The scripture says, if you see
one that is destitute in need, you don't help them. How remaineth there the love
of God in you? Help or ask? So then you just
do that. Let's take our Bibles again.
Turn with me to Romans chapter 4. Romans chapter 4. I would like to pick up where we left off last time. I've entitled this message, A
Perception of Righteousness. is so scarcely preached. I truly believe when the Lord said in the book
of Malachi, I'm going to send a famine. It's not going to be
a famine of bread. It's going to be a famine of
the hearing of the Word of God. One day I was talking to Brother
Carl and I asked him, I said, think about how few places there
are to go and hear the freedom of the gospel of free grace,
clearly, distinctly set forth. Someone would say, well, that
just sounds arrogant to me. Well, I'm not trying to be arrogant. I'm just truthful. I believe
this. I believe this. I believe that
there is a scarcity of hearing of the truth of God's grace. The Apostle Paul had set forth
in the previous verses that we considered, the blessedness to God's people of the perception
of the blessing of God. Now, this is what he had set
forth in a two-fold manner. Let me just state this and then
we'll go on from here. Number one, this is a a blessing
that we look at in a two-fold manner. Number one, that the
righteousness of God, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ that
I spoke of earlier on what is actually imputed, charged to
God's people. That is, the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, that uprightness that was wrought out, the obedience
of Christ Himself that He wrought out as a man that is the standard
of acceptance with Almighty God. It is the
right that He possesses, that He earned the right that he has to do all
things that he does and shall do, the righteousness that he
possesses, that he earned as a man. Before the law of God,
what was demanded of me, Christ that wrought that out, God Almighty,
before the foundation of the world that we first trusted in
Christ. Now, this is just the way it
is. Almighty God looked upon His people, an elect, chosen
object of mercy. An Almighty God that foreknew
them in love, in affection, in an everlasting covenant, that
called them, called them by name. Where's mine? That's mine. That's an Arab promise right
there. God Almighty forgave them, justified them, declared them
to be absolutely righteous in the person of Christ. Now, I'm
going to tell you right now, I perfectly understand being
born in Adam. I can perceive that, Neil. I
can perceive that. I see, Paul says, in me there
dwells no good thing. Being born in Adam, there's not
one good thing about me. Not one decent, upright thing. There is in me, that is, Paul
said, in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. There's not a
good thought. There's not a good deed. There's
not a good attitude. There's nothing in me as being
born in Adam that's good. And you either. Every one of
us is being born in Adam, just rotten to the core. Not one good
thing. I don't have anything good to
say about any of us as being born in Adam. That's what Paul
says. There is in me. That is in my flesh. That old
nature. Not this. In my old Adamic nature
doesn't dwell any good thing but being considered in Christ,
found in Christ, chosen in Christ. I was either righteous or unrighteous
in Christ. Now, you know the answer to this.
Chosen in Him, considered in Him, the Father looked upon me
in Christ and said, guiltless. Well, what was the basis of that
statement? He first trusted in Christ. He
looked to the Lord Jesus Christ as the surety that would, in
time, according to God's good pleasure, when He would come,
He came in the fullness of time and absolutely fulfilled, obeyed
for me and died for me having paid my penalty before the law
of God. God Almighty looked upon me and
says, forgiven. Before the foundation of the
world, justified, guiltless in Christ. Now I'll tell you something,
Almighty God trusted. in Christ, His chosen, and absolutely
laid down His name to say, That's my beloved Son. I'm well pleased
in Him. God the Father absolutely looked
upon His people in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
He looked upon them as justified. You say, I don't see how I can
justify one before he's born. How did he choose him before
he was born? How did he love him before he
was born? How was he a son before he was born? The Scripture says,
and because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of
His Son, whereby we cry, I have a Father. Because you are sons,
Because you are a sheep. You didn't become a sheep. The
Lord says, other sheep I have. I have them. They're mine. Them
I must bring. I must call them out of darkness. Secondly, and I've already said
it, God has purposed to not impute sin. To not charge His elect. with the guilt of their rebellion
and sin. Justification and pardon of sin, forgiveness
of sin, is actually, in our understanding, I have to state them in two ways.
In God's eternal purpose there, I don't see how. It's yea and
amen. But for your understanding and
my understanding, here's the difference in justification and
pardon. Justification is the imputation
of something, the charging to your account of something that
wasn't yours. It's the imputation, the charging
of the righteousness of Christ. You didn't earn that. He did.
And Almighty God just said, according to His mercy and grace, I'm going
to give that to you. So justification is the imputation
of something. Pardon is the non-imputation
of something. I'm not going to charge you with
sin. There's a difference in pardon and justification. Now, Paul says in Romans chapter
4 and verse 9, Now, come at this blessedness then, what I've just
been talking about, the imputation of sin, or the imputation of
righteousness, and the non-imputation of sin. Almighty God has before
the foundation of the world justified in the person of Christ. Now,
you look at a man any way outside of Christ, and that man is not
justified. But Almighty God justified him
and his son in an everlasting covenant. All things that were
ordered, that's what David said in 2 Samuel, he hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and should. Cometh
this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the
uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness." Now, cometh this blessedness,
the declaration of this blessedness, cometh this blessedness, is this
declaration, or the declaration of that blessedness that I've
been talking about, Is it about circumcision? Is this for the
Jews only? Or is it concerning Gentiles
too? That's what Paul is asking. Cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. This is the question Paul asked.
Is circumcision necessary for justification before God? He said, we know that faith was
reckoned. That word right there, reckoned, it does mean charged. Justification was imputed, charged. But this word reckoned right
here, and it will make sense when I tell you what that word
means. The word reckoned means given
to compute. Given to compute. He said, for
we say that faith was reckoned. given to compute to Abraham for
righteousness. That is to say, faith was the
means by which Abraham computed, received, understood that righteousness
was imputed to him. How do you know? that righteousness
has been given to you. How do you know that? Faith has
been reckoned or given to you that you would perceive, that
you would understand, that you would compute. That's what it
means to compute. How do I know? How can I figure
this out? Now, there's some things that
I can figure out. I can figure out that red paint and yellow
paint makes orange paint. I can figure that out. I can
figure out that if I take an air pump, you know, pump up air
and I stick it on a tire, I can figure out that that tire right
there is going to puff up. I can figure that out. How do
you compute? How do you figure out that righteousness
has been imputed to you." When I can't see it, I can't, you
know, how? Faith. That's what he says. Faith was reckoned to Abraham
for the understanding of righteousness. And he, no, no, I'm sorry, verse
10, how was it then reckoned? When did Abraham realize? When did Abraham calculate? When
did Abraham take into account? When did he consider this blessing? How then was it reckoned when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Paul says, not
in circumcision, but in uncircumcision. What he's saying is this, the
significance of this truth is that the realization and the
understanding of this blessing toward a sinner was given to
Abraham before he was circumcised. Now you see, the thing is that
the Jews say, you've got to be circumcised to be saved. Paul asks this question, when
did Abraham figure this out? by faith. When did he figure
it out? He didn't figure it out by himself. I think I've made
that point clear. When did it compute to Abraham? When did it come to his understanding?
When did God reveal it to him by faith? How was it reckoned? Circumcision, uncircumcision.
Verse 11 says, And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised,
that he might be the father of all them that believe, though
they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
also unto them." He says he received the sign. Now, the sign here
means the actual deed. It was a sign. Now, Abraham was
circumcised. He was actually circumcised. And that was a sign. He said
he received the sign, the actual deed of circumcision. But he said this sign of circumcision,
the actual deed itself, was a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had yet being uncircumcised. This seal. meant what the sign
represented. Does this make sense? He was
circumcised. There was a sign. But there was
a seal, or what that sign actually represented. If I, in old times,
you know, would have received a letter, or something from... Oh, I've got a better one than
that. I got a birth certificate the other day. I had to get my
birth certificate to get a passport. And what they had to do is they
had to have an original, it couldn't be a copy, it had to be an original
birth certificate from the state of Louisiana. And the way they
knew that it was real was that they ran their fingers over that
seal. And if they couldn't feel that
impression on there, it wasn't accepted. Now, it wasn't that
actual raised piece of paper. That was a sign. That was what
it was. It was an actual raised piece
of paper. But that little piece of paper
that they felt right there on there, that wasn't what they
were looking for. You say, well, I thought, why
did they run their finger on it? What they were looking for
was what that seal represented. That seal said that the state
of Louisiana authenticated that I was actually born there, that
it was really me. That's what they're looking for.
The sign of circumcision meant that there was a seal or a promise
or what that sign represented. That sign of circumcision said
that Almighty God had given Abraham a promise. that Abraham was righteous
in God's sight based on the imputed righteousness of Christ. Abraham believed God. Abraham
was not justified before God because he was circumcised. That
was a sign that God gave Abraham that said, I've justified you. And I justified you apart from
any works that you could do." Now, the Jews would take that
and they'd say, well, here's how Abraham was justified. Abraham
was circumcised. Paul says, no. He says, did God
give Abraham that promise when he was in uncircumcision or circumcision? People come down today and they
say, well, I'm saved because I was baptized. I'm saved because
I walked down the aisle. I'm saved because I took the
Lord's supper." No, you weren't. No. We're baptized in obedience
to God's command. We associate ourselves with Him.
And we're baptized to set forth and to profess faith in Christ. That we profess that we believe
Christ. Paul is setting forth this truth
to these Jews, he received the sign of circumcision. It was
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father in any nations. Abraham was set forth as being
a father. That is the first in example. That's what verse 12 says. The
father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father
Abraham which he had, yet being uncircumcised. Paul is never
going to let these Jews forget that Abraham received this promise
from God before he was circumcised. Men will find everything they
can find in their works to justify them before Almighty God. Circumcision was a sign that
Abraham believed God and God was the one that gave him the
sign. That sign Set forth the seal
of God's promise. Abraham, you're circumcised because
I promised to you. The Jews thought that this circumcision
was absolutely necessary. We looked at that in Acts 15.1. There was a group of Jews that
came down from Judea last Wednesday night and they told some of the
Gentile converts If you're not circumcised, you can't be saved.
Any man that tells you that you have got to do something in order
to be saved, he's a liar. He's a liar. He is a liar. You must this. God wants to save
you, but you have to. He's a liar. Almighty God saves
His people by grace and reveals it to them by faith. And that's
how they compute it. That's how they understand it,
and they don't compute it any other way. For the promise, verse
13, that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham
or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. This promise, the entire contents of this promise, the
totality of the everlasting covenant of grace, that he should be the
heir of the world. Now, when was that promise made?
That he should be the heir? Turn over to Genesis 17. Genesis
17, verse 4. Genesis 17, 4-6. As for me, behold,
my covenant is with thee. And thou shalt be a father of
many nations. Neither shall thy name any more
be called Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding
fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come
out of thee." The promise, the announcement. The announcement
of blessing that Abraham should be the heir or the sharer of
the lot. I used my son a while ago, and
I called him that. He was called. I called him Gabe. The amazing thing about that,
I think how my son, when he came into this
world, I thought about it and I kind of liked the name Gabe.
I thought, that's a good name. I like that name. I named him
that. But the truth of the matter is,
God Almighty had named him Gabe, humanly speaking, and shown him
to be an object of His mercy before the foundation of the
world. God had a name for him. These heirs right here, they're
sharers of the lot. I've got four kids. Well, actually, I guess I've
got more than that. I guess we have six. I've got six kids. And do you know that those kids,
all of them, have an inheritance coming because of the family
in which they were born? They didn't choose. None of our
kids got together one day and decided, I think I'm just going
to make myself an heir. I think I'm going to make myself
to be in this family. You say, well, I can understand
that. That's ridiculous. That's exactly right. And it's
the same truth when it comes to being A child of God. No one chooses to be a child
of God. God Almighty chooses. That's what the Lord told those
people. He said, you didn't choose Me. I chose you. Almighty God
set His affection before the foundation of the world. Where
were you before the foundation of the world when all of this
was settled? Where were you? You are in the will and the mind
and the purpose of Almighty God if you know Him at all. Salvation
is of the Lord. The Scripture says, and the promise,
that He should be a heir of the world. That He is first an example
of the lot that God Almighty had set upon Abraham according
to grace. And to his seed, was this through
the law? Or through the righteousness
of faith? Or that is through the perception
that Almighty God has shown mercy to Abraham. Abraham, like all
like him, not as being born in Adam, but being born of God. are heirs of God, heirs in Christ. All things are yours in Christ. Children born into this world
are legal recipients of the inheritance of the parents. If they've got
a little, they're going to get a little. If they've got a lot,
they'll get a lot. But I'll tell you this, the inheritance
of a child is directly in proportion to the wealth of his parents. And it is the same way with God's
kids. All things are yours. It pleases the Father to give
you the kingdom. They which are of the law, be
heirs. Faith is made void, and the promise
made of none a fact." I want you to hear me real good on this.
This is absolutely so, and I'm going to show you in just a couple
of statements how disrespectful, how wrong, number one, but how
disrespectful this legalistic attitude of all men. And I can understand this because
I've been there. I told you I came up in false
religion. And every free will, that means
every religion that believes that you must do something in
order to be saved. All of them. And I don't care
what you call them. I could start and I could name
them all. Roman Catholicism. Southern Baptist. Church of Christ. I can name
them all. You say, now wait a minute. Whoa,
whoa, whoa. Aren't you being a little hard? Every religion
that sets forth that you must do something, that you must exercise
your free will in order to be saved is a lie, and this is what
this verse of Scripture deals with. If they which are of the law,
that means do and live, if you must do something to be an heir,
if God, according to what they say, has done all that He can
do, He's made salvation possible, And if he's made salvation possible,
and you must do something to just finish it on, put the icing
on the cake, if you've got to do something to make this thing
right, it's what he's saying, if they which are of the law,
if the legalists, those that seek acceptance by their own
work, if they are heirs of promise, If they are accepted on the condition
of their obedience to the law, then the whole covenant of grace
is broken. This is what he is saying. If
they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void. That is, faith is empty. True faith according to the Scriptures
is empty. It means absolutely nothing.
And the promise is made of none effect. It means it's useless.
Here's what I'm saying. If you've got to do something
in order to be saved, then faith given from above to believe that
Almighty God justifies the ungodly according to His mercy and grace
apart from any works of righteousness If you have to do something,
then that faith of which Paul talks about, Abraham believed
God, then it means nothing. And the everlasting covenant
of grace is useless. It doesn't mean anything. Now, one of two things or so. Either God Almighty is a liar,
or men are liars. One or the other. Either salvation
is altogether of grace, that means God Almighty set forth
in His heart, mind, and purpose, and will, and God, before the
foundation of the world, chose those that He would save. And
in time, He called them out and told them about it. And they
believed it, not in order to be saved, but because God saved
them. And He just told them. And they
know it and they understand and it computes. Either that's so. Either God Almighty is the author
of salvation or you are. Either God is truthful or you're
truthful. And the Scripture says, let God
be true and every man's a liar. What does that mean? That means
that every man that's not preaching free grace is a liar. That's
what it means. He's a bald-faced liar. Bald-faced
liar. Because the law, the doing, in
order to be accepted, worketh wrath. For where no law is, there
is no transgression. The law works wrath. What that
means is it brings unto condemnation. Let me tell you something. You
say, well, I think I've been pretty good. Compared to what? I haven't been any worse than
anybody else, but everybody else is scum too. The law works wrath. Listen,
you came into this world wrong. You were conceived in sin. You
came forth from your mother's womb a liar. The law works wrath. No man can be declared just by
the deeds of the law because the law has already been broken. And all of your efforts from
this point forward are useless. No, no. For where no law is,
there is no transgression. If I pull out of this parking lot
right here, and I just pull right out, I didn't even stop. I didn't
break any laws. I might not have been looking.
But I didn't break any laws. There wasn't a stop sign there.
If there was a stop sign sitting right out that parking lot right
there, and I just ran right past it right there. It didn't stop.
I broke a law. What? Well, that sign said that
was a sign of an ordinance according to this state or country that
says if you see that sign, you better stop. If you don't stop,
you broke the law. But if there's not a stop sign
there, the police officer pulls me over and he said, I'm going
to have to give you a ticket. For what? To run a stop sign. I said,
there wasn't one there. I wasn't guilty. The Scripture
says where no law is, there's no transgression. But there's no case like that. There's no situation found where
there is no law. We started off this book by Paul
showing that even the heathen, even those in the backside of
nowhere, there is the law of nature. It declares the glory
of God, Paul said, and they are guiltless. There is no situation. Romans 2 verse 15 says, Even
of the Gentiles that have not the law, they show the work of
the law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness.
People know right from wrong. You know that. Verse 16, Therefore
it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end the promise
might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of
the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham who
is the father of us all. Therefore it is of faith. Not this false conception of
faith where men say, the Lord wants to do it if you'll believe
it and just exercise the faith that's in you. All men have not
faith. Faith is given only to God's
elect. Almighty God gives faith for
this reason, because they've been justified. Have you ever
thought of that? The only reason that a man has
faith is that he might perceive or compute that God has justified
him. What would faith be to an unjustified
man? What does he believe in? Abraham believed God. What did
he believe? He believed that God had imputed
the righteousness of Christ to him. It is a faith revealed by
faith. That it might be by grace. That
it might be known that salvation is by the grace of God. All of
grace. To the end, the promise might
be sure, to all the seed. If there's going to be any surety
of the promise of God to show mercy to His people, it must
be by the Lord Jesus Christ and His obedience in life and death
in the satisfaction of God's law. That's the only comfort
that we have. Faith must be given to believe
what Christ did. How would I know? How do I know? A lot of people are standing up
and saying that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and
He lived before God's law and He made salvation possible. How
do I know, though, that God has really done something for me?
How do I know that the obedience of Christ as a man before the
law of God. I wish I could enter into this.
I know it's so. I know it's so. But it's like
it's so wonderful. I try to grasp hold of this. See, I don't even know how far
I've fallen. I don't even know the depth to
which I've rebelled against God. But to know that the Lord Jesus
Christ, the end of that promise might be sure to all the seed. How is it going to be that that
promise, the promise that God has shown mercy, how is that
going to be so? Well, it's by faith. The faith
of God's elect. That's what it is, the faith
of God's elect. All of God's people in time are
going to be called out of darkness. And the same faith by which I
believe, you that believe, believe. It's a faith that it might be
shown to be of grace. It might be sure. God doesn't
reveal it in different ways to His people. He reveals it the
same way to all of them. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. Let me say it like this so you
can understand. Without faith, it's impossible to know that
God is pleased. My faith is not what pleases
God. God Himself has pleased God.
That's my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. I'm pleased
in Him. Faith is given to me that I can
compute that God is pleased with me in Christ. And it's not by works. of self-righteousness
that we've done. According to His mercy, He saved
us.