Sermon text: Romans 4:1–8
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
Banking and other financial services will work largely on a system of credits and debits. Direct deposits, earnings, gifts, and other things that add to the value are credited to your account. Debit cards, checks, losses, and other charges are subtracted from your account. Accountants — at least it used to be — were employed to balance the books. Now, I’m sure AI does that. At one time or another, we all have struggled to balance our checkbooks, especially in a way to try to leave some money left over for the end of the month.
In Romans chapter 4, St. Paul recounts the account of Abraham. In verse one, we read, “What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” In this portion of Scripture, Paul uses a financial term 11 times to describe what some would call God’s banking system. It operates in a most unusual way: not according to the law and accounting rules, but rather according to the gospel.
At our jobs, when an employee completes a task or works the assigned hours of the day, the employer is obligated to pay the employee what is owed. That’s how it works. Even Romans 4 mentions that as a fact: “Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due” before a righteous God. However, our sinful works also deserve to receive their just payment, which would all leave us hopelessly bankrupt in the system of salvation.
But here Paul declares that the true blessedness resides in the fact that God does not charge our sins against our account. Instead, all of our debits are erased. That’s verse seven: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
But the gospel does so much more than simply remove negative credit debits. It also delivers gracious gifts. Positively speaking, on our account before God is credited with righteousness, free of charge. Faith simply receives this gracious gift of God. Verse four: “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.”
Paul later uses the language of inheritance to make the same point: “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” Here again, one is granted benefits simply because he or she is an offspring of a wealthy father — in this case, father Abraham.
In our text from Romans 4, St. Paul bases the accounting system — that is, the historical narrative of Abraham in the book of Genesis. But in unpacking the historical account of what God said and promised to Abraham, Paul also takes us through some simple accounting, real financial accounting, to illustrate how it is that salvation is in fact granted. But the accounting language is only the illustration. Paul isn’t trying to teach us how to balance our checkbook, our debits, and our credits. He is teaching us how God accounts with us: what God counts as true righteousness in our relationship with Him.
In our relationship with God, our works count for nothing. But through faith, we are counted as righteous and heirs of God’s heavenly promise. Works count for nothing before God, but faith counts us as righteous. Faith counts us as everything.
Paul begins by referring to Abraham as our forefather according to the flesh. That means that David and Paul himself are Abraham’s spiritual descendants. Abraham’s descendants also include you and me, even though we are not biological descendants of Abraham. Paul tells us that Abraham is the father of all of us in verse 16. And how is that? Abraham’s offspring are all those whose relationship with God is based on the same principle as Abraham’s relationship with God — namely, faith. Verse 16: “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring — not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.”
Paul describes all of this in terms of an accounting system. That’s verses 3–8. They utilize the same financial term. He uses the Greek word for counted. Paul uses the financial term logizomai, which means counted, 11 times in this short passage. Regularly it is translated in these kinds of ways: hold, regard, impute, consider, and maintain. But mostly it is translated as counting.
Paul employs that accounting language for the workplace to contrast works with faith, believing both what is credited to one’s account and what’s charged against it in one’s account. Workers are owed payment for their labor. But with God, however, our works are always sinful, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And we’re told what our payment for sin is: the wages of sin is death. That’s what our works have earned. And that’s what is due us for our sin. That’s why we would all be bankrupt eternally if left simply on the system of accounting of good works versus sinful works.
Verse five: “And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” This declaration is received into one’s account, as it was in Abraham’s case, through faith — believing, trusting in the words and promises of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 15:6: “And he, Abraham, believed the LORD, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”
Paul then quotes another ancient accountant, King David. David wrote in Psalm 32: “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.’” In Psalm 32, David defines blessedness in this way. It consists of the fact that our lawless deeds and sins are forgiven and covered — in financial terms, the Lord does not count them against us. They are not charged against our account or debited from our account.
The accounting of works versus faith is the contrast here in Romans chapter 4. It’s an either-or case which regularly describes our relationship with God. Either you work for your salvation, or you trust in your salvation. One or the other. It cannot be both. It’s either one or the other. Paul regularly describes our relationship in that way. Galatians 2:16: “Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.”
Works involve actively doing something, which is a futile and fatal approach to God. It’s the antithesis of faith. Faith — believing, trusting — which involves a passive receiving, in financial terms. That is, your account is credited, though you’ve done nothing to earn the credit at all. It’s simply: God has declared it to be so, apart from works. Verse six: God’s righteousness is credited to our account through faith, and our sinful, lawless works are not counted or charged against us. So on the one hand, righteousness is credited to you, and on the other hand, your sins are not.
Now Paul turns to another situation, often a financial one: that is, inheritance. We might spend our whole lives hoping to inherit a fortune from a rich uncle, but that’s a foolish dream. Normally it’s a delusion, and if we bank on that delusion, we will be sorely, sorely in peril. We might even fail to appreciate the real fortune that we already have, hoping for a material something. We put all of our trust in our works. Again, by illustration, Paul might tell us that trying to inherit by the law voids God’s check to us. But it’s His promise that we count on.
God promised Abraham and his offspring that they would inherit the world. And how would that be? Verse 13: “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.” When Paul speaks of works, he often uses the word law, as in works of the law. Is that how we actually receive the inheritance — by works of the law? The Scripture is clear: no, it is not. Verses 13 and 14 already made that clear to us. Approaching God via the works of the law, or today being a good person, renders the blessings all null and void. In financial terms, compare this to voiding a check, making it worthless. Any approach to righteousness driven by us toward God will crash into His wrath. Verse 15a: “For the law brings wrath.”
Luther said this in a different way in the Heidelberg Disputation in 1518. It’s a statement that shocked the Roman Catholic world: “Although the works of man always seem attractive and good, they are nevertheless likely to be mortal sins.” So while people trust in their own nature as being basically good, why, that then sets you on a collision course with the law itself. Trusting in one’s works is a tragic mistake, because God’s inheritance check is absolutely good by virtue of His promise. And God has, quote, the money in the bank to back up His promise. God’s word and promises are absolutely reliable. We need nothing else. To cling to anything else is a great and grievous sin, no matter how many people praise it as a good deed.
God’s promise to Abraham was already in effect through the fulfillment that would come over the future centuries. In fact, verse 17: “As it is written, ‘I have made you the father of many nations.’” That sentence is said in the perfect tense. What does that mean? It means: it’s said, it’s done. It’s irrevocable. It cannot be changed. In the presence of God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist — that is, God’s word does what it commands. God said it. God’s word does it. That settles it.
So Abraham believed the promise. There’s another saying: God said it, God’s word does it, that settles it. And the other saying that you see on a bumper sticker: God said it, I believe it, that settles it. It’s a different statement. It puts the burden on the person, not on the word of God. God said it. God’s word does it. That settles it.
Despite Sarah’s barrenness, Abraham believed that God could give life to her dead womb. This is why his faith was counted as righteousness. For he trusted in the promised Messiah who would be born of his line centuries down the road. And that is what the money in the bank is that backs up God’s checks, His guarantees, our inheritance: the guarantee, the consideration, is Christ Jesus crucified, raised from the dead. When Jesus announced “It is finished,” our trespasses were paid for. When He was raised, we were declared righteous right along with Him.
And yes, this promise is for us. When we believe, it is credited to our accounts. “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” In our relationship with God, it’s all God. It’s all grace. It’s all gift. It comes from Him to us through Jesus Christ, and manifests itself by the imputation of righteousness. This is why it’s guaranteed, and provides us hope, confidence, and expectation that God is able to fulfill His promises and declare you a holy one of Israel. And that you can take to the bank. Amen.
May the peace that surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.