Romans 4:9-12

The first eight verses of Romans 4 deal with this general proposition that for the saints of the Old Testament, just as for those in the New, salvation is by faith. Whatever differences may exist between then and now in the knowledge or experience or privilege of believers, the fundamental fact is that they were believers and that by believing found justification. But this whole question of justification in the Old Testament brought up one very specific issue for the Jews of the first century, and that was the issue of circumcision.

This was partly because Covenantal Nomism, the belief current among some Jews that taught that salvation came through membership in the Jewish covenant; that being circumcised and being part of the Jewish religious organism was enough to garner acceptance with God. But even among the Jews that wouldn't have fully accepted that idea, it was still true that circumcision was very important, not merely as a cultural ritual, but as part of their relationship to God.

And this same thought pattern came with many Jews upon becoming Christians. In Acts 15, for instance, we read: “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Even within the church, there were some who believed that salvation for the Christian was still linked to circumcision and membership within the Jewish covenant. This was what led to the Jerusalem Council, when the church as a body dealt with this issue and declared the conclusion that Gentiles could be saved without taking part in circumcision. But it should be noted that Acts 15:7 states that before this conclusion was reached there was “much disputing.”  In other words, even among the apostles and leaders of the church, this wasn't something self-evident or obvious. And even though this was the official declaration of the church, it was an issue that individual congregations would continue to deal with for years afterwards.

Given the fact that, as we've already seen, the church at Rome was comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, it makes sense that this issue would also be at the forefront there. We have to remember the flow of Paul's argument up to this point. In Romans 1, Paul showed that the Gentiles had broken God's law and therefore were in need of salvation. In Romans 2, Paul showed that the Jews had broken God's law and therefore were in need of salvation. In Romans 3, Paul puts those two facts together to prove that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Everyone—both Jew and Gentile—needed salvation and God had provided salvation and it was accessible through faith.

But if some of the Jews were right, then the Gentiles could only have this salvation through faith if they were circumcised and became Jews. Unlike Galatians, it doesn't seem that Paul is here directly addressing Covenantal Nomism. It doesn't seem that this is a rebuke specifically to those who believed that circumcision was itself a means of salvation. The question here is whether the offer of salvation is open to all or only to certain people. In the section leading up to this, Paul spoke of the blessedness which comes with justification—but who was eligible for said justification?

The mention of Abraham naturally leads to this point since it was Abraham who had received the covenant of circumcision. And Paul's answer here is quite simple and direct. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness--AND THEN, fourteen years later, he was given the covenant of circumcision. Abraham was not yet circumcised—and therefore in Hebrew thought, he was not yet a Jew—when he embraced the promises of God. The Beacon Bible Commentary puts it simply thus: “Abraham was a Gentile when God counted his faith as righteousness.” (Rom 4:11-12)

So far from circumcision being the ground of his justification or being a necessary qualification for his justification, circumcision was only given a sign of the justification which he already had through faith.

Suppose a teacher rewarded students who answered questions correctly with a gold star on the top of their paper. It would be silly to think that putting a gold star at the top of a paper automatically made the answers correct; and it would be even sillier to think that a student had to get a gold star on their paper before they could get correct answers. But that is about what the Jewish beliefs about circumcision came to. Obviously, Gentiles could find peace with God without circumcision because Abraham found peace with God without circumcision and it was solely because he had that circumcision came into the picture later at all.

Let's carry our analogy a little further. If a teacher put a gold star on a particular student's paper to mark the fact that their answer were correct, it does not follow that the teacher would have to put a gold star on the paper of every student who got the correct answer. The teacher might decide to give one a gold star, and another a smiley face, and another a thumb's up. The teacher might pick a unique sticker for each student in the class to reflect their unique personality and if the teacher ran out of stickers they might simply draw something. But none of that changes the truly important point, which is the fact that the answers were, in fact, correct.

Just so, God gave circumcision and the whole Mosaic covenant to the Jewish people as a fruit of Abraham's faith. But it doesn't follow that all who have faith must enter into that covenant as a result. God might have established a special covenant with some other people and used some completely different symbol than circumcision. In the New Testament, God has established a new covenant which intersects with but is distinct from the Mosaic. But none of that changes the truly important point which is faith. However God choses to recognize that faith and whatever may follow upon faith, the bottom line is the faith is the foundation of justification and a right relationship with God.

Now, suppose there was a student who was both extremely intelligent and extremely diligent, so much that he always got all the right answers on his papers and so always got a gold stars. Eventually, he graduated from school and had a son, a son who was very anxious to follow in his father's footsteps. If the boy truly wanted to be as good a student as his father, which would he need to do? Consistently get correct answers or consistently get gold stars?

Paul's argument here is that because Abraham's faith was the first and fundamental fact about Abraham's relationship to God, therefore the true sons of Abraham are those who have faith and through faith find the righteousness of God. Gentiles who have faith are as truly sons of Abraham as Jews because they are like Abraham is the way that truly matters; while Jews who lack faith are really as far away from Abraham as Gentiles. 

The whole debate may seem distant to us, because this is not as sharp a point of contention as it was in the early church. But the thing to remember is this. So far as we can tell, there was nothing all that special about Abraham before God called him; certainly nothing about him which merited the call of God. But God did call him. And Abraham, after some initial reservations and occasional distractions, answered God's call. He believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness. And everything else that made Abraham special—circumcision, the covenant, his miraculous posterity—came as a result of that faith.

In the last section, I made the point that because salvation is by faith it equally accessible to all, regardless of how good or bad they are. Here, we see that salvation is accessible to all, regardless of who they are or where they come from. You don't have to be a son of Abraham to be saved, because Abraham was not a son of Abraham. He was a man of faith. And anyone who has faith can find salvation exactly as Abraham did, regardless of their parentage, background, ethnicity, or any of the other myriad of things which divide and differentiate the human race.

And while this is not directly Paul's point here, there is something here which applies to us. As a church, we exist as a result of faith—the faith of our religious leaders and forbearers—just as the Jewish nation existed as a result of the faith of Abraham. But being in a church doesn't bring salvation, because salvation is through faith. And someone who has never been inside a church in their life may still find salvation if they have faith. (Though it does not follow that having faith should not lead to going to church.)