Rom 4:13-17 Justification apart from the law -
Paul has outlined that Justification is neither by works 1-8, or by ritual (Circumcision) 9-12, and now affirms that it is not though the law (13-17).
Realm of the Promise 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world
God promised that Abraham’s posterity would be as numerous as the stars (Gen 15:5). It was a promise without any conditions or requirements attached to it. God’s word came to Abraham as a gratuitous promise, not as a law. He simply believed God and was justified. Paul expresses God’s promise as being that Abraham would be an heir of the world (13) Although Abraham was promised Canaan (Gen 13:12, 14:17), now it has become the world, because of the fact that all nations would be blessed through Abraham (Gen 12:3, 18:18., 22:18) and that from Abraham’s seed would come the Messiah (Gal 3:16, Jn 8:56) Through Jesus all things are ours, including the world (1 Cor 3:21). So now this makes the promise global and not just limited to Canaan (Stott) There are four aspects to the promise to Abraham” 1) a land -the land of Canaan (Gen 15:18 -21) the land of God's covenant and God's promise, and he would inherit that land. 2) a people, a physical nation. In fact, nations, for out of Abraham came Israel and the Arabs. (Gen 13:16) 3) the blessing of the world. Not just the land and not just a people, even nations of people, but there would be spiritual blessing. (Gens 12:3). 4) the Redeemer (John 8:56) the reason Abraham could bless the world, and be the father of a world of people and inherit the world, is because there would come out of his loins a Redeemer who would redeem from all the nations and tongues and tribes and people by faith. (Rev 5:9, 7:9) And all those sons of faith would be the sons of Abraham. (Gal 3:16). Now when God made the promise to Abraham, He said the ultimate promised was a seed, not seeds, so Christ. The real seed of Abraham was Christ and it is in Christ that all the people are blessed. (Gal 3:29) Now the promise said that all the world will be blessed in Abraham. That could only be true because out of the loins of Abraham came the seed who is Christ and all who put their faith in Christ become one with Christ. (1 Cor 6:17): We are one with the seed and thus by faith we become the spiritual seed of Abraham. . . . you put your faith in Christ, who is the seed of Abraham, then you become a child of faith, and in that sense spiritually a son of Abraham, who is the model of faith for all the world. (Mac Arthur) Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of all the hopes of Israel. He is the yes to all God's promises (2 Cor 1:20). He is the Messiah (Mk 14:61-62; Matt 16:16; Jn 20:31; Acts 9:22; 1 Jn 2:22; 5:1) Gentiles become true Jews by faith in the Messiah, Jesus, and Jews forfeit their final inheritance as Jews if they reject faith in Jesus as the Messiah. (Matt 8:10-12) We Gentiles who believe on Jesus the Messiah are fellow heirs with Abraham and with him will inherit the world. Jews and Gentiles together, who believe in Christ, are heirs of the world. (Gal 3:29) As heirs, all things are yours (Rom 8:17, Heb 1:2) . . . to be an heir of the world is that right now, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, all things are yours in trust and will become yours in actuality in the age to come. How can "all things" be mine and "all things" be yours too? Well that is the way it is, more or less, in a marriage now in this age. A husband and a wife own a home together. They don't own parts of it, but all of it. They co-own it. So in the age to come there will be such union and such harmony among
us that all God's children will own all God's inheritance as they are united to Christ, the heir of all things. Rev (19:7-8) (Piper)
Results of the path to the Promise
Here Paul may be speaking not just about the law of Moses, but the law principle, or morality. The Gentiles had standards of behavior (Rom 2:12-15) even though they did not have the law of Moses. Like us, they wanted to trust their personal ability to keep that “law” to measure up to those standards, as a way of salvation. All the time we hear people that God ought to save them because they have done the best they can, best being defined by whatever particular standard they perceive to be a just one. Or because they are good people, “good” being defined merely the sense that they have done better at living up to some moral code than others. Here too, specific words are used law, promise. faith, wrath, transgression, and grace to show the promise is received and inherited by faith and not the law. Something can be given to us either by law or promise, but since God is the author of both, they cannot be in operation simultaneously. If the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise (Gal 3:18). Law and promise belong to different categories of thought, which are incompatible. Law-language (you will) demands on our obedience but Promise- language (I will) demands on faith (Gal 3:12). What God said to Abraham was not “Obey the law and I will bless you, but I will bless you; believe my promise”. The text shows why law and promise exclude each other. The words law, transgression and wrath belong to the same category of language. For the law turns sin into transgression (A deliberate trespass), and the transgression provokes wrath. Conversely, where there is no law there can be no breach of the law, and so no wrath. Then grace and faith belong to a different category. The point is that God is gracious, and that salvation originates in his sheer grace alone. But in order for this to be so, our human response can only be faith, for grace gives and faith takes. Faith exclusive function is humbly to receive what grace offers. Otherwise grace would no longer be grace. So God’s law makes demands which we transgress, and so incur wrath (15); God’s grace makes promises which we believe and so we receive blessing (14,16). Thus, the law, obedience, transgression and wrath belong to one category, while grace, promise, faith and blessing belong to another. (Stott)
There are two types of results of the path to justification: negative (14-15) and positive (16-17).
Negative Results: These results occur if someone tries to achieve a saved status not by faith but by morality, or by the law principle There are three results:
1) Faith has no value (14) faith is null Faith has no value if someone is living be the “law Principle” or morality, because faith and law are opposites and if a person chooses one they are inevitably rejecting the other (Boice). If the inheritance depends on our obedience, then faith has no value. Literally, has been emptied of its validity. Gk Kenoo means to make void cause a thing to be seen to be empty, hollow, false. It is used metaphorically, meaning to bring to naught in the sense of not accomplishing what one set out to accomplish – here meaning faith did not accomplish its purpose (Zodhiates). In the continental US the high point (Mt Whitney) and low point (Death Valley) geographically is in California. Here is a way to compare California to the lost state of sinners and show that is impossible to get out of California by going “up” to the impossibility of gaining salvation by going to a different level (elevation) of morality. What we need is not a higher level of morality, but a change of state. (Barnhouse). Law is man-directed (it points to human abilities) while faith is God-directed (it points to God’s accomplishments). So, if you are approaching salvation by trusting man, you cannot be trusting God and visa-versa (Boice).
2) The Promise is worthless (14) the promise is void. Trying to live by the law principle nullifies God’s promise. The promise has become worthless. Literally it has been destroyed or rendered ineffective. Gk Katargeo -Kata -according to, toward, along and Argeo to be idle, inactive, to linger, delay. So, it means to render idle, unemployed, inactivate, inoperative or to cause to cease, put an end to, do away with, annul, abolish. Paul always uses the term to donate a complete, not a temporal or partial ceasing (Zodhiates). So, if the promise of salvation is linked to the law principle, this can only mean that it is necessary for a person to keep the law in order to receive the promise. This would mean the promise was conditional and God would have said “I promise to save you if you will do so and so”. If this was the case, then the promise would never have been fulfilled, because there is no one (but Jesus) who has ever done what God’s law required. (Rom 3:10-12, 23). The promise would exist, but it would be worthless in terms of saving anybody. (Boice)., The law means failure. If the promise had been made through the law, what God was giving with his right hand, he would have to take back with his left hand. There would have been no promise at all; it would have no value whatsoever (Jones)
3) Law brings wrath (15) For the law brings wrath Trying to live by the law principle for salvation, instead of achieving salvation, all one actually achieves is wrath. The law can do nothing by condemn. (Rom 3:19-20, Rom 7:7-11). That is its very essence. The law in itself is not evil, but when we look at it, our evil is revealed. A mirror is not a defective mirror because it can’t clean your face. That is not it’s job. The function of a mirror is to show you that your face is dirty, and you need to get a washcloth and clean it. In the same way, the law is not bad or defective (Rom 7:7,12) because it can not save you. That is not its function. The law was given to show you that you can’t get to heaven by keeping it, so that- having learned that you cannot keep the law and be condemned if you try – you will turn to Christ and be saved. (Boice) You know, there are a lot of people who say: “Well, God gave all these rules, I keep the Ten Commandments and I think if you try to keep the Ten Commandments you're going to be alright”. Many people believe that. If you just try to do your best and do good and keep the Ten Commandments, everything is going to be fine. The law will get us in. Here's the reason the law can't save you, because the law works wrath. You see, all the law does is work wrath. (15) It incites wrath, it brings not life but death.(Mac Arthur)
So verses 14-15 deal with the negative, the bad consequences of trying to “obtain the promise” or be saved by the law principle: devaluation of faith, nullification of the law, and wrath. But verse 16 presents the positive, the good effects or consequences of seeking to be justified by God, not on the basis of morality or the law principle, but by faith, which is the path Abraham pursued.
Positive Results: There are three results of someone who tries to achieve salvation by faith rather than by morality, or by the law principle:
1) Faith establishes Grace (16) – rest on grace faith and grace go together, just as law and works go together. We must have faith, since it is grace, God’s unmerited favor, that we need. If someone works for a day for forty dollars, at the end of the day they want to collect their wages, what they have earned. The payment would not be a matter of grace, but obligation. But if you were out of a job and needed help financially and someone came and offered you 40 dollars, that is grace. It has nothing to do with anything you have done or will do. You have to only receive your gift (Boice).
2) Faith makes salvation certain (16) be guaranteed to all his offspring Gk Bebaios – firm, sure, fixed, and certain. Figuratively, that upon which one my build, rely, or trust. That which does not fail or waver, immovable, and of which one may be sure (Zodhiates) If salvation is contingent on our ability to keep the law or live up to some standard or morality, then we could never be certain wither we have done enough to fulfil the law or standard. But if salvation is not by obedience to a standard of the law but by the grace of God received through faith, then salvation is certain, because God is faithful and doesn’t waver on his promises. (Heb 10:25). He has done what is necessary through the death of Christ. That work is a perfect and all-sufficient work. Nothing can be added to it. (Boice)
3) Faith opens the door for salvation to all (16-17) to all his offspring--not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, Salvation is for all of Abraham’s offspring both Jesus and Gentiles. To all those who “Share” the faith of Abraham. For those who put their faith in the work of Christ the door of salvation is open, regardless of who you are or whatever you may have done or not done. If you a Jew, the gospel is for you. If you re a Gentile, it is for you. It is for those who are good and those who are bad. It is for religious people and for those who have np religious background whatsoever. It is for all those who share the “faith” of Abraham. (Boice)
What difference does this make in your life - that you are now the heir of the world?
In all your shaking and fears and feelings of disintegration, let the ground under your feet be the granite of this promise: I am an heir of the world. When the planets of your life seem out of orbit and threaten to fly apart into oblivion, let this hope be the mighty sun at the center of the solar system of your life pulling all things back into orbit: I am an heir of the world. Also, In this hope, venture something new on God. Let your utter security as the heir of the world make you a little bit crazy in this brief life. Take a risk for Jesus. Act like you are an heir of the world and that you inherit everything when you die. Take some new step of ministry. Start some new ministry . . . . . Sell your stuff and go overseas. Change the way you do things. Venture something on God as an heir of the world. "Expect great things from God," "Attempt great things for God." (William Carey). Finally, give glory to God by trusting him to give the inheritance he promised. It is all his. He has promised to give it to those who have the faith of Abraham. So be like Abraham (Rom 4:20), "He grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform." (Piper)
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