<p>4:2&nbsp;<i>If Abraham was justified by works</i>- As the Jews said he was. Jubilees 23:10: &ldquo;Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well pleasing in righteousness&rdquo;. Indeed some of the Jewish writings claimed Abraham never sinned.&nbsp;</p><p><i>He has something to boast about</i>- Alluding to Sirach 44:19, which says about Abraham in the context of his good works: &ldquo;None has been found like him in glory&rdquo;. This allusion to and deconstruction of other writings is something which Paul does quite often- and probably even more frequently, if we had access to more first century texts from which to perceive his allusions. Significantly, Sirach is in the Apocrypha, but Paul evidently disagrees with the book and shows it teaches wrongly about Abraham. This would possibly confirm the Protestant tradition of rejecting the Apocryphal books as inspired, although the recorded words of men in the canonical books are also of course quoted and deconstructed. But the quotation from Sirach is from the actual words of Ben Sira, which are claimed to be directly inspired.</p><p><i>But not before God</i>- Before the judgment throne of God, of which Paul has been speaking in chapter 3, especially 3:19. He demonstrated there that all humanity, Abraham included,&nbsp; stand shamed and speechless before God. The idea that Abraham was sinless is therefore disputed strongly by Paul. The Greek phrase &ldquo;before God&rdquo; occurs several times in Romans. Because we are justified by faith, we have peace &ldquo;before God&rdquo; AV &ldquo;with God&rdquo;, Rom. 5:1. The practical section of Romans brings out what we ought to do, therefore, with that position- Paul prayed for Israel &ldquo;before God&rdquo; (AV &ldquo;to God&rdquo;, Rom. 10:1), and he urges the believers to likewise pray &ldquo;before God&rdquo; (AV &ldquo;to God&rdquo;, Rom. 15:30). If we are justified, declared right before God by grace, then as we stand there in His presence with His gracious acceptance, we ought to from that place beg His mercy for others. This is the practical outcome of the courtroom parable. We stand there accepted, with the judge lovingly smiling at us in gracious acceptance, with nothing now laid to our charge, declared right with God; and what should we then do? We who have peace before God should whilst before God, beg Him for mercy upon others. Job is really a working model for us in all this. He said the&nbsp;<i>wrong</i>&nbsp;things about God, as Elihu points out on God&rsquo;s behalf; and yet before God&rsquo;s awesome throne he was declared right, as if he had spoken what was right; and then he prays for his friends.</p>