Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
9 Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also: 12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: 15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression. (Romans 4:6-15)
I have been astounded to hear certain Christians say with certainty, yea, with conviction, that those who died before the cross were lost or saved on the grounds of their keeping of the law and those after the cross can only be saved by grace and ought to disregard the law. I think there are probably many Christians who love Jesus that share this belief, though they may not be so sure of it. Nobody could come to this conclusion by reading the Bible with a desire to learn. Somebody must have made this belief up and found some Bible texts to support it and then taught others likewise. If you are one of these false teachers, Jesus has a special message just for you: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven... (Matthew 5:19) I suggest you rethink your doctrine.
So is Paul contradicting the rest of the Bible in this section of Romans? ...and the scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35) No he cannot be, unless he is a false prophet, so either the rest of the Bible is right and Paul is wrong or they are both right and they do not contradict each other.
Paul has been speaking of how Abraham was declared a good man by God, not because he was especially good, but because he loved and trusted God enough to be willing to learn from him and obey him. He continues:
King David taught the idea of salvation by grace as well, for example saying: Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. (Psalm 32:1-2) This holiness is a blessing from God, not hard earnings. So was this blessing available to circumcised men only or also to uncircumcised men? [Note: It seems that women are not the subject of discussion here, since Paul is addressing a specific issue in the early church that was only relevant to men.] Well, as we saw earlier, Abraham received this blessing of salvation by faith and not by his own deeds, and when did he receive it? It was at a time when he had not yet been circumcised, and he received the sign of circumcision afterwards as a symbol of his justifying faith (faith in God that freed him from guilt). The fact that God declared Abraham righteous before he was circumcised makes him the spiritual father of all who have faith in the true God, whether circumcised or uncircumcised.
After all, the promise that Abraham would bring blessing to all nations (Genesis 22:18) can't be fulfilled by him personally, or by only those who are genetically descended from him, but by everyone that inherits his faith. If God made a rule that all Abraham's legal descendants must be saved then they could say anything, do anything, think anything; they could be totally evil and still be guaranteed heaven. That doesn't make any sense at all, especially since such an unrestrained posterity would be unlikely to bless the world. That is, a group of people who could do anything and still be guaranteed blissful eternal life would be very dangerous to have living next door. The moral law is there to show the difference between right and wrong, and if someone does wrong and never repents he will be punished.
Those of us who are of faith are here to fulfil the promise to Abraham which can be fulfilled in us through Jesus. Let's be a blessing to the world today, giving other people priority and speaking the truth even when it costs us something.
I could apply this matter of preferring others to my driving. Let others get to their destination before you.
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