Today, we continue our study of Romans 4 where the Apostle Paul has established the fact that all of mankind is sinful and therefore separated from God. As a result, man's attempt to get life on this earth right doesn't work and will not work. This is why in Romans 4-5, the Apostle is showing us how to enter into a personal relationship with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. It is by faith in the faithfulness of God that the righteousness of God is accessed by the believer in Jesus Christ.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith."
The promise that Abraham received from God that he would be the heir of the world is a reference to the Abrahamic Covenant which was first given to Abraham in Genesis 12. God repeated the Abrahamic Covenant to Abraham and built upon it in Genesis 15, 18, and 22. In that promise God promised Abraham physical and spiritual descendants likened to the sands of the sea and the stars of the heavens.
Through the Abrahamic Covenant God promised to Abraham that he would be the heir of the world and that the blessing of salvation would be available to all of the peoples of the world. This salvation would come through the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
In John 8:56 the Lord Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day and he saw it and was glad." And, in Galatians 3:16 we read, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made." A careful study of Galatians reveals that the seed of Abraham is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
In v.14-15 of today's passage we read, "14 For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,15 because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression."
Many years after Abraham was on this earth, God gave to the people of Israel His Law, the Law of Moses. From the very beginning God intended that the Law would direct those of faith to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Jews had gotten to a place where they believed that they could earn God's favor through their adherence to the Law. But, if anyone could earn rightness before God through our adherence to the Law, we would be able to access the inheritance of the promise through the Law. But, that is impossible. Our sinful condition makes it impossible for us to access the promise of rightness before God through our obedience to the Law.
The Law of Moses has never been able to save anyone, because, due to Original Sin, all the Law can do is to incite the wrath of God against us. All the Law does for anyone is to show us how bad we truly are. So, since we could not adhere to the Law, we stood condemned by the Law which made us the recipients of God's wrath. So, instead of depending upon the Law to define us, God introduced to us His grace through His Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That last sentence in v.15 of today's text has caused much confusion among many down through the years. The Apostle Paul was simply saying that through the Law we know the definitions of God on any topic, and, as a result, we can know when we are at fault in our thoughts and/or our actions. And, of course, if there were no Law, we would not know where we were wrong. The is what the Apostle meant when he wrote, "And where there is no law there is no transgression." He was not saying that there was no sin, he was saying that the absence of the Law would have excused man of his sin. But, of course, this is not the case.
In Galatians 3:24 we read, "The Law was used to lead us to Christ. It was our teacher, and so we were made right with God by putting our trust in Christ."
The whole book of Galatians reminds us again and again that the Law cannot make us righteous before God. However, the Law does one very important thing. In fact, it does several important things for us. After showing to us our utter helplessness to be made right before God, the Law leads us to Christ. We recognize right and wrong because of the Law. We recognize our failures, imperfections, sins, transgressions, and weaknesses because of the Law. In addition, we recognize our need for a Savior because of the Law. And, most importantly, we recognize the Lord Jesus as our Savior through the Law. But, if the Law has not done its work of crushing us before the Holy God of the Bible, we will lack the much needed preparation to be enabled to see the Lord Jesus as our Savior. You see, the Law has to show us our inability to measure up before God before we find ourselves willing to cry out to God for help.
