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| Now it was not written for his sake alone... but for us also! |
I will appreciate if you can me help me to understand this verse:
Rom 4:24 "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead..."
It seems to me that the "if" in the verse implies that righteousness imputed is conditional upon our believing, which doesn't sound right.
Thanks.
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Dear Brother,
Concerning the question on Rom 4:24, "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."
The apparent contradiction is resolved simply by remembering that there are several distinct aspects of justification taught in the Scriptures
- Decretal justification of all elect in eternity by God's decree, (Justification purposed in eternity)
- Legal justification of all the elect at the cross by the redemption of Christ, (Justification Accomplished at the Cross)
- Vital justification of each individual elect personally at effectual calling at God's own appointed time, and freely by the grace of God (Justification Applied at the Effectual Calling)
- Practical justification when a child of God (vitally justified, regenerated, adopted) believe God's word concerning His Son Jesus Christ, (Justification Experienced at Conversion)
- Final justification when the children of God are publicly vindicated and glorified on the great judgment day
The whole of Romans 4 deals with the practical aspect of justification. Apostle Paul marshalled the classic example of Abraham, to demonstrate how the blessedness of one's justified state by God's free grace is to be experienced personally. What was Abraham's experience; what did he find? How did he experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God? Abraham had been justified (vitally, the righteousness of Christ applied to him personally) when was still an ungodly man in the Ur of the Chaldean, prior to his calling to leave.
The APPLICATION (VITAL justification) of Christ's righteousness to God's elect in their native state of condemnation and death has been dealt with in chapter 3. The LEGAL justification took place at the cross. What took place at the cross is APPLIED to each individual elect PERSONALLY when God effectually calls them out of their native state of sin, condemnation, and death.
3:24 describes that vital justification in these words, "being justified FREELY by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." The redemption that is in Christ Jesus has been stated in verse 22 in a very specific manner, "even the righteousness of God (i.e. of God's own provision) which is by the faith of Jesus Christ (i.e. through the faithfulness of Christ in His redemptive work as the Saviour of His people). The righteousness of Christ deals with our LEGAL and VITAL justification before God. The believing act of God's children (i.e. justified and regenerated elect) deals with their PRACTICAL/experiential justification.
4:1 "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
How did Abraham, who had been freely justified by God's grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus - which had happened way back when he was still in Ur, experience the blessedness of that righteous standing before God by His free grace? By believing the word of God concerning the promised seed.
Chapter 4 takes up answering that question, and the CLASSIC incident recorded in Gen 15:1-6 was marshaled.
Abraham experienced the blessedness of his justified state, freely by God's grace based on the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, simply through believing, and not through any work of observing ceremonial laws.
His believing in God's promise concerning the seed - the "it" - was accounted to him for righteousness.
So verse 5 reiterates, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness."
(God justifies the UNGODLY, i.e. those under the just condemnation because of sins. Believing in Jesus Christ is an act blessed by God to the believer to experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God, i.e God has freely justified him by His grace PRIOR to his believing.)
This verse speaks of practical justification CONDITIONED UPON believing on Him that justifies the UNGODLY. Him that justifies the UNGODLY is a distinct aspect of justification from Him that justifies the BELIEVING ONE, the former is the VITAL aspect, the latter is the PRACTICAL aspect.
4:22 draws the conclusion:
"And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness."
The pronoun "it" refers to Abraham's act of believing," the act of believing is accounted unto the believing one for righteousness, THAT IS, to experience the blessedness of his righteous standing before God through the righteousness of Christ alone, FREELY imputed to him when he was in the state of condemnation and death.
So many read "it" to mean the righteousness of Jesus Christ, i.e. the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed on the condition of faith. This is wholly irrational. Without the righteousness of Christ, a man is still under the just condemnation and death; such a man can't possibly believe!
4:23 "Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;"
That incident in Gen 15 was written not only for Abraham's sake, to testify that his act of believing was accounted to him to experience that blessedness of having been justified freely by the grace of God through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
"Not for his sake alone" implies for the sake of others ALSO, as the next verse shows.
4:24 "But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead..."
Please note that the pronoun "it" does not refer to the righteousness of Jesus Christ but the believing act of a child of God. It is his believing that is imputed/accounted/blessed by God for him to experience the blessedness of his just and righteous status before God by God's own free and gracious act of justifying him when he was in his native state of sin, death, and condemnation.
So, the subject in this verse is still the same subject that has been considered in the previous verses concerning the experience of Abraham. "But for us ALSO" means the exact same truth applies to us too. Our believing in the gospel of God concerning the promised Seed is the means/instrument to experience the blessedness of our righteous standing before God by His freely justifying us based the righteousness of Christ.
The condition is implied even though the word ei, which expresses a condition, is not in the Greek text. That explains the conditional "if" in the kjv text. It SHALL be imputed when a condition is met. It is a blessing that can only be attained or experienced by God's children if they believe God's word concerning His Son.
Apostle Paul was laying the ground to call upon the recipients of his epistle to BELIEVE in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Apostle Paul wrote to those who were ALREADY the "called of Jesus Christ" (1:6), the "called "beloved of God" and the "called to be saints" (1:7).
Eternal salvation has been freely applied to them. They needed to hear the gospel of that salvation. And believing in the gospel of Jesus Christ is the condition for God's children to experience that blessedness of their righteousness before in Jesus Christ. That was the case with Abraham, and that is the case with all the others. There is no exception.
I hope the above help to clarify your question.
I thank you for inquiring. Please feel very free to do so.
I love you in the Lord, Brother.
your brother and servant,
sing
