<< Romans 4:5 >>

Rom 4:5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
KJV


Rom 4:5
To the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the godless, his faith is accounted as righteousness,
(from "The Everlasting Gospel", Copyright © 2000 by Freed-Hardeman University. All rights reserved.)


 

Comments:

"But to him that worketh not"
Worketh not what?  This is a continuance of the thought started in verse 3.  Paul is explaining to the Romans that Abraham believed God and that belief counted towards righteousness.  A salvation by works alone would mean that God somehow owed us our salvation.  Our salvation is a gift from God given to us by the authority of Jesus Christ. 

John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

Notice the words "give unto you".  Notice the words Labour.  Jesus says he will give us everlasting life if we labour for it.  It's still a gift.  Was Paul contradicting the teachings of Jesus here?  Certainly not.  Such an interpretation would be blasphemous.  Would Paul contradict himself in his own letter to the Romans?  Certainly not.

Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this statement:

Rom 1:5
By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:

Paul makes this statement in the middle of his letter to the Romans:

Rom 2:7
To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Paul closes this letter to the Romans with this statement:

Rom 16:26
But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
KJV

This verse taken by itself without any consideration towards the harmonizing of Paul's teachings elsewhere can easily be used to support a salvation without any works of any kind.  This is clear contradiction of the commandments of Jesus and the teachings of Paul in this and his other letters.  A sample of references for the teachings of obedience by Paul are as follows:

Romans 1:5; 2:7; 16:26

Galatians 3:1; 5:7; 5:25; 6:7-9

Ephesians 2:10; 4:1

Philippians 2:12; 2:14-15; 3:11-17; 4:8-9

Colossians 1:22-23

1 Corinthians 3:8; 11:1-2

2 Corinthians 2:9; 10:5-6

1 Thessalonians 1:3

2 Thessalonians 1:8-9; 2:15

1 Timothy 4:16; 6:14

2 Timothy 3:14

Dare we to believe and teach that Paul's meaning in Romans 4:5 was that those who do not work at all are counted righteous?  Dare we believe and teach that Paul over ruled the words of Jesus in numerous scriptures throughout the Gospel accounts?

Matthew 10:32
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

Matt 19:17 ***
And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Mark 1:15
And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mark 3:35
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Mark 16:15-16
(15) And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
(16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Luke 8:21
And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.

Luke 9:23
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

Luke 9:62
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

Luke 13:3
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

John 5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

John 5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

John 6:27
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 15:4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

Paul was not in any way saying that we can be disobedient to God's will.   Paul was drawing a contrast between justification by works and faith.  One was the works of Abraham which by themselves could not justify him before God.  Abraham had to have faith in God.  His works were fine.  God tested Abraham by commanding him to sacrifice his own son, (Genesis 22:2), and when Abraham tried to obey this requirement, God clearly showed his approval.    "And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen 22:16-18)

Abraham believed God; had faith in him.  Abraham did not disobey God.  His obedience was set forth for all the world to see as an example. 

Heb 11:8-9
(8) By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
(9) By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
KJV

The contrast drawn in Rom 4:4-5 is between him the worketh without faith

Rom 4:4-5

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.
KJV
 

The contrast drawn in Rom 4:5 is between "him that worketh" and

e question must be asked again; Worketh not what?

"To him that worketh not [the works of th but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly ..."

Heb 11:17
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son,

Works alone will not do us any good whatsoever.  It takes Faith AND Works.  To leave either out is to walk not in the truth of God's Word.
 

Bible Interpretation:

When studying the Word of God, it is quite easy to take single scriptures out of context and to build doctrines around them.  This is evidenced by the diverse selection of denominations which practice Christianity with variations in belief.  All of these denominations claim to hold the Bible in some fashion as being authoritative to their doctrine. 

A person or persons will take a scripture just like Romans 4:5 and go through the Bible and find other scriptures which support it and ignore or twist the ones which do not.  A man made doctrine is then built around the premise and the Word of God is then subordinated to what men think it says, or what they WANT it to say.  So as the new Christian convert, eager to please God, surveys the landscape with hundreds or different beliefs, how can they know and be sure that the belief they hold to is the right one?  To simplify this question, the Christian with a heart for the truth must at some point in their life ask themselves the questions; "Am I on the right road to Heaven," and, "How can I be sure?"

This question is not only a sensible one to ask, it is required of us to be absolutely certain of our faith, (1 John 4:1), and to stand steadfastly on it, never swerving or doubting it in any way, (1 Cor 15:58).  If the Christian finds oneself in doubt and fails to resolve this doubt in their minds, then they are standing in condemnation before God, (Rom 14:23).  A standard must be set by which the Word of God is understood.  Without this standard firmly established, then the door is opened for mankind to set forth their own ideas and beliefs instead of what is outlined in scripture and a whole host of beliefs will then be the result.  Each one of these differing beliefs may have some truth, based on some scriptural teachings, but they could still fall short of total adherence to the complete Word of God.

First off, the Christian must have the proper mindset before delving into the search for all truth.  This mindset in none other than the simple resolution within one's heart to recognize the word of God as being the only authoritative rule in their life.  Whenever the Christian, eager to please his God, encounters something within His Word that is lacking in their faith, they must submit to the higher authority of God and be willing to assimilate it into their life.  Refusal to do this means placing the authority of God below the authority of mankind.  Mankind cannot assume a position of authority over God and expect to live a pleasing life before Him.

Secondly, the Christian must understand that the inspired scriptures are the only source for guidance in matters of faith.  We cannot rely in any way upon the teachings of men who are fallible before God.  There must be a single universal, and complete source for us to turn to for God's instruction.  The Christian must understand that the Bible is the inspired word of God.  The Christian must also understand that if God had the willingness and power to inspire men to pen His Words, He also had sufficient power and willingness to guide the men who were in charge of preserving and compiling it.  In only makes sense that God, having created this earth and everything in it for us, and going to all the trouble to guide and nurture mankind throughout the ages, and having sent His one and only, unique son down here to do what He did, would make available and to preserve His word for all who live throughout the ages.  God is simply not going to leave mankind in any age unequipped to seek His will and without hope.  Since God loved us enough to send His son to die for us, we can be absolutely assured He loves us too much to leave us without proper instruction as to how to seek eternal life.  The Bible is the Word of God and it is the only rule for an acceptable faith, pleasing to God.

Thirdly, we must use all of His Word, leaving none of it out.  We were not given the authority to pick and choose what we want to believe.  Once you have made the choice to omit any of God's Word, you have elevated your own authority to a level which places God's authority beneath your own.  Since we are living under the new covenant, it is the New Testament that we follow.

Fourthly, God is absolutely just, or fair, (John 5:30), and absolutely holy.  He is incapable of any lie or deception, (Titus 1:2).  He cannot show partiality to anyone.  Since the Bible is the Word of God, it cannot contain any mistakes or discrepancies.  There can be no contradictions within His Word.  With this said, we cannot understand any scripture in the Bible in such a way that it would create a conflict with another.  Likewise, no scripture can be understood to condone disobedience to any commandment. Scriptures that appear to be in conflict must be reconciled so that they agree.  The Bible must agree with everything you believe, practice and teach regarding your faith.  The faithful Christian, walking in the truth of God's Word must be able to show scriptural authority for his faith, (1 Peter 3:15), and cannot be in conflict with any other Biblical teaching. 

Jesus teaches us in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."  Jesus also teaches in Matt 19:17  "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."

So using the above standard how do we reconcile a verse that says belief in Jesus gives everlasting life and a verse that says in order to have eternal salvation, we must keep the commandments?  First of all, we must have our mindset right.  We will be obedient to the Bible no matter what.  Secondly, we must understand that the Bible is God's Word.  Thirdly, we must realize that both these passages are from the New Testament and are relevant to God's law of faith.  Fourthly, God cannot lie.

If Jesus says we have to believe in Him to be saved, then we must.  If Jesus says we must keep the commandments in order to receive eternal life, then we must.  Both of these sayings came from the Bible, they therefore must be true.  To say one of them is not, this is what has been done:

1. The Holy Spirit has been called a liar by men.
2. The power and authority of God has been diminished by men.
3. In this case, Jesus has been called a liar by men.
4. The authenticity of the Bible has been brought into question by men.