Faith is counted for righteousness

In chapters 1 to 3 it has been established that man stands in need of righteousness and that he cannot provide it for himself. The glory of the gospel is seen in that God has provided that which man needs and has done so freely. In the first chapter we learn that a righteousness from God is revealed in the gospel of Christ, and that it is a righteousness to be received by faith. In chapter 3 reference is made to a righteousness from God ‘which is by faith’, v. 22; it is ‘upon all them that believe’, v. 22b; the benefits of the propitiation in His blood are enjoyed ‘through faith’, v. 25; and God is ‘the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’, v. 26.

In the fourth chapter the apostle enlarges upon the subject of faith and shows that, as the means by which divine blessing is appropriated, faith is deeply rooted in the Old Testament. At the start of the chapter reference is made to Genesis chapter 15 verse 6, a pivotal verse in relation to the subject of saving faith, and Psalm 32. In Genesis, Abraham was justified through faith, and he who believed the promise of God was accordingly reckoned righteous. David, who after great failure knew the mercy of God, also enjoyed the blessings of the justified man, for he describes ‘the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works’, Rom. 4. 6.

The nature of Abraham’s faith was that he believed God, who would fulfil His promise to him that he would be the heir of the world. This necessitated the birth of a son to Abraham and Sarah at a time in their lives when faith would need to disregard the deadness both of Abraham’s body and of Sarah’s womb. If God’s promise were to be fulfilled it would be in no part due to any power of Abraham and Sarah; it would completely depend on the power of God, who is clearly presented here as the God of resurrection. Abraham was fully persuaded that what God had promised He was able also to perform, and because of this faith he was reckoned righteous by God. Faith is not righteousness, nor is it in the place of righteousness, as if it were meritorious, but it is ‘unto righteousness’: it was because he exercised faith that God put righteousness to his account.