Not Wages, but a Gift (Romans 4:1-12)
Today’s Word
[Abraham Justified by Faith] (NIV)
1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter?
2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.
5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.
6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”
9 Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.
10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!
11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.
12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Background
In Romans 3, Paul drove in the nail: a person is justified by faith, apart from the works of the law. But a claim like that always draws the same reply. “That is your opinion.”
So in chapter 4 Paul calls a witness. He calls Abraham.
The choice is not accidental. Abraham is the man on whom Jewish identity hangs — father of the faithful, party to the covenant of circumcision, friend of God. If there were a way to be justified by works, Abraham would have to be exhibit A. And Paul opens the strongest possible case file and says: there was nothing to boast about here either.
Then he makes a coldly precise argument about sequence. In Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed God, and God credited it to him as righteousness. Circumcision does not appear until Genesis 17. So the moment Abraham was declared righteous came long *before* he received the religious sign. The sign came later. The relationship came first.
Reverse that order and faith turns into performance accounting. You count how much you have done and calculate how much you are owed. Paul brings in Abraham precisely to make us put the calculator down.
Key Terms Made Simple
- Justified: A courtroom word. The judge declares, “This person is not guilty.” A person does not become innocent by his own effort; the One who renders the verdict says so.
- Credited (reckoned): A bookkeeping term. Like entering a sum in a ledger, God entered Abraham’s faith on the side of righteousness.
- Wages: What you receive for work done. No thank-you is required, because it already belongs to you.
- Gift: What is given when there is no reason you should receive it. The only possible response is gratitude.
- Circumcision: The sign of belonging to God’s people. Chapter 4 does not dismiss the sign; it puts the sign and the substance back in the right order.
Key Expressions to Notice
- “To the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.” (v. 4)
- Paul sets two kinds of relationship side by side: employment and grace.
- In employment, gratitude never comes up. It is owed. Only in grace does thanksgiving appear.
- “God who justifies the ungodly.” (v. 5)
- This should shock us. In the legal instincts of the Old Testament, a judge who acquits the wicked is detestable (Proverbs 17:15).
- And yet God does exactly this — because the cost was paid somewhere else.
- “Blessed are those whose sins are covered.” (v. 7)
- David knew this blessing well. The one who has fallen hardest sings loudest about it.
- Blessing is not the absence of guilt. It is guilt covered.
Main Points of the Text
- A forefather with nothing to boast about (vv. 1-3) — If Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had grounds to boast, but not before God. What Scripture records is not what he accomplished, but that he believed God.
- Not wages, but a gift (vv. 4-8) — Being paid for work is the discharge of an obligation; receiving without working is a gift. David called that gift “blessedness”: sins forgiven, transgressions covered, the Lord refusing to count sin against a person.
- The relationship came before the sign (vv. 9-12) — Abraham was credited as righteous before circumcision. And so he became the father not only of those who carry the sign, but of everyone who believes, sign or no sign.
Applying to My Life
- Check whether you are counting today’s blessings as wages — When a prisoner finishes his full sentence and walks out, he says, “Finally, that’s over.” There is not much gratitude in it; he paid the price himself. But if someone else went in so that he could walk out, that face never leaves him. The gospel is the second story. Name the things you currently take for granted — health, this morning’s sky, the people beside you, the chances still open to you. Counted as wages, gratitude disappears. Known as gift, the color of life changes.
- Ask why love chose that method — Taking someone else’s place is unfair. Worse, the person who walks free may not even be grateful. But if the one in that cell is someone you love, the calculation stops mattering. When there is no other way, love walks into the swamp. If God’s method looks inefficient, it is because it was never arithmetic. It was love.
- Do not put the sign ahead of the relationship — We have our own religious signs: attendance, a title, a service record, how many times we have read the Bible through. These are good things. But they are marks that follow a relationship, not the price that creates one. Put the sign first and faith becomes a report card, and you start looking down on people whose record is thinner. Put the order back and the signs return to their proper place: gratitude.
Think About It
- Is there an area where you have been telling God, “Surely I am owed at least this much”?
- If you named one thing you are proud of in your faith, would it be wages or a gift?
- Have you quietly looked down on someone whose religious record seemed thinner than yours?
Tags: #Romans #Romans4 #Abraham #Justification #FaithAlone #Grace #Gift #Wages #Circumcision #David #Forgiveness #Genesis15 #Gospel #Devotional #DailyDevotional #BibleStudy #QuietTime #DevotionalGuide #Scripture #RomansDevotional #Faith #Gratitude #Paul
