Romans 4 - Abraham Justified by Faith

1-8
- if salvation is a result of work, then it's not a gift, but rather the worker's right
- implication: no one can work hard enough to earn salvation, so salvation has to be given ("gift / grace ")
- david: "blessed are those those transgretion are forgiven whose sin is covered"
- sin has to be punished. period.
- what does is mean to forgive then? sins erased? isn't not fair if sins are not punished?
- the sin still exist and will be punished, but the punishment/consequence are taken care of by JC.
- Was David aware of the concept of salvation, that JC will come to redeem them? Probably not, but he's aware that God is able to nullify sin (doesn't know the mechanism yet)
- IF sins are automatically forgiven when you believe, why do believers still ask for forgiveness? (The Lord's prayer, I John 1:19, James 5:16)

Confession means:
--> agreeing with God that our sin truly is sin, and we're willing to turn from it
--> ensuring that we don't conceal our sin.
--> recognizing our tendency to sin and relying on his power to overcome it

If we don't confess:
--> we're not agreeing with God that our sin truly is sin, and we're not willing to turn from it
--> we're (most likely) concealing our sin.
--> we're not recognizing our tendency to sin and not relying on his power to overcome it

confessing doesn't have any effect on your right of salvation, but it affects your relationship/fellowship with God.

9-12
- Circumcision is only a "seal" / outward-sign of Abraham's faith. God has acknowledged Abraham's faith before he was circumcised.

- What kind of faith do you need to receive salvation? Faith to what? To God. But which part and how far do you need to believe before you're qualified? Is believing God's existence enough?

13-25
There's no law in Abraham's era. When there's no law, there's no transgression, but there's still sin. Abraham was saved through righteousness that comes by his faith.


============= side note ===================
| what's the difference between "holy" and "righteous"?
| "holy" is more like a quality standard
| "righteous" is more like a justice standard
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