Rom 4:2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has
something to boast about, but not before God.
Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say?
"Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."
Rom 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not
counted as a gift but as his due.
Rom 4:5 And to the one who does not work but believes
in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
When it comes to understanding the above passage one’s
theology makes all the difference. On
the surface it seems pretty clear that we are not saved by any work we can do
through faith. Since this is the main
point then it cannot be teaching us that faith is a work that we can do in
order to be saved. Yet there are a vast
number or Christians who believe this very thing.
This is mostly seen in the concept that God has provided a
means of salvation and all that is needed to finish the job is for us to agree
with it by faith. But if all men are
born with the ability to believe then how is this not a work? Does not the very term ability necessitate something
we have to aid in our salvation?
The idea is that since none are righteous and can obey God’s
Law then he has lowered the bar just low enough so that everyone has the
ability to get in. Faith becomes the one
thing that we all can “do”. But this is
still a work and the above passage is saying that this is not an option.
Our theology helps here as we know that the Bible teaches
that salvation is a work of God in which he enables us to believe thus faith is
not a work but a means by which the Lord justifies us in such a way that we
cannot boast that we did anything, even believe, in order to be saved. Yes, we trusted in the work of Christ but
only because God regenerated us and gave us the power to do so.
Another reason we know that faith is not the one thing that
God will accept in order to save us is because faith does not equal our
transgressions. The Muslim god for
instance will forgive sin if certain prayers are made. But in essence this is to forgive sin without
it ever being paid for. Prayers don’t
make up for transgressing a Holy God nor does believing. Sin must be paid for which is why Jesus had
to die.
Now you might be thinking, “Well there you have it. Faith doesn’t equal our sin; Jesus also had
to die for them. But Paul tells us in
Galatians that if we add anything to Christ we miss the gospel entirely. In Galatians they were adding circumcision;
in the case of the Church of Christ they add baptism; in the case of most
Arminianism they add “faith”. The idea
is that God has done everything needed for salvation except one thing is left
for us to “add to Christ’s work”. That
is we must add our faith to it. In the
end it boils down to a work that we can do that the lost will not do.
Because of this it is good and necessary to understand that
we are justified not on the basis of faith but through faith. We are saved by grace, through faith. Our salvation is all a gift of God but he
enables us to believe when he gives us the new birth as the mechanism in which
he justifies us. We can take no credit. I will leave you with these verses which I
believe say the same thing, Php 1:29 For it has been granted to you that for the
sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his
sake. Act 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began
rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to
eternal life believed. 2Ti 2:25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God
may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth.