Romans 4: Forget the Rules, We Have a Compass!

^"13It was not through 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. ¹⁴For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

 ¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham."

This chapter is somewhat complicated... I had to read it over a few times in order to try to fully understand what is being said. The above verses seem to encapsulate the overall idea the chapter is trying to convey. Basically, it all comes down to faith.


 Abraham is a very important figure in the Old Testament Bible. Because of this, he is also a very important figure to Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Abraham was a man of faith. His 90-something-year-old wife was able to have a child through his faith. Abraham was prepared to sacrifice this only son through his faith. God promised to make him the "father of nations" because of his faith. 


Paul (the author of the book of Romans) is using Abraham as an example of faith so that his fellow Jews can understand the importance of the grace God has given us through Jesus' sacrifice. Paul is saying that Abraham was favoured by God because of his faith, not because he was a "good man" or was particularly good at following rules.

Often it's easy for Stumblers, like me, to get wrapped up in the idea that in order to be a "good Christian", we just need to become better at following rules. If we follow the rules well enough, we become "good people" who deserve to get into Heaven. This is wrong thinking. This is backwards thinking. Paul is trying this clear in the book of Romans. He began the book by writing about how terrible we are. That none of us is perfect. We've all messed up and broken a few rules here and there. Because of this, there is no way we can become "good enough" to go to Heaven--as Heaven requires untarnished perfection.


"Being good" does not happen because we are good rule-followers. Paul is trying to explain that we "become good" through our faith. If we believe in Christ, and what He did for us, we become very aware that we are only saved through His grace. We have faith that Christ will make us good. We can't do anything of our own merit to make ourselves "good enough".


If all we had to do was "follow rules", there would be no reason for faith. It would be a simple cause and effect equation. You do this + this + this - that = Eternal Life. This doesn't work because none of us would be saved since all of us, at one time or another, has messed up. And one slip up is enough for this equation to turn from Eternal Life to Eternal Damnation. In addition to this, Paul brings up an interesting point about those who do not have "the Law". If people are living somewhere where there is no Law (speaking in terms of the rules set out in the Old Testament), there are no rules to be broken. Do these people get admission to Heaven by default? 


God offered us the great equalizer. We are all equal now, thanks to Jesus' sacrifice. God gave the world the Holy Spirit to guide us in faith. There is no need for complicated Laws and ceremonial sacrifices anymore. Now, we are all expected to live by faith. The more we trust in God, Christ, and Spirit through faith, the more "righteous", or good, we become... because now it is God working in us, rather than imperfect us trying to work ourselves in accordance to rules. Before Christ, there was NOTHING Divine dwelling in people. They had to follow rules and make sacrifices to atone for their own sins. After Christ, God sent us His Holy Spirit to actually dwell within us and act as our spiritual compass. We no longer need rules if we rely on this Compass.


I hope this post makes sense. I struggled a little bit with this chapter, and while I did come to an understanding of it, it is sometimes difficult to express my understanding in a straight-forward fashion. Those of you who are Christians will likely understand the point I am trying to make. However, those of you who are not Christians are likely confused at this point. Suffice it to say, this chapter of Romans is hammering home the point--yet again--that we are all imperfect. We all screw up. It's impossible for us to "earn" admission into Heaven by trying to be "good people". It is only through faith--that is, believing (without seeing for ourselves) that Christ did indeed walk the earth, was indeed the Son of God, did indeed die a terrible death for us, and did indeed rise from the dead miraculously and went to Heaven to take His place beside His Father--that we are able to go to Heaven.