Romans 4 Commentary
“Abraham is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised.” Verse 11. Needless to mention he is the father of the circumcised!
So the household of faith (circumcised or uncircumcised) has one father – Abraham.
With Abraham is an important blessing from the LORD. The LORD repeats the blessing of Genesis 1 verse 28: Increase in number, prosper, and rule. The blessing of increase is the blessing of life. The blessing of prosperity is the blessing of fruitfulness. The blessing to rule is the blessing of dominion.
Fruitfulness is tightly connected to the fruit of the Holy Spirit as recorded in Galatians. Material prosperity is an ‘add-on’ benefit, as saints “seek the Kingdom”.
Abraham combines the Law and Grace. He is called by the LORD into great blessings without performance. But he must keep his side of the covenant, the law. ‘Grace’ comes first; it is grace that defines the law and not the other way round!
The blessing of life or of increase was hidden behind faith. Abraham needed faith to access the blessing. He fathered Isaac simply because he believed God.
The point here seems to be that the blessing of life comes from faith in Jesus. It is never about works of righteousness. If we go to Heaven, it won’t be because we scored a higher morality grade. It is because we had faith or we trusted Jesus. But it happens that those who have faith in Jesus always score high morality grades!
They are ‘A’ graders! The LORD has made them great!
“Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” Verse 21. This is faith: Believing that Jesus will do what He has promised.
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