Rather than open this post up with a qualifier about how challenging it can be to decipher the writings of Paul: Pharisee of Pharisees, someone considered to be a true savant of his day, I am going to let Peter do that for me. I also want to point out that the Lord saw fit for the instructions below to be part of our Bible. We would be wise to consider and seek out the reason for the warning.
"Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found spotless and blameless by Him, at peace, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which there are some things that are hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unscrupulous people and lose your own firm commitment, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen." (2 Peter 3:14-18)
Paul's words were being distorted even while the words of the New Testament were being penned, and they continue to be today. Paul was being accused by the Sanhedrin of teaching that Torah obedience was no longer required, one of many false allegations being wielded against him to discredit him. Peter is appealing to his readers that Paul is being misunderstood (I deeply relate to Paul in this).
Righteousness and Faithful Obedience
Abraham's obedience was credited to him as righteousness by which the covenant was made, yes you heard me correctly. Let's take a hard look at Romans 4 :
"What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about; but not before God." (Romans 4:1-2)
Let's break this down a bit. What does Paul mean by "works"?
"For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.'"(Romans 4:3)
The word believed here in Greek is Pistis (πείθω). By referencing the Septuagint, (The Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh) you will find that Pistis is used in place of the Hebrew word Emunah (אמונה), a word from the same root as: craftsman, artist, or practitioner. The word means 'Trustworthy' in its simplest form, and in Semitic languages is a dynamic verb rather than simply agreement or acknowledgement or even an object to possess as we use the word in our language. "To Walk Firmly with G-d" is how it is often described by Jewish sages. When Paul is writing bout Abraham, he is discussing Abraham's trustworthiness. How does one become trustworthy? By their actions - walking out one's faith is a practice or a craft to be cultivated.
Paul also notes here that while works are not credited as favor, they are assumed as what is due.
Here it is explicitly spelled out for us in Genesis 26 as the Lord instructs Isaac:
"Live for a time in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants, all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed Me and fulfilled his duty to Me, and kept My commandments, My statutes, and My laws." (Genesis 26:3-5)
I want to point out that this "credit" is awarded both 1) before the sign of circumcision is completed and 2) before the written Torah is handed to Moses at Sinai. At this point there are more than the commandments as we often think of them, the Lord explicitly refers to Commandments, Statutes, and Laws. So there is an established understanding of a Law as well as the expectation to obey it. It is by this obedience, done in faith, that the Lord bound Himself in a covenant with Abraham.
Let's continue in Romans:
"Now to the one who works, the wages are not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness" (Romans 4:4-5)
What is Paul saying here? Let's again recover some frustration and head back to Peter and remember that sometimes Paul is hard to understand. Paul is simply referencing a distinction here. He is writing to a mixed congregation in Rome, both Jew and Gentile and he is uncovering some mystery around Abraham that points to two distinct types of descendants and is explaining how Gentiles are to be incorporated into the family of Abraham but still distinct from the natural born descendants of Abraham.
"The one who works" refers to the Jewish-born descendant.
Paul notes that those 'works' are described as "what is due". In the Mosaic covenant with Israel at Sinai, Torah obedience is required as part of the marriage covenant with God to receive the physical temporal blessings and protection from God during this age. Paul is explaining that Torah obedience is not cancelled, but an obligation for the natural branches. He then distinguishes that this is not making the Jewish believer more favored in the eyes of the Lord, only different.
"The one who does not work" speaks of the Gentile believer.
One who is justified by faith which, again, means: firm walking in Messiah and that is how he is credited as righteous. Still an act, still a verb, but Paul is ensuring there is a distinction of roles for the two types of family members. He also needs to validate this claim by referencing scriptures and he does:
"Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.'" (Romans 4:6-8)
Paul is citing Psalm 32 here and using the prophetic words of David to confirm his claim that there has been a plan all along to bring into the family those who are not bound in the same way to the full covenant made at Sinai. He then uses Genesis to draw details from the timing of Abraham's covenant and sign to point to two different distinctions within the family (two brothers if you will). Paul is introducing a younger brother "Those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven" - he is speaking directly to the lawless, meaning those without the Torah. He is proving that pagan Gentiles are also invited and will be redeemed through the atoning sacrifice of Messiah.
"Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised. For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, then faith is made void and the promise is nullified; for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation." (Romans 4:9-14)
Paul is sometimes difficult to understand, in the above passage, is an understatement.
As a modern Gentile, I would say for me Paul is often infuriating. I am relieved that I am not alone, and actually in good company. Paul's words were so misunderstood that the Epistle of James (written by Jacob, the Lord's brother) is a response to many of these allegations. James is explaining to the Jewish followers of Jesus that Paul has not abandoned obedience or Torah, and that Faith without Works is dead. [6]
"What use is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to acknowledge, you foolish person, that faith without works is useless?" ( James 2:14-20)
With this in mind let's continue to study Romans 4 and find clarity.
Paul is explaining to his audience, in particular the Jewish among them, that if Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness, then a precedent had been set already for the faith of the now incoming Gentile believers. He explains that this happened prior to his circumcision, that the circumcision itself did not credit him as righteous, but his Firm Trust in the Promise of God. His actions backing up and crediting him as trustworthy reveal the true Emunah in his heart. In this way, Abraham is the 'father' to uncircumcised believers in Jesus. He then also explains that the sign of circumcision which was a seal of his righteousness is also the way he is the father to the circumcised.
All Paul is trying to do in this passage, is use a proof-text to back up his message of inclusion of the Gentiles through Emunah (Faith) in Messiah Yeshua.
The writings of Paul, which address very specific circumstances to specific readers, have continued to be used for all sorts of strange doctrines and theological systems. From the theft of the role of the Jewish people as light to the nations and administers of the oracles, to claiming that Jesus canceled the Torah or fulfilled its requirements and redefined Torah observance.
Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes "There is nothing new under the sun."[7] This has occurred since the very beginning. The assault on distinction, roles, and obedience has continued through the ages. It takes a large measure of humility to be willing to step away from the way we have believed with our own understanding to be able to see what God has laid out for us as the truth.
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