The justification of Abraham, considered in relation to the doctrine just expounded in Romans 3:21-31. The point to be made out is that the justification of Abraham does not traverse but illustrates the Pauline doctrine.... [ Continue Reading ]
The force of οὖν seems to be that the case of Abraham, as commonly understood, has at least the appearance of inconsistency with the Pauline doctrine. “What, then, _i.e._, on the supposition that Romans 4:21-25 in chap. 3 are a true exposition of God's method, shall we say of Abraham, our forefather... [ Continue Reading ]
f. With ἀλλʼ οὐ πρὸς τὸν θεόν the Apostle summarily repels the objection. “You say he has ground of boasting? On the contrary, he has no ground of boasting in relation to God, For what does the Scripture say? Abraham _believed_ God, and it was imputed to Him for righteousness.” The quotation is from... [ Continue Reading ]
f. The faith of Abraham, in whatever way it may be more precisely determined by relation to its object, agrees with Christian faith in the essential characteristic, that it is not a work. To him who works der mit Werken umgehet: Luther the reward is reckoned, not by way of grace (as in Abraham's cas... [ Continue Reading ]
ff. καθάπερ καὶ Δαβὶδ : David is not a new illustration of this doctrine, but a new witness to it. The argument just based on Genesis 15:6 is in agreement with what he says in the 32nd Psalm. The quotation exactly reproduces the LXX. λέγει τὸν μακαρισμὸν τοῦ ἀνθρώπου : “pronounceth blessing upon the... [ Continue Reading ]
ὁ μακαρισμὸς οὖν οὗτος : This felicitation, then, what is its extent? Does it apply to the circumcision only, or to the uncircumcision also? Just as Romans 4:1-8 correspond to Romans 3:27 f., so do Romans 4:9-12 correspond to Romans 3:29-31. God is not the God of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles a... [ Continue Reading ]
In these verses the justification of Abraham appears in a new light. In virtue of its ground in his faith, he is not only a forefather κατὰ σάρκα (_i.e._, the natural ancestor of the Jews), but he is the spiritual ancestor of all believers. The faith which was imputed to him for righteousness consti... [ Continue Reading ]
πῶς οὖν ἐλογίσθη; To say that his _faith_ was reckoned as righteousness, without mentioning circumcision, suggests that the latter was at least not indispensable; still it is not decisive, and so the further question must be asked, How _i.e._, under what conditions was his faith thus reckoned to him... [ Continue Reading ]
f. On the contrary, he received a _sign_ in circumcision a _seal_ of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised. Both sign (אוֹת) and seal (חוֹתָם) are frequently used by Rabbinical writers to describe circumcision as a symbol or pledge that one is in covenant with God. So even... [ Continue Reading ]
ἡ ἐπαγγελία is the Divine promise, which is identical with salvation in the widest sense. The word implies that the promise is held out by God of his own motion. The peculiar content here assigned to the promise, that Abraham should be heir of the world, is not found in so many words in the O.T. Sch... [ Continue Reading ]
The argument of Romans 4:9-12 is reiterated and confirmed here in other terms. Abraham is the father of all believers: for it is not through law that the promise is given to him or his seed, that he should be heir of the world a condition which would limit the inheritance to the Jews, but through th... [ Continue Reading ]
κεκένωται _cf._ 1 Corinthians 1:17; 1Co 9:15, 2 Corinthians 9:3. κατήργηται : a favourite word of Paul, who uses it twenty-five times.... [ Continue Reading ]
ὀργήν : wrath, _i.e._, the wrath of God. See on Romans 1:18. Under a legal dispensation sin is stimulated, and brought into clear consciousness: men come under the wrath of God, and know that they do. This is the whole and sole result of “the law,” and hence law cannot be the means through which God... [ Continue Reading ]
f. Διὰ τοῦτο : because of the nature of law, and its inability to work anything but wrath. εκ πίστεως : the subject is the promise, considered in reference to the mode of its fulfilment. ἵνα κατὰ χάριν : χάρις on God's part is the correlative of πίστις on man's εἰς τὸ εἶναι βεβαίαν κ. τ. λ. This is... [ Continue Reading ]
The Apostle can now develop, without further interruption or digression, his idea of the representative (and therefore universal) character of Abraham's justification. The New Testament cannot be said to subvert the Old if the method of justification is the same under both. Nay, it establishes the O... [ Continue Reading ]
ff. Abraham's faith described. It was both contrary to hope (as far as nature could give hope), and rested on hope (that God could do what nature could not). εἰς τὸ γενέσθαι αὐτὸν πατέρα κ. τ. λ. (_cf._ Romans 4:11) is most properly taken to express the Divine purpose that he might become father, et... [ Continue Reading ]
διὸ : because of this signal faith, evinced so triumphantly in spite of all there was to quell it. ἐλογίσθη : _i.e._, his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness. That which needs to be reckoned as righteousness is not in itself righteousness on this the Apostle's argument rests in Romans 4:1-8;... [ Continue Reading ]
Conclusion of the argument. Οὐκ ἐγράφη δὲ διʼ αὐτὸν μόνον : _cf._ Romans 14:4 1 Corinthians 9:10; 1 Corinthians 10:6; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Galatians 3:8. The formula for quoting Scripture is not ἐγράφη but γέγραπται : _i.e._, Scripture conveys not a historical truth, relating to one person (as here,... [ Continue Reading ]