it, are derived. By being “raised again for our justification” may be understood that His resurrection from the dead is a sure proof that His death is a full and an accepted atonement for sin, and that in virtue of it we may obtain justification by faith in His name.—Ritchie.
Faith rests on the nature of God and work of Christ.—Our judgment declares that God will keep His word—i.e., that He will not punish for their sins those who believe the gospel. By an act of the will our entire being accepts this verdict of our judgment, and there follows at once within us, by the laws of mind fixed by God, a confident expectation that we ourselves will escape from punishment. Such is justifying faith. The faith which sanctifies is a belief of the promises. It is a sure expectation that in consequence of God’s eternal purpose, by union with Christ, and through the agency of the Holy Spirit, we shall actually be, from this moment, dead to sin and living only for God. In each case according to our faith it is done to us. Again, it is because God raised Christ from the dead that we accept the teaching of Jesus as the word and promise of God. Consequently our assurance of escape from punishment, and our expectation that all the promises will be fulfilled, rest upon the historical fact of the resurrection of Christ. Our faith is therefore a leaning “on Him who raised Jesus from the dead.” In the death of Christ God’s infinite love is revealed to us as the firm ground of our confidence. We are sure that He who spared not His own Son will give us all things. Hence the love of God manifested on the cross of Christ is the immovable foundation on which rests our expectation of the fulfilment of each gospel promise. We may therefore describe faith in God as an assurance that God’s words will come true, an assurance resting upon the nature of God as made known in the death and resurrection of Christ. From the foregoing it will be evident that faith in God, so far from being contrary to reason, is itself the noblest kind of reasoning. For our hope we have the best reason, one which our intelligence fully approves—viz., the word and character of God. Owing to the comparative uncertainty of all human testimony, the word “believe” frequently denotes in common life an assurance mingled more or less with doubt. But the faith which God requires is the very opposite of doubt. It is therefore a full assurance that God’s word will come true.—Beet.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 4
Rom_4:18. Comfort in a cloud.—“A friend of mine,” says Paxton Hood, “told me of a visit he had paid to a poor woman overwhelmed with trouble in her little room, but she was always cheerful; she knew the Rock. ‘Why,’ said he, ‘Mary, you must have very dark days; they must overwhelm you with clouds sometimes.’ ‘Yes,’ she answered; ‘but then I often find that there is comfort in a cloud.’ ‘Comfort in a cloud, Mary?’ ‘Yes,’ she said; ‘when I am very low and dark I go to the window, and if I see a heavy cloud I think of those precious words, “A cloud received Him out of their sight,” and I look up and see the cloud sure enough, and then I think, “Well, that may be the cloud that hides Him”; and so you see there is comfort in a cloud.’ There was strong faith. She gave glory to God by believing in hope against human appearances, and God rewarded her faith by putting cheerfulness into her soul. A simple faith can do more than sublime philosophy. Against hope Abraham believed in hope.”
Rom_4:20. Lord to the fore.—“The Lord’s aye to the fore,” said a good Scotchwoman in her day of trial, and by this faith she was supported. God is ever in the forefront of His trusting people. He is still at the helm of human affairs. “The best of all is, God is with us,” said John Wesley as he was dying, and by this trust he was supported as he passed within the veil. Yea, by this trust he was supported as he passed from scene to scene in his laborious life of surpassing energy and glorious endeavours for the benefit of his fellow-creatures and for the extension of the Saviour’s kingdom.
Rom_4:21. God’s promise to Abraham.—Among the curiosities of the Bank of England may be seen some cinders, the remains of some bank-notes that were burned in the great fire of Chicago. After the fire they were found, and carefully put between boards and brought to the bank. After applying chemical tests, the numbers and values were ascertained, and the Bank of England paid the money value to the owners. If a human promise can be worth so much, how much more so is the promise of God? Nothing can ever destroy the promise divine. “I will be their God.”—Home Words.
Rom_4:22.—Imputed righteousness.—Bishop Asbury being asked his thoughts on imputed righteousness, observed, “Were I disposed to boast, my boasting would be found true. I obtained religion near the age of thirteen. At the age of sixteen I began to preach, and travelled some time in Europe. At twenty-six I left my native land and bid adieu to my weeping parents, and crossed the boisterous ocean to spend the balance of my days in a strange land, partly settled by savages. I have travelled through heat and cold for forty-five years. In thirty years I have crossed the Alleghany Mountains fifty-eight times. I have often slept in the woods without necessary food or raiment. In the Southern States I have waded swamps and led my horse for miles, where I took cold that brought on the diseases which are now preying on my system and must soon terminate in death. But my mind is still the same—that it is through the merits of Christ I am to be saved.”
Rom_4:24-25. The roll-call.—In a hospital at Scutari during the Crimean war a soldier lay dying; he had lain there, watched by his nurses for many a long hour, apparently unconscious. On a sudden he rose up in his bed, and with a voice which startled them all—so strong it was—he shouted, “Yes, I am here!” They laid him back upon his bed exhausted and breathless with the effort, gently soothed him, and asked him what he was doing. “Oh! “he said,” I heard the roll-call of my regiment after the battle, and I was answering to my name.” Jesus Christ was delivered for our offences and raised again for our justification. His resurrection is the pledge of that of all believers. The great roll-call will be given at the final day. The redeemed will pass to the home of endless rest and peace.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv16–21 16. “There it is by faith, in order that…
16. “There it is by faith, in order that it may be by grace, that the promise may be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” “Seed” here means all truly elect in Christ, i. e., all who will be saved by the atonement in all ages. You see that faith and grace are counterparts of the same plan of salvation, i. e., the antithetical hemispheres of the same glorious globe of human redemption. Hence, like Siamese twins, they must live and die together. Hence you see legalism nullifies the grace of God and slights the whole scheme of redemption. If salvation had been by works, the thief on the cross might have been left out. Millions of people die out of reach of interceding priests and water baptism; yet they are not beyond the reach of God’s redeeming grace. The elect of God are, in all nations and ages, indiscriminately dispersed in all the earth. Grace reaches every one of them utterly independent of human instrumentality. God can use anything or nothing in the salvation of souls. Faith is the human side of the glorious plan, and grace the divine side. The former is coexistent with humanity and the latter with God. Hence the silly pusillanimity of laying a human embargo on the divine prerogative.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv16–21 For this cause it is of faith, that it…
For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v17 The Scriptural proof:
The Scriptural proof:
v. 17. (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before Him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
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v. 18. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
v. 19. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb;
v. 20. he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,
v. 21. and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also to perform.
v. 22. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
That Abraham is the father of all believers is in agreement with Scripture, Gen 17:5. Not only according to the inspired exposition of Paul, but also according to the evident understanding of the original text, the passage referred to must be understood of spiritual posterity. Now, in the time of the New Testament, Abraham is set as the father of many nations, of all the believers, of whatever race or nationality they may be. Before God, who had appeared to him, and before whom Abraham stood as the father of many nations, he also believed; his entire life, lived before the omniscient eye of God, was a life of faith. And this God possessed such attributes as would enable Him to fulfill His promise. He quickens the dead, He makes them alive; He calls that which is not as though it were. The conversion of the many nations to be the spiritual children of Abraham was a true raising from the dead, Eph 2:4 ff. ; Col 2:13. And God calls that which does not exist as being, Isa 48:13; Isa 41:4; Eph 2:10; the conversion of the heathen is an act of the creative power of God. Thus Abraham, although without children, stood before God and was declared by God to be the father of many nations; and the God who quickens the dead and calls into being that which before did not exist will in due time awaken the heathen world, at present dead in trespasses and sins, to a new spiritual life and call the children of Abraham into being by His powerful, creative Word. And this was the content and object of Abraham’s faith: he believed the Lord, he trusted in His promises, also to the degree in which they were later fulfilled. This faith of Abraham is now described more exactly. He against hope believed in hope. So far as nature was concerned, his faith was contrary to hope; and pet it rested on hope, confidently believing that God could do in his case what nature could not. So he maintained his trust against all human hope and reasonable expectation, in order that he might become a father of many nations. That was the end and aim of God with reference to the faith of Abraham, in itself His work, that people of many nations should follow in the footsteps of Abraham and thereby become the children of Abraham. For the patriarch trusted firmly in the word of the Lord: So shall thy seed be, Gen 17:6; Gen 15:5. That is the characteristic of faith at all times, that against hope it believes in hope, that against nature and apparently against reason it relies simply upon the Word of the Lord. There follows a further statement concerning the faith of Abraham in its practical proof. He was not weak in faith and therefore did not consider, did not take note of, his own body, which was long past the age for the begetting of children, since he was now about one hundred years old; neither did he consider the barrenness of Sarah, now long past the age for bearing children, since she was ninety years old. These circumstances, these physical hindrances, Abraham did not consider, he did not permit them to have weight and to influence him, he did not fix his mind on the apparent difficulties of the case as it presented itself to him. See Gen 17:1-27. He put the thought of his own physical condition and that of his wife entirely aside, and did not let nature, reason, feeling, perception, affect and weaken his faith. Rather, on the contrary, he, so far as the promise of God was concerned, did not doubt through unbelief, though there was an inward conflict with doubt in his mind, Gen 17:17. But he became strong in faith with reference to the promise of God. Because, like all true believers, he directed his attention altogether and alone upon the promise of God and not upon reasonable understanding and explanation, therefore he was strengthened; he strengthened himself by the steadfast gaze of faith, thus also giving all glory to God. Unbelief robs God of His glory, but faith with its absolute, simple trust in the Word of God and in His almighty power thereby gives to the Lord the worshipful appreciation which is due to Him at all times That is the characteristic of saving faith even today. The believer trusts God and knows that He will, in spite of all lack of merit and worthiness on the sinner’s part, give him what He has promised him in and through Christ: righteousness, life, salvation; and this faith redounds to the praise and honor of God. Thus Abraham was fully persuaded, altogether assured, that God is able to do what He has promised. He knew that the truth of God bound Him to fulfill His promise, and that His power enabled Him to do it. And for that reason His believing was imputed unto him for righteousness; for that reason God was graciously pleased to place his faith to his account for righteousness. Faith was not the ground, but the condition of his justification, "just as now we believe, and are accepted as righteous, not on account of any merit in our faith, but simply on the ground of the righteousness of Christ, which is imputed to us when we believe" (Hodge).
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv16, 18, 20 For this reason
For this reason
"So"
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it is by faith
The word "it" refers to receiving what God had promised. AT: "it is by faith that we receive the promise" or "we receive the promise by faith"
in order that the promise may rest on grace
Here "the promise may rest on grace" represents God giving what he promised because of his grace. AT: "so that what he promised might be a free gift" or "so that his promise would be because of his grace" (See: Metaphor)
be guaranteed to all of Abraham's descendants
This can be stated in active form. AT: "all of Abraham's descendants might certainly receive what God has promised to give" (See: Active or Passive)
those who are under the law
This refers to the Jewish people, who were obligated to obey the law of Moses.
those who share the faith of Abraham
This refers to those who have faith as Abraham did before he was circumcised. AT: "those who believe as Abraham did"
father of us all
Here the word "us" refers to Paul and includes all Jewish and non-Jewish believers in Christ. Abraham is the physical ancestor of the Jewish people, but he is also the spiritual father of those who have faith. (See: Inclusive "We")
as it is written
Where it is written can be made explicit. You can also translate this in an active form. AT: "as someone has written in the Scriptures" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Active or Passive)
I have made you
Here the word "you" is singular and refers to Abraham. (See: Forms of You)
Abraham was in the presence of him whom he trusted, that is, God, who gives life to the dead
Here "of him whom he trusted" refers to God. AT: "Abraham was in the presence of God whom he trusted, who gives life to those who have died" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
calls the things that do not exist into existence
"created everything from nothing"
translationWords
faith
grace
promise
descend
law
written
nation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v16 4:16 whether or not we live according to the…
4:16 whether or not we live according to the law of Moses (literally not only those who are of the law): The Jews were of the law in that their covenant with God included the law of Moses and they were to live according to it.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.