Bible Truth #270 - Romans 4:23-25

Romans 4:23-25 (KJV)

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25 Who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification.

(NKJV)

23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,

24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,

25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

(NASB)

23 Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him,

24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,

25 He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.

(NIV)
23 The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone,

24 but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

(ESV)

23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone,

24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

In the King James Version Arminians have pointed out the word “if” in verse 24 as proof that men have a free will choice, along the theory of: if we believe, then God will save us, an “if... then...” equation using secular human logic. I am not a Greek Scholar but everything I read points to the conclusion I present below. This is especially in light of what the rest of the Bible says, including verse 25 of this same passage.

Many times when the King James Version uses the word if it actually means since because the Greek grammatical context is “first class conditional.” I believe the if in the KJV of this passage should be translated as since. This is exactly how other versions of the Bible translate the same passage. This is why I included other versions of the passage above. Please take a moment and look at the passage in the other versions above. In each case it is clear that the meaning of if is first class conditional - meaning since.

The Greek in the referenced phrase is one word for “if we believe” and the word is pisteuo. This is from the root word pistis and nowhere in the meaning is an English understanding of if. I believe this is clear within the context of the word study of the KJV as well as accurately shown in other versions of this passage.

Then in this same passage Paul continues and tells us that Jesus was delivered for our sins and raise up for our justification. Who is the “our” Paul is making reference to in verse 25? The whole world? All mankind? No! Paul is making reference to the same people he identified in Romans 1:7 - to all in Rome who God loves and called to be saints. That is only a group of people who today we would call Christians. So here, as in many other places in God’s Word, it is clear there is a select group for whom Christ died. He did NOT die for every person who was ever born. If He had, then most of the sacrifice was in vain since most are NOT going to be saved. Where is the Glory to God for that?

As I’ve written in the past, there is NO free will found in the Bible. The Bible talks ONLY of God directing our steps (Proverbs 16:9), God having an expected end for us (Jeremiah 29:11), God working in us to make us believe (John 6:29), God working ALL things after the counsel of His will, not ours (Ephesians 1:11), God working in us to will and to do according to HIS good pleasure, not ours (Philippians 2:13), etc. etc. Where is the “so-called” free will of man?

To the Arminian reading this, please do not show me where God’s Word says the lost have a choice to make. I accept that men have to make a choice. What I ask you to please show me is where a lost man has the ability to choose righteousness. I’ve shown over and over that a lost man CAN’T do what’s “right” and believe. The lost man, in his flesh, his natural self, is incapable. Just because a choice is laid before a lost man does not imply the existence of the ability of that man to make the right choice. That theory is inferred by the Arminian.

“Why would God put choices in front of a man if he didn’t have the ability to make the right choice?” One explanation: what better way to demonstrate to us a lost man is incapable of believing and repenting other than to tell him to do it? What better way to prove to a man that he can’t fly by flapping his arms other than telling him to leap off of a bridge and fly? It is not that God is giving the lost man an opportunity to be saved, He is proving to us who HAVE been saved the utter futility of the flesh (which is the only thing a lost man has) generating anything toward his own salvation. Jesus said the flesh counts for nothing (John 6:63).

Other than that all I can say in reply is that God’s thoughts and ways are not man’s thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). I can’t explain why God does it the way He does with any other logical reasoning. But by faith, I can say that it is for God’s glory that He designed salvation the way He did. That is: man can do NOTHING toward saving himself including choosing Christ. God did it all - from choosing His Elect before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), putting us in Christ, paying the penalty for our sin, defeating death and rising from the dead, quickening our dead spirit through faith, the faith that God gives us (Romans 12:3; Ephesians 2:8) as a gift. God simultaneously gives us belief (John 6:29; Philippians 1:29), repentance (2 Timothy 2:25), and understanding (Luke 24:45, 1 Corinthians 2:14, 2 Timothy 2:7). God did it all.

The work of salvation is monergistic. There is nothing a man has to do, and there is nothing a man CAN do, to merit salvation - and that includes believing. Belief is a gift of God and the result of God quickening the dead spirit in a lost man.

God saved us according to His Purpose, not because of anything we did. (2 Timothy 1:9, Titus 3:5)