Scriptural text: Romans 4
Abraham:
Abraham is known as the “father of faith,” because of his faith. In Gen. 17, God renamed Abram to Abraham (meaning exalted father) because he was to be the father of many nations (V.5). His wife Sarai was also renamed to Sarah (V.15). Then God makes a covenant with him that Sarah would bear him a son, to be called Isaac (Gen. 17, 18, 19-20). At this time, he and Sarah were 100 and 90 , respectively.
Abraham Was Justified by Faith (Rom. 4:1-8).
Here the Apostle Paul proves that Abraham was justified by faith and not works, but by faith. Those that all men contended most vigorously for a share in righteousness by the privileges they enjoyed, and the works they performed; were the Jews, and therefore he appeals to the case of Abraham their father, and puts his own name to the relation, being a Hebrew of the Hebrews, Abraham our father.
Abraham is the father of the faithful; he lived a righteous life before God. In the mind of the traditional, highly religious Jew, it was Abraham’s faithfulness to keeping the Law that made him righteous. The point that Paul made is that if the only thing that matters were works of Abraham, then he could clearly brag about how good he had been. Unfortunately, he could brag about himself before God. Paul taught that because of God’s grace, believer’s have no basis for such bragging.
In verse 3, Paul turns to Scripture for support of his position. He quoted Genesis 15:6: “Abraham believed God, it was was counted unto him for righteousness.”
Abraham became patriarch of a great nation, not because he had done something , but purely on God’s grace.
Abraham’s Faith, Not Circumcision (Rom. 4:9-12).
Abraham’s saving faith was demonstrated before he was given the sign of circumcision. It was not the physical act of circumcision that saved, but his faith before the act. In Genesis 17, God gives Abraham a sign of His covenant, each male born in his household be circumcised on the eighth day. But Paul has cited in Genesis 15:6 to show Abraham believed God, and that faith was “credited to him as righteousness.” This is after the second time God spoke to Abraham and conformed his covenant.