A couple of weeks ago I attended the Samford Pastors School at Beeson Divinity School and someone suggested that new believers should first read the Book of Romans and John’s Gospel. I wholeheartedly agree because these two books are, I believe, the most efficient way to understand the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is a revealed Gospel; Christ is a revealed Christ. And that revelation of truth is God’s word.
Not everyone who claims to preach the Gospel is faithful to the Word of God. There are those who preach “another gospel,” which Paul says is not the gospel at all. And you know that Jesus said, “not every one who says, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven.”
There are false prophets who preach a false gospel and preach a false “Christ.”
As a believer in Christ, you are personally responsible to be able to discern the truth. I do not mean to sound as though I am scolding, but I must warn you. If because of sloth, or carelessness, or indifference to the attendance to worship and the hearing of God’s Word , you lack that discernment, that will be yours to give an answer for.
As pastors, we have the responsibility to preach the truth. The Book of Hebrews says, “Obey those who lead you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.” {Hebrews 13:17}
So as believers, we all have the responsibility to discern the truth.
In previous lessons from Chapters 1 - 3, we have considered the wrath of God. It is not considered prudent nor supportive of “church growth” to even mention the wrath of God. You see, that might offend someone. We must, they say, tell everyone how desperate God is to do something for you.
It is the preacher’s job, they say, to make you feel good.
After all, isn’t it enough to indiscriminately tell anyone, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life...” ?
Tell them that God is willing to save anyone who will exercise their “free will” and make a “decision” to let God save them.
Such deceitful handling of the Word of God has filled our church roles with lost people!
William Perkins: “If anyone is to receive this righteousness in Christ for himself he must seek it where it can be found, namely in both the law and the gospel; not in the gospel alone; but first in the law, and then the gospel. We must never try to taste the sweetness of the gospel when we have not first swallowed the bitter pill of the law. If therefore we want to be declared righteous by the gospel, we must be content first to be pronounced miserable by the law. If we want to be declared righteous in Christ, then we must be content first to be pronounced sinful and unrighteous in ourselves.” The Art of Prophesying p 106-107
Study Romans: Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, thought it necessary to show that the wrath of God is a present reality and that everyone, Gentiles and Jews alike, are condemned because of their ungodliness and unrighteousness {1:18}.
Those who do not have the law as given through Moses are condemned by the law that they do have, the law of conscience {2:15}.
The Jews, with few exceptions, believed that because God had entrusted them with the law and with circumcision, they were exempt from the judgement. But the Book of Romans says they are condemned because of their unbelief {2:25ff}.
And we examined that clearest of all statements of the Gospel in 3:21-26!
We are now ready to take up Romans Chapter 4.
Paul makes his argument regarding the place of works {3:20}.
Perhaps we need to make plain what is meant by “works?”
Often we use “Bible language” and just assume that our hearers understand.
I want to be as plain as possible. “Works” means anything you do or think.
Be sure that works are commanded.
Hebrews 6:9 mentions the “things that accompany salvation....”
But here is the problem: Works, while a necessary complement to faith, have no place at all in our being justified before God. But many, many preachers are telling people that in order for God to save you, you must first do something.
To the Jew, “works” involved obedience to the commands of God. Did not God prescribe sacrifices be made in very specific ways? Of course! But the sacrificial system was for the worship of God, not an evangelistic tool! Where did men get the idea that because they have obeyed God’s command that that act of obedience is the cause of acceptance by God?
To the religious, yet lost professor of religion today, “works” may involve membership in a particular church. Any number of churches teach that unless you belong to their particular fellowship you can not be saved. That is simply a form of works. Some also teach that you must be baptized or circumcised in order to be saved. That too, is a form of works.
There is the real danger that many who think they are Christian, especially in our Southern Baptist churches, believe that their decision, their coming forward to shake the preacher’s hand, their baptism is the thing that makes their salvation effective. Why do they believe that? Because that is what the preacher told them.
The devil does not care how religious you are as long as you are not completely trusting Christ.
Do you see how subtle the distinction is between faith and works? We can make even our faith a work if we believe that it was in our ability or power to make the transaction effective.
Thousands are taught, “God will, if only you will.”
The truth is, “God must, because you can’t!”
The Word says, “... being justified freely {without cause} by His grace through the propitiation that is in Christ Jesus” ? {3:24}
“Righteousness is what we want in order to justification; faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, as testified in the Gospel, is the means through which we receive this righteousness. Believing, then, is not the righteousness, but it is the means through which we become righteous.” Haldane
Saving faith is objective faith in Jesus Christ. By the grace of God, I am enabled to agree with my condemnation. By God’s grace I am granted repentance and I turn from all known sin. By God’s grace I look to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who shed His own blood for my redemption. In that reality of faith, God justifies the ungodly. By a sovereign act of God, according to His purpose and will, He freely imputes the righteousness of God to me! While I was “dead in trespasses and sin,” by His grace, He gave me life, Not by works, but through faith!
“I saw One hanging on a tree, In agony and blood;He fixed His languid eyes on me, As near His cross I stood.Sure never till my latest breath, Can I forget that look:It seemed to charge me with His death, Tho’ not a word He spoke.My conscience felt and owned the guilt, And plunged me in despair;I saw my sins His blood had spilt, And helped to nail Him there.Alas! I knew not what I did, But now my tears are vain:Where shall my trembling soul be hid? For I the Lord have slain.A second look He gave, which said, “I freely all forgive:This blood is for thy ransom paid, I die that thou may’st live.Oh, can it be, upon a tree The Savior died for me?My soul is thrilled, My heart is filled, To think He died for me!He Died For Me, (John Newton) Jim, are you going to preach Romans Chapter 4 or not?
Everything I have said flows from the teaching of Romans 4:1-8.
Read 4:1-8.
vs 1-2 “What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?”
Paul, how are you going to show that while obedience is demanded and necessary, that obedience is not the basis of justification, of being right with God?
Paul introduces the two most revered men in Jewish history: Abraham and David.
The Jews said to Jesus, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham....” {John 8:39}
“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?” They said to Him, The Son of David.” {Matthew 22:41-42}
When Matthew began to write to the Jews about their King he wrote: “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: ....” {Matthew 1:1}
The Gospel of Matthew relates Jesus to the history of the Jews.
“If you want to understand Jesus you must go back to David and Abraham. Christ is ‘the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.’ You must know David and Abraham in order to know the Christ. In other words, if you want to understand the Lord, you must take in the whole of Jewish history. Without Him it is inexplicable. It was to Him that all the sacrifices pointed. It was of Him that all of the prophets wrote. That is why, for all of its difficulties, we can never dispense with the Old Testament. Christ is the Son of David, who is the Son of Abraham.”
{George Morrison}
So can you see why the Holy Spirit led the apostle to bring up these two men: Abraham and David?
“What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?” {4:1}
A question of interpretation arises as to whether “has found” attaches to “our forefather” or to “the flesh”
a) If “flesh” is understood ethically, or morally, that is, our sinful nature: What shall we say that Abraham gained by his own natural powers unaided by the grace of God, has found according to the flesh, i.e, by his works?
b) If “has found” refers to “our forefather,” Then: What are we to say about Abraham, our forefather by natural descent? How did Abraham gain his position of favor with God?
Does my filial relationship with “father Abraham” count for anything?
It seems to me that based on the boasts the Jews made as to Abraham being their “father,” that the phrase is refering to natural descent.
Abraham was not chosen because of Terah, his father. And neither are the Jews or anyone slse chosen because of natural descent.
Abraham had nothing to boast about before God: cf Joshua 24:2-3, “And Joshua said to all the people, ‘Thus says the LORD God of Israel: “Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from the other side of the River, led him throughout the all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants {seed} and gave him Isaac.”
And so, Abraham, the idolater, had nothing to boast about before God.
Paul quoted Jeremiah in 1 Corinthians 1:31, “... that as it is written, ‘He who glories {boasts}, let him glory {boast} in the LORD.’ ”
Vs 3 “For what does the Scripture say?”
Paul has claimed that the Gospel is only the manifestation of the ancient promises
{1:2; 3:21}. Now he shows the fundamental continuity that exists between the promises and their fulfillment also extends to the justification of believers in O.T. times.
The Gospel spans all of human history.
Dr. Timothy George gave an overview to the Book of Galatians at the Pastors School and referred to the continuity of the O.T. & N.T. Dr. George said, “Paul ran a pretty good N.T. church with only the O.T. Scriptures.”
Since there is one God of both Gentiles and Jews, who justifies only by faith, there is only one way of salvation. {3:29-30}
cf Acts 15:11 “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.” Did you get it? It’s not Gentiles will be saved the same as Jews, but Jews will be saved the same as Gentiles!
And here is the point: The O.T. saints were saved exactly like the Christians in Rome and Antioch and Jerusalem and anyone else who is truly saved.
This is a most important point. One way of salvation for all times. There never was, nor will there ever be, but one way of salvation. That is the error of Dispensational eschatology which teaches that there is forever a separation between Israel and the church. They teach that God deals with the Jews in one way and Christians in another way. That is “another gospel”! They teach that the Jews will again be blessed because they are Jews.
When we get to Chapter 11, we will see the “olive tree” is the church. Some of its Jewish branches were cut off because of unbelief. Some Gentile branches were grafted in, but it is one tree with a single trunk - One Church.
Genesis 12: 1-4; 15:1-6
The Scripture {4:3; singular} to which Paul refers is Genesis 15:6 which is the first mention of Justification or the imputation of righteousness.
Notice that there is no mention of works.
If Abraham was justified by works, then he could have something to boast about, but not before God. What did Abraham do? He believed God.
“Abraham believed God ....” means more than that Abraham believed there was God and that he went out from the Ur of the Chaldees.
That he did, but it was much more.
Abraham believed in Christ! What does that say about people today who say they believe in “god,” but deny Christ?
The Gospel was revealed to Abraham:
“ Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the nations {Gentiles} by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham, beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”
{Galatians 3:7-9}
John 8:30-59 There is the Gospel, Substitution!
Vs 4 You earn what you work for, the proceeds of your work are wages, therefore not a gift, not of grace.
We could say more on this verse, but I think we have covered its implications.
Vs 5 God justifies the ungodly!
Justification must be reckoned {charged, imputed, accounted} to be accepted by God.
God is the Initiator and the Justifier.
“Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.” {Hebrews 12:2}
Amazing Grace! This is perhaps one of the most important phrases in all of Scripture: “... Him who justifies the ungodly....”
God does not make us godly in order to justify us; that is the Roman Catholic doctrine. They teach that in baptism, righteousness is infused, and then God justifies you because you are clean.
That is also the implication of “decisionism.”
What does the Scripture say?“... Him who justifies the ungodly....”
“... Him who justifies the ungodly....”Another distinction needs to be understood if we are to have a correct view of justification: God does not regard us as righteous. Think carefully.
God regards His Son as righteous;
God imputed the righteousness of God in Christ to our account;
God regards us as having the righteousness of Christ.
vs 6-8 And not only Abraham; consider David {4:6-8; Psalm 32:1-2}
One principle of interpretation is to connect and compare texts which use the same word. The principle being that the word has the same meaning in both places and by analogy of Scripture you may understand the meaning.
So in Genesis 15:6, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted
{ reckoned, imputed } to him for righteousness,” is compared to Psalm 32:1-2,
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not {not ever} impute {reckon} sin.”
Remind about Nathan & David.
Notice the close connection between justificaton and the forgiveness of sin.
Those to whom God has graciously reckoned righteousness, the same are those to whom He does not reckon sin. You still commit sin, but that sin is not charged to you, it has been reckoned {imputed} to Christ.
Justification does not change us morally, but it changes our legal standing in God’s sight. When a person is justified by God, it necessarily follows that God has given that person the new birth in regeneration, being thus regenerated, we have an awe of God, that He would be gracious to such a “worm as I,” He creates worship of the true God in Jesus Christ, and a desire to serve Him in obedience.
Do you see it?
What a savior!
Abraham saw His day and was glad!
David saw the work of Christ and was blessed!
Do you really see it?
Are you a Christian? Let me help you to know right now.
Can you say this very instant that you have the righteousness of God?
Can you despise any and all of your good works as far as they might have any merit before God for your acceptance?
Can you take your place with Abraham? With David? The ungodly?
Can you be satisfied to trust only in the blood of Jesus Christ?
Amen
