Down an Unfamiliar Road

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson III)

Early church scholar Origen has this commentary on our access to grace: “How we have access to grace through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior Himself tells us ‘I am the door,’¹ and ‘No one comes to the Father except by me.’² … This door is the truth, and hypocrites cannot enter in by the door of truth. Again, this door is righteousness, and the unrighteous cannot enter in by it. The Door Himself says: ‘Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.’³ So neither the ill-natured nor the proud can enter in by the door of humility and gentleness. Therefore, anyone who wants to have access to the grace of God which according to the word of the Apostle comes through our Lord Jesus Christ and in which Paul and those like him claim to stand.”

Origen goes on to say: “Why does Paul talk about the hope of glory and not just about the glory itself? After all, Moses saw the glory of God, and so did the people of Israel when God’s house was built. But this glory, which was visible, the Apostle Paul dared to claim would pass away… whereas the hope here is of a glory which will never pass away. It is the glory mentioned in Hebrews in connection with Christ: ‘He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature.’⁴”⁵

I like what Basil the Great had to say about dealing with our troubles: “For those who are well prepared, tribulations are like certain foods and exercises for athletes which lead the contestant on to the inheritance of glory. When we are reviled, we bless; maligned, we entreat; ill-treated, we give thanks; afflicted, we glory in our afflictions.”⁶ And Pelagius adds his encouragement: “We glory not only in the hope of glory but also in sufferings which are most beneficial, being mindful of the greatness of the reward.⁷ We should desire to suffer something for the Lord’s name so that when sufferings come to an end we may obtain an eternal reward for them. For when we consider the reward, we cannot possibly begrudge the effort needed to be worthy of the reward.”⁸

John Calvin observes: “Rightly then does Paul set before our eyes in Christ a sure pledge of God’s favor, that he might more easily draw us away from every confidence in works. And as he teaches us by the word ‘access’, that salvation begins with Christ, he excludes those preparations by which foolish men imagine that they can anticipate God’s mercy.”⁹ Calvin then goes on to say: “The reason that the hope of a future life exists and dares to exult, is this, — because we rest on God’s favor as on a sure foundation.”¹⁰ And it is this sure foundation that allows the believer to meet tribulations with a smile. In Calvin’s mind, this does not mean that believers go out in search of persecution. Rather, “They regard that whatever they bear is dispensed to them for good by the hand of a most indulgent Father, they are justly said to glory: for whenever salvation is promoted, there is every reason for glorying.”¹¹

John Bengel says here that Paul is contrasting the past with the present. Justification is access to grace; peace is the state of continuance in grace, which removes the hostility between man and God. That’s why Paul in his salutations usually joins grace and peace in his greeting. That’s because believers now have a standing with God and so they can rejoice in the hope that they will share in God’s glory.¹²

Adam Clarke sees this: “We are not only indebted to our Lord Jesus Christ for the free and full pardon which we have received, but our continuance in a justified state depends upon His gracious influence in our hearts, and His intercession before the throne of God… It was only through Christ that we could at first approach God; and it is only through Him that the privilege is continued to us. And this access to God, or introduction to the Divine presence, is to be considered as a lasting privilege… But we glory in tribulations also – All the sufferings we endure for the testimony of our Lord are so sanctified to us by His grace, that they become powerful instruments of increasing our happiness.”¹³

Robert Haldane explains how believers have access to grace as well as peace: “The one is distinguished from the other. In what, then, do they differ? Peace denotes a particular blessing. Grace implies general blessings, among which peace and all other privileges are included. And as they are justified by means of faith, and have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, so likewise it is through Him that they enter into this state of grace; for it is through Him they have access by one Spirit to the Father, by that new and living way which He has consecrated for them through the veil;¹⁴ that is to say, His flesh. They have access to a mercyseat, to which they are invited to come freely; and boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Jesus — boldness to come to the throne of grace, and enter into the holiest by His blood. And as it is by Him they enter into this state of grace, so by Him they stand in it, accepted before God;¹⁵ secured, according to His everlasting covenant, that they shall not be cast down; but that they are fixed in this state of perfect acceptance, conferred by sovereign grace, brought into it by unchangeable love, and kept in it by the power of a faithful God. ‘They shall be My people, and I will be their God.’ ‘I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from Me.’¹⁶”¹⁷

Albert Barnes talks about the hope and glory of God we have access to by faith in His grace that causes us to rejoice. He writes: “Hope is a complex emotion made up of a desire for an object; and an expectation of obtaining it. Where either of these is lacking, there is no hope. Where they are mingled in improper proportions, there is no peace. But where the desire of obtaining an object is accompanied with an expectation of obtaining it, in proportion to that desire, there exists that peaceful, happy state of mind which we call hope And the Apostle here implies that the Christian has an earnest desire for that glory; and that he has a confident expectation of obtaining it… The word “glory” usually means splendor, magnificence, honor; and the Apostle here refers to that honor and dignity which will be conferred on the redeemed when they are raised up to the full honors of redemption; when they shall triumph in the completion of the work: and be freed from sin, and pain, and tears, and permitted to participate in the full splendors that shall encompass the throne of God in the heavens.”¹⁸

Charles Hodge gives his exegesis on this access we have to God. He writes: “This verse has been given different interpretations. According to one view, it introduces a new and higher benefit than peace with God, as the consequence of our justification: ‘We not only have peace, but access (to God), and joyful confidence of salvation.’ Besides other objections to this interpretation, it overlooks the difference between ‘we have’ and ‘we have had,’ rendering both, ‘we have’: ‘We have peace,’ and ‘we have had’ access. This clause, therefore, instead of indicating an additional and higher blessing than the peace spoken of in verse 1, expresses the basis for that peace: ‘We have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom also we have had access into this grace.’”¹⁹ He continues to say that considering distress and persecution for Christ’s sake is not irrational or fanatical. He writes: “Christians do not glory in suffering, as such, or for its own sake, but as the Bible teaches: 1. Because they consider it an honor to suffer for Christ. 2. Because they rejoice in being the occasion of manifesting his power in their support and deliverance; and, 3. Because suffering is made the means of their own sanctification and preparation for usefulness here, and for heaven hereafter.”²⁰

Charles Spurgeon wonders if this first verse does not say it all. He answers: “Oh, no! there is more to follow. When you get a hold of one golden link of the blessed chain of grace, it pulls up another, and then another, and then another: ‘By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.’ We are not only at peace with God, but we are permitted to draw near to Him, we have access to Him, we have access to His favor, to His grace. We may come to God when we will; for He is reconciled to us, and we are reconciled to Him, so we may now think of Him with joy and gladness.”²¹

Spurgeon goes on to say: “This is a golden staircase, justification brings peace, and peace brings access into this grace wherein we are established; and then comes the joy of hope, and that hope fixes its eye on nothing less than the glory of God. Grace is the stepping-stone to glory; and they who are justified by faith shall in due time be glorified by love. So we ascend this golden ladder, from faith to peace, from peace to access with God, and from this to joy by the way of hope. Happy people, who know this blessed way of climbing out of the sorrows of the present into the glory that shall be revealed!”²²

Jewish writer David Stern makes this point: “Let us continue to have shalom (peace, integrity, wholeness, health) with God. The textual evidence favors this reading, but some manuscripts read, ‘We have’ [or: ‘We continue to have’] shalom with God. This descriptive statement is true, but the exhortation fits the context better; for v. 2 exhorts us to boast about the hope of experiencing God’s glory (instead of coming short of it,²³ when we are resurrected. Boasting about oneself²⁴ is excluded;²⁵ the proper content of boasting is God’s work through Yeshua the Messiah.²⁶”²⁷ In other words, seeing all that God went through and all that Christ endured to bring us this peace through grace, let us focus our praise on them instead of bragging about ourselves.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson II)

American theologian Barnes goes on to say that the effect of this plan when the sinner embraces it, it is to produce peace in his own mind. He experiences peace; peace which the world cannot give, and which the world cannot take away.¹ Usually, in the work of conversion to God, this peace is the first evidence that is felt through a change of heart. Before, the sinner was agitated and troubled. But suddenly, peace and calmness are felt, which was before unknown. The alarm subsides; the heart is calm; the fears die away, like the waves of the ocean after a storm. A sweet tranquility visits the heart – a pure shining light, like the sunbeams that break through the opening clouds after a tempest. The views, the feelings, the desires are changed; and the bosom that was just before filled with agitation and alarm, that regarded God as its enemy, is now at peace with Him.²

Henry Alford states: “The whole passage is declaring the consequences that flow from justification by faith, and does not exhort, but asserts. Nor, would it seem, does the place for exhortation arrive until these consequences have been in the fullest and freest manner realized, – indeed so fully and freely. Being, therefore, justified (‘having been justified:’—it is a past act to the Christian, not like sanctification, an abiding and increasing work) by (as the ground of) faith, let us (believers in Christ) have peace (‘reconciliation;’ the opposite of anger, see Romans 5:9) with (‘in regard to,’) God through (by means of) our Lord Jesus Christ. With regard to the nature of this peace, it is equal to a state of reconciliation, ‘no more condemnation,’ per Romans 8:1.”³

And Charles Hodge shares his understanding: “Paul says this peace is the result of justification by faith. He who relies on his works for justification can have no peace. He can neither remove the displeasure of God nor quiet the apprehension of punishment. Peace is not the result of mere gratuitous forgiveness, but of justification, of a reconciliation founded upon atonement. The enlightened conscience is never satisfied until it sees that God can be just in justifying the ungodly; that sin has been punished, the justice of God satisfied, His law honored and vindicated. It is when he thus sees justice and mercy embracing each other, that the believer has that peace which passes all understanding;⁴ that sweet quiet of the soul in which deep humility, in view of personal unworthiness, is mingled with the warmest gratitude to that Savior by whose blood God’s justice has been satisfied, and conscience appeased. Hence Paul says we have this peace through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is not through ourselves in any way, neither by our own merit nor our own efforts. It is all of grace. It is all through Jesus Christ.”⁵

Preacher Charles Spurgeon said: “It is a matter of present possession and present enjoyment. Whatever tribulation there may be in the world, ‘we have peace with God.’ Blessed be God for that glorious fact! We may not have peace with all men, though we would seek to have that; but “we have peace with God.”⁶ Then Frederic Godet adds: “The meaning of Rom 5:1 is as follows: Since, then, we have obtained by means of faith our sentence of justification from God, we find ourselves transferred relatively to Him into a state of peace, which henceforth displaces in our minds the fear of wrath.”⁷

Then Charles Ellicott puts it this way: “This opening has a wonderful beauty which centers on the Christian idea of peace. After all the gloomy retrospect which fills the preceding chapters, the clouds break, and light steals gently over the scene. Nor is it merely the subsidence of storm, but an ardent and eager hope that now awakens, and looks forward to a glorious future.”⁸ Ellicott goes on to say that peace is the state of reconciliation with God, with all that blissful sense of composure and harmony which flows from such a condition. ‘Peace’ is the extraordinary legacy bequeathed by Jesus to His disciples;⁹ it is also the word used, with profound significance, after miracles of healing, accompanied with forgiveness.¹⁰

Jewish commentator David Stern offers this on peace with God: “Let us continue to have shalom (peace, integrity, wholeness, health) with God. The textual evidence favors this reading, but some manuscripts read, ‘We have [or: “We continue to have”] shalom with God.’ This descriptive statement is true, but the exhortation fits the context better; for v. 2 exhorts us to boast about the hope of experiencing God’s glory (instead of coming short of it, 3:23) when we are resurrected, and v. 3 exhorts us to boast in our present troubles (see 8:18), because by a roundabout route (verses 3– 4) they lead to the same hope as in v. 2. Boasting about oneself (1:22, 2:17–21) is excluded (3:27, 4:2); the proper content of boasting is God’s work through Yeshua the Messiah.¹¹”¹²

Verses 2-3a: Through our faith, Christ has brought us into that blessing of God’s grace that we now enjoy. And we are very happy because of the hope we have of sharing God’s exultation. And we are also happy with the troubles we have.

Paul extends the motif where faith now opens the door for us to receive God’s grace. This means that something no person deserves nor can they provide on their own is given to them out of the generosity of God’s heart. Does this mean that God feels sorry for the sinner and bends the rules to accommodate their shortcomings? No! It means that His Son paid a great price to redeem those who were enslaved in sin. So, when they come to Him for salvation His plea to God on their behalf is answered with a “Yes.” All because of God’s love for His Son and what His Son was willing to do for sinners.

Paul shared this truth with the Ephesians: “Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father by one Spirit.”¹³ He goes on to tell them: “In Christ, we come before God with freedom and without fear. We can do this because of our faith in Christ.”¹⁴ And the writer of Hebrews paints us a beautiful picture to appreciate: “And so, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place. We can do this without fear because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. We enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way that leads through the curtain – Christ’s body.”¹⁵ So it is clear, there is no other Spirit that can guide us and no other way to receive God’s forgiveness through grace than by way of Jesus Christ.

This grace and peace that comes from God through Jesus Christ to our hearts and minds are not given in passing to be used and then disposed of. Paul points this out to the Galatians: “We have freedom now because Christ made us free. So stand strong in that freedom. Don’t go back into slavery again.”¹⁶ Then he tells the Corinthians: “Now, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember the Good News I told you. You received that Good News message, and you continue to base your life on it.”¹⁷ And to the Ephesians, he says: “You need to get God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil, you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.”¹⁸

Then Paul says that all of this will bring us joy. In my book: Transforming Love, I define “joy” as “Love that is Excited.”¹⁹ We see this in the patriarch Job’s expression of hope and faith while he is going through the trial of his life. He exclaimed: “I know that there is someone to defend me and that He lives! And in the end, He will stand here on earth and defend me.”²⁰ And David sang about this: “So my heart and soul will be very happy. Even my body will live in safety because you will not leave me in the place of death.”²¹ And he expressed his gratitude for that blessed assurance in his prayer: “I have done only what is right so I will see your face. And seeing you, I will be fully satisfied.”²²

That future hope of joy in God’s glory should produce joy in the present. The possibility for us to experience joy while going through trials and tribulations does not result merely from going through these difficulties for Christ’s sake. Rather, we do so with the assurance that we go through such hardships knowing that one day we will stand and rejoice in God’s glory because He will alleviate any future suffering for all eternity. That may be hard for some to accept because it does not give instant relief to present pain and grief. So look at it this way: any woman who has gone through rigorous exercise and dieting knows the joy that comes when she goes from dress size 12 to 6. Any man who has gone through the same thing knows the proud moment when he buys a size 32 belt to replace the size 44 he’s been using for years. In fact, they both can now see what shoes they’re wearing! Was it worth it? Just ask them. The same goes for when we all get to heaven. Find someone up there who suffered greatly because of their faith in Christ and ask them if they think it was worth it.

Then Paul takes a cue from the Psalmist Asaph who in his song of praise says: “You lead me and give me good advice, and later you will lead me to glory.”²³ And the Apostle Paul lays this out for the believers in Corinth: “The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And our faces are not covered. We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like Him. This change in us brings more and more glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”²⁴ So rather than living for Christ being seen through the eyes of the law as a burden that we cannot carry, it should be viewed as a celebration of freedom because Christ bore that burden and that leads to rejoicing in the Lord day after day after day.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FIVE (Lesson I) 

Verse 1: Having been made right with God because of our faith, we now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul leaves no doubt that reconciliation with God can only be achieved through faith. No matter how good a person may claim to be, they can never do more with their good works, than what Christ Jesus did on the cross. Paul knew that the Scriptures said: “Look at the proud: inwardly he is not living right, but those who do live right will attain life through trusting faithfulness.”¹ Jesus also made it clear that faith must be activated: “Yes, indeed! I tell you that whoever hears what I am saying and trusts the One who sent me has eternal life.”² So it is no surprise that Paul went out on his missionary journey with this message: “Brothers, understand what we are telling you. You can have forgiveness of your sins through this Jesus. The Law of Moses can not free you from your sins. But you can be made right with God if you believe in Jesus.”³

This opening verse provides a connection between what the Apostle Paul said in the first four chapters and what he will present in these next three chapters. The knowledge of having such a secure faith in a faithful Savior becomes the basis for peace in one’s heart that all is well with their soul. But peace is more than a feeling, it is the opposite of enmity. When peace is negotiated between warring nations of this world, it is merely an agreement to cease hostilities and curtail the fighting. It separates enemies by way of mutual consent in order to harness their aggression. It establishes a “no man’s land” to keep them apart. In some communities, contentious residents attempt to establish peace with a neighbor by building a fence, or simply ignoring them, leaving them alone and not speaking to them. But the peace that God gives encompasses us, but most of all fills us. His love also draws us to Him in harmony; not separating us to maintain order. In my book on Transforming Love, I describe peace as, “Love that is Secure.”⁴

We don’t have to fight for God’s peace; it is ours through Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace. In other words, the peace that Christ came to give all who believe, does not keep individuals boxed up and stacked neatly side by side to make things look orderly. Rather, He came to free us from those boxes designed to keep our anger, hate, and enmity in check. We are made a new creation where our spiritual nature is now ruled by the One who sits on the throne of our heart. Paul described it to the believers in Philippi this way: “Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.”⁵ Therefore, peace is the result of faith. It is more than just agreeing to certain rules that hold’s off God’s judgment, it is trusting those rules God’s issued by living in obedience to what He says we should do.⁶

Several early church scholars give their views on what Paul is teaching here. Ambrosiaster shares his thoughts: “Faith gives us peace with God, not the law. For it reconciles us to God by taking away those sins which had made us God’s enemies. And because the Lord Jesus is the minister of this grace, it is through Him that we have peace with God. Faith is greater than the law because the law is our doing, whereas faith belongs to God. Furthermore, the law is concerned with our present life, whereas faith is concerned with eternal life. But whoever does not think this way about Christ, as he ought to, will not be able to obtain the rewards of faith, because he does not hold the truth in faith.”⁷

Then, early church pulpiteer Chrysostom preaches: “What does it mean to have peace? Some say that it means we should not fall out with one another because of disagreements over the law. But it seems to me that he is speaking much more about our current behavior.… Paul means here that we should stop sinning and not go back to the way we used to live, for that is to make war with God. How is this possible? Paul says that not only is it possible, it is also reasonable. For if God reconciled us to Himself when we were in open warfare with Him, it is surely reasonable that we should be able to remain in a state of reconciliation.”⁸

Early church scholar Pelagius states: “Paul has discussed the point that nobody is justified by works, but all are justified by faith, and he has proven this by the example of Abraham, of whom the Jews claim to be the only children. He has also explained why neither race nor circumcision makes people children of Abraham but only faith because Abraham was initially justified by faith alone. Now, having concluded this argument, Paul urges both Jews and Gentiles to live at peace, because no one is saved by his own merit, but everyone is saved in the same way, by God’s grace.”⁹

Bishop Theodoret of Cyr follows with this: “Faith has given you forgiveness of sins and made you spotless and righteous by the washing of regeneration. Therefore, you ought to keep the peace by which you have been united with God. For when you were still enemies, the only begotten Son of God reconciled you by taking on human flesh and putting sin to death in it.”¹⁰ However, Origen sees this from a different perspective: “If you ask me how a righteous man can have peace when he is attacked by the devil, who conquers his wars of temptation, I would say that such a man has greater peace than anyone else.… For the Apostle says that we have peace with God knowing full well that war against the devil is a guarantee of peace with God. We shall have even greater peace with God if we continue our active hostility toward the devil and fight against the vices of the flesh. For the Apostle James says: ‘Resist the devil and he will flee from you; draw near to God and he will draw near to you.’¹¹ You see that James too felt that he was getting closer to God by resisting the devil.”¹²

Reformer John Calvin comments on the peace a believer finds in God through reconciliation. He writes: “Peace means tranquility of conscience, which arises from this, — that it feels itself to be reconciled to God… Peace with God is opposed to the dead security of the flesh, and for this reason, — because the first thing is, that everyone should become awakened as to the account he must render of his life; and no one can stand boldly before God, but he who relies reconciliation by grace; for as long as He is God, all must otherwise tremble in awe [of Him]. And this is the strongest of proofs, that our opponents do nothing with their meaningless idle-talk when they ascribe righteousness to works; for this conclusion of Paul is derived from this fact, — that miserable souls always tremble, except they repose on the grace of Christ.”¹³

John Bengel says that the term “being justified by faith,” sums up what precedes in Chapter 4. He points to justification as mentioned in 4:25. Therefore, Paul can go on to say we now have peace and rejoice because we are no longer fear His wrath, 5:9, because we are no longer enemies of God, 5:10. Bengel says this is the principal topic of chapters 5-8. Bengel also points out that Paul frequently joins peace with grace, because God by grace embraces us in peace.¹⁴

Revivalist Adam Clarke has a similar view: “Before, while sinners, we were in a state of enmity with God, which was sufficiently proved by our rebellion against his authority, and our transgression of his laws; but now, being reconciled, we have peace with God. Before, while under a sense of the guilt of sin, we had nothing but terror and dismay in our own consciences; now, having our sin forgiven, we have peace in our hearts, feeling that all our guilt is taken away. Peace is generally the first-fruits of our justification.”¹⁵

Robert Haldane speaks to the phrase, “justified by faith.” He states: “This expression is concise; faith must be understood as inclusive of its object. This is very usual in all cases where the thing difficultly expressed is frequently spoken of, and therefore sufficiently explained by the precise expression. It is not by faith, abstractly considered, that we are justified, nor even by faith in everything that God reveals. It is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even this phrase itself, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, is still cryptic and supposes the knowledge of what is to be believed with respect to Christ. It is not believing in His existence, but believing on Him as revealed in the Scriptures, in His person and work. In the same manner, as we have the phrase, ‘justified by faith,’ we have the phrase, justified by the blood of Christ. As, in the former case, faith implies its object, so, in the latter, it is implied that we are justified by faith in the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ justifies by being the object of belief and of trust.”¹⁶ In other words, faith must have an object, and that object must have the solution for that which is believed in or hoped for.

Albert Barnes notes that the sinner regards God as his enemy. He trembles when he thinks of His Law; fears His judgments; is alarmed when he thinks of hell. His bosom is a stranger to peace. This has been felt in all lands, alike under the thunders of the Law of Sinai among the Jews; in the pagan world; and in lands where the gospel is preached. It is the effect of an alarmed and troubled conscience. However, the plan of salvation by Christ reveals God as willing to be reconciled. He is ready to pardon and to be at peace. If the sinner repents and believes, God can now consistently forgive him, and admit him to favor. It is, therefore, a plan by which the mind of God and of the sinner can become reconciled, or united in feeling and in purpose. The obstacles on the part of God to reconciliation, arising from His justice and Law, have been removed, and He is now willing to make peace. The obstacles on the part of the sinner, arising from his sin, his rebellion, and his conscious guilt, may be taken away, and he can now regard God as his friend.¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FOUR

The Apostle Paul was looking for someone that both the Jews and Gentiles respected, to show how getting right with God does not come by way of performing certain good works or participating in certain rites or rituals. In considering the justification of Abraham, Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 where it is stated that Abraham’s faith was accounted to him for righteousness (1-3). Abraham trusted in God, not in his own works, and through such faith experienced the justice (forgiveness) expressed by David in Psalms 31:1,2 (4-8).

To demonstrate further that God’s righteousness by faith is offered to both Jew and Gentile, Paul continues to us Abraham as an example. He reminds them that Abraham’s faith was accounted for righteousness before receiving circumcision, which was in itself a seal of the righteousness of the faith, and prior to the giving of the Law which Jews pointed to as the basis for their righteousness. Thus, before there were Israelites and Jews before the Ten Commandments were given, Abraham, who came from the land of Chaldea, was chosen to be the spiritual father of all who believe, whether circumcised or not.

More than once Paul reminds them that the promise that Abraham was to be “a father of many nations” was given in response to his faith, not through some law. God did this so that the promise of all who believe becoming the children of God would be according to grace and sure to those who have the same kind of faith as Abraham.

Finally, having illustrated that by the nature of Abraham’s obedient faith, he assured both the Jews and the Gentiles in the Church at Rome that those who have the same kind faith in God who raised Jesus will find their faith accounted to them for righteousness in the same way.

So as the lesson ended we conclude this summary. It would be hard for anyone to say that such a plan for the redemption, calling, justification, salvation, and glorification of sinful mankind from being slaves of the devil into becoming children of God could ever exist in man’s imagination. It makes no sense when sifted through human logic. And why the eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God of the universe would pick out a speck of dust in His universe called Earth, and populate it with a new species apart from the angels and heavenly beings that already existed just so that He could show His virtues of love, grace, and mercy, is above and beyond all mankind’s creative thinking. But that was on purpose. God did not want us to accept His plan because it made sense to us, but because it would require faith in His message that it was the only way people could live forever with Him, His Son, and His Spirit in heavenly places. May He increase our faith to trust Him more and believe that what He says is valid for eternity and will surely come to pass.

WE WILL BEGIN CHAPTER FIVE, LESSON ONE, WEDNESDAY, JULY 5TH

Hope and pray you will continue this study with us.

There are many phrases we hear and use without giving them a second thought. But when we do, we wonder if it really makes sense. For instance: Why do we call a building full of many living quarters, apartments, when they’re really not apart at all, they’re all stuck together? Or why does a container full of sour cream have an expiration date? Will it get any sourer? And, when we say the lights went out, where did they go, and when will they be back?¹

But there are other ways we can say things that do not compute. For instance, how can you be absolutely uncertain about something? Then there is one I saw in a furniture ad, “Genuine imitation leather.” Is there such a thing as a bankrupt millionaire? And what does the weatherman mean when he reports calm winds? Or a farmer stated that he found dead livestock? Then there’s one we hear so often on TV, equal opportunity. How can it be equal when it is based on race, gender, or ethnicity?

The point: many times we don’t think about what we are saying and how cluttered with oxymorons our conversation has become. But there is one thing we all need to make sure is accurate and unequivocal, that is when we say, I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and my neighbor as myself. If you’re not sure, don’t say it. But if it’s what you desire to do out of love for your Savior, then try to do your best every day. – Dr. Robert R Seyda

ADULTS CAN BE BABYS TOO

Sometimes the soft and trusting heart of a baby can teach us whose hearts have become calloused over time a lesson on unconditional love. I read this in a story told by a mother, I hope it will touch your heart too.

She told how she and her husband were the only ones with a child in a downtown restaurant. She said: “I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly seated and talking. Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee. He began pounding his fat baby hands on the high chair tray. His eyes we crinkled in laughter, and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin as he wriggled and giggled with merriment.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was an old man whose pants were tattered and soiled, wearing shoes so worn-out that his toes poked out the holes. His shirt was dirty, and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His whiskers were too short to be called a beard, and the veins in his nose made it look a road map.

We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he reeked with body odor. His hands were flapping at my little Erik with loose wrists, as he called out. ‘Hi there, baby; Hi there, big boy. I see ya, kid.’ My husband and I exchanged looks, ‘What do we do?’ Erik continued to laugh and answer while grinning from ear to ear. Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby boy.

As our meal arrived the man began shouting from across the room, ‘Can you play patty cake?’ and then started to play peek-a-boo behind a menu. When Erik giggled, the old tramp said with joy, ‘Hey, look, he knows how to play peek-a-boo.’ Nobody thought the old man was being cute. He appeared to be drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence but not Erik, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with admiring comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the car. The old man sat poised between me and the door. I prayed, ‘Lord, just let me out of here before he notices.’ As I drew closer to where the man was sitting, I turned my back, trying to get past him and avoid any contact. As I did, little Erik leaned over my arm, reaching out with both arms in a baby’s ‘pick-me-up’ gesture. Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the old man’s arms. Suddenly, a very smelly old man and a baby expressed their love and kinship. Erik, in an act of total trust, love, and submission, laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder. The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor cradled my baby. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood, awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms and his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, ‘You take care of this baby.’ Somehow I managed to mumble, ‘I will,’ in a cracked voice filled with embarrassment. He lovingly pried Erik from his chest as though he were in pain, and handed him back to me.

I grabbed my baby, and the old man whispered, ‘God bless you, ma’am; you’ve given me my Christmas gift.’ I said nothing more than a muttered thanks. With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding Erik so tight, and why I was sobbing, ‘My God, my God, forgive me.’ I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment. The child saw a soul, and his mother saw a man dressed in crumpled clothes. I was a Christian who was blind holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking, ‘Are you willing to share your son for a moment?’ when He shared His for all eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, ‘Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.’¹”

This moving true story should remind all of us that because of God’s grace and mercy we are able to love people in a special way. As someone once said: “To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” That’s what separates Christians from the rest of the world. But for all of us, the question is, does that describe me? – Dr. Robert R Seyda

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R Seyda

BOOK OF ROMANS

Chapter 4 (Lesson XVIII)

Scottish theologian Robert Haldane has quite a bit to say about this marvelous act of Christ in suffering for our sins, and God’s miraculous act of raising Him from the dead: “The Father gave over the Son to death, delivering Him into the hands of wicked men. Here we must look to a higher tribunal than that of Pilate, who delivered Him into the hands of the Jews. He was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. When Herod, Pilate, and the Gentiles, with the people of Israel, were gathered together against Him, it was to do whatsoever God’s Word and counsel had determined before to be done.¹ The crucifixion of Christ being the greatest of all crimes, was hateful and highly provoking in the sight of God; yet it was the will of God that it should take place, to bring to pass the greatest good. God decreed this event; He willed that it should come to pass, and ordered circumstances, under His guardianship, in such a way that it gave men an opportunity to carry out their wicked intentions.”

Then Haldane makes this point: “God had no part in their sin; and His determination that the deed should be done, formed no excuse for its perpetrators, nor did it in any degree extenuate their wickedness, which the Scriptures indicts them to the fullest manner: ‘Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.’² This was an example of the same truth declared by Joseph to his brethren, ‘As for you, ye thought evil against me, but God meant it unto good.’³ For our offenses or on account of our offenses. — This shows the need of Christ’s death. It was not as an example, or merely as a witness, but for our offenses. Raised again for our justification. — That is, He was raised that He might enter the holy place not made with hands, and present His own blood, that we might be made righteous, through His death for us. As the death of Christ, according to the determinate counsel of a holy and righteous God, was a demonstration of the guilt of His people, so His resurrection was their acquittal from every charge.”

Haldane concludes with this: “Having substituted Himself in the place of sinners, Jesus Christ suffered in His own person the punishment of sin, conformable to that declaration, ‘In the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.’⁴ He came forth from among the dead, in testimony that what God demanded was accomplished, and as a pledge of the acceptance of His sacrifice, and that by His obedience unto death Divine justice was satisfied, the law honored and magnified, and eternal life awarded to those for whom He died, whose sins He had borne in His own body on the tree.⁵ He was quickened by the Spirit;⁶ by whom He was also justified,⁷ from every charge that could be alleged against Him as the Guarantor and Covenant-head of those whose iniquities He bore. The justification, therefore, of His people, which includes not only the pardon of their sins, but also their title to the eternal inheritance, was begun in His death, and perfected by His resurrection. He wrought their justification by His death, but its efficacy depended on His resurrection. By His death He paid their debt; in His resurrection He received their relationship. He arose to assure to them their right to eternal life, by fully discovering and establishing it in His own person, for all who are the members of His body.”⁸

Charles Ellicott also addresses this two-fold redemption: “The death of Christ is the proper cause of justification, or means of atonement, according to St. Paul; the resurrection of Christ is only the in-between or secondary cause of it. The atoning efficacy lay in His death, but the proof of that efficacy – the proof that it was really the Messiah who died – was to be seen in His Resurrection. The Resurrection, therefore, gave the greatest impulse to faith in the atoning efficacy of the death upon the cross, and in this way helped to bring about justification. ‘If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins’⁹ – i. e., you have no guarantee that your sins have really been remitted; if the death of Christ had not been followed by His resurrection, the inference would have followed that it was merely the death of an ordinary man, and without any special saving efficacy.”¹⁰

Professor F. F. Bruce has quite a bit to say about this tandem of justification and salvation: “Who was put to death for our trespasses. This may be a quotation from some primitive confession of faith; the language appears to be based on Isaiah 53. The verb put to death is literally ‘delivered up’ (paradidōmi), which occurs twice in the Septuagint version of that chapter: in Isaiah 53:6, ‘the LORD has delivered Him [the suffering Servant] up for our sins’ and Isaiah 53:12, ‘because of their sins He was delivered up.’ Elsewhere it is by the sacrificial death of Christ that His people are justified,¹¹ but His sacrificial death would not have been effective apart from the resurrection. The preposition ‘for’ in both clauses of this verse represents dia (‘because of’); Christ was ‘delivered up’ to atone for His people’s sins and raised to guarantee their justification. (We must not interpret the two clauses so woodenly as to suggest that His resurrection had nothing to do with the atonement for our sins and His death nothing to do with our justification.)¹²

Jewish theologian David Stern gives a summary on what he sees at the end of this chapter: “Here it constitutes the background for the conclusion of our passage, which says that we who have become followers of Yeshua have the same kind of resurrection faith as Abraham because we have trusted in Him who raised Yeshua our Lord from the dead (v. 24), just as Abraham ‘had concluded that God could even raise people from the dead’. That is why the words, ‘it was credited to his account…’ were not written only for him, but for us also, who will certainly have our account credited too (vv. 23–24). This is a radical statement, for it says that Abraham was not special. Whereas Jewish midrashim¹ attribute unique ability, holiness, and power to Abraham, enabling him to have trust far beyond what ordinary people can attain to, Paul insists that such trust is available to everyone. This is the Good News that through Yeshua the Messiah anyone can have the same close personal relationship with Almighty God that Abraham had! Indeed, many believers have received promises from God just as Abraham did and have seen God fulfill them. The content of our ‘hope’ (v. 18; 5:2, 4-5) is that because we have fully identified with Yeshua, who was delivered over to death because of our offences and was raised to life in order to make us righteous, we too will be resurrected to sinless, eternal life with God (6:5, 23; 8:23).”²

It would be hard for anyone to say that such a plan for the redemption, calling, justification, salvation, and glorification of sinful mankind from being slaves of the devil into becoming children of God could ever exist in man’s imagination. It makes no sense when sifted through human logic. And why the eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God of the universe would pick out a speck of dust in His universe called Earth, and populate it with a new species apart from the angels and heavenly beings that already existed, just so that He could show His virtues of love, grace, and mercy, is above and beyond all mankind’s creative thinking. But that was on purpose. God did not want us to accept His plan because it made sense to us, but because it would require faith in His message that it was the only way people could live forever with Him, His Son, and His Spirit in heavenly places. May He increase our faith to trust Him more and believe that what He says is true for eternity, and will come to pass.

The end of Chapter 4.

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R Seyda

BOOK OF ROMANS

Chapter 4 (Lesson XVII) 

John Calvin gives this advice on following Abraham’s example of faith: “If then we would make a right and proper use of sacred histories, we must remember so to use them as to draw from them sound doctrine. They instruct us, in some parts, how to frame our life; in others, how to strengthen faith; and then, how we are to be stirred up to serve the Lord. In forming our life, the example of the saints may be useful; and we may learn from them sobriety, chastity, love, patience, moderation, contempt of the world, and other virtues. What will serve to confirm faith is the help which God ever gave them, the protection which brought comfort in adversities, and the paternal care which He ever exercised over them. The judgments of God and the punishments inflicted on the wicked will also aid us, provided they fill us with that fear which imbues the heart with reverence and devotion.”¹

Wesleyan scholar Adam Clarke echoes this same theme: “The mention of this circumstance has a much more extensive design than merely to honor Abraham. It is recorded as the model, according to which God will save both Jews and Gentiles: indeed there can be no other way of salvation; as all have sinned, all must either be saved by faith through Christ Jesus or finally perish. If God, therefore, wills our salvation, it must be by faith; and faith contemplates His promise, and His promise comprehends the Son of His love.”²

Then Charles Hodge adds his insights to this: “Now, this was not written for Abraham’s sake alone, that it was imputed to him. The record concerning the faith and consequent justification of Abraham was not made with the simple intention of giving a correct history of that patriarch. It had a much higher purpose. Abraham was a representative person. What was true of him, was true of all others who stood in the same relationship with God. The method in which he was justified, is the method in which other sinners must be justified. That he was justified by faith, is recorded in the Scriptures to be a perpetual testimony as to the true method of justification before God.”³

Verse 25; Jesus was handed over to die for our sins, and He was raised from death to make us right with God.

Now Paul ties all of this together with Christ’s death on one end of the string and His resurrection on the other. His birth was a miracle, and His resurrection was a miracle. So why should believers have any doubt that there will be miracles in-between? This was no an invention of Paul, it’s roots lie anchored in the prophecy of Isaiah: “It was our suffering He took on Himself; He bore our pain. But we thought that God was punishing Him, that God was beating Him for something He did. But He was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of His bruises.”⁴

But Isaiah was not finished: “But the Lord was pleased with this humble Servant who suffered such pain. Even after giving Himself as an offering for sin, He will see His descendants and enjoy a long life. He will succeed in doing what the Lord wanted. After His suffering, He will be revived, and He will be satisfied with what He experienced… I will give Him the rewards of one who wins in battle, and He will share them with His powerful ones. I will do this because He gave His life for the people. He was considered a criminal, but the truth is, He carried away the sins of many. Now He will stand before Me and intercede for those who have sinned.”⁵

For Paul, Christ’s resurrection was an accomplished fact. It is something that happened and instituted by God as effective for everyone before they even hear about it. Therefore, it leaves them no option other than to accept or reject it as true. This led Paul to tell the Corinthians: “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless and powerless [mere delusion].”⁶ Then the writer of Hebrews tells his readers: “Christ, having offered the one sacrifice [the all-sufficient sacrifice of Himself] for sins for all time, sat down [signifying the completion of atonement for sin] at the right hand of God [the position of honor].”⁷

The author of Hebrews concludes with this: “For by the one offering He has perfected forever and completely cleansed those who are being sanctified [bringing each believer to spiritual completion and maturity].”⁸ In other words, what God started in Abraham and finished through His Son Jesus the Christ, will never be repeated, and there was no backup plan in case it didn’t work. It was one time for all time. So these Jewish believers in Rome should not try to offer amendments to God’s plan nor look for a way to improve it. It is what it is! So the choice is simple, accept it and become part of the promise, or reject it and try to survive on your own.

Early church scholar Origen writes this summary: “Paul says this in order to show that we ought to hate and reject the things for which Christ died. For if we believe that He was sacrificed for our sins, how can we not consider every sin to be alien and hostile to us, considering that our Lord was handed over to death because of it?… If we have risen together with Christ, who is our justification, and we now walk in newness of life and live according to righteousness, then Christ has risen for the purpose of our justification.”⁹

Origen then goes on to say that if a person has not yet cast off the old man with all his works but instead continues to live in unrighteousness, then, it is as if Christ never rose for their justification, nor was He ever sacrificed for their sins. To this Chrysostom adds the following: “After mentioning the cause of Christ’s death, Paul goes on to make the same cause a demonstration of the resurrection. For why was Christ crucified? Not for any sins of His own – and this is plain from the resurrection. For if Christ had been a sinner, how could He have risen from the dead? So if He did rise, it is clear that He was not a sinner.… Moreover, Christ did not die in order to make us liable to punishment and condemnation but in order to do good to us.”¹⁰

In other words, for those who do not accept Christ and believe in His death and resurrection, it is as if it never happened. It makes no sense to argue with them. But for those who do believe, and by faith and trust accept His death and resurrection as effective for their own forgiveness of sin and the gift of everlasting life, it is for real. But to keep it real, that faith and trust must be expressed day after day in word and deed until the day of revelation comes. Only then will those who remained faithful to the end be saved.

John Calvin summarizes his thoughts on the end of chapter four: “Scripture, when it treats our salvation, it dwells especially on the death of Christ, yet the Apostle now proceeds farther: for as his purpose was more explicitly to set forth the cause of our salvation, he mentions its two parts; and says, first, that our sins were atoned for by the death of Christ, — and secondly, that by His resurrection our righteousness was obtained. What he means is, that when we possess the benefit of Christ’s death and resurrection, there is nothing lacking for the culmination of complete righteousness. By separating His death from His resurrection, Paul no doubt does so to point out how ignorant we are of the truth; for it is also true that righteousness has been obtained for us by that obedience of Christ, which He exhibited in His death.”¹¹

John Bengel makes this point: “God is not said to have inflicted death upon Christ; although He inflicted on Him grief; He is said to have delivered up Christ, or else Christ is said to have died (Ch. 8:34). I do not deny the fact itself,¹² but the phrases are so chosen as to give special prominence to the passion laid upon Christ by the Father, and the death obediently endured by Christ… He was delivered for our sins; i.e., because we had sinned; He was raised again for our justification; i.e., that we might be justified… Faith flows from Christ’s resurrection and so does justification.¹³ The ground of our belief in God is that He raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Nevertheless, the obedience and the blood of Jesus Christ justify us.”¹⁴ It is clear that Bengel assumes the reader of his commentary is a believer well-versed in the Word of God. But it must be understood that Christ’s death was due to the need for mankind’s sin to be atoned for. And, His resurrection was needed to ensure that those who were destined to die for those sins could now be justified before God as worthy of being granted forgiveness and given eternal life.

Henry Alford also makes it clear: “Our Lord was delivered up (to death) for or on account of our sins (i.e., because we had sinned): – He was also raised up (from the dead) for or on account of our justification (i.e., not because we had been, but that we might be justified). This separate statement of the great object of the death and resurrection of Christ must be rightly understood, and each member of it not unduly pressed to the exclusion of the other, by which our justification (death unto sin and new birth unto righteousness) has been made possible. It may be stated in one word as the Glorification of Christ. But this glorification consisted of two main parts, – His death, and His resurrection. In the former of these, He was made a sacrifice for sin; in the latter, He elevated our humanity into the participation of that resurrection life, which is also, by union with Him, the life of every justified believer.”¹⁵

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R Seyda

BOOK OF ROMANS

Chapter 4 (Lesson XVI)

Verses 21-22: Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what He promised. So that’s why “he was accepted as one who is right with God.”¹

Again, Paul wants his readers to see that Abraham’s acceptance by God as being a righteous man was not based on what he did, but on what he believed. Consequently, because of his strong belief, he was then accepted because of what he did. Paul saw this played out in his own life. He told young Timothy: “I was chosen to tell people that message as an apostle and teacher. And I suffer now because of that work. But I am not ashamed because I know the one I have put my trust in. And I am sure that He is able to protect what I have put into His care until that Day.”²

Here Augustine has this to say: “God brings about the faith of the Gentiles because He is able to perform what He has promised. If it is God who produces our faith, acting in a wondrous manner in our hearts so that we believe, surely we should not fear that He cannot do the entire work.³”⁴ And, Pelagius states that Abraham thanked God as if he had already received the gift.⁵

Early church scholar Ambrosiaster points out: “Paul claims that Abraham is worthy of this praise because although he knew that he could not do it himself, he strengthened his weakness by faith so that he believed that with God’s help he could do what he knew was impossible by the laws of the universe. He was of great merit before God because he believed God over against his own knowledge, not doubting that because he was God, he could do things which were impossible according to the world’s wisdom.”⁶

Then, Ambrosiaster goes on to write: “Paul, therefore, urges the Gentiles to believe as firmly as Abraham did so that they might receive the promise of God and His grace without any hesitation, secure in the example of Abraham that the praise given to a believer increases if he believes what is incredible and seems to be foolish to the world. For the more foolish what he believes is thought to be, the more honor he will have, and indeed it would be foolish to believe it if it were said to occur without God.”⁷

John Calvin makes this point: “It becomes now more clear, how and in what manner faith brought righteousness to Abraham; and that was because he, leaning on God’s word, rejected not the promised favor. And this connection of faith with the word ought to be well understood and carefully remembered; for faith can bring us nothing more than what it receives from the word. Hence he does not become immediately just, who is imbued only with a general and confused idea that God is true, except he leans on the promise of His favor.”⁸

Adam Clarke gives his exposition: “Abraham‘s strong faith in the promise of the coming Savior… was reckoned to him for justification: for it is not said that any righteousness, either his own, or that of another, was imputed or reckoned to him for justification; but it, i.e. his faith in God. His faith was fully persuaded of the most merciful intentions of God‘s goodness; and this, which, in effect, laid hold on Jesus Christ, the future Savior, was the means of his justification; being reckoned unto him in the place of personal righteousness, because it laid hold on the merit of Him who died to make an atonement for our offences, and rose again for our justification.”⁹

Charles Hodge has this commentary: “The faith of Abraham was imputed to him for righteousness. He was accepted as righteous on account of his faith; not that faith itself was the ground, but the condition of his justification. He believed, and God accepted him as righteous; 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; that is, it is given to us, whenever we are willing to receive and rest upon it.”¹⁰ Let’s illustrate this, with a life-saving ring that is thrown to a drowning man. It is not the man’s grasp of the ring that saves him, but the ring itself. However, his trust and faith in those holding the ring to pull him out of the water are then rewarded.

Charles Spurgeon preached it this way: “O soul, if thou art like one who is dead, if thou art devoid of all strength, and grace, and savor, if thou canst but believe in God who can quicken the dead, if thou wilt but trust thy soul in the hands of him who is able even to raise dry bones out of their graves, and make them live, thy faith shall be imputed unto thee for righteousness! Thy faith is that which shall justify thee in the sight of God, and thou shalt be ‘accepted in the Beloved.’ Oh, what marvels faith works! This is the root-grace, all manner of good things spring from faith, but there must be faith as the root if there are to be other graces as the fruit. Do thy God the honor to believe Him— to believe that He cannot lie— to believe that He has never promised what He is not able to perform. If thou wilt do that, it is clear that thou art one of Abraham’s seed, and the covenant made with Abraham was made with thee also.”¹¹

Verses 23-24 These words (“he was accepted”) were written not only for Abraham. They were also written for us. God will also accept us because we believe. We believe in the one who raised Jesus our Lord from death.

Now, Paul makes this same Abrahamic formula of faith followed by obedience effective for believers today. The apostle makes this same point in his letter to the Corinthians by using an interesting illustration taken from the Old Testament. He wrote: “These aren’t just my own thoughts. God’s law says the same thing. Yes, it is written in the Law of Moses: ‘When a work animal is being used to separate grain, don’t muzzle it to keep it from eating the grain.’¹² When God said this, was He thinking only about work animals? No. He was really talking about us. Yes, that was written for us. The one who plows and the one who separates the grain should both expect to get some of the grain for their work.”¹³

In other words, the ox is allowed to eat of the grain that it is crushing by turning the millstone. So it is that by believing God’s promises and doing the work God intends for us to do He allows us to partake of the fruit produced by that work. Another way to put this would be if God instructed us to go and plant apple seeds so that He could sustain us with such fruit and we believe His promise and obey His instructions, then when the trees do bear fruit, we are allowed to pluck some of the apples for our own nourishment.

This concept of Christians and their descendants being the heirs of blessings promised to Old Testament believers was not just Paul’s idea. The Apostle Peter also pointed this out in his sermon on the Day of Pentecost: “Change your hearts and lives and be baptized, each one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Then God will forgive your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is for you. It is also for your children and for the people who are far away. It is for everyone the Lord our God calls to Himself.”¹⁴ Yet again, such a promise is based on faith first and obedience second. Believers are not to obey in hopes of getting what God has promised, but in faith that God does what He says He will do because faith is the substance of things hoped for.¹⁵

The Apostle felt led to share this same truth with the Ephesians. He wrote: “I pray that God will open your minds to see this truth. Then you will know the hope that He has chosen us to have. You will know that the blessings God has promised his holy people are rich and glorious. And you will know that God’s power is very great for us who believe. It is the same as the mighty power He used to raise Christ from death and put Him at His right side in the heavenly places.” In other words, believers are not left with any example of God following through on His promises and offers the resurrection of Jesus as a prime example.

Early church scholar Origen touches here on what was already accepted in Jewish theology concerning Abraham’s belief in the resurrection. He writes: “Note that Paul does not speak of those who believe that God is supreme, or of those who believe that he made heaven and earth, or of those who believe that he made the angels and the other hosts of the heavenly glory. Rather, he speaks of those who believe in the God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Did Abraham believe in this God even before he had raised Jesus?… Abraham’s faith contained within it the form and image of this great mystery. For when he was ordered to sacrifice his only son, he believed that God could raise him up from the dead. Moreover, he did not believe this of Isaac only but also of Isaac’s seed, which is Christ.”¹⁶

Then Pelagius adds this: “We are meant to imitate Abraham’s example as if he were our father, just as we imitate the examples of the saints, by which they pleased the Lord. They were tempted so that they might know themselves and so that we might follow them. We shall benefit if we believe as completely that God has raised Christ from the dead as Abraham believed that his body, which was as good as dead, could be made alive in order to produce children.”¹⁷

NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

Dr. Robert R. Seyda

EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS

CHAPTER FOUR (Lesson XV)

Verse 19: Abraham was almost a hundred years old, so he was past the age for having children. Also, Sarah could not have children. Abraham was well aware of this, but his faith in God never waned.

The Aramaic version renders this verse as follows: “And he was not sickly in his faith while contemplating his inert body, (for he was a hundred years old,) and the inert womb of Sarah.” In other words, while Abraham’s reproductive system may have been inactive, his faith was proactive. In Sarah’s case, Rabbis, in the Babylonian Talmud, speak of her womb being the same as that of a dead woman.¹ To anyone with the simple knowledge of health and age, this couple having a child would be considered impossible.² That’s why Abraham could not be faulted for being doubtful that he and Sarah could have a child by natural means. The truth is, he did not put his faith in hoping the facts would turn out to be wrong, but in the fact that God’s promise would be right. This was Jesus’ theme when He talked about seeing how big God is instead of looking at how big the problem is.³

The writer of Hebrews explained Sarah’s predicament succinctly: “Sarah was not able to have children, and Abraham was too old. But he had faith in God, trusting Him to do what He promised. And so God made them able to have children. Abraham was so old he was almost dead. But from that one man came as many descendants as there are stars in the sky. So many people came from him that they are like grains of sand on the seashore.”⁴ No doubt, the author of Hebrews was talking about the natural and spiritual descendants of Abraham combined, a sum that continues to grow.

Early church scholar Origen sees both a physical and spiritual lesson in this quote by Paul. He writes: “This may be understood literally or figuratively. Literally, Abraham did not put his trust in his hundred-year-old body, which was obviously incapable of doing what God had promised him, but rather he trusted in God, the Almighty One who could perform what He had promised even when the laws of human fertility no longer functioned.… Figuratively, it may be understood in the light of what Paul says elsewhere: ‘Therefore, put to death what is earthly in you.’⁵ It would be absurd to suggest that what Paul meant in this respect was somehow lacking in Abraham. For Abraham also had put his earthly urges to death, being neither excited by indulgence nor inflamed by lust.… Sarah likewise did not suffer from lust or the desires of the flesh.… When they heard what God had promised them, they did not consider their own benefit.… All these things that would make them rich they regarded as worthless in order that they might win Christ,⁶ whose coming they foresaw.”⁷

John Calvin points out that although everything in the nature of procreation was stacked against Abraham and Sarah – their age and reproductive organs, yet it did not deter him from carrying on as though none of these things mattered when compared to God’s promise. Says Calvin: “With these frailties of the flesh, ignorance, and doubt, the faithful have a continual conflict, and in this conflict, their faith is often dreadfully shaken and distressed, but at length, it comes forth victorious; so that they may be said to be strong even in weakness.”⁸

Evangelical scholar Adam Clarke puts it this way: “He [Abraham] showed at once the correctness and energy of his faith: God cannot lie; Abraham can believe. It is true that, according to the course of nature, he and Sarah are so old that they cannot have children; but God is almighty, and can do whatsoever He wills, and will fulfill His promise. This was certainly a wonderful degree of faith; as the promise stated that it was through his posterity that all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.”⁹

Robert Haldane writes on Abraham’s faith in the absence of factual evidence: “This is an example which ought to always direct our faith. There are always obstacles and difficulties in the way of faith. We should give them no more weight than if they did not exist, reflecting that it is God who has to remove them. Nothing can be a difficulty in the way of the fulfillment of God’s own word. This ought to encourage us, not only with respect to ourselves but with respect to the cause of God in the world. Had Abraham looked at any natural means, he would have staggered; but he looked only at the power of Him who promised.”¹⁰

Verse 20: He never hesitated in believing that God would do what He promised. He never stopped believing. In fact, he grew stronger in his faith and just praised God.

So, instead of the difficulties that faced Abraham and Sarah with regard to their age and her having an unproductive womb causing them to give up, they pressed on with greater determination to prove that what God says will be, will be. This was the same type of faith Isaiah called on the Israelites to have when they saw nothing but trouble and defeat in their future.¹¹ And just as Abraham grew in faith, so did Daniel: “The one who looked like a man touched me again. When he touched me, I felt better. Then he said, ‘Daniel, don’t be afraid. God loves you very much. Peace be with you. Be strong now, be strong.’ When he spoke to me, I became stronger. Then I said, ‘Sir, you have given me strength’.”¹²

This was Paul’s message to the Corinthians: “I am glad to have weaknesses if they are for Christ. I am glad to be insulted and have hard times. I am glad when I am persecuted and have problems, because it is when I am weak that I am really strong.”¹³ In Jewish writings, we find this same theme of how vital faith is. In speaking of Jacob, we find these words: “Jacob had entered this gateway to faith. Adhering to that faith, he had to be tested in the same place his fathers had been tested, entering in peace and emerging in peace.”¹⁴ Also, in his commentary on Moses’ call for those on the Lord’s side to step out and come to him, Rabbi Abraham Saba states: “He implied that these people forming a group around him would be strong in their faith in HaShem¹⁵ and would not flinch from using the sword to carry out vengeance on the people who had violated His sacred covenant.”¹⁶

Several early church scholars make comments on this verse. Chrysostom says that Abraham trusted God even though God gave him no proof, not even a sign. Rather, only words promising things which by nature seemed impossible.¹⁷ Yet, since they were part of a supernatural God’s ways, they were then seen as superior to nature’s ways. Then Augustine sees this as Paul’s attack on those in Rome who were seeking their own glory in the sight of men by doing the works of the law, while Abraham gave God all the glory.¹⁸ And, Pelagius states that Abraham did not dismiss the fact that his old age would make it impossible for he and Sarah to have a child, but at the same time he did not doubt for a moment the assurance of God’s promise.¹⁹

John Calvin writes: “The Apostle seems to have had this in view, – That Abraham did not try to find out, by weighing the matter in the balance of unbelief, whether the Lord was able to perform what He had promised. What is a proper inquiry or to search into anything is to examine it through distrust or mistrust, and to be unwilling to accept what appears not credible, without thoroughly sifting it. He indeed asked, how it could come to pass, but that was the asking of one astonished; as the case was with the Virgin Mary, when she inquired of the angel how could that be which he had announced. Beliebvers then, when a message is brought to them respecting the works of God, the greatness of which exceeds their comprehension, do indeed burst forth into expressions of wonder; but from this wonder they soon pass on to lay hold on the power of God. For this reason it was, that Abraham was not reproved when he laughed and asked, how could a child be born to a man a hundred years old, and to a woman of ninety; for in his astonishment he fully accepted the power of God’s word.”²⁰

On the subject of giving glory to God, Robert Haldane says: “How did he [Abraham] give glory to God? By believing that He would do what He promised, although nothing less than almighty power could achieve what was promised. This is an important thought, that we glorify God by ascribing to Him His attributes, and believing that He will act according to them, notwithstanding many present difficulties to the contrary. But how often is the opposite of this exemplified among many who profess to have the faith of Abraham, who, when unable to trace Divine wisdom, are apt to hesitate in yielding submission to Divine authority. Nothing, however, to endorse this is found in Scripture. On the contrary, no human action is more applauded than that of Abraham offering up Isaac in obedience to the command of God, in which he certainly could not then discover either the reason or the wisdom from which it proceeded. Without disregarding it for a moment, he yielded to the Divine authority. He was strong in faith, giving glory to God; that is, he gave full credit for the propriety of what was enjoined, and a ready acknowledgment of that implicit submission which on his part was due.”²¹

Preacher Octavius Winslow had this to say: “It is the glory, then, of faith, and the perfection of its preciousness, that it gives glory to God. The reason why faith is said to give glory to God is, because faith answers God’s faithfulness. Great faith is said to give glory to God: one of the special commendations of Abraham’s faith is, ‘He was strong in faith, giving glory to God.’ God magnifies His name of faithfulness above all His names; the believer magnifies his faithfulness by his believing; therefore, he gives glory to God. There are three honorable services that some men get put into their hands, and which are denied to angels. There is preaching of Christ, suffering for Christ, and believing in Christ. Let us consider wherein there is an honoring of God by believing; for it is a point very rarely believed. Who is there of believers that think that by bare believing they give God more glory than any other way they can do?”²²