20 and hesitated not at the promise of God through unbelief; but found strength in faith, giving glory to God;
Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in straits, for Christ: for when I am weak, then I am powerful.
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, that were in the day that the foundation of the house of Jehovah of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built.
And after I had given the writing of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Nerijah, I prayed unto Jehovah saying, Alas, Lord Jehovah! Behold, thou hast made the heavens and the earth by thy great power and stretched-out arm; there is nothing too hard for thee: who shewest mercy unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them, thou, the great, the mighty ùGod, -- Jehovah of hosts is his name; great in counsel and mighty in work, whose eyes are open upon all the ways of the children of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: who hast displayed signs and wonders unto this day, in the land of Egypt and in Israel and among [other] men; and hast made thee a name, as at this day. And thou broughtest forth thy people Israel out of the land of Egypt by signs, and by wonders, and by a powerful hand, and by a stretched-out arm, and by great terror; and didst give them this land, which thou hadst sworn unto their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. And they came in and possessed it: but they hearkened not unto thy voice, neither walked in thy law; they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do; so that thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them. Behold the mounds, they are come unto the city for taking it; and the city is given over into the hand of the Chaldeans, that fight against it, by the sword, and the famine, and the pestilence: and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; and behold, thou seest [it]. And thou, Lord Jehovah, thou hast said unto me, Buy for thyself the field for money, and take witnesses; -- and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans. And the word of Jehovah came unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am Jehovah, the God of all flesh: is there anything too hard for me?
Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they weep unto me, saying, Give us flesh that we may eat! I am not able to bear all this people alone, for it is too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, slay me, I pray thee, if I have found favour in thine eyes, that I may not behold my wretchedness. And Jehovah said to Moses, Gather unto me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and their officers; and take them to the tent of meeting, and they shall stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there; and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, and thou shalt not bear it alone. And unto the people shalt thou say, Hallow yourselves for to-morrow, and ye shall eat flesh; for ye have wept in the ears of Jehovah, saying, Who will give us flesh to eat? for it was well with us in Egypt; and Jehovah will give you flesh, and ye shall eat. Not one day shall ye eat, nor two days, nor five days, neither ten days, nor twenty days; [but] for a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it become loathsome unto you; because that ye have despised Jehovah who is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt? And Moses said, The people in whose midst I am are six hundred thousand footmen; and thou sayest, I will give them flesh that they may eat a whole month. Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to suffice them? or shall all the fish of the sea be gathered for them, to suffice them? And Jehovah said to Moses, Hath Jehovah's hand become short? Now shalt thou see whether my word will come to pass unto thee or not.
But now be strong, Zerubbabel, saith Jehovah; and be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest; and be strong, all ye people of the land, saith Jehovah, and work: for I am with you, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Be vigilant; stand fast in the faith; quit yourselves like men; be strong.
And blessed [is] she that has believed, for there shall be a fulfilment of the things spoken to her from [the] Lord.
And it shall come to pass, like as ye were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear ye not, let your hands be strong.
And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he pervert by flatteries; but the people that know their God shall be strong, and shall act.
Say to them that are of a timid heart, Be strong, fear not; behold your God: vengeance cometh, the recompense of God! He will come himself, and save you.
and the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is Remaliah's son. If ye believe not, surely ye shall not be established.
and he said, Be attentive, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat! Thus saith Jehovah unto you: Fear not, nor be dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. To-morrow go down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the valley, before the wilderness of Jeruel. Ye shall not have to fight on this occasion: set yourselves, stand and see the salvation of Jehovah [who is] with you! Judah and Jerusalem, fear not nor be dismayed; to-morrow go out against them, and Jehovah will be with you. And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground; and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before Jehovah, worshipping Jehovah. And the Levites, of the sons of the Kohathites, and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise Jehovah the God of Israel with an exceeding loud voice. And they rose early in the morning, and went forth towards the wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in Jehovah your God, and ye shall be established; believe his prophets, and ye shall prosper!
And the captain answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
And the captain on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God and said, Behold, if Jehovah should make windows in the heavens, would this thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Romans 4
Commentary on Romans 4 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 4
Ro 4:1-25. The Foregoing Doctrine of Justification by Faith Illustrated from the Old Testament.
First: Abraham was justified by faith.
1-3. What shall we say then that Abraham, our father as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?—that is, (as the order in the original shows), "hath found, as pertaining to ('according to,' or 'through') the flesh"; meaning, "by all his natural efforts or legal obedience."
2. For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God—"If works were the ground of Abraham's justification, he would have matter for boasting; but as it is perfectly certain that he hath none in the sight of God, it follows that Abraham could not have been justified by works." And to this agree the words of Scripture.
3. For what saith the, Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it—his faith.
was counted to him for righteousness—(Ge 15:6). Romish expositors and Arminian Protestants make this to mean that God accepted Abraham's act of believing as a substitute for complete obedience. But this is at variance with the whole spirit and letter of the apostle's teaching. Throughout this whole argument, faith is set in direct opposition to works, in the matter of justification—and even in Ro 4:4, 5. The meaning, therefore, cannot possibly be that the mere act of believing—which is as much a work as any other piece of commanded duty (Joh 6:29; 1Jo 3:23)—was counted to Abraham for all obedience. The meaning plainly is that Abraham believed in the promises which embraced Christ (Ge 12:3; 15:5, &c.), as we believe in Christ Himself; and in both cases, faith is merely the instrument that puts us in possession of the blessing gratuitously bestowed.
4, 5. Now to him that worketh—as a servant for wages.
is the reward not reckoned of grace—as a matter of favor.
but of debt—as a matter of right.
5. But to him that worketh not—who, despairing of acceptance with God by "working" for it the work of obedience, does not attempt it.
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly—casts himself upon the mercy of Him that justifieth those who deserve only condemnation.
his faith, &c.—(See on Ro 4:3).
Second: David sings of the same justification.
6-8. David also describeth—"speaketh," "pronounceth."
the blessedness of the man unto whom the Lord imputeth righteousness without works—whom, though void of all good works, He, nevertheless, regards and treats as righteous.
7, 8. Saying, Blessed, &c.—(Ps 32:1, 2). David here sings in express terms only of "transgression forgiven, sin covered, iniquity not imputed"; but as the negative blessing necessarily includes the positive, the passage is strictly in point.
9-12. Cometh this blessedness then, &c.—that is, "Say not, All this is spoken of the circumcised, and is therefore no evidence of God's general way of justifying men; for Abraham's justification took place long before he was circumcised, and so could have no dependence upon that rite: nay, 'the sign of circumcision' was given to Abraham as 'a seal' (or token) of the (justifying) righteousness which he had before he was circumcised; in order that he might stand forth to every age as the parent believer—the model man of justification by faith—after whose type, as the first public example of it, all were to be moulded, whether Jew or Gentile, who should thereafter believe to life everlasting."
13-15. For the promise, &c.—This is merely an enlargement of the foregoing reasoning, applying to the law what had just been said of circumcision.
that he should be the heir of the world—or, that "all the families of the earth should be blessed in him."
was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law—in virtue of obedience to the law.
but through the righteousness of faith—in virtue of his simple faith in the divine promises.
14. For if they which are of the law be heirs—If the blessing is to be earned by obedience to the law.
faith is made void—the whole divine method is subverted.
15. Because the law worketh wrath—has nothing to give to those who break is but condemnation and vengeance.
for where there is no law, there is no transgression—It is just the law that makes transgression, in the case of those who break it; nor can the one exist without the other.
16, 17. Therefore, &c.—A general summary: "Thus justification is by faith, in order that its purely gracious character may be seen, and that all who follow in the steps of Abraham's faith—whether of his natural seed or no—may be assured of the like justification with the parent believer."
17. As it is written, &c.—(Ge 17:5). This is quoted to justify his calling Abraham the "father of us all," and is to be viewed as a parenthesis.
before—that is, "in the reckoning of."
him whom he believed—that is, "Thus Abraham, in the reckoning of Him whom he believed, is the father of us all, in order that all may be assured, that doing as he did, they shall be treated as he was."
even God, quickeneth the dead—The nature and greatness of that faith of Abraham which we are to copy is here strikingly described. What he was required to believe being above nature, his faith had to fasten upon God's power to surmount physical incapacity, and call into being what did not then exist. But God having made the promise, Abraham believed Him in spite of those obstacles. This is still further illustrated in what follows.
18-22. Who against hope—when no ground for hope appeared.
believed in hope—that is, cherished the believing expectation.
that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be—that is, Such "as the stars of heaven," Ge 15:5.
19. he considered not, &c.—paid no attention to those physical obstacles, both in himself and in Sarah, which might seem to render the fulfilment hopeless.
20. He staggered—hesitated
not … but was strong in faith, giving glory to God—as able to make good His own word in spite of all obstacles.
21. And being fully persuaded, &c.—that is, the glory which Abraham's faith gave to God consisted in this, that, firm in the persuasion of God's ability to fulfil his promise, no difficulties shook him.
22. And therefore it was imputed, &c.—"Let all then take notice that this was not because of anything meritorious in Abraham, but merely because he so believed."
23-25. Now, &c.—Here is the application of this whole argument about Abraham: These things were not recorded as mere historical facts, but as illustrations for all time of God's method of justification by faith.
24. to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe in him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead—in Him that hath done this, even as Abraham believed that God would raise up a seed in whom all nations should be blessed.
25. Who was delivered for—"on account of."
our offences—that is, in order to expiate them by His blood.
and raised again for—"on account of," that is, in order to.
our justification—As His resurrection was the divine assurance that He had "put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself," and the crowning of His whole work, our justification is fitly connected with that glorious act.
Note, (1) The doctrine of justification by works, as it generates self-exaltation, is contrary to the first principles of all true religion (Ro 4:2; and see on Ro 3:21-26, Note 1). (2) The way of a sinner's justification has been the same in all time, and the testimony of the Old Testament on this subject is one with that of the New (Ro 4:3, &c., and see on Ro 3:27-31, Note 1). (3) Faith and works, in the matter of justification, are opposite and irreconcilable, even as grace and debt (Ro 4:4, 5; and see on Ro 11:6). If God "justifies the ungodly," works cannot be, in any sense or to any degree, the ground of justification. For the same reason, the first requisite, in order to justification, must be (under the conviction that we are "ungodly") to despair of it by works; and the next, to "believe in Him that justifieth the ungodly"—that hath a justifying righteousness to bestow, and is ready to bestow it upon those who deserve none, and to embrace it accordingly. (4) The sacraments of the Church were never intended, and are not adapted, to confer grace, or the blessings of salvation, upon men. Their proper use is to set a divine seal upon a state already existing, and so, they presuppose, and do not create it (Ro 4:8-12). As circumcision merely "sealed" Abraham's already existing acceptance with God, so with the sacraments of the New Testament. (5) As Abraham is "the heir of the world," all nations being blessed in him, through his Seed Christ Jesus, and justified solely according to the pattern of his faith, so the transmission of the true religion and all the salvation which the world will ever experience shall yet be traced back with wonder, gratitude, and joy, to that morning dawn when "the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran," Ac 7:2 (Ro 4:13). (6) Nothing gives more glory to God than simple faith in His word, especially when all things seem to render the fulfilment of it hopeless (Ro 4:18-21). (7) All the Scripture examples of faith were recorded on purpose to beget and encourage the like faith in every succeeding age (Ro 4:23, 24; and compare Ro 15:4). (8) Justification, in this argument, cannot be taken—as Romanists and other errorists insist—to mean a change upon men's character; for besides that this is to confound it with Sanctification, which has its appropriate place in this Epistle, the whole argument of the present chapter—and nearly all its more important clauses, expressions, and words—would in that case be unsuitable, and fitted only to mislead. Beyond all doubt it means exclusively a change upon men's state or relation to God; or, in scientific language, it is an objective, not a subjective change—a change from guilt and condemnation to acquittal and acceptance. And the best evidence that this is the key to the whole argument is, that it opens all the wards of the many-chambered lock with which the apostle has enriched us in this Epistle.