Romans 4:13-25

KING JAMES:

Rom 4:13  For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 

Rom 4:14  For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 

Rom 4:15  Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. 

Rom 4:16  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, 

Rom 4:17  (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. 

Rom 4:18  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. 

Rom 4:19  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 Sara's womb: 

Rom 4:20  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 

Rom 4:21  And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 

Rom 4:22  And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 

Rom 4:23  Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 

Rom 4:24  But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 

Rom 4:25  Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. 

Main Points: Paul closes the door on law and opens the dialog for the case concerning the power of practicing faith in God/Jesus. This is Paul’s second round of case building for faith (3:21-31). Now, we see his personal pronoun structure change! It is no longer them/they/you….but us/our. His penchant for unity building has him associating himself and the other Jewish members with the Gentiles (24).

6. Explain the promise to Abraham. How does Paul expand on the promise? How does one receive the promise? “That he would be heir to the world” …this only being accomplished in his descendant Jesus, the Christ. The original promise to Abraham (in his mind) would have been limited to the area where he lived. God extends the promises to say “many descendents (etc)” and Gen 12:3 in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. ----This is a known factor to the Jew. But Paul uses this opportunity to finalize the obliteration of any Judaizing teaching of the need for law….or any other law! It’s faith that will give God a case for justice with his creation!

7. What does the law bring?  “Law worketh wrath” ….or punishment. Nope….that’s not what we’re looking for. That’s not what GOD is looking for. Note that Paul’s secondary statement in this verse is key: for where no law is, there is no transgression. That is not to say that sin will simply stop plaguing the believer. But if we exercise faith, sin diminishes and we give God just cause to judge us without regard to our sin.

8. Explain verse 16. This is Paul’s reiteration of Jew and Gentile inclusion. He is not saying that reliance on law will make justice, that would be a complete contradiction. Those “which is of law” are the Jews (the direct offspring). Those who have the faith of Abraham are made a part of this system….being “the father of us all”.

9. What lessons do we learn from Abraham? The importance of faith is punctuated by the CHARACTER of Abraham.  (19) he did not waver, (20) no distrust, grew strong  (21) fully convinced. Abraham practiced these beliefs in cases where the odds seemed impossible, but he just simply did not stop believing in God’s ability.

10. Explain verses 23-25.  This message is two-fold. First, we are all in this together. He is hearkening back to his earlier argument that we all need this salvation found in God through Jesus. Secondary and more importantly, this system of faith/grace is how we work out our salvation. It is how we give God the ability (opportunity) to JUSTIFY us while HE remains JUST.

Additional:
Note that it is this faith that gives God the power to find us justified. Without it, God cannot help us (let’s not forget, our faith is manifested through our obedience). In this illustration, there is a promise made by God. The promise is not faith…that is something we have to supply. In the end, God must be able to justify us before the promise can be delivered in a just context.

The flow of this section is to help us understand how to become righteous/justified before God so we can be His servants/children. The illustrated promise is the messianic promise given to Abraham.
Numbers after the word are for verses and  Strong’s references:

The Promise	Not Delivered Through Law	Rather By Faith	And Belief
13, 14, 16, 20/1860 21/1861	13, 14, 15, 16/3551 (Parceling out punishment)	13, 14, 16, 16, 19,20/4102 (inferred only in 22)	17, 18, 24/4100
	God’s Character	(16) Grace/5485
Man’s Proven Character (Evidentiary)	Resulting Opportunity(s)	Verdict
(19) Did not waver (20) No Distrust (20) Grew Strong (21) Fully Convinced	22, 23, 24/3049 Imputed, or Conclusion-	13, 22/1343 – Righteousness 25/1347 - JUSTIFICATION