Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God?  If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way.  For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.

Romans 4:1-8 is one of Paul’s clearest presentations on how Christ’s righteousness is transferred as a gift to a sinner who comes to Jesus. At the very moment that a person accepts Jesus by faith, God accounts them righteous (perfect before the law.) 

Righteousness by faith is the greatest wonder of God’s universe. It stands at the heart of Paul’s gospel. Any attempt to water it down will only pervert the apostle’s teaching. Paul is adamant on this point. He admits no compromise, such as earning heaven by faith plus works. It is not faith plus works, but a faith that works. No, it is all of grace; it is a gift, not a bargain. None of us can do anything to earn it. It is this teaching that sets Christianity apart from all other world religions and from all human schemes of morality – even false forms of Christianity.  Salvation is 100% God’s gift. 

Paul is emphatic that justification by faith is an OT teaching. He does this by using examples from the OT. He first chose Abraham because he was the most important figure in the OT, he was the father of the Hebrew race, the central man of their heritage. He was the one who received the covenant promises. Twice God referred to him as a ‘friend,’ a title given to no one else. 

Think for a moment of other OT heroes. Moses stands near the top. The Jews almost deified him as the lawgiver. He was the deliverer whom God had specifically chosen to lead His people out of bondage. Didn’t God speak to him face to face? Or consider David, the greatest of Israel’s kings. Bringing his nation to the apex of its power in the ancient world, he gave his people some of their most impressive psalms, full of grace. The man through whom the Messiah would come. Elijah, another of the greats, was foremost among the prophets. And who can forget Daniel? Not only a powerful statesman but God’s prophet. 

Here is a test case for Paul’s doctrine of salvation. If he can demonstrate that Abraham is in harmony with justification by faith, the apostle wins his case. But if Paul fails, he loses his argument.