The Blessedness of the Man to Whom God Imputes Righteousness Without Works (Romans 4:6–13)

Rom. 4:6. As David also speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works of the Law.

“Speaks of the blessedness”—says that blessed is that man, or calls blessed the man to whom “God reckons righteousness,” whom He recognizes as righteous and accepts as righteous; “apart from works of the Law”—although he does not have and does not present works of righteousness, and not only does he not have such works, but on the contrary, has works opposite to them—sins and lawlessness, as the very words themselves show, cited in the person of the holy prophet David. Such is the thought; these words are connected through: “as”—with the immediately preceding, and through this with the entire discourse: “we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law”—and stand in parallel with the example of Abraham, as a new proof of this truth. “Having proved this by the example of Abraham, the Apostle turns to David, who affirms the same thought. So what does David say? Whom does he call blessed? One who boasts in works, or one who has received grace and obtained forgiveness of sins and a gift? — And David calls him who was justified through faith blessed, saying” (Saint Chrysostom):

Rom. 4:7–8. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin (Ps. 31:1–2).

The example of the righteous Abraham bears down especially on this thought: that justification is accomplished through faith, while the testimony of the holy David—that it is given apart from works of the Law. The holy Prophet presents a sinner received into God’s mercy, justified and accounted worthy of blessedness. Blessedness means that bright state which every man seeks, the final goal, the supreme good. It comes from nearness to God, or from drawing near to God, when God receives one into His mercy and embraces him with His good pleasure, so that this mercy and this good pleasure are felt in the heart of him who is received. Sin cuts off and hinders such drawing near, and as long as it exists in anyone, it is impossible for such drawing near to take place. The whole matter, therefore, is in blotting out and removing sin. But how is this done? Through contrite repentance with the resolve not to sin, yet only under the condition of faith “in Him who justifies.” In whose soul all this will happen, God mercifully forgives all his sins, receives him into His good pleasure, draws near to him, and gives him to feel this drawing near. Through this he is brought into the state of the blessed, whom the Prophet calls blessed.

But someone will say: the Prophet speaks only of forgiveness and covering of sins; but there is not a word about faith, nor about repentance, nor about resolve not to sin. — One must determine the Prophet’s thought in the words cited by their connection with what follows in him, and the Apostle’s thought, in citing these words, by their connection with the entire discourse of the Apostle. Directly these words speak of what God gives to the sinner: He forgives lawlessness, pardons sins, does not count them. But can God show such mercy to one who has not turned away from sins, who has not hated them, who has not grieved over them, but on the contrary, is immersed in sin in thoughts, feelings, and desires? No; He forgives sins to one who has cast them out of his heart with contrition and turning away from them. And the Prophet speaks of this right here: “there is no deceit in his mouth.” God forgives the sins of one in whose mouth there is no deceit. How then are sins and the absence of deceit combined in one and the same person? Thus: he, acknowledging his sins, displays repentance for them before God, not covering them up, and sincerely cherishes the desire not to fall into them anymore. Deceit, δόλος,—is a sin-loving disposition of the heart with a desire to cover it not only before men but also before God. When it is absent from the heart, one must believe that there is the opposite—sincere love of good with rejection of past sin-loving and contrition over it.

So in the words of the Prophet, which speak only of forgiveness, it is naturally understood that repentance is also implied, together with sincere dislike of sin. And where is faith “in Him who justifies”? And faith “in Him who justifies” is in the discourse of the holy Apostle, which throughout deals with faith, and especially—in the preceding words, which directly express this truth. — The Apostle insists: the righteous appear righteous before God not on account of works, though they have them, but on account of faith, as shown by the example of the greatest of the righteous, Abraham. And as for sinners, there is nothing to say. What works can they present when all have sinned? They have nothing to present except contrition and dislike of sin, with faith in the boundless mercy of Him who justifies. Therefore, let no one come before God relying on works. Go with faith alone, and you will receive justification.

But how is this? By the words of prophet David the Apostle wished to prove that faith is reckoned as righteousness, yet he cites such a passage which speaks only of the remission of lawlessness and non-imputation of sin? As if “the testimony does not fit the matter” (Saint Chrysostom). — This confusion is already removed by the preceding explanation: that as soon as lawlessness is forgiven someone and sin is not imputed to him, in that person receiving mercy all the conditions of forgiveness must be presupposed—the desire to sin no more and faith in Him who justifies. On the other hand, since there are two states: one—of righteousness and God’s good pleasure, and another—of sinfulness and God’s displeasure; it is evident that when sin is not imputed to someone, it means he is no longer counted as a sinner, standing under wrath, but is accepted in good pleasure as righteous. Non-imputation of sin for this reason stands on one line with the imputation of righteousness, or both are accomplished in one act of the mercy of the merciful and justifying God. But most importantly, one must keep in view the goal of the Apostle. His goal is not to explain the Old Testament order, but to clarify from the Old Testament the New Testament. When, in preaching the Gospel, the Apostles began to receive Gentiles into the communion of God, the Jews rebuked them: you have only faith and faith, and no works of the Law; you have even begun to receive sinful Gentiles, whereas it is sinful even to touch them. The Apostle, forestalling this, insists: that in us all is faith and faith, in this we take an example from Abraham, to whom faith was reckoned as righteousness; but that we receive sinners into the communion of God, the rightfulness of this was prefigured by the prophet David, who called blessed those whose sins are forgiven. We receive sinners, but only after forgiving all their sins, by the grace of the merciful God, on account of faith “in Him who justifies.” And this is such an order as was glorified by prophet David. In calling blessed those against whom God does not count sin, he “clearly calls us blessed and foretells the gifts of grace” (blessed Theodoret).

Having thus proved from the Old Testament that it is right for us to hold that “a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law,” he now brings the force of these proofs to bear on those who believe in Christ the Lord; and for this, the example of righteous Abraham and the testimony of holy David he brings together into one, saying:

Rom. 4:9. Is this blessedness, then, only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We hold that faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.

To whom does the holy David predict this blessedness of mercy and forgiveness of sins: to the circumcised or to the uncircumcised—to the circumcised Jews alone or to the uncircumcised Gentiles as well? For deciding this, ascend higher from the holy David to the righteous Abraham and look at how it went with him. — We (I, or all the Apostles, or Christians in general), basing ourselves on the testimony of God’s word, say that the righteous Abraham had faith reckoned to him as righteousness. Now consider when it was reckoned to him as righteousness—before circumcision or after circumcision.

Rom. 4:10. How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he was circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised.

And what you see in him, by his example judge also of all. If faith was reckoned to him as righteousness after circumcision, then it means that the grace of such reckoning of righteousness, or, according to the holy David, the blessedness of non-imputation of sin, should belong only to circumcised Jews; but if—before circumcision, then all of this should extend also to the uncircumcised Gentiles. So then, what do you see in Abraham? When was faith reckoned to him as righteousness—when he was circumcised or when uncircumcised? — “Not when he was circumcised, but when he was uncircumcised.” This means that the law of grace: the reckoning of righteousness through faith and the blessedness of forgiveness of sins—must extend also to the uncircumcised. — Thus the holy Paul “showed that this grace was offered to all” (blessed Theodoret).

But after this it is natural to ask: what then is circumcision? If all is from faith—what then does circumcision mean? To this the holy Apostle answers:

Rom. 4:11. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them.

Circumcision is an external sign, showing that the one who bears it stands under God’s good pleasure, and not at all something by which this good pleasure is acquired. What acquired such good pleasure took place in the heart before circumcision, and circumcision came afterward to serve only as a sign of it. “Circumcision is not righteousness, but a witness to righteousness, a seal and sign of faith, which Abraham showed before circumcision” (blessed Theodoret).

Thus does the Apostle interpret the course of events in the life of the righteous Abraham—that he first believed and was justified for his faith, and then received the command to be circumcised. But the very course of these events is not by chance, but ordained by God intentionally, to present in his person a prophetic prefigurement of what was to be when the Seed promised to him came, by whom all nations would be blessed. After the righteous Abraham, justified by faith while still uncircumcised, and then circumcised, mankind went in two lines—circumcised Jews and uncircumcised Gentiles. When the One promised to Abraham came, in Him the circumcised and uncircumcised, previously divided, are again united. The law of this union is the same as shown in the person of Abraham—faith “in Him who justifies the ungodly.” As this constituted the spirit of life of the righteous Abraham, it is evident that by spirit he is the father of all believers, both circumcised and uncircumcised. Thus was this ordered in his person: “that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised and who thus have righteousness reckoned to them.”

Rom. 4:12. And likewise the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also follow the example of the faith that our forefather Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The uncircumcised have Abraham as their father when they believe, because in such a case their faith too is reckoned as righteousness, as it was reckoned to Abraham while uncircumcised. And the circumcised have Abraham as their father not merely because they are descended from him and receive circumcision, but because of faith—when they believe and walk in the steps of faith which Abraham showed when he was yet uncircumcised. So circumcision, being an external matter, has no influence whatever upon justification, which depends entirely upon faith.

Blessed Theodoret writes: “if one, coming from the Gentiles and not having received circumcision, follows in the footsteps of the patriarch’s faith, which he displayed before circumcision, he will not be alien to kinship with him. God, as God, foreseeing that from Gentiles and Jews He would gather one people and that He would grant them salvation through faith, prefigured both in the patriarch Abraham. For, showing that he even before circumcision acquired righteousness from faith, and after circumcision lived, being guided not by the Mosaic Law, but remaining under the guidance of faith, He called him the father of the Gentiles, so that, looking to him, both Jews and Greeks might rival each other not only in circumcision and uncircumcision, but both in faith. For Divine Scripture called righteousness not circumcision and uncircumcision, but faith.”

Saint Chrysostom carries his reasonings further—and all in favor of the uncircumcised (that is, ours): “do you see how the Apostle proved that it is more correct to call the Jews as having been accepted by mercy than to say that those in uncircumcision were united to the Jews? If Abraham was justified and crowned before circumcision, and then received circumcision, and afterward the Jews arose; then it follows that Abraham is primarily the father of the uncircumcised, who have kinship with him through faith, and then the father of the circumcised. For he is the forefather of both generations. Do you see the brilliance of faith? So long as there was no faith, the patriarch was not justified. Do you see that uncircumcision offers no obstacle whatever? Abraham was uncircumcised, yet this did not prevent him from being justified. Consequently, circumcision appeared later than faith, and not only later but far inferior to it—inferior as much as a sign is inferior to the thing signified, as much as, for example, a soldier’s uniform is inferior to the soldier himself. And why, you ask, did Abraham need a seal? So that he might be the common father of believers, both uncircumcised and circumcised, and not merely circumcised—‘not merely circumcised.’ If Abraham is the father of the uncircumcised not because he himself was uncircumcised, though he was justified in uncircumcision, but because the uncircumcised imitated him in faith; then all the more will he not be the ancestor of the circumcised by circumcision alone, without the addition of faith to it. He received circumcision so that the uncircumcised would not exclude the circumcised, but that both should have Abraham as their father. Then you will be able to have Abraham as your forefather when you walk ‘in the steps of faith’ of his, when you cease to resist and stand stubbornly for the Law. If you do not walk in the steps of faith, then, though you be circumcised a thousand times, you will not become a son of Abraham. Abraham received circumcision so that, remaining himself uncircumcised, He should not reject you. Do not seek the reason for circumcision in him; it was done to him for your benefit, not his own. You needed bodily signs, for you did not imitate spiritual excellence and could not see it, so you were given a bodily circumcision, so that, as you thought of this bodily sign, you might gradually ascend to spiritual wisdom, and, with all earnestness receiving circumcision as a sign of the highest dignity, learn to imitate the forefather in the manner indicated—that is, in faith. With such an intention God established not only circumcision, but all else besides; I mean sacrifices, Sabbaths, and feasts. And that Abraham received circumcision for you, you can see from the Apostle’s following words. Having said that Abraham received a sign and seal, he adds the reason, saying: ‘so that he might be the father of the circumcised’—for those who receive also the inner circumcision (through faith); because, having only outer circumcision, you will gain nothing by it. Circumcision then is a sign when the very thing is evident in you which it serves to signify, that is, when faith is evident in you. But if you do not have faith, then the sign cannot even be a sign. For what will it be a sign of, what a seal of, when there is nothing to be sealed? This would be like showing us a purse with a seal affixed, but with nothing in it. Equally absurd is circumcision when there is no faith within. If circumcision is a sign of righteousness (from faith), and you do not have such righteousness, then your sign is not a sign. You received the sign so as to seek the thing which your sign attests; but if you find the thing without a sign, you have no need of the sign. Circumcision proclaims not only righteousness, but righteousness in uncircumcision. Therefore, circumcision proclaims only that circumcision is not necessary.”

Rom. 4:13. For the promise to Abraham and his offspring, that he would inherit the world, did not come through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.

Thus far the holy Apostle had drawn conclusions from the words: “Abraham believed God, and his faith was reckoned to him as righteousness”—and from the fact that circumcision came after this act of justification by faith, as its seal. Since the latter led to Abraham’s advantage of being the father of all believers, both circumcised and uncircumcised, and in this consisted the substance of the promise given to him; so the holy Paul naturally fixed attention also upon this very promise, directing it too to prove that justification can be accomplished only through faith. Abraham, he says, received circumcision as a seal of righteousness by faith, to be the father of all believers; and this is the same as “the promise that he or his offspring would inherit the world.” But take, as he seems to add, this fact separately from the preceding—and again you will see that justification is possible only through faith.

The promise was given to Abraham or to his offspring, that he or it would be the heir of the world. By virtue of what was this promise given? By virtue of Abraham’s faithfulness to the Law, or by virtue of his faith? — “The promise came not through the Law but through the righteousness of faith.” The Law did not then exist. Circumcision, which is the door into the Law-dispensation, although it began then, was yet preceded by faith, and faith determined its significance. The promise was given to faith, and circumcision, serving as a sign of faith, serves as a sign of the promise. But if circumcision contributed nothing to this, all the less so the Law, which came much later than circumcision. Therefore, the promise was given by virtue of faith.

What is the substance of the promise? — “That he would inherit the world,”—that is, that he or his offspring would inherit the world, in other words, that the whole world would be his own. It is self-evident that this property could not be bodily, but spiritual. What is it then? This must be explained from the words of the promise: “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” The inheritance of the world is the same as this blessing of all nations. But what is this blessing itself? If we fix our attention only at the time of Abraham, when the promise was made, its power for us will not be so clear: we see that something great and bright is being promised, but what it is is not so clear. But if we look at how it was fulfilled, everything will be clear. Abraham’s seed is Christ the Saviour of the world. In Him are all the powers for life, godliness, and eternal blessedness. The pouring forth of these powers from Him upon the world is the blessing through Him. Nations are united with Him and draw from Him this blessing. But as they are united with Him, they become His own, and through Him the own of Abraham too, whose seed according to the flesh is Christ the Lord. This is Abraham’s inheritance of the world, or the blessing of the nations through Him. But by what virtue is all this arranged? By faith. The promise is given to faith, and it is fulfilled also by the action of faith. For men are united with the Lord Saviour and receive blessing from Him only through faith. Through it, it turns out, Abraham became the father of all believers, the blesser of nations, and the heir of the world. Thus clear to us, looking from this point of view, is the promise given to Abraham. With such understanding did the holy Paul also wish to present it to us. He spoke as it were: through faith Abraham was accounted worthy of a great promise; through faith it is now also brought to fulfillment. Therefore, you Jews, you should not mix your Law into this.

But the Jews could object: thus you perversely represent the matter; rather it should be understood so: Abraham, our forefather, indeed received the promise for his faith—but then the Law came, and the fulfillment of the promise must depend upon the Law-dispensation. Into the circle of Abraham’s promise only those who receive the Law and submit to it can enter. — To this the Apostle responds: oh no! by this you destroy the promise.