{"id":1409,"date":"2009-12-09T21:08:32","date_gmt":"2009-12-10T03:08:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=1409"},"modified":"2009-12-09T21:08:32","modified_gmt":"2009-12-10T03:08:32","slug":"romans-44-unearned-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/romans-44-unearned-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"Romans 4:4 – Unearned Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Romans 4:4<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Abraham did not earn his righteousness and neither can we.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The words \u201cwho works\u201d are translated from ergodzomai<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto work or labor.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWages\u201d is from the Greek word mythos<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cthat which is given in exchange for actions done.\u201d It can mean payment, reward, or retribution.<\/p>\n

The word translated \u201ccounted\u201d is the same as the one translated \u201caccounted\u201d in the previous verse (logidzomai<\/span><\/em>).<\/p>\n

\u201cGrace\u201d is translated from charis<\/span><\/em>, which refers to \u201ca favor done without expectation of anything in return.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The word translated \u201cdebt\u201d is opheil\u0113ma<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201ca debt; that which is owed to someone else.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In the previous verse Paul told us that according to scripture, Abraham\u2019s belief in God\u2019s promise of a future son was accounted to him as righteousness. <\/span>Abraham was not declared righteous (justified) by God because of any works, but because of faith. <\/span>Paul now continues on with his logical argument.<\/span><\/p>\n

If Abraham was justified by a work of righteousness, then he earned his righteousness. <\/span>If he earned that righteousness by doing something, then God owed the righteousness to him for doing the righteous act. <\/span>That is, God owed him a debt. <\/span>If God owed him that righteousness for doing a righteous act then Abraham earned it; it wasn\u2019t freely given to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the way it happened according to Paul. <\/span>Abraham didn\u2019t receive his righteousness because God owed it to him. <\/span>Abraham received his reckoning of righteousness from God by God\u2019s grace, not because God was obliged to, but because in His great love and by His marvelous grace, God chose to credit it to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

In yesterday\u2019s study we revealed the background of Abraham\u2019s faith. We noted that Abraham returned to the king of Sodom all his people and all the plunder except the tithe given to the <\/span>King and Priest of Salem and the portion earned by his two friends. Abraham did not keep any of the \u201creward.\u201d It was perfectly lawful for Abraham to keep it because he earned it, but he gave it back to the king of Sodom. In the opening verse of Genesis chapter fifteen, God then said to Abraham:<\/p>\n

“Do not be afraid, Abram. I<\/span> am<\/span><\/em> your shield, your exceedingly great reward.”<\/span> (Genesis 15:1b<\/span><\/strong>)<\/p>\n

Do you see that? God said that He was Abraham\u2019s reward. The Hebrew word translated \u201creward\u201d has the same meaning as the Greek word mythos<\/span><\/em>, translated as \u201cwages\u201d in this verse. Abraham refused the reward that was due him because he wanted to give God all the credit. Then, when he believed God\u2019s promise, God credited him with the righteousness that he couldn\u2019t possibly have earned. That\u2019s grace!<\/span><\/p>\n

Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

No matter how heroic our actions and no matter how much we give away of what is rightfully ours, we can\u2019t earn our own righteousness. It only comes as a gift from God when we believe His promise.<\/span><\/p>\n

In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"signature\"<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2009 Will Krause. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n

<\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone \"\"(618) 614-3070<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:\"e-mail<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Romans 4:4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. Truth to Learn Abraham did not earn his righteousness and neither can we. Behind the Words The words \u201cwho works\u201d are translated from ergodzomai, which means \u201cto work or labor.\u201d \u201cWages\u201d is from the Greek word mythos, meaning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[615,131,616,617,412],"class_list":["post-1409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-debt","tag-gift","tag-reward","tag-wages","tag-works"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-mJ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}