Romans 4:1-12 shows how faith in God to keep His promises brought blessings to Abraham and David, because righteousness which is of the law (Romans 10:3, 5) only gave Jews the covenant of being God’s chosen people through physical circumcision; whereas the righteousness of faith (Romans 10:6) was accounted (recorded) to him for righteousness, which means Abraham only believed what God told him, but Abraham was not required to do anything, for his faith to become righteousness (fully right with God), which is what God requires of us.
Romans 4:2-10 reveals how simply believing God credits us with righteousness (fully right with God); although 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 says, “God put us in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness, sanctification (holiness), and redemption—that, as it is written (in Jeremiah 9:23-24), He who glories, let him glory in the Lord”, because God did it all for us in Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, and not of any works we did or will do.
But get the truth of Romans 4:9-12 firmly fix in our spirit, soul, and body, so we always know God accounted or changed Abraham’s faith, so it became God’s righteousness in him, BEFORE Abraham was circumcised, and not after he was circumcised, which is also revealed in Mark 11:24 that assures us we must first believe we receive from God what we ask of Him, BEFORE we actually receive it, for only our faith in God’s faithfulness will get our prayers answered, and then our prayers must be in agreement with God’s will, as stated in 1 John 5:14-15 (the prepositional phrase, “according to….” always means “in agreement with”).
Most of our prayers never receive God’s answer, because we do not ask “in agreement with” God’s will, but “in agreement with” our own will and selfish desires, which is what James 4:1-3 accuses us of doing, so read Matthew 6:9-13 daily and pray accordingly, for verse 10 says, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, which Jesus also prayed in Matthew 26:42, and should always be our prayer of total surrender to God’s plan and will for us.
Romans 4:13-25 reveals how all God’s promises are “accounted to” or “received” by faith in God to keep His word, meaning, “we believe God’s word, but put our faith in the God whose world we believe”, for Ephesians 1:3 says, “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”, and this is what 2 Peter 1:2-4 says:
2 Peter 1:2-4—2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Therefore, since God’s divine power, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, has already given us everything we need that pertains (applies) to life and godliness (1 Timothy 3:16), and God’s divine power “has already given us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust”, then we already have the Godhead’s full power available to work through us (Ephesians 3:14-21), so use it and never allow the devil to trap us with his worldly lust.
Because it is inexcusable for anyone to accept Satan, the devil, and his lustful spirits, TRYING to get us to accept their ungodly lust, to control us, so we give our spirit, soul, and body, as slaves to Satan’s lust, when God has already given us everything we need to partake of His divine nature, yet to accept Satan’s lies and partake of his ungodly nature is inexcusable (Romans 1:18-20), when God, through Christ Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, has already made it possible for us to live His way instead of Satan’s way. Do not be Satan’s “fool”, falling for his deceptive lies and lustful ways. Surely people have enough sense than to be “satanized”.
Jim Nabors
