Salvation is Apart from Any Ritual (Such as Circumcision)
and Apart from any Rules (Such as the Law)
Romans 4:9-15

Lesson 11

background notes

doctrinal / teaching points

1. Justification is not by religious rites.
2. Justification is not by religious rules.

practical application

Remember the initials, BMOC.

questions

1. Both Abraham and David were Jews. They had the sign of the Abrahamic Covenant – they were circumcised, the chosen people, and in a place of privilege. Is God’s grace then pure grace? Doesn’t it favor the Jews?
2. Can justification be obtained by religious rites?
3. What happens if the law of God is broken? How does this relate to justification by faith alone?
4. Can a person be saved by baptism?
5. What do the initials, BMOC stand for? What do they mean?

answers

1. God’s grace is pure grace. God does not favor the Jew over the Gentiles when it comes to salvation. Justification has nothing to do with being a Jew.
2. Not. Man is justified apart from the deeds of the law.
3. Once you have the law, there are consequences of breaking it, but it is not a factor in justification.
4. No. Baptism is good, but it does not save a person. Baptism follows salvation to show a person’s identification with Christ, that he dies and is resurrected in newness of life with Christ.
5. • Basis for salvation: the basis for salvation is the finished work of Christ on the cross.
   • Means of salvation: the means of salvation is the same throughout history, by grace through faith alone.
   • Object of faith: the object of faith is the one true God, the God of the Bible.
   • Content of faith: the content of faith is more in the New Testament than in the Old Testament because Jesus died and was raised and the gospel is proclaimed. Content is what God reveals at a certain time in history.

discuss / consider

1. Some people think that they are going to heaven because they have undergone the religious rite of baptism. What would you say, using Scripture to someone who is counting on their baptism to get them to heaven?
2. Justification is not by religious rules, and not by having or keeping rules. God does not justify people because they go to church every Sunday. If you met someone who justified himself on the basis of going to church “religiously,” how would you respond?

challenge

Abraham didn’t believe the content of faith that we have now been given, but he responded to what God had revealed to him. How important is it that you respond to the content that God has revealed to you?

memorize

• ”Righteousness is imputed to those who walk in the steps of faith, like Abraham while still uncircumcised.” Romans 4:12
• “The law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is not transgression.” Romans 4:15