THE study in Romans last week brought us to consider the fact that the Lord calls sinners; He takes hold of men while they are yet in sin and lifts them out of their sins by giving them His own righteousness, and then He clothes them with His own power to day by day live the righteousness that He has bestowed upon them as a free gift. The verses that form the basis of the study this week are of great importance, and should have the closest study.
“For not thru the law was the promise made to Abraham or to his seed that he should be heir of the world, but thru the righteousness of faith. For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect; for the law worketh wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there transgression. For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may 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 (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before Him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as tho they were. Who in hope believed against hope, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, So shall thy seed be.” Rom. 4:13-18.
These verses again reiterate and emphasize the fact that it is the “righteousness of faith” that is to bring us into harmony with God. It was not thru the law that Abraham received the promise that he should be the heir of the world. “For if they that are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect.” And the reason for this statement is given in the words, “For the law worketh wrath.”
The only thing that the guilty man can see in the law is condemnation. To him it “worketh wrath.” As the sinner looks into the law he reads his doom. Hence he must turn by faith to the promises of God and obtain the righteousness that is a free gift, so that when he turns again to look into the law he may behold the reflection in his life of the perfect character of Christ.
A dead law or a law that had been abolished could not work wrath upon any one; for as the apostle says in the foregoing verses, “where there is no law, neither is there transgression.” But since there is transgression, and the consequent wrath that is occasioned by such transgression, it follows that the law is a living, active force, and the penalty for violating it will be visited upon all who do not avail themselves of the righteousness that comes to the individual in answer to faith.
All these things concerning the law being true, it is fitting to again refer to the conclusion that Paul reaches at the end of chapter three: “Do we then make the law of none effect thru faith? God forbid: nay, we establish the law.” Rom. 3:31. It is only the superficial or the selfish view of the subject that can make it appear that Paul gives any sanction in any of his statements to the theory that the law is abolished thru faith. The law is not abolished, but established. The mightiest argument that was ever made in favor of the binding obligation of God’s moral law is the argument of Calvary. It was necessary for the Son of God to give His own life9and His own righteousness to man in order to clear him from the guilt of breaking the Father’s law. The Son of God could suffer and die, but the law of God could not be abolished without sanctioning every crime and sin and vice in the whole calendar. The Father and the Son could unite in the agonies of Gethsemane, and they could endure the contempt and ridicule and suffering of the judgment-hall and of the cross, and thus open a way of escape for sinful man, but the righteous law must stand in its monumental principles of right thru all the enduring days of eternity.
“For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace; to the end that the promise may 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 (as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee).” The Jewish people claimed for themselves the great distinction of being the children of Abraham. But the Lord shows that He never had the design of making him so exclusive. He shows in this text that Abraham is “the father of us all.” He is related to the Jew and Gentile alike, so far as the natural birth is concerned. And both Jew and Gentile, if they are saved eternally, are to accept the faith that Abraham had, which faith came to him, as has been abundantly shown in scriptures quoted in previous articles, while he was yet a heathen and in a heathen land. It would seem that the Lord had taken Abraham from the most uninviting and discouraging surroundings and made him the most illustrious example of faith so that every person who should come after might be encouraged to lay hold of the promises and receive the blessings that came to “the father of us all.”
But special notice should be taken of the concluding utterances in the lesson of this week: “God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as tho they were.” This utterance brings to view the plan on which God works. It reveals the fact that God exercises nothing short of creative power in bestowing the results of faith upon His children. That is the power He used in blessing Abraham, and that is the power He will use in blessing every one who will accept the blessings of the faith of Abraham.
“Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new.” 2 Cor. 5:17. The marginal reading of the foregoing text gives the statement that “if any man is in Christ, there is a new creation.” The sinner has lost his character; he is not righteous, and has no power to become righteous. Hence the necessity of the Lord making an out-and-out creation, thru Christ, of a new man, by giving him the character and righteousness of God Himself. It is wonderful; it is past comprehension; but we may receive and enjoy the reality of this great truth if we will but accept it by faith.
We may have it all if we are willing to accept the faith that our God gave to father Abraham.
Abraham was persistent in accomplishing the great acts of faith in his life. “Who in hope believed against hope,” so says the record of him, and it was “according to that which had been spoken.” What had been spoken was ever the basis of Abraham’s faith. What God says was the foundation for faith then, and the same is true to-day. If we are to have faith that will give us the character of righteousness, that faith must lay hold definitely of the actual words that the Lord has given. There is no other way for faith to be developed.
God’s words are living words, and they are able to accomplish in the individual all that they say. And no matter how things may appear, we are “in hope” to believe “against hope” just as Abraham did. The very trial of holding on by faith when everything is calculated to fill us with despair is the very thing that makes faith strike her roots deep down into the promises of God and develop the strong character of righteousness.
“Wherefore ye greatly rejoice, tho now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth tho it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:6, 7.