Commentary on Romans 4:1-5
Because we live in a business performance driven world, as Christians we tend to get caught up in cycles of performance when it comes to spiritual matters. Yet even more disturbing is that after a while Christians become conditioned to believe that for one to gain approval before The Lord, performance is necessary through the auspices of man.
A world driven by business performance…
Take a look at church activities and programs today, especially in mega churches across America. The church sets up programs and becomes program driven in hopes that the many church programs will win souls to Jesus Christ. Emphasis on worship is placed on high Studio-recording like production performances with high-end sound equipment and stage lights that you would think that some Rock and Roll Starts were coming to town. Yet the true meaning of Worship is lost and all that is left is another typical Hollywood show.
As if that is not enough, the Pastor comes on the pulpit and performs too, rather than preach The True Word of God, the Pastor takes ‘Talking Points’ from his latest New York Bests Seller book and you would think he was either a highly trained sophisticated salesman or a motivational speaker acting as a surrogate for the Oprah Winfrey show.
But such performance based Christianity is reflection of the current Westernized Culture in which we live. In today’s Western world, there is no doubt that the business corporate world places emphasis on performance and most rewards are performance based.
For one to climb the social ladders of today from the poor class to the middle class and may be perhaps the elite class, one has to perform to the standards of society be it through education, working hard, political patronage etc…
Yet even in the Roman Empire, the same performance based culture ensued. For one to have maintained their nobility standing in Roman Society, the grandfather, father, and son all had to maintain their noble status either through Roman education, army, or political life.
Performance-based Christianity now a prerequisite…
Christian leaders today have turned performance based church programs into a law and a prerequisite for salvation and blessings. We think by keeping our modern day ‘Christian laws’ one attains salvation and blessings. It is easy to bypass the Book of Romans and Galatians , thinking that it refers to the Jews and their laws for circumcision yet today Christian leaders have put in place prerequisites for one to attain blessings, justification, and salvation – the Church leaders have setup their own ‘Christian Laws’.
For instance folks are told in Church that unless they give their ‘Tithes’ they are cursed and not blessed. In Uganda, a famous ‘Curse-Deliverance’ minister has people line up for prayers with envelopes filled with money to be given to the “Deliverance Minister” as a “point of contact” to God so that the people can get delivered. These are just a few but a lot of practices that go on today in Churches as prerequisites for blessings, miracles, deliverance, justification, and salvation.
Abraham not justified by works…
Romans 4:1-3Paul the apostle addressed the same issue of ‘performance based Christianity’ to the Christians and Jews who lived in the Rome that time. The Jews saw themselves as some spiritual elites among a society of pagans who worshiped gods of stones and idols. Remember that the Jews where in Rome against their wish, they were exiles in Rome because of the rebellions they orchestrated in Palestine against the Roman Empire.
(1) What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
(2) For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
(3) For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
However, while in Rome, they kept to their Jewish traditions and found it despicable that a fellow Jew named Paul was preaching Salvation in Jesus Christ as a free gift to the gentiles in Rome. The Jews resorted to antagonize Paul’s message by claiming that if any gentile wanted to be truly saved, they had to be circumcised.
In this context Paul the apostle seems to write, addressing the Jews in Rome that Abraham their father in faith, received justification before he was commanded by The Lord to commission circumcision. Therefore Abraham could not have attained justification and righteousness based on circumcision which came later after The Lord declared Abraham righteous.
The Lord speaks to Abram, promises to bless him…
Genesis 12:1-3The Lord declares that Abram is a righteous man way before circumcision…
(1) Now the LORD said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will shew thee:
(2) and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing:
(3) and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Genesis 15:1-6The Lord makes a covenant with Abraham based on circumcision…
(1) After these things the word of the LORD came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
(2) And Abram said, O Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Dammesek Eliezer?
(3) And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir.
(4) And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir.
(5) And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to tell them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.
(6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 17:7-11Justified not by ‘mere’ Obedience’ but Faith in God…
(7) And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
(8) And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.
(9) And God said unto Abraham, And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations.
(10) This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; every male among you shall be circumcised.
(11) And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt me and you.
It is important to note that even though The Lord blessed Abram before the era of circumcision, Abram had to obey The Lord by moving to whichever place The Lord commanded him to go. Had Abram simply stayed in the land of his fathers, then he would not have obeyed God and the story would be different. However, would Abram not have found room to boast and brag that he was called a righteous man because he simply obeyed The Lord? Would Abram not have risked being a ‘performance-based’ follower of God?
Romans 4:4-5Yet even when Abram obeyed The Lord and left the land of his fathers, The Lord never declared him a righteous man based on that obedience. It was at a much later time that The Lord declared Abram to be a righteous man and therefore it was out of The Lord’s doing and not Abram’s works that The Lord declared Abram righteous. Therefore Abram could not boast and brag about how he obeyed The Lord and therefore attained righteousness by his works.
(4) Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
(5) But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
So, where does this leave the question of obedience on Abram’s part? The scriptures tell us that Abram obeyed by believing in The Lord and therefore because Abram believed in The Lord, he was declared righteous. Therefore it is logical to state that Abram’s righteousness was based on his belief in The Lord and even Abram’s obedience was based on his belief in The Lord. Abram believed in The Lord and was counted as a righteous man before The Lord and not because of his works, not even his mere ‘obedience’.
We can therefore say that Grace was extended to Abram because he believed in The Lord and therefore counted as righteous before The Lord. It was faith in The Lord that The Lord counted as to declare Abram righteous. The obedience to leave his fathers land was good but could not be used as a basis for righteousness; otherwise righteousness to Abram would have been based on works and not faith.
He that comes to God must believe that He is…
This is in no way negating and trivializing ‘obedience’ to God. However, like the old adage goes, you cannot place the cart before the horse… It was belief and faith in God then obedience… Logically, how can you obey commands of someone you don’t believe exists? Likewise Abram obeyed The Lord out of his belief and faith in God, believing first that The Lord exists, that God is, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him...
Hebrews 11:6Our Christian societies today are doing the exact opposite of what Abram our father in faith did. Many Christians being led by undiscerning Christian leaders have resorted to works so as to attain a form of righteousness and justification before man and then God. Most of the performance-based programs and performance-based teachings drive one to seek justification by works before man – to please man and then when man is happy, the undiscerning Christian thinks they have pleased The Lord.
(6) And without faith it is impossible to be well–pleasing unto him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.
Yet still this is not an advocating for the ‘greasy grace’ teachings in Christendom in which Christians think that they have a license to sin and disobey The Lord deliberately and continuously without repercussions. The most known purveyor theology of the ‘greasy grace’ theology is the Once Saved Always Saved a.k.a. Eternal Security Theology that has led Christians into believing that ‘obedience’ to The Lord does not matter and Christians can sin at will and do whatever they want in disobedience to The Lord and still be saved…. Brethren such theologies are man made and only encourage rebellion against The Lord. Watch out!
Our unbelieving agnostic westernized societies…
Interesting is that Abram was counted as righteous before the Lord because he BELIEVED in The Lord. Everything that Righteous Abram did was because of his Faith in The Lord. Yet in our westernized societies faith and belief in The Lord are on constant attack and have become points of ridicule and disparage among the elite institutes of higher learning and Academia.
However, when man is robbed the opportunity to obey and please the God of Heaven through faith, then, man resorts to pleasing Man as can be seen through a number of civilizations were Images and Idols were erected and populations commanded to worship images of half-man, half-beast.
We recall the Image that King Nebuchadnezzar erected and commanded all men in his known empire to worship. Yet the Bible warns us that in the last days the same will happen, men will be commanded to worship the Beast and the Image that the Beast will set up.
So, Christian leaders who promote performance-based Christianity are actually promoting the worship of Man and justification and approval by Man rather than lifting Jesus Christ and justification freely by Grace in Jesus Christ.
Perhaps Abram had to deal with the agnostics of his day; he probably had to deal with the skeptics who did not believe in The God of Heaven. Abram probably had to deal with relatives and friends who thought he was nuts that The God of Heaven had spoken to him and told him to leave the land of his fathers. Yet we live in similar global westernized highly academic society today that is increasingly agnostic and antagonistic towards True Bible based Christianity and belief in Jesus Christ.
The overflow of this agnosticism and rejection of God of the Bible is fast flowing into any churches, seminaries, and bible colleges today and causing many to place trust in performance and Man Pleasing Christianity and then eventually doubt and disbelief in God and His Word.
Many Christians today would rather perform to please their Pastor rather than please God. Many Pastors would rather please their Church Board of Directors and Man rather than please The Lord. Brethren, this is a sign of unbelief and not trusting The Lord. As more churches embrace performance-based Christianity, they are slowly rejecting Faith and Trust in The Lord and working out their salvation in their own terms.
But like Abram, let us BELIEVE and have FAITH in The Lord and let our salvation be based on BELIEF and FAITH in JESUS CHRIST.
Brethren, let watch for the greatest threat to Christianity today is Secular Humanism and Christians better regain a Sound Mind, Critical Thinking, and Discernment in these last days.
In Christ Jesus
Kato Mivule
