Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
In starting this chapter, I want to lead with the very last verse. In the original texts there were no chapter divisions. The translators chose this spot to make a division. We have an end cap on the chapter, a summary with this verse. Paul says Christ was delivered for our offenses. His deliverance was not so that we could offend God, it was because we have offended God. He was also raised not so that we could be justified; He was raised because we were justified. You cannot divorce what Paul has told us previously in chapter 3 from his writing in chapter 4. Paul has told us that righteousness is now manifest in 3:21. He has told us that this righteousness came by the faith of Jesus Christ 3:22. He says we are justified freely through the redemption of Christ Jesus 3:24. Paul exclaims to us that justification has come.
Justification has 2 primary components. Very simply justification means to be just before God. It means to be in right standing with God. Justification comes because of 2 actions. It comes because of the removal of the debt of sin from our spiritual accounts, thereby we are just in His sight. It also entails the imputation of righteousness to our spiritual account, thereby we are right with God. Both removal of sins and the application of righteousness must occur for us to be justified. Paul has shown in chapter 3 how this has occurred moves into chapter 4 and uses 2 examples to show us how this occured. He uses Abraham as an example of the imputation of righteousness and then David as an example of sins forgiven. Let us move into this chapter taking into consideration what we have already learned and therefore rightly divide this word of truth.