Romans 4

C. The proof of justification by faith from the law ch. 4

Paul’s readers could have understood faith as being a new method of salvation since he contrasted faith with the law. The apostle began this epistle by saying that the gospel reveals a righteousness from God, implying something new (Romans 1:17). Was justification by faith a uniquely Christian revelation contrasted with Jewish doctrine? No. In this chapter the apostle showed that God has always justified people by faith alone. In particular, he emphasized that God declared Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, righteous because of his faith. One of the present values of the Old Testament is that it shows that God justified people by faith in the past. If Paul could show from the Old Testament that Abraham received justification by faith, he could convince his Jewish readers that there is only one method of salvation (Romans 3:29-30).

". . . as in Romans 3:27-31, Paul’s purpose is not only to establish the doctrine of justification by faith alone, but also, indeed especially, to draw out the implications of this sola fide [faith alone]. To accomplish these purposes, Paul ’exposits’ Genesis 15:6 . . . This text is quoted in Romans 4:3 after Paul sets up his problem in terms of Abraham’s ’right’ to boast (Romans 4:1-2). Thereafter, Paul quotes or alludes to this text in every paragraph of the chapter, using a series of antitheses to draw out its meaning and implications." [Note: Ibid., p. 255.]