Christians today think of Paul as a great man of God, and rightly so. But his contemporaries did not necessarily hold him I such high esteem. There were many Christians who did not like certain aspects of his teaching. Those with a Jewish background particularly objected to three fundamental principles, which the apostle repeated over and over again, wherever he went: 1) there is no salvation through the law; 2) it is not necessary to be circumcised to be saved. 3) salvation is by grace through faith apart from works.

They considered his teaching of justification by faith alone a novelty. But in Romans 4 Paul explains that sinners have always been saved that way, not only now after Christ’s death and resurrection, but also in Old Testament times. A good example is Abraham. Here is someone who lived many centuries before Christ, who was justified not by works of any kind, but by faith alone. He was actually declared righteous by God prior to performing good works, prior to being circumcised, and
Our theme is: Abraham’s Justification as the Model for our Justification. We will see he was:
1. justified apart from human efforts;
2. justified as a wicked sinner;
3. justified by faith.