Useful Bible Studies > Romans Commentary > chapter 4
If we tried to obtain the benefit of God’s promises by our own efforts, then we could never succeed. Instead, we would only bring God’s anger against us for our many evil deeds (4:15; 3:23). God’s law tells us his standards for our lives; but none of us lives by his standards.
Instead, we must receive the benefit of God’s promises by faith (belief and trust in God). In other words, we must believe and trust God. God’s kindness is not something that we can earn by our own efforts. It is God’s free gift to the person who believes and trusts him. Our faith is necessary because by it we express our agreement with God’s promises (2 Corinthians 1:20). By faith, we show that we want God to do these wonderful things in our lives. Faith is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8); God gives faith to us so that we can trust him.
People from every nation can receive the benefit of God’s promises by faith. That includes the Jews, the nation to whom God originally gave his law. It also includes the people from other nations who become Christians. They too have the same kind of faith that Abraham had.
In verse 17, Paul refers to Genesis 17:5. Abraham was formerly called Abram. God gave him his new name to show that he would be the ‘father’ of many nations. Here ‘father’ means that they would behave like him. In particular, they (the people from many nations) would have the same kind of faith that Abraham did. Therefore, they would know a right relationship with God, as Abraham did.
Next part: Abraham’s beliefs (Romans 4:17)
Please use the links at the top of the page to find our other articles in this series. You can download all our articles if you go to the download page for our free 1000+ page course book.
© 2022, Keith Simons.