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Paul has been deconstructing religion and revealing how faith is not a threshold for entrance into a new alternative religion. He’s been technically describing this process by which “ALL people are Justified” (dikaiosune) or put right with God. Of course the religious mind (both then and now) struggles to understand Paul’s framework which is not transactional, but transformational. Chapter four exists for the sole purpose of proving that religion got it wrong, as Paul explains how this saving faith has always been the case as viewed through Abraham’s life…the icon of the world’s three monotheistic religions.

The theological term (diakosune-righteousness, justification) continues in this chapter but Paul uses another term which is mostly interpreted as a term of accounting. Paul will use the term “logizomai” eleven more times in his letter and nine of them are in chapter 4. The Greek word means; to reason about, Keep a mental record, Hold a view, to charge to an account. It’s this last use that is by far the most employed by interpreters. As an accounting term this passage starts to take on a legal, tax or penal system tonality, tying into the crime of humanity’s sins against God. This is all true, but takes us to the same cul-de-sac of transaction that religion has been stuck in for four thousand years. Paul is working to free us from a theology of faith unto an inclusive experience of faith, and he uses Abraham to do it. What this means, is that logizomai, (where we get our word logic) is a view, a perspective, having a mind or to consider…in other words, Paul want’s the religious mind to think experientially.

Repentance and Faith are the hallmarks of Paul’s Gospel, but if we transport evangelicalism’s definition, we won’t be able to follow Paul later in this book. We’ll end up doing more harm to the Gospel than good.

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (Romans 3:3)

This phrase is used is used in the New Testament (Galatians 3:6, James 2:23) to describe the story of Abraham’s call.

“So Abram went, as the Lord had told him…” (Genesis 12:4)

Abraham’s call represents the first story of God speaking to people since that of Noah. This is our clue that Paul is using theology (to reason with the religious mind), but driving his audience to experience. The same must be true for us. By pointing to Abraham’s faith, Paul is deconstructing religion because Abraham knew nothing of Jesus, and he predated the Jewish law by more than 600 years, and was 2500 years before the Quran. So this begs the question: What was Abraham’s faith like before the world built religions around him?

Paul is inviting people into the faith of Abraham, which could not be a religion.

Paul referred last week to “this Faith” as a gift, and will continue to do so throughout this letter…he’ll come back to it. In ch.4 he then explains the difference between wages and a gift. This is where the accounting usage of logizomai comes into play.

“Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted (logizitai) as a gift but as his due.” (v.4,5,6)

Paul’s audience as well as mine, doesn’t like where this is going. “you are making them equal to us…” (Mathew 20:12), so next Paul quotes a Maskil (a Hebrew scholar) of David, Psalm 32 to prove that this idea of God justifying sinners has always been a part of their history. This is why I teach the Bible.

“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.” (Romans 4:7-8, cited from Psalm 32:1–4)

So who is David calling blessed? The religious mind sees the “innies” as the blessed ones, so Paul makes a point to illuminate that the justification of God, by faith (which is given by God to everyone) is shared by all people (3:23-24, 12:3).

“Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.” (4:9)

In verses 10-12, Paul explains that the sign of circumcision (religious rite) given to Abram did not produce the faith, but was a sign of the faith Abram already had. Abram (meaning exalted Father) was an ironic name for a man with no children, and now that Abram has one son, Ishmael, God is renaming Abram to Abraham (meaning a Father of a Multitude or Nations/Heathens). This next verse probably stunned his Jewish audience:

 “For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.” (v.13) 

“…not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all..” (v.16)

Paul is revealing that the scripture has always taught the inclusion of all people into the Abrahamic covenant. That is why I feel so confident saying that the revelation of scripture has always taught freedom from religion and the inclusion of those religion considers unthinkable. If it was true for Paul’s day, it is equally true for the religious mind today. If we are to understand Paul’s Gospel, we must embrace his framework of inclusion by the faith, provided by God, through the work of Christ (Christological continuum).

Do get stuck here… This isn’t heresy, this comports with all of scripture. Test it for yourself as I have.

How is Paul’s gospel Christological? Look as Paul’s experience informs his theology, not his religion. Paul includes Jesus’ life and teachings as understood from a cosmic perspective. This is where we see last week’s “Christological continuum.” Paul explains in verses 17-22 how “This Faith of Abraham” and Sarah had been “fully convinced” (back to the “logic, reason,consideration” definition) (v.23), that God was able to do what He promised. The means God works is through His “anointed one,” His Christ, now revealed to the world (these eyewitnesses) in human form as Jesus Christ.

“But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.” (4: 23-25)

Paul pulls all these strings together to reveal something so much better than tribal religion. Instead, all humanity can reverse engineer our Faith back to the forefather of faith, Abraham: the Father of nations (heathens), to “walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.” (v.12)

This is so amazing. Let me try and bring Paul’s teaching on faith back to the modern experience by unhitching it from our religious framework as he just did.

Why do people go on vacations? Why do people seek solace in nature? What makes a sunset something special? What makes us cry at weddings, funerals, and births? What makes some moments so surreal, so lucid, so clear, so hopeful? What is behind our angst and disappointment with society? It’s the experience of perceiving a reality better than it is. What is that experience? What wa Abraham’s experience?. It is “something other” a “voice” that invites, inspires us into a new direction. This something other IS FAITH. IT IS BELIEF that God puts within each of us. We all intuit something “beyond everything” even if that experience isn’s fully formed, nor understood as faith. In fact, it’s this last part, that makes is most like Abraham’s.

Religion divides humanity into waring tribes as they look down on one another. Modern evangelicalism and fundamentalism does NOT share Paul’s gospel, nor his experience. You are here now, at the end of this podcast, because Christ is inviting you out of your religion and into experience, out of form and process, and transaction, into reformation, life and transformation. Paul has show that we have all failed, yet we are all made right (3:23-24). Conversion to a religion was not Abraham’s experience, it wasn’t Jesus’ nor his disciple’s, nor was it Paul’s…so why must it be any of ours?

Paul’s Christology is far bigger than modern Christianity. We must strive to re-write our systems of faith to reflect what has always been the case. Then the world can know finally know peace.