FOR THIS REASON IT IS BY FAITH : dia touto ek pisteos: (Ro 3:24-26; 5:1; Gal 3:7-12,22; Eph 2:5,8; Titus 3:7)

Justification is through faith alone. That is to say, that the fulfillment of the promise may not be according to man’s merit, but to God’s unmerited favor. The mention of grace indicates that there is no intrinsic merit in faith. The promise, faith and grace, are set in direct contrast to law, works and merit.

THAT IT MIGHT BE IN ACCORDANCE WITH GRACE : hina kata charin:

Grace (5485) (charis) (Click in depth study of charis)

The power of justification is God’s great grace, not man’s faith.

John Piper asks

"What is it that really, at bottom, guarantees the promise that you will be an heir? The answer is: God's grace. Your faith is essential, but the reason it's essential is that it is the only condition of the heart that accords with grace. And God's grace is the deepest foundation of our guarantee." (Click full sermon The Faith - Grace - Certainty Connection)

IN ORDER THAT THE PROMISE MAY BE CERTAIN: eis to einai (PAN) bebaian ten epaggelian: (Heb 6:13-19; 2Pet 1:10)

Promise (1860) (epaggelia form epí  = intensifier or upon + aggéllo = tell, declare) means an announcement upon and was primarily legal term denoting summons or a promise to do or give something. It is used only of the promises of God (except Acts 23:21) and refers to a thing promised, a gift graciously given and is not a pledge secured by negotiation.

Faith was made a condition of the promise, that its fulfillment, apart from human merit, might be secured for the recipients. Had its fulfillment depended upon human works or merit, it could not have been assured or certain, because it could not have been attainable in this manner.

Certain (949) (bebaios) (Click for an in depth analysis of bebaios.)

 In secular Greek bebaios meant fit to tread on (having a firm foundation). In classical Greek from the 5th cent. B.C. bebaios acquired the meaning of firm, durable, unshakeable, sure, reliable, certain; and in the legal sphere, valid, legal. bebaios conveys the idea of being certain on basis of being well established. The idea is of something that is firm, stable and thus something that can be relied upon or trusted in.

Strachan says that bebaios

"has a legal sense. It is the legal guarantee, obtained by the buyer from the seller, to be gone back upon should a third party claim the thing."

In Greek commerce bebaios  refers to what is legally guaranteed. In the Greek papyri it was used in a technical sense for a legal guarantee of the settlement of a business transaction.

The Greek order place "certain" before "the promise" emphasizing the fact that this promise can be relied upon or trusted.

TO ALL THE DESCENDANTS NOT ONLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE LAW BUT ALSO TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM WHO IS THE FATHER OF US ALL: to spermati, ou to ek tou nomou monon alla kai to ek pisteos Abraam os estin (3SPAI) pater panton hemon: (Ro 9:8; Isa 51:2)

"Descendants...of the Law" = Believing Jews.

"Of the faith of Abraham" =Believing Gentiles.

See note Romans 4:11.

Abraham is the father not only of the Jews, physically speaking, but of all who are justified by faith, spiritually speaking.

"They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham" (Gal 3:7).

Wuest comments on Romans 4:16-17 noting that...

"Written" (1125) is in the perfect tense indicating that it was written in the past and stands in effect, speaking of the permanence (and trustworthiness) of God's holy word.

IN THE SIGHT OF HIM WHOM HE BELIEVED: katenanti ou episteusen (3SAAI):

Faith as defined in Abraham’s experience (Ro 4:18-21) is not passive assent to what God says; it is an enduring dependence on God’s promise, on which one stakes one’s life and lives accordingly.

EVEN GOD, WHO GIVES LIFE TO THE DEAD AND : theou tou zoopoiountos (PAPMSG) tous nekrous: (Ro 4:2; 8:11; Mt 3:9; Jn 5:21,25; 6:63; 1Cor 15:45; Eph 2:1-5; 1Ti 6:13)

The key is the object of faith. Don't miss that truth here. Next, he shows us the obstacles to faith. And then he tells us the objectives of faith -- where faith will bring us. God is the object. The quality of your faith depends upon the object in which that faith has placed its trust. The amount of faith you have has nothing to do with it. That is why Jesus told us that even if we have a little tiny faith, like a grain of mustard seed, it will work. The object of your faith is the important thing.

Ray Stedman gives this illustration of faith & the object of one's faith:

"You may leave this service this morning and go out to the parking lot with the utmost faith that when you get into your car and drive down the driveway and into the street your car is going to work just as it was working when you parked it there this morning. But maybe, while we were sitting here this morning, someone took off the hubcaps and removed the lug bolts from the front wheels of your car, and then put the hubcaps back on so you cannot see any difference. That may have happened. And though you have the utmost confidence that you car is going to work properly, when you get onto the street and turn the corner, sooner of later the front wheels are going to fall off. You might end up dead -- killed by faith! On the other hand, some of you who have been worried a bit by what I have just said may go out to your car after this service and take off the hubcaps and examine the lug bolts to make sure they are there. And even then, not too confidently, you may start your car and drive it rather timidly down the driveway, still thinking that something might go wrong and it may fall apart. But if no one has tampered with it, you are perfectly safe -- even though you have little faith -- because the object of your faith is strong. That is why you should not talk about your faith; talk instead about the God in whom your faith is fixed!" (Read the full sermon The Faith of our Father)

Abraham looked at the One Who made the promise, at God Himself. It is not a question of how little or how big one's faith is; it is a question of how big one's God is! What kind of a God is He? There are two things about this God that helped Abraham tremendously: (1) He is the God who gives life to the dead -- the God Who makes dead things live, Who takes things that once were alive, vibrant, and full of life, but have died and become hopeless, and brings them to life again. (2) He is the God Who "calls things that are not, as though they were." He calls into existence the things that do not exist. He is a creative God.

Abraham had experienced this firsthand (Heb 11:11, 12 cf Ro 4:19) God alone can make the dead to live (Dt 32:39 1Sa 2:6 2Ki 5:7 Ps 68:20) Faith in God as the One who exercises this prerogative, enabled Abraham to look forward with assurance to an innumerable seed.

CALLS INTO BEING THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST: kai kalountos (PAPMSG) ta me onta (PAPNPA) os onta (PAPNPA): (Ro 8:29,30; 9:26; Isa 43:6; 44:7; 49:12; 55:12; Acts 15:18; 1Cor  1:28; Heb 11:7; 1Pet 2:10; 2Pet 3:8)