Verse 27, the just man walketh
in his integrity. His children are blessed after
him. Now, notice that what this man
is, is established before what he does. The just man. That's who somebody is, he's
a just man. And the simple way of things
is that someone does according to who they are. And that's important
to understand. It's not as many think it to
be that everybody's sort of on an equal footing here and some
strive to do good and others are just bad apples. It's not that way. No, everybody
is a bad apple. Everybody. All have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. There is none that doeth good.
No. Not one. It's almost as if the scripture
anticipates us that when it says there is none that do it good,
you might think, well, Joe, he was a pretty good, no, not him
either. No, not one, not a single one. So it's not everybody's on equal
footing and some are good, some are bad. Everybody's bad, but
God loves some sinners. Not all. He said, Jacob have
I loved, and Esau have I hated. God hateth all workers of iniquity,
Psalm 55, except they be in Christ, and God put sinners in his son.
So everybody's bad, but God loves some of those bad apples. And
when God saves one of his loved ones, he changes them. He gives
them a new heart, a new nature. Christ dwelleth in them, the
scripture says. They're born again from above,
just like a baby is born, a baby, a human. Well, there's a new
man born from above of the Spirit of God, and that's a new man. And the scripture says that new
man is created in righteousness and true holiness, created by
God. That doesn't mean that we as a person are righteous and
holy in ourselves, because we still have that old nature too.
Read Romans chapter seven. So some sinners walk in integrity
because of who and what they are, children of God, new creatures
in Christ. Most walk in ungodliness because
of who they are, who we all are by nature, dead in trespasses
and sins, godless wretches, none doing good, no good thing dwelling
in them, depraved from head to toe, David did that which was
right in the sight of God the scripture says except for one
thing it does mention But he did that which was right in the
sight of God all of his days it says why? He was a man after
God's own heart By the grace of God God had changed his heart
so you see right away that in our text Who you are what you
are dictates how you act and And that goes on both sides of
it, doesn't it? People say, well, I'm going to
turn over a new leaf. I'm going to make a decision. All your decisions
are evil. Even if you so-called decide for God, you're doing
it just so you want, because you want to go to heaven when
you die. If it's left, if it's just a decision you make in the
flesh, that's not going to cut it. We have to be perfectly righteous
and holy before God. And that's the difference that
Christ makes, not our deciding to be that. So God made David
something and he did things. Let's get that in our mind first
of all. That's how that works. Now there are three important
lessons in this verse. A just man walketh in his integrity. Now when God makes a man a just
man, That is, he gives him a new heart, he gives him faith in
Christ, which unites him to Christ. He puts him in Christ, the scripture
says. Of God are you in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. But also, that
man walks different. If you read Romans chapter eight,
let's actually turn there, Romans eight, one through nine, I want
us to read this. This is a clear teaching of scripture. A man
who is in Christ, saved by God, regenerated by his Holy Spirit,
redeemed by the Savior on Calvary, walks after the Spirit and not
after the flesh, Romans 8.1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Now this context clearly teaches
that it's not because they want after the spirit and not after
the flesh that there's no condemnation unto them. That's what we're
fixing to read here. For the law of the spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. The law does not apply to those
in Christ because Christ fulfilled the law for them. I'm free from
the law. I'm not judged by the law. I'm
not condemned by the law. If the Lord Jesus Christ was
made under the law, made a curse for me to redeem me from the
curse of the law. And that's what the scripture
promises to those who believe on him. That's why they believe
on him, because he redeemed them and he gives them faith. For
what the law, verse three, could not do in that it was weak through
the flesh, Notice it wasn't the law that was weak, it's the flesh
that's weak. In Romans 7, the chapter before
this, Paul says the law is good. The law is right. It's us that's
the problem. God, but the law can't save a
sinner. It just shows us how much of
a sinner we are. That's all the law does. Quit
putting it on your wall, religious people. It condemns you. It's not that we don't love the
law of God. It's an expression of who God
is. But you're not gonna follow it.
It's not your rule of life. If it is, you're a goner. But
here's what God did, what the law could not do and that it
was weak through the flesh. God sent his son to accomplish
that, the salvation of his people. He sent his own son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin and condemns sin in the flesh that
the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who
can't keep the law. The flesh is weak. We're unable
to measure up to God's standard, but the righteousness of the
law is fulfilled in us because God sent his son to be the propitiation,
the sin offering for our sins. Verse five, for they that are
after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are
after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally
minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. You're not gonna turn
over a new leaf. With men it's impossible. You're
not gonna act better, not to the point where God will accept
you. And honestly, when you say, well,
I'm doing better, you're sinning more because your pride is lifted
up. You're saying, look how good I am. Pride is what got us kicked
out of the Garden of Eden. The more we do, the more sinful
we are. So then they, verse eight, that
are in the flesh cannot please God, but you who are born of
the Spirit, who are in Christ Jesus, are not in the flesh,
but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. So we walk not after the flesh,
we walk after the Spirit. A just man, a man whom God has
changed, redeemed, made a new creature, created in righteousness
and true holiness. He walks in his integrity. He
walks like what he is. Paul said, walk worthy of the
calling wherewith you call. And that's what we do by his
grace. It's important to understand,
this is still the first point now, it's important to understand
that our walking after the spirit and not after the flesh, Our
following Christ, the Lord said, my sheep hear my voice and they
follow me. Whatever it talks about in the New Testament, following
the Lord Jesus Christ, that word is imitating him. We wanna be
like him. That doesn't mean we're holy
and perfect and righteous and spotless, that's why we needed
him. We can't do anything perfect before God. So it's important
to understand that our walking after the Spirit and following
Christ is not our righteousness before God. It does not add to
or contribute in any way to our righteousness before God. Christ
alone is our perfect righteousness before God. And that brings us
to our second point. A just man will walk in integrity. Now this is true, not only in
the general sense of us being new creatures in Christ and desiring
to serve him. And by his grace, we do love
him because he first loved us. His love is the cause of ours,
but we love him. But secondly, when God puts a
man in Christ, when God saves a man and puts him in his son,
God sees that man always in Christ. He is our representative before
God. The reason you're sitting there
a sinner, a wretched sinner this morning is because of Adam and
yourself because you acted according to what you are by nature. But
God sees us in Adam, sinful, fallen, unable to please Him. But if you're redeemed by the
Lord Jesus Christ, God sees you in Christ who is called the last
Adam. And in him, you're perfect. Perfect
in the sight of God. So before God, we walk in righteousness
because we walk in the Savior. God beheld not iniquity in Jacob,
the scripture says. Though Jacob was a worm, a vile,
wretched maggot of a human being that was sinful and greedy Usurper of the glory of God But God beheld not iniquity in
him God called him a war not me But he was God's worm and
He was perfect in Christ before God God called lot You remember
Sodom and Gomorrah and a lot? God called Lot just Lot, guiltless
Lot. Now Lot was a horrible wretch,
just like we are, by the way. But God saw him in Christ, you
see. Turn with me to Colossians 119,
and consider what we're thinking about. Not only do we walk, relatively
speaking, after the spirit, flesh still gonna rise up, flesh is,
we're still gonna, Do terrible things because we're still flesh
too. But generally speaking, we're gonna worship the Lord.
If the Lord has changed you, if he's made you a new creature,
you're gonna worship him and you're gonna serve him. And you're
gonna want to perfectly. Colossians 119, for it pleased
the Father that in Christ should all fullness dwell. And having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by Christ to reconcile
all things unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven. And you that were at one time
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death."
Now that's clear what that's talking about. That's talking
about Christ's sacrifice on Calvary for the sins of his people. Redemption
through the blood of the Son of God, And what was the result
of that? To present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. That's not you live in the Christian
life. That's you being holy in the sight of God because he sees
us in his son, because Christ washed our sins away as the beautiful
and simple illustration of scripture declares by his precious blood. And so we're spotless. were spotless
before God, unblameable, unreprovable, holy. And notice, if you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, that's who you are. It's not
that you're holy if you, it's all up to you whether you're
holy or not. It's just saying, you got no reason to think that
you are in Christ unless you continue in the faith, unless
you believe on Christ, unless you're united to him by faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which you've heard, which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, have made a minister.
So that's just, he's our righteousness. Not our walk, though our walk
is different now. We walk not after the flesh anymore,
after the spirit. We were dead to God and alive
unto sin, and now we're dead to sin and alive unto God. But
that, That's talking about the just man who stands before the
very throne of the holy God of heaven and earth without blemish
and without spot, because he's washed his robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. Now, number three, what else
are we gonna learn? The just man walks in his integrity. Thirdly, And most importantly,
if there can be a more important thing than something else in
God's word, Christ is that just man. And that's consistent with one
and two. Christ is the just man who walks
in his integrity before God. There's only one good man. Only one good man. the Lord Jesus
Christ was and is that holy thing, born of a virgin, God's spotless
lamb. And because of who he is, he
always did that which pleased his father. He always did those
things that please his father. And he is our righteousness. Turn with me to Romans 5, 12. We talked about the first Adam
and the last Adam. Listen to Romans 5, 12. Wherefore,
as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Adam was our representative in
the garden. And as our federal head, Representative
before God, he fell in sin and we all fell in him. That's why
man that is born of a woman is born in iniquity, shapen in iniquity
and in sin. Just like a rabbit gives birth
to a rabbit and a cat gives birth to a cat. A sinner gives birth
to a sinner. It's our nature. There's not
good people and bad people. There's bad people that some
do less evil things than others because God, the scripture's
clear on that too. God restrains our evil except
that which serves his purpose. That doesn't credit us. That's
just God's providence. So, as by one man, so death passed
upon all men for that all have sinned. Of course we did, we're
sinners, we're born sinners. David said, I was shapen in iniquity,
I was born in sin. Verse 13, for until the law,
sin was in the world, but sin was not imputed when there's
no law, that you're not condemned for your sin until God says,
he that sinneth shall surely die. Nevertheless, death reigned from
Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned, after the
similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that
was to come. Just because there was no specific
law, like the one in the Garden of Eden, thou shalt not eat of
it. And Adam sinned against that law. Before God gave his law,
does that mean there wasn't any sin? No, sin was in the world.
God just hadn't condemned it yet in word, by his law. But not as the offense, verse
15, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, and we are, born dead in trespasses and sins,
that's Adam's offense, and we're born dead, and that doesn't just
mean that we die after we live a certain number of years. That
means we're dead. before God the day we're born. Much more, though, the grace
of God and the gift by grace, which is also by one man, Jesus
Christ, hath abounded unto many, not everybody. Death reigned
upon all men, but that was everybody that Adam represented. That's
everybody. That's everybody. All whom Christ
represented are alive in him, and that's a whole bunch. That's
what the scripture said there. It's a whole bunch of people,
many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift,
for the judgment was by one to condemnation. It's not like that
with Christ, but the free gift is of many offenses unto justification. And this is so clear here in
verse 17. For if by one man's offense,
death reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance
of grace and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Notice that death is what we
are, life is what we're given. The gift of life, the gift of
righteousness. We are unrighteousness and sin. We're given righteousness. And
that righteousness is Jesus Christ. Therefore, verse 18, by the offense
of one, judgment came upon all people. Because of what we are
by nature, God's wrath is on us. God's wrath. Even so though, by the righteousness
of one, The free gift came upon all men unto justification of
life. You see how simple that is? Everybody
Adam represented in the garden died in him, and the wrath of
God abides on us by nature. were called by Paul by nature
the children of wrath, even as others, but God, who is rich
in mercy with his great love, wherewith he loved us. That's why we said in the beginning,
the difference is his love. If he loves you and put you in
his son, redeemed you by the blood of his son, gave you life
by his Holy Spirit in looking to his son, and you're holy in
him, you're righteous, you're a just man. But it's because
of the just man, the Lord Jesus Christ. 19, verse 19, for as by one man's
disobedience, many were made sinners. Now that's everybody.
So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. The thing
is, it's not that everybody became a sinner in Adam and everybody
became righteous in Christ. No, it's everybody that was represented
by Adam And everybody that's represented by Christ in Christ's
great high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, you mark it
down and read it and see if I'm whistling Dixie right now. He
said, I don't intercede for the world. I intercede for those
that you've given me. For they're mine. They're yours. Those are the ones that are made
righteous. Those for whom he interceded in his prayer, in
his intercessory prayer, and by his death on Calvary. Moreover, verse 20, it just gets
clearer and clearer. The law entered that the offense
might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so grace might grace reign through righteousness unto
eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you see that? By one man's righteousness, the
just man, who walked in his integrity for God, for me, as me, representing
me, and all of his children are blessed.
That's the last part of our text. A man that is born again of the
spirit of God, his children will be blessed by his example. So
that's true of us too in Christ. He'll trade up his children in
the way that they should go. And when they're old, according
to God's promise, they won't depart from it. They'll hear the gospel. And
though this is not a promise that they'll all be saved, it
doesn't mean that all of your children, God's gonna save all
your children. I've seen God save whole families, I've seen
God pass by whole families, and I've seen Him save one out of
a family. He saves them, He will. It doesn't
run in bloodlines. It's not by the blood of men,
it's by the blood of Christ that sinners are saved, by His electing
grace. But God's gonna bless the children
of the just man, the one who He saves, to hear the gospel,
and by example, that God is God. And it really comes down to that.
God is God. He saves whom he pleases when
he pleases. Though all Israel was not saved,
they all, Romans 3, 2, had outward advantage much every way. But the children of the just
man, the Lord Jesus Christ are blessed in him in a whole nother
sense. They are perfectly eternally blessed now with eternal life
that starts now. We already have eternal life.
You realize that, right? If you're in Christ, if he saved
you, you have eternal life right now. Because eternal life is
not just a span of time. It's not an endless span of time. It's spiritual life. It's godly
life. It's true life. Life abundant and blessed. The children of the just man,
the son of God, are blessed in that everything works together
for our good. We need to understand something
again. I want us to get this in our
hearts for good, if we can. May God put it in our hearts
for good. God's blessing is not just something good happening
to us. You know, well, the Lord blessed me the other day. He
doesn't bless people the other day. He either blesses people
or he don't bless people. And if he blesses you, he blesses
you every day. It's not something good happening
to you. God's blessing means that nothing
bad ever happens to you. You may call it bad. You may
say, oh, woe is me. But God did it for your good.
What did the psalmist say? It is good for me that I've been
afflicted. If the worst thing that can happen
to you is good, then where's the bad? That's the blessing
of God right there. because his blessing is in Christ.
He doesn't bless you in Christ every once in a while. He doesn't
bless you in Christ when you get that job you interviewed
for. He doesn't bless you in Christ
when you catch a lot of fish instead of not catching anything. I'm glad he does that sometimes.
But that's not the blessing of God. And may God give us a mind
and heart to grasp that. If we're blessed of God, happy
is the man. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. We have all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ, and that's all the time. God
help us to get that and rest. Amen, let's pray.