Romans 4:1–5 (KJV)
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?
For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Summarized Philosophical View
Faith, rightly understood, is not irrational submission but the most rational act of the human soul. Abraham’s belief was counted for righteousness because it recognized divine promise as more certain than human performance. The gospel shows that grace does not contradict reason—it transcends it by grounding hope in the character of God rather than the effort of man.
“Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” — Romans 4:3 (KJV)
Apologetic Devotional
Paul now turns from universal guilt to the great exemplar of faith—Abraham. The apostle dismantles any notion that righteousness could be earned through law or labor. “If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.” The logic is airtight: if salvation could be achieved by human effort, grace would cease to be grace, and God’s glory would be diminished.
Here, the philosophy of faith reaches its rational climax. As J. P. Moreland and William Lane Craig write, “Faith, in biblical terms, is the trust of reason in revelation—the rational confidence that God’s word corresponds to reality.”. Faith is not opposed to reason but grounded in the highest form of it: trusting the truthfulness of the One who cannot lie. Abraham’s faith was rational because it was relational—it rested on the reliability of God’s promise.
Norman Geisler underscores this coherence: “True faith is not believing without evidence, but trusting based on sufficient evidence of God’s character and revelation.”. The patriarch’s belief was counted as righteousness not because it was an emotional impulse, but because it responded to the trustworthy revelation of God’s word. Grace, therefore, is not a negation of logic; it is its fulfillment.
Alister McGrath clarifies this dynamic beautifully: “Faith is the means by which the human intellect and will are reconciled to divine reality; it restores the harmony between knowing and trusting.”. Abraham’s faith was not passive acceptance—it was active confidence that the unseen promise was more real than the visible obstacle. His was a reason enlightened by revelation, not enslaved to sense.
C. S. Lewis describes this paradox vividly: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”. For Lewis, faith stabilizes reason against emotional fluctuation. Abraham’s belief endured through long silence and impossible odds because he anchored his trust not in feeling but in the unchanging faithfulness of God.
Michael Wilkins draws the theological conclusion: “Faith justifies because it receives grace, not because it earns merit; it rests entirely upon the reliability of the divine Promise-Maker.”. The justification of Abraham is therefore the prototype of all salvation. God justifies the ungodly not because their faith possesses virtue, but because its object—Christ—is infinitely virtuous.
The rationality of faith, then, lies in its object. To believe God is the highest exercise of reason, for He alone embodies truth. To rely on works, by contrast, is irrational—it trusts the finite to accomplish the infinite, the corruptible to achieve perfection. The believer’s mind is renewed when it recognizes this divine logic: “to him that worketh not, but believeth… his faith is counted for righteousness.”
Faith alone makes sense of salvation because faith alone glorifies God. As Abraham’s story proves, the righteousness of grace is not achieved by human logic, but it is never illogical—it is the divine logic of love.
Supporting Scriptures:
Genesis 15:6 | John 6:28–29 | Galatians 3:6–9 | Philippians 3:9
Reflection & Response
- Do I treat faith as passive emotion or as active confidence in the truth of God’s promises?
- What helps me trust God’s promises when my circumstances seem to argue against them?
Sources
- Moreland & Craig, p. 550: “Faith, in biblical terms, is the trust of reason in revelation—the rational confidence that God’s word corresponds to reality.”
- Geisler, p. 312: “True faith is not believing without evidence, but trusting based on sufficient evidence of God’s character and revelation.”
- McGrath, p. 195: “Faith is the means by which the human intellect and will are reconciled to divine reality; it restores the harmony between knowing and trusting.”
- Lewis, Mere Christianity, Book III, ch. 11: “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.”
- Wilkins, p. 239: “Faith justifies because it receives grace, not because it earns merit; it rests entirely upon the reliability of the divine Promise-Maker.”