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by Howard Watson
Abraham was justified by his faith/walk on God's
promises, while going against his human inclination to avoid putting
everything into God's hands and power, while trusting in his own
fleshly abilities(verses 1&2). God always works righteousness
when we go with Him. Abraham's going with Jehovah was accounted
to/for him as righteousness. Grace brings justification to the sinner
who obeys God's word and work by obedient trust in Jesus Christ.
Without God's grace, works would only be seen as the obligation
of the law. Fallen man/transgressor cannot by/in his fallen condition
work the righteousness of God. Only God through grace justifies
the ungodly (verses 3-5).
In verses six through eight Paul illustrates further the grace of
God working to justify the ungodly sinner. David, the king, spoke
in his time of the righteousness of God as standing above the bounds
of human effort in fulfillment of the law's demand. The gracious
blessing of God provides a deliverance of redemption for the sinner
whose inquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Happy ("makarismon"
happy blessed) men through faith find their sins forgiven ("me
logisetai" not accounted) by the gracious deliverance and salvation
in Christ.
The reckoning/accounting of God regarding our sins is extremely
important in our understanding of our redemption in Christ. This
reckoning is further discussed in verses nine through twenty-five
of Romans Four. The original Greek word for reckoning is "logizetai"
and "logizomai" which is from the root work "lego."
"Lego" has the meaning to say, to have the thought/words,
to declare, to calculate, to impute. Therefore happy is the person
whose sins are not accounted to him. This is true of the Jewish
circumcised person as well as the uncircumcised Gentile person who
has believed upon Jesus Christ as Savior and Redeemer. Abraham is
father to both by his example of believing God when God/Jehovah
provided a sacrifice instead of Isaac his son (verses 11f); see
Genesis 22: 1-14. As believers in God's atonement through the sacrificed
Son, Jesus, we become fellow heirs with Abraham, of God and Christ.
We have now been justified through the life blood of Jesus Christ
who has obeyed the Father God by giving His life for us. Therefore
we are free from our sin debt and have Jesus' righteousness accounted
(logizomai) to us. We are accounted and made righteous through Christ.
This is our present and continuing experience in our daily lives.
We need to understand that the Law pronounces judgment upon disobedience
and the violation of its' requirements. The Law cannot justify,
it can only show us our failures and sins. Thereby, we are hopeless
without the payment/accounting of Christ's righteousness to us and
our sin debt to Him (verse 15).
It is faith in the finished work of Christ in this world on the
cross that brings deliverance and redemption into a new life of
faith walking according to God's revelation to Abram (Abraham)(verses
17-25). Christ Jesus was delivered because of our offences/sins
and raised (dia) for the sake of our justification ("dikaiosis"
judicial vendication).
Being accounted righteous through the death of Christ, who was fully
righteous and never knew sin and disobedience, is our unspeakably
great blessing since it means the difference between a present life
of hope, faith, love, peace, or a life of hopelessness and a depressing
dark future without the joy of fellowship with God.
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