There is a very specific reason why Paul quoted the scripture concerning Abraham in Romans 3 and 4. Not taking scripture out of its context to proof-text in this article I will show why Paul choose Genesis 15 to use as the gospel being preached unto Abraham. Not only Paul uses that way but so do the other Apostles.
In
my article "Abraham Model of Faith" or otherwise titled, "Why
Did Paul Choose Abraham" , I illustrated how
that
Paul manifested both Jew and Gentile under sin, leading up to the
quotation of
Gen.15. I was following the context of
Paul’s writings. Paul like most Catholic
Scholars and others knew well that Abraham already had faith and was
living by
faith. The same can be said for so many
of the Jews of Christ day. The practice
of keeping the law of Moses was an act of
faith in
keeping with their covenant. Still,
because of them falling short of the glory of God and because all had
been
found guilty of sin by the law, they were in need of a righteousness
that was
from God through faith, not from the law.
Likewise, the Gentiles were all found sinners.
And the same was true for them so that both
Jew and Gentile were under the same condemnation.
All
of this strictly follows the context of Romans 3. What
is true for them is also true for
Abraham. Though he walked by faith in a
personal relationship with God, he had still sinned and found himself
in need
of a justification that he could not deliver himself.
But God could deliver this justification from
sin, through His Son Christ Jesus. In
Gen.15:1-5 there is a shadowy preaching of the Gospel of Christ’s first
advent,
death and resurrection to Abraham, in the promise of coming of his
“seed” which
shall bring forth as many children as there are stars in the heavens.
When
Abraham then states that he “believed in
the Lord” Gen.15:6 it is the exactly the same
act
as when the Jews repented in believed in Christ as the seed, that they
might be
saved.
The
accounting of Abraham's faith as righteousness in the context of the
epistle of
Romans is the moment when Abraham
believes and trusts on the promised seed, Christ.
I would have others note the immediate
relationship between Abraham's belief in the promised seed as being
accounted
as righteousness and the next verses that speak of David's forgiveness
of sin.
"3For what saith the
scripture? Abraham believed God, and it
was counted unto
him for righteousness. 4Now to him that worketh is the
reward not
reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the
ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. 6Even as David also
describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness
without works, 7Saying, Blessed
are they whose iniquities are
forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not
impute sin. In both cases, Abraham and David, it speaks of the
justification of
the ungodly through the forgiveness of sin.
When Abraham believed in the Lord, as it written in Gen.15:6,
Paul
interprets the scripture to mean, Abraham believed in the coming of
Christ as
savior. So is the case with King David
after he sinned, in looked to the time when his sins would be forgiven
and
covered by Christ, and justify his ungodliness through Christ's
sacrifice.
None of this takes
away from the fact that both had
walked by the righteousness of faith, it only underscores that both
sinned and
only Christ could restore their relationship to God after their sin and
bring
them to righteousness again.
When Paul preaches
the righteousness of faith that is
attained by belief in Christ, he is preaching the gospel.
The right standing before God was and is only
capable through the sacrifice of Christ.
This is the gospel. This is the essence of the Catholic Mass. Rom.4: 4Now to him that worketh is
the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
The Epistle of
Galatians says the same thing, Gal.3:
6Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for
righteousness. 7Know
ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham. 8And the
scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
In thee shall all nations be blessed. " Note
that
Paul says Abraham had the preaching of the gospel
of Christ to him, when it is said, "In you all the shall all
nations
be blessed" . Paul interprets this
scripture as the gospel of how the Gentiles would be justified through
belief
in Christ or through faith in Christ, the seed of Abraham.
Paul's point in both cases is that our right
standing before God is entirely based on the grace that is given us
through
faith in Christ. Paul
emphases that whether Jew or Gentile no matter, our right standing
before God
is purely attainable only through faith in Christ.
When Abraham believed on the Lord, in
Gen.15:6 he found grace through Christ's sacrifice and forgiveness of
sin,
likewise David and all who are saved. Paul's whole emphasis is to show
the Jew
that no matter how righteous Abraham was he still only able to be found
in the
grace, through the gospel of Christ. And
David also, who loved God's law under the old covenant, a man after
God's own
heart, still spoke of the blessedness
that would come through the forgiveness of sin, through Christ the
promised
seed. The points are so salient to
the Jewish Christian among the churches. If
Abraham and David found grace only through Christ so should all the
others.
The tendency to
over react to a once
saved, always saved causes some to deny what is plainly there in
scripture. There is or can be
a moment when one believes in the gospel and is
saved or brought to a state of Grace in Christ. And it is the beginning
of
salvation. His obedience to the
other facets of the gospel are then made incumbent, to be baptized and
follow
the church. But, let's not deny what is
clearly there in scripture. Gal.5:
1Therefore being justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2By
whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
This right
standing, the forgiveness of sin comes when
one believes the gospel even as Abraham.
It is that which changes the heart and from the heart creates a
desire
for righteousness and right standing before God. The
scripture is replete with countless
stories and examples of the first conversions of the hearts of men at
the
belief in Christ's sufferings, death and resurrection.
We all know of the
story of the thief on the cross, who
believed in his heart and spoke it with his mouth and then went with
the Lord
into paradise. On the day of Pentecost,
Peter did nothing other than to preach the gospel of Christ, him
crucified and
resurrected to the Jews and to the baptize those that received Christ
and
trusted in him, wherein 3,000 souls were added to the church, Acts
2:5-41. The
scripture culminates Peter's gospel message, "37Now when
they
heard this, they were pricked in
their heart, and said unto Peter and to the
rest of
the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do? 38Then Peter said unto
them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for
the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost."
Out from among whom
are these converts to Christ? Luke
records, in the same chapter " 5And there were dwelling at
Jerusalem
Jews, devout men, out of every nation under
heaven." These devout Jews are men,
women and families of faith living devoutly according to the laws of
Moses
under the Old Covenant. Their faith was
yet incomplete though they be as devout as
Abraham or
David. They must believe in Christ as the promised seed that would
bring them
salvation and repent and be baptized everyone
of them
in the name of Jesus Christ "for
the remission of sins" and receive the Holy Spirit.
Again in chapter
three of Acts, Peter preaches
repentance both accepting and learning to trust in Christ for their
salvation
of these Jews, saying, " 25Ye
are the
children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our
fathers,
saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed
shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. 26Unto
you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent
him to bless you, in turning away
every one of you from his iniquities.
This particular story ending in Chapter 4 says, " 4Howbeit
many of them which heard the word believed; and the number
of the men was about five thousand. "
Or consider Acts 8,
to whom Phillip preaches. " 35Then
Philip opened his mouth, and began
at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. 36And
as they
went on their way, they came unto a
certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is
water; what doth hinder me to be
baptized? 37And
Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said,
I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Time would fail me
to mention all those examples of the
devout Jews and Gentiles whose salvation began as all of ours in the
act of
believing the gospel. Whether it be the devout Jews in
Further, in Romans we are told
exactly what we see occurring in the book of Acts.
Rom.10: 4For Christ is the end of
the law for righteousness
to every one that believeth. 5For Moses describeth the
righteousness
which is of the law, That the man which
doeth those
things shall live by them. 6But the righteousness which is
of faith
speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who
shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring
Christ
down from above:) 7Or, Who
shall descend into the deep? (that is, to
bring up
Christ again from the dead.) 8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth,
and in thy heart: that is, the word of
faith, which we preach; 9That
if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe
in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10For
with the heart man believeth unto
righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11For
the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on
him shall
not be ashamed.
12For there is no difference between the Jew
and
the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon
him. 13For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." We cannot discount the truths of the
changes
in hearts of men at the hearing and believing of the gospel. Though, it
is not
all the gospel, it is the beginning of the conversion process. Though, it is not all that there is to
salvation, it is the beginning of salvation.
Further, what Paul
adds next is the church's
responsibility to preach. 14How
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and
how shall they hear without a preacher? 15And how shall
they preach,
except they be sent? as it is written, How
beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad
tidings of
good things!
Indeed,
often are the
conversions of sinners both among the Protestants and the Catholics at
this
message. While, that is not all the truth of faith and some faiths may
be not
be full, yet we should not deny the beginnings of salvation upon their
hearts
and their conversions when they, like the devout Jews and the others
believed
on Christ at the hearing of the message of salvation through Christ
Jesus.
In closing I would
have look at the very foundational
scripture from which stands all of your confidence in the church in Mt.
16. It is at the very moment when Peter
confesses with his mouth what he believed in his heart that Christ is
the
Messiah the Son of the Living God, that Christ pronounced how blessed
he was of
the Father and made him, the rock upon whom the Church was built,
giving him
the keys of the kingdom of heaven and the promise of the gates hell
that would
never prevail over the church.
13When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea
Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I
the Son of man am? 14And they said, Some
say that thou art John the
Baptist: some, Elias; and others,
Jeremias,
or one of the prophets. 15He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I
am? 16And
Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the
Christ, the Son of the living God. 17And Jesus answered
and said
unto him, Blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in
heaven. 18And I say
also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will
build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19And I
will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever
thou
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt
loose
on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The
foundation of the gospel and that of
Christ, him crucified and raised for our
salvation. I
do not think that Salvation begins and ends at one moment, though I
don't leave
out the possibility that it can, as it did with the thief on the cross,
who
believed and confessed. But, it is a
fact that it begins in the expression of faith in Christ and that is
where it
is God's will to end. Both Jews and
Gentiles devout and sinner are promised to stand in the grace that is promised
through the promised seed and believing on him.