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Scripture Reading: Rom. 4:1-25; 2 Cor. 4:4; Rom. 12:5; 14:17
Romans 4 is a deep chapter. We should not understand it just in a superficial way. If we enter into the depths of this chapter, we will see it reveals that adequate, living justification is God’s deeper work in calling fallen people out of everything other than God and bringing them back to Himself. God created man for Himself and to Himself. However, man fell. The meaning of the fall of man is to be kept from God by anything that is not God. The man who had been created to God fell away from God to other things. It does not matter whether a thing is good or bad. As long as it is not God and it keeps man from God, it constitutes a fall. In God’s justification, God calls the fallen man out of everything back to Himself. Therefore, when God called Abraham, He did not tell him where he should go, because His intention was to bring Abraham back to Himself. Moment after moment and step after step, Abraham’s heart had to cleave to God. He had to trust in God for every move, not leaving His presence for a moment. In other words, Abraham had to be one with God.
After God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, God trained Abraham to believe in Him. As we have seen, believing in God means to believe into God and to make ourselves one with God. In this kind of believing, a man admits that he is nothing, that he has nothing, and that he can do nothing. He agrees that he must be terminated. Thus, believing in God means to terminate ourselves and to let God be our very being, to let God be all that we should be. From the time we first believe in Him, we should not be anything. We should be completely terminated and allow God to be everything in us. This is the accurate meaning of circumcision. It is inadequate even to ask the Lord to circumcise our heart, for the deep and adequate circumcision is to terminate yourself and allow God to be everything.
When a person has been called by God in this way, the living God transfuses Himself into him. This word transfuse is important in describing what transpires at God’s calling. The living God spontaneously transfuses Himself into the called one. As a result, he is attracted by God and to God. Unconsciously, some element, some essence of the living God is transfused into him, and he reacts to God by believing in Him. This reaction is faith.
When you heard the gospel of glory regarding the Lord Jesus, you repented. This means that God called you out of everything other than Himself. At that moment, without your even knowing it, the living Christ in His gospel of glory transfused Himself into you (2 Cor. 4:4). Some element of Christ penetrated your being, and you were attracted to Him. You reacted to Him, and your spontaneous reaction was your believing, your faith. The Christ who transfused Himself into you became your faith. Therefore, faith does not originate with us; it comes from God. Faith is not separate from Christ, for it is actually Christ Himself transfusing Himself into us and producing a reaction within us.
Our believing is an echo. How can there be an echo without a sound? It is impossible. Christ is the sound. When this sound reaches our heart and spirit it causes a reaction, an echo. This reaction is our appreciation of and faith in the Lord Jesus. This faith is actually Christ Himself within us responding to the gospel. Therefore, this faith is reckoned to us by God as righteousness. When Christ transfused Himself into you, there was a reaction within you — believing. After you believed in the Lord, God reacted to you, reckoning your faith, which is Christ, as righteousness. We do not find this experience in the Bible if we read superficially, but if we probe into the depths of the Scriptures, we find it there. It is as if God said to us, “Poor sinner, you don’t have righteousness. As I, the living God, am speaking with you, My essence is being transfused into you. This will cause you to react to Me in faith, and I will reckon this faith to you as righteousness.” When God does this to us, we have an appreciative and loving reaction toward Him. This reaction is our faith, a faith that does not originate with us, but which is the essence of the living Christ within us. This faith returns to God, causing a reaction in God toward us: the righteousness of God is reckoned as ours, and we have something that we never had before. This is our experience of God in justification.
Thus, we have the righteousness of God, which is Christ. Isaac was a type of Christ. Abraham, our believing father, received the righteousness of God and Isaac. Likewise, we have received both the righteousness of God and Christ, the present Isaac. This is an experience of God calling things not being as being. When we came to God on the day we were saved, we had nothing. Nevertheless, God appeared to us and called things not being as being. Formerly, we did not have the righteousness of God; after a few minutes we had it. Before that time, we did not have Christ; after a few minutes we had Him.
Once we have an experience of the righteousness of God and Christ, we will guard it as a priceless treasure. We will proclaim, “I have the righteousness of God. I have Christ.” However, one day God will intervene and say, “Offer this on the altar.” Will you do it? Not one out of a hundred Christians is willing. Instead they say, “O Lord, don’t ask me to do this. I would do anything else, but not this.” Nevertheless, we must remember the reactions which go back and forth between man and God. The righteousness of God and Christ are ours — these came as God’s reaction to our faith. Now we must return this reaction to God by offering it to Him. After we react in this way, God will react again. God’s first reaction was to call things not being as being. His second reaction is to give life to the dead. This is profound.
According to Romans 4, the ultimate issue of this series of reactions is the resurrected Christ. This resurrected Christ is now in the heavens as a strong proof that God has been satisfied and that we have been justified. The resurrected Christ is in the third heavens at the right hand of God as conclusive evidence that all of God’s requirements have been satisfied and that we have been thoroughly and adequately justified. However, this resurrected Christ is not only in the heavens, but also within us to impart life that we may have a life of justification. Therefore, justification is not merely a positional matter; it becomes a dispositional matter. The death of Christ gave us a positional justification, and the resurrected Christ in the heavens is a proof of this. Now the resurrected Christ also lives inside us, reacting within us and living out a life of dispositional justification. Eventually, we are justified both in position and in disposition. We not only have an objective justification, but a subjective justification as well. We may now live such a subjective, dispositional justification.
This justification is the real, living circumcision. What is circumcision? Circumcision means to terminate ourselves and to come into God: it terminates us and it germinates God into us. The Jews do not care for the inward reality of circumcision; they only care for the outward form, the practice of cutting off a piece of flesh. This is not circumcision in the eyes of God. In God’s eyes, circumcision means to cut off yourself, terminate yourself, and allow God to germinate Himself within you to be your life that you may have a new beginning. This circumcision is the outward seal of the real, inward justification.
Abraham experienced God as the One who calls things not being as being. By the birth of Isaac Abraham experienced God in this way. Furthermore, by the resurrection of Isaac, Abraham experienced God as the One who gives life to the dead. There are two kinds of Isaac: the first is Isaac born; the second is Isaac resurrected. The God in whom Abraham believed had these two aspects. He believed in the God who calls things not being as being and who gives life to the dead.
Regardless of who we are or of what situation in which we find ourselves, the general human condition is one of not being. This means that nothing exists. The second general condition of everyone and everything is deadness. Thus, the overall situation of man has two aspects — nothingness and deadness. The actual condition of us all is nothingness and deadness. But the God in whom our father Abraham believed and in whom we also believe is the God who calls things into existence out of nothing. When we say, “Nothing,” He says, “Something.” When we say, “Not being,” He says, “Being.” Do not say that the church in a certain place is poor. It may be poor in your eyes, but not in the eyes of the God in whom Abraham believed. God may tell you, “You say nothing exists. After one minute, I will call something into existence.” Suppose the person of James Barber did not exist. If God wanted a James Barber, He would simply call, “James Barber,” and James Barber would come into being. This means that God calls things not being as being. When God told Abraham, “Your seed shall be as the stars of heaven,” nothing existed at that time as far as the descendants of Abraham were concerned. There was not even one descendant. Nevertheless, God made such a declaration regarding Abraham’s seed, and Abraham believed. Approximately a year later, Abraham’s first descendant came into being: Isaac was born. By the birth of Isaac Abraham experienced God as the One who calls things not being as being.
However, this is only half of the experience of God, for Abraham also experienced God as the One who gives life to the dead. When Abraham received Isaac back after offering him to God on the altar, he experienced God giving life to the dead. A church may exist in a certain locality, but be quite dead. Do not be quick to make a judgment, because God gives life to the dead. When a church is dead, it provides an excellent opportunity for the God in whom Abraham believed to enter in and impart life to that dead church.
The common understanding of justification among most Christians is this: we are sinful, God is righteous and holy, and there is no way for us to contact Him or for Him to contact us. Thus, Christ died on the cross and accomplished redemption by shedding His blood. Under His blood we are redeemed, and God has a righteous position to justify us. All of this is absolutely correct. However, the Apostle Paul did not conclude the section on justification at this point, which is reached at the end of chapter 3. When I studied the book of Romans as a young Christian, I thought that chapter 4 was unnecessary. It seemed to me that justification had been completely covered at the end of chapter 3, that chapter 5 should have been connected to chapter 3, and that chapter 4 should have been eliminated. Later I realized that the Apostle Paul was not that superficial. His concern was deeper than redemption — he cared about God’s purpose. Redemption is not God’s purpose; it is a process to reach God’s purpose. In Romans 3 we see redemption bringing forth God’s justification, but we do not see God’s purpose. What was God’s purpose in justification? In answering this question, Paul used Abraham’s history as an example, as a picture to explain what no human words can explain. If we study the picture in chapter 4, we will realize that it is deeper, more profound, and more far-reaching than chapter 3.
We thought that justification was merely a matter related to sins. However, when we read Genesis 15 where Abraham’s faith was reckoned by God as righteousness, we find no mention of sin. Sin was not involved. The concern was over a seed which would become a kingdom for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. Abraham was not called out by God simply because God had mercy on his sinful condition. God did not say, “Abraham, you are so pitiful. I do not want you to go to hell. In My mercy I come to call you out of your fallen state.” That was not the issue at all. In Genesis 1 we are told that God made man in His own image to express Himself and that this man was a corporate man, not an individual man. God created a corporate man that included both male and female. According to Genesis 5:2, both Adam and Eve are called Adam, signifying that God created a corporate man to express Him and exercise His dominion. In other words, God wanted to have a kingdom as a sphere in which to express His glory. Although this was God’s purpose, man fell away from it. Once man had turned away from God, had been distracted from God’s purpose, and had been occupied with other things, he fell deeply into sin. Nevertheless, the involvement in Genesis 15 is not sin, but how God’s purpose can be fulfilled. It is not a question of being saved, but of accomplishing God’s purpose. As long as you are involved in the fulfillment of God’s purpose, you will be saved.
Christianity is superficial, concerning itself with the salvation of man, not with the purpose of God. God’s justification is not primarily for man’s salvation; it is for the fulfillment of His purpose. Why has God chosen you? He did not choose you primarily for salvation, He chose you for His purpose. Why has God called you? He has not called you for heaven. He has called you for the fulfillment of His purpose. As long as you are involved with God’s purpose, your salvation is secure. However, if you only care for your salvation, you may miss the mark of God’s purpose. Salvation is not an end in itself; it is for God’s purpose. Thus, God’s justification is for the fulfillment of His purpose.
There is no mention of sin in Genesis 15. God told Abraham, “Look at the heavens and count the stars. Your seed will be like the stars in the sky.” Abraham believed, and his faith was counted by God as righteousness. God’s justification of Abraham was unrelated to sin. It was totally involved with God’s purpose, with having a seed to produce a kingdom for the fulfillment of God’s purpose. This is why the Apostle Paul in Romans 4, after referring to Genesis 15 where Abraham’s faith was reckoned as righteousness, mentions the promise given to Abraham and his seed of inheriting the world (4:13). What does inheriting the world have to do with justification? Why does Paul mention this in chapter 4? Abraham and his heirs must inherit the world for the sake of God’s kingdom, and God’s kingdom is for His purpose. Romans 4 tells us that God’s justification is not for going to heaven or merely for our salvation. Justification enables Abraham and all his believing heirs to inherit the world and to exercise the dominion of God on this earth as mentioned in Genesis 1. If we only had Romans 3, we would say that God’s justification, based upon Christ’s redemption, is for our salvation. Chapter 4, however, clearly unveils that God’s justification of His chosen ones is not merely for their salvation; it is purposely for them to inherit the world that they may exercise God’s dominion on the earth.
According to Genesis 15:6, Abraham believed God’s word about his seed being as the stars of heaven, and God reckoned Abraham’s faith as righteousness. Although Abraham received God’s righteousness at that time, he did not realize very much about it. That righteousness was abstract, not solid or concrete. It might have been little more than a term to Abraham.
In Genesis 16 we find the birth of Ishmael. Although God had reckoned righteousness to Abraham, Abraham had nothing concrete. Thus, Sarah proposed that he have a child by Hagar, and Abraham used his own strength to produce Ishmael. Positionally speaking, Abraham had the righteousness of God; dispositionally speaking, he did not have it. He only had an Ishmael. Therefore, God intervened and seemed to say, “Abraham, you must be complete. I am a complete God. You must believe My word and trust in Me. I reckoned your faith as righteousness to you. You should not act by yourself to produce an Ishmael to fulfill My purpose. This is not what I have reckoned to you. Ishmael is not the righteousness that I have reckoned to you. You must stop your doing. As a reminder to you, I want you to be circumcised.” Circumcision came in simply because Abraham acted on his own to fulfill God’s righteousness. Galatians 4 tells us that Hagar typifies the law. Producing an Ishmael by Hagar means to have the works of the law, works that are not the righteousness of God. Abraham had to learn to terminate himself, to cease from his own energy, and to be circumcised.
In Genesis 17 God speaks about Isaac, promising to make His covenant with him. In typology, Isaac typifies Christ as the righteousness of God reckoned to the believing ones by faith. In Genesis 15 Abraham had the righteousness of God positionally. When Isaac was born, he had the righteousness of God dispositionally. He had a real experience of God’s righteousness.
The understanding of many Christians is quite superficial. They say, “We are sinful. Christ died for us. If we believe in Him, under His blood God will give us His righteousness and justify us.” According to this concept, righteousness is merely positional and objective. However, from our experiences we can realize that the very righteousness that was reckoned to us at the time we believed was Christ. Isaac was a type of Christ. Since Isaac typifies Christ, we may say that Isaac was our righteousness. Eventually, the righteousness of God is not an abstract term, but a person, the resurrected Christ. This resurrected Christ becomes our present Isaac. Although we received the righteousness of God on the day we believed, we did not realize that this righteousness was actually Christ, the Son of God.
Immediately after receiving Christ, we determined to do good deeds for God. This means that we married Hagar and produced an Ishmael. Remember that Ishmael typifies the work of the law. Although we did a good work, God would say, “Cast Ishmael out. I don’t want that. You must be dealt with and put on the cross. You must be terminated. You must be cut. You must be circumcised. You need My Son as the living righteousness of God to be born in you and to come forth out of you.” In this way, we have a genuine experience of the righteousness of God and are justified dispositionally as well as positionally.
After Abraham received his Isaac, he was completely satisfied with him. Likewise, when we have an experience of Christ individually, we are very satisfied with Him saying, “A few years ago I only knew the righteousness of God. I never experienced that the righteousness of God is Christ Himself. Now I experience and enjoy Christ as the righteousness of God.” However, as you are enjoying your individual Christ, God appears, as He did to Abraham, saying, “Offer your Isaac to Me.” Perhaps the Lord will tell you to go to the church. This troubles you. You reply, “I don’t care for the church. As long as I have my experience of Christ, isn’t that enough?” This kind of response proves that you are unwilling to present your Isaac on the altar. However, if you offer your individual Isaac to God, God will react to you once again, and thousands of Isaacs will return to you. Abraham offered one Isaac, but he received thousands of descendants in return. These descendants formed the kingdom, the nation of Israel, for the purpose of exercising God’s dominion. This is why Paul said that Abraham and his heirs will inherit the earth.
The Body life is implied here. In chapter 12 we find the Body: “We who are many are one body in Christ.” In chapter 14 Paul interprets the Body as being the kingdom of God, telling us that we must receive all the brothers for the sake of God’s kingdom. Romans 14:17 says that the kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The body life is the kingdom of God for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.
One day the God of glory came to us through the preaching of the gospel. We were attracted, convinced, and began to appreciate Him. During that time, the God of glory transfused some element of His divine being into us, and we believed in Him spontaneously. Then we said, “O God, I am a sinner. I thank You that Your Son Jesus Christ died on the cross for me.” We were able to say this because the living Christ had worked within us to be our believing ability. After that, if someone would have advised us against believing in Christ, we would have found it impossible not to believe in Him. Nothing can take this belief out of us because it is actually the living Christ working in us and reacting to God. Immediately after we reacted to God in this way, He reacted to us, justifying us. Then we had the sense that we were forgiven and justified by God. We had peace and joy. Following this, we all determined to do good — to behave ourselves, to love our wives, and to submit to our husbands. All we produced was Ishmael. Then we realized that we needed to be terminated, to be circumcised that God might work in us to produce the present Isaac, who is Christ, the reality of the righteousness of God. Once we have this Christ, we must offer Him to God that we may receive Him back in resurrection. The result of this is the kingdom, the church life. This is the Body of Christ.
Paul wrote Romans 4 because he wanted to show that God’s justification is for the fulfillment of His purpose. God’s purpose is to have the one Body, which is the kingdom, to express Him and to exercise His dominion on the earth. Therefore, Romans 4 lays the foundation for Romans 12 — 16, where we see the practical Body life, church life, and kingdom life.
