Paul has argued in 1:18-3:20 that all men are sinners and that no man will be justified before God on the basis of his own works. He continues in 3:21-31 to argue that the only way a man can be justified before God is through faith in Christ. In 4:1-12, Paul argues that the truth of justification by faith, apart from works, is evident even in the experience of Abraham. Yet, the justification of Abraham came apart from works and before he was circumcised.

In 4:13-17, Paul is going to continue to argue that justification is by faith alone. However, it’s worth noting that there is a slight shift of emphasis. The Jews were not only seeking individual righteousness before God, but also corporate experience in the promises of God to Israel. Yet, Paul makes it plain that just as justification is attained by faith, so are the promises of God realized by faith. If the Jews thought that they were saved by faith, but received God’s blessing by keeping the law, Paul lays this error to rest in 4:13-17. In 4:13ff, Paul develops the theme of the promise made to Abraham and argues that the realization of the promise comes through faith, not through the Law. Or, to put it simply: Faith obtains the promise of God.

We are going to look at two brief principles: The Law Principle and the Grace Principle. The Law Principle says that God’s promises can be appropriated by keeping the Law. The Grace Principle says that God’s promises are appropriated by faith in Christ. Now both of these principles are good and they operate well within their respective spheres. The Law Principle operates when God’s promises are conditional. For example, when God says, “Honor your father and mother and you will live long on the earth,” the way to realize that promise is to keep that Law. However, many of God’s promises, especially His salvation promises, are unconditional. In other words, Law keeping is not attached as a condition to their fulfillment. Instead, simple faith is the only condition because: Faith obtains the promise of God. Now let’s learn how this works itself out in Romans 4:13-17.

[We will begin by examining…]

1. The Law Principle (4:13-15). Paul begins this section in 4:13 with these words: “For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Paul begins 4:13 with the word “For” which refers back to 4:9-12. The reason that Abraham can be the father of all men is because the promise that is referred to in 4:13 was “not through the Law” and, therefore, it is not restricted to those who had the Law—the Jews. What is “the promise” that Paul speaks of in 4:13? “The promise” is Paul’s way of summarizing all the aspects of God’s covenant with Abraham, including the promise about the land, the great name, his son, his descendants, and the Messiah.

These great blessings, as they are fulfilled in the future through Abraham’s seed, will make him “heir of the world.” Paul says that this promise came “not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.” This means that the promises that God passed on to Abraham were by the faith that has been discussed in the last four chapters. In chapters 1-4, there are five other similar examples of this phrase “the righteousness of faith.” This phrase refers to God declaring a sinner righteous upon one’s belief in Jesus’ person and work.

What does all this mean? It means that if we have believed in Jesus Christ, we have become heirs of the promise. However, the promise is more than just justification; it is being placed in a position to experience many of God’s gracious blessings. Just think about this: Now that you have trusted in Christ, you are a recipient of Christ’s righteousness. You are a brand new person. You are a part of God’s family and you are forgiven of your past, present, and future sins. You are loved and accepted by God Himself. That is achieved by faith, not by seeking to earn it. What works could not do, faith does because faith obtains the promise of God.

In 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, Paul is writing to a group of carnal believers. The church at Corinth was squabbling over who was the greatest preacher. But Paul dismisses the debate and declares a very important truth: “So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.” What a startling revelation. What Paul said to this fleshly church, he says to you and me. Or, as the apostle James put it: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above…” (Jas 1:17)

In 4:14, Paul writes, “For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified.” If only the Jews are heirs through the Law, “faith is made void” [or "empty"]. This means that faith is canceled out when the Law is mixed with it. Paul’s point is simple: If the Law could save, there would be no need for faith. Yet, Paul has said many times throughout the first four chapters that men are justified through faith. “If those who are of the Law are heirs,” not only is faith made void, but Paul also writes “the promise is nullified.” All that the Lord does when a person believes is done away with if the Law is included in the equation. This verse elevates faith and tears down the Law. Yet, the focus of this section is “The Law Principle.” So what benefit comes from the Law?

Verse 15 tells us: “for the Law brings about wrath.” As it pertains to our justification, one of the main purposes of the Law is to “bring about wrath.” This is a benefit because it forces us to acknowledge that we are sinful and drives us to Christ. How does the Law bring about wrath? It brings about wrath by allowing us to experience consequences every time we sin. I often have to discipline my two boys by slapping them on the hand. I do this because they have been disobedient. I also do this because I don’t want them to get hurt worse as a result of their behavior. In the same way, the Law slaps your hand in an effort to protect you from getting hurt worse. If you drive 50 mph down Pacific Ave. and get caught, you will feel the wrath of the law of Thurston County in the form of a stiff ticket. But if there wasn’t a law against speeding, some wild man might well feel the wrath of the laws of physics when he flips into a ditch at 80 mph.

While we are on this topic, have you ever been pulled over by a police officer? (Come on, confession is good for the soul.) Now tell me if this has ever happened to you. A police officer pulls you over, gets out of his car, slowly makes his way up to the driver’s window, and says, “I couldn’t help but notice on my radar that you were going the speed limit. So I just wanted to pull you over and let you know how blessed the police department of this city is to have a law abiding citizen like you. Here, let me write you a thank you ticket.” Has this ever happened to you? Why not? For one simple reason: The police radar is not there to congratulate you for obeying the law. It is there to catch you when you exceed the speed limit. It is there to condemn you because that is what the law does. The problem with the Law is that it doesn’t give you the power to obey it. All it can do is give you the guidelines and punish you when you have broken them. That is what Paul means when he writes that the Law “brings about wrath.”

In 4:15, Paul goes on to write, “but where there is no law, there also is no violation.” He does not mean that there is no “sin” apart from the Law; but that the definite form of sin translated “violation” or “transgression” can exist only in the face of definite, clear commandments of God for which one is responsible. What Paul means then is that the explicit commands of the Mosaic Law reveal sin to a much greater degree than is otherwise known and understood by men. When sin is exposed as such, the wrath of God is aroused. But, where the Mosaic Law is not in force or is not known, there is no knowledge of specific sin among people, at least not to the same degree. But why does Paul make this point here? It is because he is trying to show why it is futile to attempt, through the Law, to obtain God’s blessing.

It only winds up in wrath. The Law only reveals what great sinners we really are and obliges the wrath of God to flare up against us.

Please turn with me to Galatians 3:10-11. In this parallel passage, Paul clearly explains “The Law Principle.” Paul writes, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things written in the book of the Law to perform them.’ Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, ‘The righteous man shall live by faith.’”

One Sunday morning I called a man named Hayden LeRoy to come up to the stage. Hayden has played high school and college basketball and he’s quite good. I asked him, “Hayden, you are 6′8″ right? What is your vertical jump? Okay. How would you like to earn a thousand dollars? Well, you can earn a thousand dollars in less than a minute. All that I ask is that you jump up and touch the ceiling. If you do that, I promise I will give you a thousand dollars. I might have to borrow it, but I will give it to you. Hayden, will you do that for us; why not?” He answered, “Because it is impossible.” I had asked Hayden to do, that which was utterly impossible. No one can jump up and touch the ceiling by their natural strength. My promise was worthless. Even though I sincerely meant it, it had no value to him because he couldn’t do it.

This is what the Scriptures tell us. What does the Law require of man? Basically, it requires something that he cannot do. It asks us to love. That is all the Law asks. It asks that we love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind, and our neighbor as ourselves. That’s it. However, there is a catch; we must exhibit this kind of love all the time, without fail.

Now if you cannot do that, the promise that comes with the Law is useless. The promise is: “Do this and live.” If you obey the Law, God will accept you as righteous. Worth, value, and approval will be given to you because you earned them by doing what the Law demanded. But if you can’t, then the promise is worthless. And we can’t. We can’t love everybody, and we don’t. We can’t love God like we ought. It’s not only that we won’t, but also we can’t. Therefore, the Law is worthless in obtaining the promise.

Perhaps someone is saying, “We’ve spent an awful lot of time on this point, that a person can’t be saved by keeping the Mosaic Law, but I don’t know anyone who’s trying to be justified that way.” Well, that may be true, but I’ll bet you know many who are trying to get to heaven by some list of rules and the principle is the same. The trouble with any system of salvation-by-law is that one never knows for sure if he has kept a sufficient number of laws, with sufficient regularity, to merit God’s favor. All systems of salvation-by-law are doomed to failure. That is why The Law Principle was doomed from the start.

[Now that we're aware of how "The Law Principle" operates, let's look at…]

2. The Grace Principle (4:16-17). In 4:16, Paul writes, “For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace.” The promise of God’s great salvation and all its accompanying blessings comes as the result of grace. Grace is God’s unmerited favor given to man. The Grace Principle is simple: God gives us what we don’t deserve. The acrostic GRACE: “God’s Riches at Christ’s Expense” is a helpful way to remember the significance of grace.

Why must God’s promise be according to grace? Verse 16 tells us, “so that the promise will be guaranteed to all
the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.” The term “guaranteed” or “certain” means “firm,” “dependable,” “unmovable,” and is used in connection with the function of an anchor in Hebrews 6:19. If the promise was according to the Law, a person could only be certain of one thing, its non-fulfillment. If it is by faith, one can be confident that the fulfillment is as guaranteed as the One who is being trusted.

Since the blessings of God are based upon faith and not Law, they are assured to those who are of the Law (Jews) and those who are not (Gentiles). They are assured through faith in Jesus Christ. The whole point seems to be that if the Law were the basis for salvation, only those who possessed that Law could be saved. The Mosaic Law was given to the Jewish people—it wasn’t given to Arabs or Chinese or Eskimos. If salvation were through the Mosaic Law, then only Jews or Jewish converts could be saved. But if grace is the basis for salvation, then everyone is eligible.

In the final phrase of 4:16, Abraham is again called the father of us all who believe in Christ. In 4:17, Paul writes, “(as it is written, ‘A father of many nations have I made you’) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist.” Faith is the only way of receiving God’s blessing. Paul not only tells us that salvation is by faith, but also God’s blessing comes only by faith. We often forget that the way of salvation is also the only way of blessing. Here we see Paul making a transition to the fact that faith is the system by which Abraham trusted God for all things. If we can trust Him for salvation we can trust Him for everything. Every blessing of God comes to the believer by way of faith. That is “The Grace Principle.” The Law condemns; grace enables. When grace comes in, it guarantees the promise. If you and I had to earn the standing that we have before God, not only at the beginning of our Christian life but every day through it, we would certainly fail somewhere along the line. If it depended upon us, somewhere we would blow it and lose the whole thing. But if it comes by grace, if it is purely a gift and it does not depend upon us at all but upon God alone, then it is guaranteed to us because He is not going to fail.

We live in an era of broken promises. Nations sign important treaties and then break them at will. And many couples show little regard for their wedding vows. In this kind of society, we who are God’s people should be known for two things: keeping our promises and being gracious. The brilliant Christian scholar and writer, C. S. Lewis, took these responsibilities seriously. His biography tells of the suffering he endured because he kept a promise he had made to a buddy during World War I. This friend was worried about the care of his wife and small daughter if he should be killed in battle, so Lewis assured him that if that were to happen he would look after them. As the war dragged on, the man was killed. True to his word, Lewis took care of his friend’s family. Yet no matter how helpful he tried to be, the woman was ungrateful, rude, arrogant, and domineering. Through it all, Lewis kept forgiving her. He refused to let her actions become an excuse to renege on his promise.

Lewis exemplified grace under pressure. He also demonstrated what it meant to give good gifts and keep a promise. This is what God the Father does for us. He gives grace beyond measure even though we deserve wrath. This compels me to want to be a gracious Christian. I want grace to so permeate my life that people see a man who is indebted to God. This means that as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, disciple, and pastor, I’m called to exude God’s grace. You are too.

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Copyright © 2001 Keith R. Krell. All rights reserved. All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, C 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.

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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: by Keith Krell, Timeless Word Ministries®, 2508 State Ave NE Olympia, WA 98506, 360-352-9044, www.timelessword.com

All Scripture quotations, unless indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, and 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, and are used by permission.
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