I find it quite difficult to organise an exposition based on Paul's closely reasoned argument in this passage. Another problem I have is that there is not a strict parallel between Abraham's justification and the sinner's justification through faith in Christ's sacrificial work. As far as I can see from the record in Genesis, Abraham never sought God's declaration of righteousness.

To a non-Calvinist like myself it is significant that Paul stresses here not so much God's choice of Abraham for the promises detailed in Gen12v1to3, as his faith. AND IT IS HIS! It is something God was pleased with. If faith is a gift from God it would be no more praiseworthy than a pair of bright, blue eyes.

It is a pity that we do not know more about Abraham's background and beliefs prior to his call. There were those contemporary with the patriarch who served the one true God. Melchizedek, king of Salem (Jerusalem), was one such.

(B) The problem Paul was addressing.

I can only suppose from what Paul wrote to the Romans that there was a strong Jewish influence in the church. The Jewish members must have accepted Jesus as the Messiah to call themselves Christians at all. But it appears likely that a significant number of influential Jewish Christians considered it vital that believers also conformed to certain of the Old Covenant practices. They probably insisted on what preoccupied the religious Jews at the time of Christ namely, circumcision, Sabbath observance, dietary regulations and ceremonial cleanliness (the outward appearance). Of these circumcision was in all likelihood the most important - which is understandable. God said to Abraham: My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people, he has broken my covenant. Gen17v13and14. This is why Paul refers to Abraham and points out that he was declared righteous BEFORE he was circumcised. See Rom4v9to12.

The reason, of course, circumcision is no longer necessary is because Jesus established a new covenant. See Luke22v1to20 and Heb8v7to13.

The problem that existed in the Roman church is still with us:

• Some churches insist on infant baptism instead of circumcision. The importance of faith is downgraded by the claim that babies enter the church through baptism. We are not saved through the faith of our parents, or the collective faith of the church, but through our OWN faith. Baptism is a declaration of personal faith in Jesus and his saving work. The whole purport of Paul's teaching is that nothing anyone does to us whether it be circumcision or infant baptism can save us. We are saved by grace and through faith.

• There remains, among a decreasing number, a legalistic attitude to the Sabbath. It is surely significant that these legalists wrongly call Sunday the Sabbath. I have just commenced re-reading Trollope's, Barchester Towers. Mrs Proudie, the Bishop's wife, was a Sabbatarian. Though not adverse to the society and manners of the world, she is in her own way a religious woman; and the form in which this tendency shows itself in her is by strict Sabbatarian rule. Dissipation and low dresses during the week are, under her control, atoned for by three services, an evening sermon read by herself, and a perfect abstinence from any cheering employment on the Sunday.

  This legalistic attitude to Sunday does more harm than good. When he was a boy Ray used to visit his relations in Brockley - the village in which I grew up. One Sunday he was whiling away a dull afternoon by kicking a ball against a fence. His uncle Perce came out, grabbed him by the ear, banged his head against the fence and said, "You don't behave like that here boy - its the Sabbath." It certainly made an impression on Ray. He told me the story sixty years later! It put him off Christianity for life.

• Some Christians demonise tobacco and alcohol. I realise that smoking is bad for your health and alcohol can be abused and lead to untold misery. But, Jesus said it wasn't what went into a man's mouth that defiled him but what came out.

  A long time ago I conducted a service in a free church in Dovercourt. In the course of my sermon I said that there were greater sins than smoking the occasional cigar. The church secretary was beside himself at the end of the meeting. He was red in the face and literally frothing at the mouth. "How dare you recommend smoking," he said. "We are dead against that here." I was never invited to preach at that church again.

  Some Christians are a lot stricter about alcohol than Jesus himself who was called a gluttonous man and a wine bibber. He told us to remember his death by eating bread and drinking wine - NOT BLACK CURRANT CORDIAL.

• At least a few Christians put great store on appearance. In one of my old sermons in the series on James I used this illustration: Eight years ago, Prof Donald Macleod, a senior figure in the Free Presbyterian denomination, was wrongly accused of indecently assaulting four women.

  The sheriff who cleared him said the entire case was a conspiracy cooked up by other churchmen who detested his "liberal views" such as allowing women to go hatless in church.

It is also possible to have a legalistic attitude to versions of the Bible, doctrine, creationism and so on.

Legalism is BAD for several reasons:

• It focuses on behaviour of little or no moral value. Abstaining from cigars does not make you holy but it can make you a prig. A woman who worships in a hat is not thereby showing either love for God or her neighbour - would to God it was that easy. Perce, who banged his nephew's head on the fence, was not himself renowned for regular church attendance. He was by no means devout.

• It detracts from God's grace. The so called Christian who endeavours to win God's favour by sub-standard works is hardly relying wholly on God's grace. I am afraid legalists do take pride, as did the Pharisees, in their conduct. It is possible to feel proud about keeping the Sabbath, abstaining from tobacco, using the Authorised Version of the Bible, eschewing makeup and so on. We can almost feel that our self-denial puts God under an obligation.

• It is an insult to Jesus. Whenever men teach that God's favour depends upon believing Jesus AND ..... then they are really saying that the saving work of Jesus is insufficient to save you. This is the danger of infant baptism. If baptism is essential to salvation then Jesus' promises are null and void. Jesus said, "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." Jn6v40.

• It is a fertile source of disunity, intolerance and even hatred. The Pharisees looked down on those who broke the rules and deviated from orthodoxy. They withdrew from tax collectors and sinners - and hated Jesus!

  Recently I had something of a disagreement with a lady in Australia over Calvinism. Although I rather think it wasn't with the lady but her spiritual adviser! Anyway, I emailed her and said we remained united in Christ. Her response was, no, we couldn't be united - only the truth could unite us. We could only be united in the truth. In other words her truth was more important than Jesus.

One thing we can say about Abraham, he never relied on how good he was. He always relied on God - and it is that which was credited to him for righteousness.

(C) Some things can only be acquired by grace.

Here are a few examples of what still can only be acquired by grace:

• Blood for a blood transfusion. In Britain blood is donated. The gift of blood is an act of grace. If a close living relative donated one of their kidneys to a family member dying of renal failure that, too, would be all of grace.

• A Christmas meal for the down and out. When the Salvation Army prepare a special meal for the homeless at Christmas this is an act of grace.

• Forgiveness. When John Clare was a boy he accidentally hit his childhood sweetheart, Mary Joyce, in the eye with a green walnut and because he did not want to be thought a sissy he laughed with the other lads who found it funny. But John Clare brooded over the incident all night and the following morning waited anxiously at the churchyard gate until Mary arrived. There was no need to explain or apologise. She understood. He was forgiven. He didn't deserve to be forgiven. Mary Joyce showed grace.

• An undeserved kindness. See story about an almost perfect day.

• God's righteousness. There is no way we can earn this. The only way we can receive it is by God's grace. A God deficient in grace would never, never declare us righteous!

Yet, Abraham was not perfect. When he travelled into Egypt to escape the famine he told Sarah to pretend to be his sister. He didn't want to be killed so that Pharaoh could steal his wife. Sarah was taken into Pharaoh's harem and things would have gone ill for Abraham but for the intervention of God. Abraham also allowed Sarah to mistreat Hagar, her maid. Sarah was jealous when Hagar became pregnant by Abraham. She fled in great distress into the desert. Once again God came to the rescue. He repeated his mistake in Egypt and deceived Abimelech, king of Gerar.

The only way Abraham could be declared perfect was by the grace of God. Paul concludes it is the same for us. See Rom4v13and16.

The famous evangelist, Dwight Moody, was riding the Union Pacific train through Southern Wyoming. At Rock Springs, a Mormon engineer took over the train. He believed in salvation by good works. Hearing that the evangelist was on the train, he sent word by one of the crewmen to have Moody come to the cab of the engine. There they both talked about this matter of salvation. Moody kept saying, “You must accept Christ by faith.” The engineer answered, “No. You must be saved by your works.” When the train pulled into Ogden, Utah, Moody stepped from the cab. He looked up at the engineer and said, “There is not a whole lot of difference in our religions after all. It is all in the spelling!” The engineer looked rather startled. He said, “In the spelling? What do you mean?” Moody answered, “You spell yours–Do! Do! Do! I spell mine—DONE! It was all done when Jesus went to the cross.”

(D) The nature of faith.

It is very important to be clear what faith entails. The three elements of faith can be illustrated with reference to a patient in a poor Third World country who needs an artificial hip. He hasn't the money to pay for it - but a Christian hospital is prepared to do the operation for free. Now the person with the arthritic hip will exhibit faith by:

(1) Accepting the surgeon's word that he can do the operation and replace the damaged joint.

(2) Submitting himself to the surgeon. He must entrust himself to the surgeon for the operation. He yields total control to the surgeon for good or ill.

(3) Obeying the surgeon's instructions after the operation. A person given an artificial hip joint has to abstain from certain movements and practice certain exercises to make the best possible recovery. This, too, requires faith.

Now the first two elements of faith acknowledge that the new hip is the in the gift of the surgeon. It is of grace. However, the last element allows the patient to take some credit! This is why in Paul's epistles as a whole salvation is both a gift and a prize.

Abraham exhibits these three elements of faith:

(1) He accepts God's word in the matter of having a son by Sarah. I know he laughed when he was told but that's because he could see the humour in the situation. Sarah would be mightily suprised to find herself pregnant - and so would everyone else! Abraham gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he promised. v21.

(2) There is no doubt that Abraham submitted to God. He yielded to him and relied upon him to keep his promises - even those promises not realised in his lifetime. The patriarch's submission is clearly demonstrated in his willingness to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. The writer to the Hebrews puts it like this: Abraham reasoned God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from the dead. Heb11v19.

I am sure this attitude of heart is what pleased God. We can read the interplay between God and Abraham in Gen15v1to5 that led to the statement: Abraham believed the LORD and he credited it to him as righteousness. v6. It was Abraham's trusting, dependent and submissive attitude of heart rather than his works that counted with God.

So it was with king David. David deserved to die after committing adultery and murder. He should have been stoned. But when David confessed to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die." 2Sam12v13. It is little wonder David wrote: Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Ps32v1.

All David had to offer God was a broken and contrite heart. God showed outrageous grace in sparing David's life and keeping him on the throne.

The only way we can please God is by having the same attitude of heart as Abraham and David. We have to repent of our sin and humbly submit to Jesus for forgiveness and new life. See Rom4v23to25.

Just as I am - Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve:
Because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come.

Whenever a person acts in faith it shows the reality of their faith and is a virtue. There is a real danger of emptying belief in Jesus of works. We believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. In this respect salvation is a gift from God. But we also have to believe in Jesus as Lord and obey him. As Paul himself wrote to the Corinthians: And he (Jesus) died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 2Cor6v15.

If we live for Jesus then salvation is also a prize. This is not something Paul dwells on in the passage we are studying because he is dealing with the perils of legalism but it is evident from his writing elsewhere. For example, he writes to the Philippians: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. Phil3v13and14.

However uneasily it sits with salvation by grace the necessity of works as evidence of faith is a necessary corrective to "easy believism." It is not enough to say, "Yes, I believe Jesus died on the cross so that I may go at last to heaven," and then live just anyway you please. Genuine faith in Jesus produces good works for Jesus.

(E) The value of faith.

There is great value in faith:

(1) Through it God declares us righteous. This was true for Abraham: Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. v2.

My old friend Dorothy, who is by no means well herself, has just finished looking after her older sister who died of a brain tumour. It is to Dorothy's credit. I credit her with faithfulness, loyalty, determination and compassion. However, I don't credit her with righteousness because like me she has her faults.

Sometimes we are credited with more than we deserve. For instance after Salome performed a sensual dance for king Herod he credited to her up to half his kingdom. This was disproportionate reward for an erotic performance.

God could have credited Abraham with what he deserved - commendation for his faithfulness, self-discipline, hospitality and sacrificial obedience. Instead he chose to credit him with far more than he deserved. God's reaction was disproportionate. God, in grace and in recognition of his faith, credited Abraham with righteousness.

Paul says that the same will be true for us who believe: God will credit righteousness for us who believe in him who raised Jesus from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Rom4v24and25.

(2) Through faith God gives and keeps his promises. It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world but through righteousness that comes by faith.

God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations and through him to bring blessing to all mankind because of his faith.

God has kept his promise. Abraham is the ancestor of Jews and Arabs but he is also the father of us all. v16. He is the father of all those who share his faith in God.

There is no doubting the great faith of Abraham. When he received the promise of a son by Sarah in his old age against all hope, Abraham in hope believed .... without weakening in his faith he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead .... . Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God. Rom4v18to20.

Christians by faith accept the promise of Jesus to give eternal life to all who believe in him. As a Christian I believe that the God who raised Jesus from the dead will justify me on behalf of his son who loved me and gave himself for me.

Christians share Abraham's great faith that God will keep his promises. In the words of Peter: Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade - kept in heaven for you WHO THROUGH FAITH are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 1Pet1v3to5.

We need to hold on to that whatever our circumstances, our failures, our disappointments, feelings or fears. We have an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. It is stored in the safest place - heaven itself. The day is coming when we shall enjoy it all.

Finally one thing is evident from a study of this chapter. Philip Yancey was wrong to write in his book, 'What's So Amazing About Grace,' exclusively about grace. You should not write about grace - without also writing about faith. We are certainly not saved by works without grace; We are not save by grace and through grace; we are saved by grace and through faith - a faith that includes works.