- 5 hours ago
Jay Carper discusses Romans 4:4–12, focusing on how faith is “counted” as righteousness, using the Greek idea of accounting and God’s book of life. He explains justification as God declaring a sinner righteous apart from earned wages or works, wiping sin from the record and granting righteousness by divine decree. He compares Abraham’s potential heirs--Eliezer (by legal custom), Ishmael (by natural biology), and Isaac (by divine intervention)--to show salvation cannot be achieved by human systems, law-keeping, or restitution, since God’s infinite righteousness cannot be reached by finite effort. He connects Romans to Psalm 32, emphasizing confession and repentance: unconfessed sin weighs on a person, but God forgives and does not count iniquity against those who trust him. He argues obedience follows genuine belief, but does not earn salvation. He then addresses circumcision, stressing Abraham was counted righteous before circumcision, making him the father of believing uncircumcised and circumcised alike, and cites John the Baptist’s warning that ancestry or ritual is insufficient without repentance and fruit.
From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
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From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).
This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.
Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter
Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat
Follow me on Whole Bible Community: https://jaycarper.com/ttn
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LearningTranscript
00:02hey jay carper here um for our last bible study uh talking about romans chapter four verses four
00:10through 11 or 12 i think i forgot to hit record so unfortunately we don't have the whole conversation
00:19but what i'm going to do instead is just kind of go through those verses
00:23and recap most of what we talked about hopefully i'll get all the main points
00:28um this video won't be as long because it won't have that interaction that
00:34makes these videos so much better starting in verse four now to the one who works his wages are
00:43not counted as a gift but as is due and to the one who does not work but believes him
00:47in him who
00:48justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness just as david also speaks of the
00:54blessings of the one to whom god counts righteousness apart from works blessed are those whose lawless
01:00deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered blessed is the man against whom the lord will not count his
01:06sin is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised for we say that faith
01:13was counted to abraham as righteousness how then was it counted to him was it before or after he had
01:19been
01:19circumcised it was not after but before he was circumcised he received the sign of circumcision as a
01:27seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised the purpose was to make him
01:33the father of all who believe without being circumcised so that righteousness would be counted
01:38to them as well and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who
01:43also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father abraham had before he was circumcised
01:50all right so let's go back to the beginning we're going to start talking in on verse four you know
01:57notice i highlighted the word counted in this verse uh this is the greek word logos die and it's talking
02:05about literally financial accounting or writing something in a log book and think about god's book
02:12of life if if god has counted your faith as righteousness it means that he's written it down
02:19in that book and it's as if it doesn't even matter what your actual personal righteousness is you could be
02:27the greatest or the chiefest of all sinners as paul says and if you had faith in god if you
02:35really
02:35believed him that he would forgive you of your sins you believed what he said about um about his
02:43commandments about grace and you repented from your sins god wipes them all out he erases them from
02:50the book and he writes in totally righteous as if those sins never happened this is essentially
02:57the meaning of justification god is making you righteous whether you are righteous or not
03:06you know kind of as a prelude to some of what we're going to talk about i want to
03:12make a comparison between three different people genesis 15 verses one through four
03:20after these things the word of the lord came to abram in a vision fear not abram i am your
03:26shield your
03:26reward shall be very great but abram said oh lord god what will you give me for i continue childless
03:32and the heir of my house is eliezer of damascus and abram said behold you have given me no offspring
03:38and a member of my household will be my heir and behold the word of the lord came to him
03:44this man shall
03:45not be your heir your very own son shall be your heir genesis 17 verses 15 to 21
03:55and god said to abram as for sarai your wife you shall not call her sarai but sarah shall be
03:59her name
04:00i will bless her and moreover i will give you a son by her and i will bless her and
04:05she will become
04:06nations kings of people will come from her then abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself
04:11shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old shall sarah who is ninety years
04:17old bear a
04:17child and abraham said to god oh that ishmael might live before you god said no but sarah your wife
04:25shall bear you a son and you shall call his name isaac i will establish my covenant with him as
04:30an
04:30everlasting covenant for his offspring after him as for ishmael i have heard you behold i have blessed
04:37him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly his father or he shall father twelve princes and
04:43i will make him into a great nation but i will establish my covenant with isaac whom sarah shall
04:48bear to you at this time next year okay so we have three heirs in this passage or in these
04:55two passages
04:55we have eliezer ishmael and isaac all three of these could be legitimate heirs of abraham
05:02when this story starts abraham is childless and eliezer is his chief servant and according to the laws of men
05:10not not not the laws of god but according to the laws of men this man would be his heir
05:16and that would be perfectly legal his chief servant who has helped him build his his fortunes who runs
05:22his household for him who better to be his heir but that's not what god had in mind that's an
05:29heir according
05:29to the rules of men according to law now ishmael was abraham's natural child according to the laws of
05:38biology ishmael would could have been abraham's heir and god recognizes ishmael as a legitimate son of
05:47abraham but because again this is an heir through natural means through laws god says this isn't the
05:55one i mean this isn't going to be your heir instead i'm going to give you an heir through divine
06:01intervention
06:03there was no way according to biological laws sarah should have born a son there was no way according
06:10to the laws of men that isaac should ever have been born to be his heir but god said i'm
06:17going to bypass
06:18the laws of men i'm going to bypass the laws of nature and i'm going to create an heir totally
06:23apart
06:24from any system of rules that you would know of i'm going to intervene in the affairs of mankind
06:31and create an heir where there couldn't have been one before this is
06:39this is very much like our salvation we aren't sanctified or we aren't justified by any legal means
06:49you know according to the rules of men if you are well behaved if you don't break any laws or
06:53maybe if
06:54you make things right if you do break the laws you're justified you were right in doing some action
07:02that's according to law let's say you broke a a law you were caught you served your time in prison
07:10and
07:10now you're out and you're a free man you have now been made righteous so to speak through a course
07:17of law
07:18but that will never be enough to make you righteous enough for eternal life god himself is infinitely
07:25righteous he he makes the rules he created the entire universe it is impossible for him to be wicked
07:32and if you are anything less than infinitely righteous mathematically speaking you are infinitely
07:38wicked you are infinitely short of the righteousness that god demands that perfection that he demands
07:46to earn eternal life there is no law that you could follow no restitution you could make that could
07:52ever make up for that shortcoming no matter how hard you try you will never be infinite and so nothing
07:58you do can ever be infinite and so therefore it takes an infinite god to intervene miraculously to create
08:06a new person to make you righteous to write your name in the books of life where there's nothing you
08:14could have done to do that this is really what it means for faith to be counted as righteousness
08:20in this the contrast between those three kinds of errors in how one works according to law well both of
08:26two of them work according to law and one does not um that's going to be important for understanding
08:31a lot of what's coming in this next uh next few verses hopefully that made sense but feel free to
08:37ask questions in the comments uh just as david also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom god
08:44counts righteousness apart from works blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins
08:49are covered blessed is the man against whom the lord will not count his sin now we all know that
08:54abraham
08:54had sin everybody sins and so abraham himself fell short but god declared him righteous god told abram
09:03that he was going to have an heir abram believed him and god counted it to him as righteousness
09:08because he believed god not because he was circumcised not because he kept all the commandments
09:14just because he believed god now of course obedience to the commandments obedience to god's
09:20instructions is a natural extension of belief if you believe god you're going to do what he says
09:26if you don't do what god says that means you don't believe god seems that seems pretty logical i don't
09:32know how how that's confusing to some people it's not the deeds the things that you do that make you
09:40saved god makes you saved god saves you through a divine decree through through granting you favor that
09:48he didn't owe to you but he does it in response to your faith and your faith works in you
09:54to produce
09:55good works good works this quote from david is from psalm 32 blessed is the one whose transgression
10:03is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man against whom the lord counts no iniquity and in
10:08whose spirit there is no deceit for when i kept silent my bones wasted away through my groaning all day
10:13long
10:14for day and night your hand was heavy upon me my strength was dried up as by the heat of
10:18summer
10:19i acknowledged my sin to you and i did not cover my iniquity i said
10:23i will confess my transgressions to the lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin
10:29therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found surely in
10:33the rush of great waters they shall not reach him you are a hiding place for me you preserve me
10:38from
10:38trouble you surround me with shouts of deliverance i will instruct you and teach you in the way which
10:43you should go i will counsel you with my eye upon you be not like a horse or mule without
10:50understanding which must be curbed with bit and bridle or it will not stay near you many are the
10:55sorrows of the wicked but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the lord be glad in the lord
11:00and rejoice so righteous and shout for joy all you upright and heart the psalm begins talking about
11:07the sinner blessed is the man against whom the lord counts no iniquity we all have sin we as paul
11:14said
11:14all have fallen short of the glory of god and yet god doesn't count the sins of every man against
11:23him
11:23every woman every child however you want to say it same thing um he doesn't count the sins of those
11:29who believe in him against them that's not an excuse to sin because if you believe him you will
11:36work towards not sinning doesn't mean you're ever going to be perfect you're not you will always sin all
11:41your life but you will not give in to sin you will not live a lifestyle of sin you will
11:48repent from it
11:49and what david says in this psalm is that as long as david kept sinning and didn't bring it before
11:56god
11:57it ate away at him it weighed on him day and night and then he acknowledged it he confessed it
12:03and that's
12:03the first step towards repentance is saying yes god i am a sinner i deserve whatever punishment you give me
12:09because i am infinitely wicked confessing your sins before god is the first step towards salvation
12:18if you don't confess that you are a sinner then you're not believing god because god said you are a
12:23sinner god laid out the laws all of the laws that god gave to israel at sinai all through the
12:30torah
12:30these are god's standard of behavior for his people this is what it means to be perfect and if you
12:37don't measure up if you fail in one single thing then you have broken the whole law and you are
12:42an
12:43infinite sinner and if you're not ready to confess that to confess your wrongdoings to god you don't
12:49believe in him and you're not ready to be saved you're not ready to be forgiven so confess your sins
12:57and repent from them and you'll be forgiven that is not a works-based salvation that is not saying that
13:03you can earn your salvation because confessing your sins and repenting from them cannot earn you
13:10salvation that is still a gift of god no matter what anybody says but god has made this a prerequisite
13:17you must do this in order to be saved but once you have god hides you god covers you he
13:25protects you
13:25from condemnation of your sin he says at the end of this many are the sorrows of the wicked but
13:32steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in yahweh who believes him be glad in the lord and rejoice so
13:38righteous or it should say we could say be glad in the lord and rejoice those of you who have
13:46been
13:46declared righteous by god shout for joy all you have been who have been declared upright in heart
13:52because you have confessed and repented of your sins all right let's go back to romans 4
13:59is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised for we say that faith
14:05was counted to abraham as righteousness how then was it counted to him was it before or after he had
14:10been circumcised it was not after but before he was circumcised and we've talked about this before
14:16when god first called abraham and told him you will be the father of many nations i will be your
14:22god
14:22abraham believed him and god counted it to him as righteousness and it was years later that god gave
14:29him the command to be circumcised so being circumcised is not what brings anybody into the
14:35covenant it's a sign of a covenant already established being circumcised is a sign of obedience
14:43it doesn't save you it doesn't make you in a covenant relationship with god
14:50move down here a little bit uh this the purpose of this was to make him the father of all
14:55who believe
14:55without being circumcised so that righteousness would be counted to them as well and to make him
15:00the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of
15:05the thought of the faith that our father abraham had before he was circumcised when it says the purpose
15:11it means the purpose of declaring abraham righteous before he was circumcised now abraham was going to be the
15:17father of the righteous uh or the repented circumcised or not no matter what order this was in but god
15:24did
15:24it in this order to make sure that we would see we can be declared righteous like abraham without being
15:30circumcised that is without converting to judaism you don't have to become a jew you don't have to go
15:37through all those all the rituals and stuff to become part of the people of judah or to be called
15:44a
15:44jew to be you know convert to judaism whatever phrase you want to use you don't have to do that
15:49to be considered a son of abraham a child of abraham because abraham himself was declared righteous
15:55before he was circumcised but then james also says that abraham was righteous because
16:04of the things that he did after he was circumcised or abraham was justified by it that doesn't mean that
16:10abraham earned his salvation because scripture says abraham was declared righteous before he was
16:15circumcised but this obedience shows that abraham really did believe if abraham had refused to give
16:22up isaac then clearly he didn't really believe god because god had promised that isaac would be the father
16:29of nations so when abraham was willing to sacrifice isaac he trusted that god was going to make it work
16:36out
16:36that god was going to stop the sacrifice before it happened or resurrect isaac because abraham believed
16:45what god said and that's what god said he was going to do you can't make a dead man the
16:50father of many
16:51nations they weren't uh they weren't doing cloning back then he to make him the father of the circumcised who
17:00are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father abraham had
17:05before he was circumcised that's to say that the circumcision itself isn't enough to make you a
17:11child of abraham let me go back to i think it's luke 3 okay this is john the baptist talking
17:19to the
17:19crowds he says he said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him you brood of
17:26vipers who
17:26warned you to flee from the wrath to come bear fruits in keeping with repentance and do not begin to
17:32say to yourself we have abraham as our father for i tell you god is able from these stones to
17:37raise up
17:37children for abraham even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees every tree therefore that does
17:43not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire
17:49it doesn't matter who your parents are if you refuse to believe god you are no longer a child of
17:54abraham you
17:55are cut off but paul also says that the natural branches of israel the natural children of jacob
18:02it's much easier for them to be grafted in than for us gentiles you know we are made parties to
18:09the
18:10covenant of abraham and jacob um through faith with or without circumcision because that was never a
18:17a prerequisite for either covenant it's a command in those covenants but it wasn't a prerequisite
18:24and those who are circumcised according to the commandment they are made parties to these
18:29covenants by faith they don't get eternal life i mean even if you are part of the covenant with jacob
18:37you know the covenant at sinai that doesn't automatically give you eternal life it doesn't
18:43forgive your sins you only get that by the grace of god in response to your belief in him
18:49if you believe god if you confess your sins and repent of them he is just he is faithful and
18:57just
18:57forgive your sins whether you are circumcised or not
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