Some of you are familiar with
that acronym, TULIP. I don't know if you are or not,
but it's frequently used as a guide to the five points of Calvinism,
as they're called. Total Depravity, Unconditional
Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance
of the Saints. You've probably heard that, and
those are truths from scripture. There's only one problem with
it. It's missing the biggest letter of all. Tulip doesn't
include, it's missing a letter. It's missing a lot of letters.
Tulip is not the gospel in its entirety. It's just a slice of
it. So don't miss that when you think
of that acronym or that acrostic. The letter I think is missing
is J. I'm not sure how to fit it in there, but it needs to
be the biggest letter. Justification. Because justification
is the subject of the Bible. Justification. What does justification
mean? Why is it important? Well, in
the book of Romans, and I'm not going to read all of these verses
to prove it to you. I encourage you to read it. We've been looking at Romans
in our Bible study. Throughout scripture this first
truth is stated in unmistakable terms. The first part of the
book of Romans is proving the need for our justification. That begins where in Romans 1.18
it says, Now that ungodliness and unrighteousness describes
us, especially us Gentiles, by nature. It describes our guilt. It describes
our lifestyle. It describes our nature. We're
just naturally what we are in ourselves. We're opposed to God
and we live in a corrupt lifestyle, defiled in our thoughts, in our
words, in our deeds. And then in Romans chapter 2,
what's said about the Gentiles is also said about the Jews.
They had the law given to them, written down, and they lived
out the ceremonies of the law that taught the redemption of
Christ in the sacrifices, in the priesthood, in the tabernacle,
all those things. And yet they didn't keep the
law. They used the law as a tool to beat other people over the
head with and to hold themselves up as something righteous. And
so they preached the law and didn't keep it. They proved themselves
to be more guilty than the Gentiles. And so the conclusion in Romans
chapter 3, 10 through 19 is that there's none righteous, not even
one. There's none that understandeth.
There's none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They're all together. Altogether, the very best of
men is unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. And that's the summary. All are guilty according to the
law. That's the need for justification. Job put it this way, how can
man be just with God? How? How can man be just? And
the word just, what does just mean? Well, we use it a lot.
Sometimes it's used in this way. Just give me the peanut butter
or something like that. It just means you're focusing
on just that one thing. But that's not the word. Just
in scripture is not that. It's not just this or just that.
It's righteous. The word just is a synonym for
righteous. How can a man be righteous in
God's sight? That's what Job means when he
says, how can man be just before God? We don't use the word just
in our conversation as much as it was used in the Old Testament,
I mean in the Scriptures and in the A couple hundred years
ago, or maybe even 50 years ago, we've lost a lot of the richness
of our own language because people have gotten lazy, and I'm included
in that bunch. We have failed to learn the basics
of communication. We use substitute words, and
we use words that don't mean anything a lot of times, like
the word like. Anyway, the word just has a real
meaning and it means righteous. Our need for justification is
that we're not just. We're not righteous. So that's
the need. God paints it in a lengthy explanation
in the first part of Romans. Romans is very condensed. It
seems like a long book. It's got 16 chapters in it. But
it's really quite condensed. When you read the arguments,
as we're going to do today, you're going to see how condensed it
is. It's very condensed, which means it's got a lot of information
in it. But God spends from verse 18
of chapter 1 through verse 20 of chapter 3 proving that we're
both guilty, corrupt, and unable to produce a righteousness of
our own. We're unable. And so that's the need of justification. And then in verse 21 of Romans
chapter 3, through the end of chapter 3, the fact of justification
is laid out. The fact of it, because it says
in verse 21 of chapter 3, but now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested. Being witnessed by the Law and
the Prophets. The Righteousness of God. If you understand the
Righteousness of God, then you understand justification in Scripture. The Righteousness of God. That's
the theme of this book of Romans. That's the theme of Scripture. The Gospel is the power of God
unto salvation, according to Romans 1, 16 and 17. Because
in it, the Gospel, the Righteousness of God is revealed from faith
to faith. Throughout the Psalms, throughout
the New Testament, especially in the Old Testament, throughout.
As it says here in verse 21 of chapter 3, the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested. Now, up to this point, the law
is the thing that condemns us. The law, in scripture here, is
like a law officer or a law enforcement officer. You know what law enforcement
officers do, don't you? They find people who are breaking
the law. So the law has a set of rules,
but it's also like a law enforcement officer who's going out and looking
for people who are breaking the law. And when it finds somebody,
the law finds somebody who breaks the law, it brings them to court. The law brings them to the court
and then it presents evidence against that person that it finds
to have broken the law. So it finds people. It first
has the rules. God has given these rules in
His law. It finds people. It discovers people to be guilty.
It takes them to court. In the court, God is the judge.
God sits as judge in his own courtroom and the law presents
evidence against this one that it found to break the law. And
then it points to God's justice and says God's justice demands
death to the sinner. And then the law concludes this
person is guilty based on the evidence and based on the justice
of God he must die. That's what the law does. So
the law has been used in the first part of Romans, but now
it says in verse 21, but now the righteousness of God without
the law is manifested. It's without keeping the law.
How does this happen? How does this work? This is amazing. This is amazing. And the righteousness
of God. What is the righteousness of
God? Well, it's something that God himself is the author of. He has provided it. He has provided
it. He has worked it out. He has
accepted it. He's declared it to us and He
is the one who imputes it to us. That's the righteousness
of God. That's why the gospel is the power of God to salvation. Because in it, the righteousness
of God is revealed from heaven. And it's revealed there without
our keeping of the law. And it's revealed there, not
in opposition to the law, but in full fulfillment and satisfaction
of the law. That's the righteousness of God.
God did it. And who can find fault with what
God did? Who can find fault when God says,
this, this is my righteousness? Now that's what chapter 3, at
the end of chapter 3, does. It presents the fact of justification. It tells us in verse 24, being
justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus. Now this is a fantastic verse. If you want to memorize a verse
in the book of Romans, please memorize that one. Being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. And that verse really condenses justification. But
it doesn't explain it in a sense where it's proven yet. It doesn't
explain it in a sense where an example of it has been given
from the Old Testament. And so that's what chapter 4
is about. The Apostle Paul, led by the
Spirit of God, is going to prove justification in chapter 4. And
then in chapter 5, he's going to give the basis of it. He's going to give the benefits
of it in the first part of chapter 5, but in the end of chapter
5, he's going to give the benefits, I mean the basis of it, and also
the victory of this righteousness by which we're justified. So
those are the first five chapters of the Book of Romans. And I
want to now just, what I want to do today, this is the first
sermon on justification. As I mentioned, justification
is what I would call the missing letter in the word tulip. The
missing letter. So I thought about entitling
this message, The Missing Letter, but it seemed way too indirect. Justification seems like a much
more appropriate title. Justification. You know how it
is when you do something, somebody asks you, why did you do that?
You give them what? You give them a justification
for what you did, don't you? You explain something. If you're
caught doing what isn't right, then you're especially quick
to justify yourself. You explain why you should not
be considered a wrongdoer by explaining what you did and why.
I couldn't help it. Or I didn't mean to. I didn't
know it was a law. Or I was busy with something
more important. Or whatever it was. Everybody does it. Men and
women justify themselves before men, but no one can justify themselves
before God. And so what does it mean to justify?
Well, the simplest sentence that I could think of to explain what
the word justify means is to prove or to say that you're righteous. It doesn't mean, when you justify
someone, it doesn't mean that you make them righteous. That's
a very important point, and that was the big debate in the 1500s
and following, and probably even before then. In Paul's day, clearly
it was a debate. That justify doesn't mean to
make somebody righteous. It means to declare them, to
say they are righteous, and to prove why they're righteous.
Now, men can justify men. Men can say, he's righteous,
let me show you why. And men can also justify God.
That seems strange, doesn't it? That men could justify God. Well,
remember, justify means to say He's righteous. Is it hard for
men to justify God? Well, on the one hand it shouldn't
be hard because God is the only one who's righteous. And so it's
no big deal if a man says he's righteous in one sense. But it
is a big deal because men are opposed to God. So if somebody
actually justifies God, it's evidence of God's convincing
and persuading grace in that person's life. But this is exactly
what happened. In John the Baptist's day, he
came preaching Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Lamb of God. In other words, he came preaching
Christ and Him crucified. He said, this is the Son of God.
He's the Christ. He's the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world. That's what he said. And he also
told men to believe on him. If you look at Acts 19.4, that's
what the Apostle said. He said he preached that men
should believe on him who would come. Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, the Lamb of God. Believe him. That was his message.
And you know what? A bunch of people who were politicians
and tax collectors and harlots, they actually believed what John
said. They knew that what he said about them was true. They
were sinners. They knew they had a need for salvation. And they knew by what he said
that Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God and Son of God. And they
actually believed what he said. And so they were baptized as
he told them to be baptized. Looking forward to Jesus Christ
coming and them then being put to death and his death. And buried
with him and raised with him in justification. And so when
they did that, when those harlots and publicans and tax collectors,
all these people, came believing John's message, it says in Luke
chapter 7 and in Matthew, I can't remember exactly where, in chapter
12 or somewhere, it says that they justified God. In other
words, they were saying by what they did, we believe God is right. He's right. We're sinners, and
Christ is the only Savior. They believed exactly what we
believe, who are Christians. They justified God. They said
He was right. They didn't make God righteous.
They didn't change God from being something to something else,
but they said He was righteous. And by their baptism, they gave
evidence to what they believed. exactly what we do when we are
baptized. We declare with our actions what
we believe and profess with our mouth that we believe our only
hope is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, they justified
God. Men can justify men. Men can
say, this man is doing right. I'm just going to tell you, he's
right in this. And they do it in court all the
time. This man comes in, he's accused of something, and the
jury listens to the arguments, and looks at the evidence, and
they tell the judge he's not guilty. They justified that man.
They didn't change him from being a criminal to being righteous,
or being from righteous to a criminal. They just said, this is the way
it is. That's justified. And so it is when you condemn
somebody. You're not changing them from being righteous to
being guilty. You're just saying they're worthy
of death and you sentence them and you may execute the judgment
on them. You may put them to death like the wicked men who
crucified the Lord Jesus. They put him to death even though
he wasn't in himself guilty, but he was guilty before God
by the imputation of our sins. So they condemned him. But throughout
scripture God tells men, He says in Deuteronomy 25 verse 1, He
says, Now when there is a matter before the judges, the judges
shall justify the righteous and shall condemn the wicked. That's
in Deuteronomy 25 verse 1. And then in Proverbs 17 verse
15 God says, It's an abomination to God if you justify the wicked
or if you condemn the righteous. And God says, I will not justify
the wicked in Exodus chapter 23. So throughout scripture,
this use of the word justification and justify is used. And God
will not justify the wicked. He will not justify the wicked
and He will not clear the guilty. But then it says here in the
scripture that God does justify the ungodly. And this is the
most puzzling thing. In fact, this fact that God who
is holy, He cannot do wrong. He cannot do wrong. He cannot
say that something is one way when it's another. He can't change. He can't twist the law. He can't change from being just
and righteous to being unjust and unholy. God can't do that. He's going to be right. It's
His very nature. Justice is the way God thinks.
And God cannot change the way He thinks. It's His nature. He
is holy. He is just. He is righteous in
all His ways. And so now we're coming to chapter
4. And chapter 4, as I said, is
the example given by the Spirit of God through the Apostle Paul.
I want to walk through this with you here to show you not the
doctrine so much as the argument against being justified by something
we do and the argument that proves that we're justified by what
Christ did. That's what chapter 4 is about. And the argument
is going to be convincing. Because this is the wisdom of
God who is laying this out through the Apostle. So, as I mentioned,
in the preceding chapters, before chapter 4, three things are used
to prove that there is no justification In other words, God doesn't declare
anyone righteous by the works of the law, by what they do in
order to be obedient to the law. God does not look at our personal
obedience and say we're righteous. That cannot be. And why? There's
three reasons. The first one is that all men
have sinned and all are guilty. And because of the state of their
guilt and the condition of their heart, Jesus said, out of the
heart of man comes evil. Out of the heart of man. Our
very nature is a manufacturing plant of wickedness. That's where
it comes from. From within us. So we cannot
be justified by our works. We're sinners. We're all as an
unclean thing. All of our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. That's the first reason we can't
be justified by the law. The second reason is because
of the nature of the law itself. The law itself has a requirement
that we keep it entirely. James said, if you break the
law in one point, you've broken it all. So we have to keep it
entirely. And not only that, not only entirely, but perfectly
from our heart. Jesus said, this is the whole
law, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind,
and strength. And the second commandment, the
second in greatness, is love your neighbor as yourself. How
often have you kept that law? Not once. Not once. Therefore
you have continuously broken, and I have, the law of God. Throughout
your life. So the nature of the law prevents
you from being justified by what you are. You have to love God
out of a pure nature. And your nature is corrupt. God looks at the heart. You must
be circumcised in your heart. Only he that's a Jew inwardly
is a true Jew. So the law itself will not allow
you to be justified. And then the third reason is
that there is another righteousness. that's revealed by which men
are justified. So those three reasons are given
before chapter 4. And then to confirm this doctrine, as I said, the apostle by the
Spirit of God uses two examples. Two examples in chapter 4 here.
And these two men that are used as an example are the best possible
examples in scripture. That's amazing. This is the wisdom
of God. And who are they? First of all, Abraham. Now the
Jews, they only had an identity because they were related by
their physical birth to Abraham. They were only called Jews because
of their relation to Abraham. So Abraham as their father, however
he was justified, They would never think there was a better
reason or another way by which they could be justified. They
would always look to the way Abraham was justified. So he's
first given as an example to confirm this doctrine. And Abraham
was not justified by works. And this is proven first in verse
2. Look at this. I'll read the first
two verses of Romans chapter 4. What shall we say then? Regarding
all that I've just given you as a summary, regarding man's
great need, and the fact that no man by the law can be justified,
as proven by his guilt and our corruptness, proven by the nature
of the law, and proven by the fact that God has revealed another
righteousness. Not our own, but God's. What
shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to
the flesh, hath found? Pertaining to what he is in himself,
by nature. What? Verse 2. Listen to this
first argument. If Abraham were justified by
works, he hath to glory, but not before God. So the proof
here, the first proof, is the absurdity, the impossibility,
that Abraham could glory and boast before God. Why do we know
that's an absurdity or an impossibility? Because in Jeremiah chapter 9,
a very important verse in verse 23, it says this. Let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man or
the mighty man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but let him that glorieth, or boasteth, glory
in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, the Lord, that
I am the Lord, that execute lovingkindness, and judgment, and righteousness
in the earth. Let's take a look at that. It's
such an important verse. Look at Jeremiah chapter 9. This is the first argument of
Romans 4, verse 2. It could not possibly be that
Abraham could be justified by his works, because if he were
justified by works, he would have something to boast in before
God. And that's impossible. No man
can boast before God. Verse 23, Jeremiah 9, 23. Thus saith the Lord, Let not
the wise man glory. in his wisdom. To glory it means
like a peacock, you strutting around, fluffing your feathers,
puffing out your chest, holding your head up, looking around
for others to look at you. That's what glorying is. Neither
let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me. And not because he has an
understanding. Don't be confused, because that's
exactly what he just denied. Don't glory in your wisdom. Not
that you have wisdom about God, but that God is as he's described
here. Glory that this is the Lord.
That he is the one, he says, that I'm the Lord, that exercise
loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Okay, so that's the
first proof. And I won't take time to talk
much more about that verse, but we could talk, we could spend
a whole sermon. I almost had the sermon just on that one verse,
but I thought I would go on. That's the first thing. Verse
2, chapter 4 of Romans, and verse 2. Why is it that Abraham, how
can we know that Abraham was not justified by works? Because
if he were, he would have a reason to boast, and that's impossible.
No one can boast before God. That's the most fundamental thing.
Why can't we both? Can you rise up out of your created
state and say, I got here by myself? Can you say that you
are producing your own breath and heartbeat? Can you say that
you produced your own food, you created the food, the air that
you breathe, the sun that shines on you? Can you do any of those
things? Absolutely not. Creation itself
tells us we are utterly dependent upon God. And we need to put
ourselves in the dust before God and humble ourselves. We
cannot boast of Him. Through Him and to Him are all
things. That's the testimony of Scripture.
But then, not only that, then the next thing that Paul does
in chapter 4 verse 3, he appeals to Scripture. Not only does he
appeal to the absurdity and impossibility that he would be justified by
his works because it would give him cause to boast, but now he's
going to just state it from scripture. And so what he does in chapter
3, he says, For what saith the scripture? This is what the scripture
says in Genesis 15-6. Abraham believed God. And it
was counted to him for righteousness. It doesn't say that he did something. In obedience to the law? What
is righteousness, by the way? What is righteousness? It's conformity
to the law. It's keeping the law of God.
That's what righteousness is. It shall be, Deuteronomy 6.25,
it shall be for our righteousness. If we do all the commandments
of the Lord our God. That's what righteousness is.
How do you know if it's good or not? Pull out the law. What
does that yardstick of the law say? Thou shalt not covet. Oh, that's an internal thought.
Have you ever broken that? You do it all the time. Every
time you see something you want, you don't have, that's coveting.
Especially when you see someone else has it. We just break it
all the time. So that's what the law does.
But in order to be righteous before God, you have to conform
to the law perfectly, entirely, without fault, continuously,
all the time, your whole life. And there's no one who does that.
It's impossible for men. to be righteous by their own
obedience." And so he quotes this here just to show you. No,
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness.
Now, to further prove justification without man's work, he goes on
in verse 4. He mentions two cases. He mentions
a worker and a non-worker. And what he shows here is the
manner in which the reward of these two. The first, the worker,
he says, gets a reward. But his reward is a reward of
debt. It's owed. And the second one
has a reward also, but his reward is a reward of grace. Listen,
verse 4. Now to him that worketh is the
reward, the payback, not reckoned of grace. It's not considered
a gift of grace. It's considered a payback. He
earned it. Do you really want to be in a
relationship with God where He gives you what you deserve? But
to him that worketh not, verse 5, who does not work, but believes
on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. That's amazing. Wait a minute. We just went through the whole
process of proving that we were guilty, corrupt, we didn't keep
the law, and therefore we were unjust before God. And now you're
saying that without any works of ours, This man who doesn't
work, but believes on God, who justifies the ungodly. How that
happens, we don't quite know yet. But that man's faith is
counted for righteousness. In contrast to the man who works,
and he gets a debt. That's just like the prodigal
son and his brother. The brother of the prodigal son,
he stayed home. He did what his father said to do. He didn't
go off spending his dad's money. He didn't go out living with
harlots. He did what he was supposed to do. And his brother comes
back. He's dirty. All his clothes,
his riches are gone. He's wasted his father's living.
He's spent all of his time living in sin, and he comes back and
his father welcomes him, puts the best robe on him, shoes on
his feet, a ring on his finger, has a big party, and his brother
is so angry. He's mad at his dad. How could
you do this? I served you all these years,
you never gave me anything. Because he was a worker. He expected
his dad to pay him back like a servant. But the other boy
did nothing and his dad welcomed him home. That's the difference
between works and grace. And so that's the second thing. He appeals to scripture in verse
3. And then in verse 4 and 5 he
appeals to these two different types of people. One type is
a man who works and one type is a man who doesn't work. And
the man who doesn't work is rewarded by grace. And the one who works
is rewarded on the basis of his work, which is a debt. Because
no man can earn God. Okay, and then in verse 6, because
this thing of accounting things, this thing of accounting to a
man one way or another, that righteousness of God is without
works is confirmed again by David. Look at verse 6. He says, to
support this man who doesn't work and is counted righteous
even as David describes the blessedness or happiness of the man to whom
God imputes righteousness without works. He's going to prove now
even David, King David, and who is greater in the nation of Israel
than King David and Abraham. And this is what David said.
He wrote the Psalms. He says, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin." Wow, what a
statement that is. That's what he does. He uses
this example to prove that happiness is given to those by God who
don't work according to David. And David was talking about a
sinner. God doesn't impute sin to a sinner. That's a happy man. And to not
impute sin, David says, is to be justified without works. Because the man's a sinner, he
deserves to be punished, and yet God doesn't even count his
sin against him. That's grace, isn't it? That's
justification. He's discharged from all punishment
for his sin. God doesn't even see his sin.
That's justification. And he's proving this. First
from Abraham, and then from David. And then he asks in verse 9. Does this blessedness or this
happiness doesn't belong to circumcised people only, but to the uncircumcised
also? Listen, he says, cometh his blessedness
then upon the circumcision or upon the uncircumcision also.
So this is the fact. This blessedness of which David
is speaking comes not just on the circumcised man, but on the
uncircumcised man. And the Apostle is going to prove
that in what follows by asking this question. How do we know
that this justification comes on those who are uncircumcised?
Because circumcision was part of the law. And if they didn't
keep all the law, they broke the whole law. And Galatians
5.3 says if you're circumcised, you're a debtor to do the whole
law. And so, let's ask the question then about this circumcision.
Was a justified man, was a man blessed by God? Not imputing
his sins to him because he was justified or not justified? And
he answers it, no. And how is he going to prove
it? Well, he's going to prove it by showing that Abraham was
justified before he was circumcised. He says in verse 9, And he received a sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith, which he had been
yet uncircumcised, in order that he might be the father of all
them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness
might be imputed to them also. You see, because Abraham's circumcision
followed his justification, therefore his uncircumcised state was used
as a sign to say that he was going to be the father of all
them that believe, whether they were circumcised or uncircumcised. Because his relation to God as
righteous was not based on his circumcision. That's the point.
And he proves it here. because circumcision followed
his justification. And when it was given to him,
it was given to him to show that righteousness would be imputed
to them who were uncircumcised and those who were circumcised.
It had nothing to do with it. And that, of course, the Jews
held to that Strongly. So strongly that they were ready
to cut you off from any relationship to the temple and the synagogue
and the Jewish nation and everything if you weren't circumcised. Because
that's what the law said. But Paul says no. You are justified
before God without being circumcised. And if you're circumcised or
uncircumcised, it doesn't make a bit of difference. Unless you
do it, of course, in order to become righteous with God, then
you're a debtor to do the whole law. And so that was the point
of verses 11 and 12. Now, he goes on in verse 13 and
14. Because this mentioning that
the believers were righteous before God, before Abraham was
circumcised, it led him to bring in the promise. The promise. Because the promise certainly
was not given on the basis of the law. And so he uses the promise. A fresh argument is raised here.
He says in verse 13, for the promise that he should be the
heir of the world. God promised Abraham, remember?
Look every way. North, south, east, west. You're
going to get all this to inherit it. The promise that He should
be the heir of the world. And He's talking about the new
heavens and the new earth. All things are yours. Whether
the world, life, death, things present, things to come. 1 Corinthians
3 For the promise, he says here, 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. No one could deny that.
It was given before the law was given. How could it be by the
law? The promise was given without the law because the promise doesn't
depend on us. And so that's the argument here. God is proving here that The
promise was given to Abraham and to his seed, not because
they kept the law, but because God said He would do it and He
gave it to them. It was entirely God's work. And
that's the whole point here. And so this is a new argument.
And it's made on the basis of how does God give the promise. He gives it on His own faithfulness,
His own ability. And that promise that God gave
to Abraham began with the birth of Isaac. And so he says in verse
14, "...for if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is
made void, and the promise is made of none effect." You see,
if the promise depended upon us in some way, then what it
would mean is that there was no reason for God to promise
it. Because we could fulfill the
conditions. God doesn't have to promise it.
It becomes then a law. And if the righteousness that
God's talking about, by which we're justified, comes by our
obedience, hinges on us, depends on us, then God doesn't have
to promise it. And not only that, but faith
is useless. Because faith holds that God gives it to us by His
Word and not by our performance. And so He says in verse 14, "...if
they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void." It's
useless. And the promise is none effect. God doesn't need to promise
it because we can do it on our own. And so he says this, he
adds to this, he says, not only that, verse 15, because the law
works wrath, for where there's no law there's no transgression.
If righteousness and justification came by the law, then why does
the law work wrath? If the law is what justifies
us by our obedience to it, then why does the law produce wrath
from God? It should produce peace with
God. And so that's what he says here. Because the law works wrath. For where no law is, there is
no transgression. And then he draws the conclusion
here in verse 16. Therefore, it is of faith." This is showing
now the wisdom of God in making faith concerned in our justification
and not our obedience. This is very significant here.
He's drawing a conclusion. It is of faith, therefore, that
it might be by grace. You see, because faith is only
a recipient, Faith doesn't do anything. It says, look back
at chapter 1, Romans 1 verse 17. Look what he says here. He
says, for therein, I'm sorry, verse 16. I'm not ashamed, Paul
says, of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. But therein is the righteousness of God revealed,
to what? From faith to faith. It's revealed
to be of faith, it's revealed to us that we might believe it.
So righteousness is revealed to faith, and it's revealed to
faith in order that faith might receive it as its own righteousness. Not by doing something, but just
seeing it and laying hold of it. Now I want you to understand,
faith doesn't make righteousness. Faith doesn't bring things into
existence. We sometimes think of faith as
making things happen. Faith doesn't make things happen.
Faith is seeing what already is true. What is faith? Faith is believing God's word,
isn't it? If God has said it, is it true
or not true? It's true, isn't it? If God says
it, it's already done. That's the argument here. If
God has spoken, it's done. And faith rests on it because
of that. It doesn't make things happen.
Faith believes that it's done because God said it. So, like
our eye. Our eye doesn't bring... I'm
looking at that clock back there. I see the clock. But my eye didn't
make the clock. My eye didn't make the clock
work. All I do is see that it's there and working. The eye contributes
nothing to the clock. And God reveals what He's done
in Christ to us, to us in faith. He gives us this grace called
faith to perceive, to see. There it is. Look at that righteousness.
Why, that's just suitable for me. I'm a totally bankrupt, wicked
sinner. I have no hope before God. I'm
guilty and under the wrath of God. I deserve everything I'm
getting. And I have no ability to change myself. I'm helpless,
guilty, corrupt and can't do anything. And look there. There's
a righteousness. Why? It's perfect in every way.
God himself calls it his own. He provided it and he accepted
it. He tells me about it and he imputes it as a gift. That
just satisfies me. That's what faith is. It doesn't
add to it. It receives it. And so he says,
therefore, this is the wisdom and goodness of God. It is of
faith that it might be by grace. To the end, the promise might
be sure to all the seed. All the seed. Now he's going
to talk about the difference between Jew and Gentile. But
we could look at it this way. The only way that righteousness
is guaranteed to us is if it is by grace. Not of works in
any way. Grace excludes works and works
excludes grace. It has to be all of grace or
it won't be sure to all the seed. And faith supports that. Faith maintains that. In the
wisdom of God, faith looks upon and sees it. Oh, that's good.
And faith justifies God. And God justifies the sinner
on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. And faith agrees with
God. And so, therefore, faith glorifies God. Look at 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 only
to that which is of the law, but to that also which is of
the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." All who
believe, believe what Abraham believed. They don't believe
something else. They don't have a different salvation. There's not three or four different
ways by which people get saved. There's one way. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ and His righteousness. And so he says this here, those
who believe what Abraham believed, those who believe the God, they
have the same object for their faith, they're the ones who are
the children of Abraham. As it is written, verse 17, this
is God's promise, I have made thee a father of many nations
before him whom he believed. Now it's going to talk about
the object of Abraham's faith. What was the object of Abraham's
faith? God who quickeneth the dead and
calleth those things which be not as though they were. Abraham
believed God. That was the object of his faith.
And then look at the nature of his faith. Who against hope believed
in hope. Against all human reason to hope
that he was going to have a son he believed. Contrary to all
evidence and reason because he believed the word of God. And
then, look at the strength of his faith. He believed against
hope. He had the confident expectation
that God was going to do what he said. That he might become
the father of many nations. That was his hope. According
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. That's from
Genesis 17. And being not weak. Here's his
strength. The strength of his faith. Being not weak in faith.
He considered not his own body, now dead, when he was about a
hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb."
You see how justification works? I mean how faith works? Faith
gives glory to God. Faith glorifies God because it
says that what God said determines the way things are. And faith
sides with God. sides with God on it. And so
he says, "...he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being
fully persuaded..." This is the definition of faith. "...being
fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also
to perform." It's like when you're looking
at that complex piece of machinery that's just whirring away. Your
computer or Or an airplane or whatever it is. You're looking
at that thing. Man, that's amazing. Look at that. It's just sitting
there running. Or it's just flying. Or the computer is working. It's
doing all this. I don't even think about it. It just works.
I don't contribute anything to it. I just observe it. I didn't
bring it about. I don't keep it going. It's just
working. Abraham looked at God's word. He heard it. He received
what God said. By faith he believed it. That's
what faith is. He's persuaded of it. He was
so persuaded that it all depended upon the one who promised and
his strength not Abraham's strength. In fact, God would do what he
said he would do in spite of my deadness. That's what Abraham
believed. And in that way he was justified
before God. That faith was not before God. Let me take that back. He was
justified in his own experience when he saw that. God declared
it to him then in Genesis chapter 15. So, in the same way that he was
justified, all of his children who are justified, because all
who are justified are his children, whether they be Jews or Gentiles,
all of his children are justified. So, the point of Romans 4 was
not to teach us about Abraham for Abraham's sake. The point
of Romans 4 is to teach us about the ways of God in our justification. Not just to teach us how Abraham
was saved, but to teach us how God saves all of His people.
Because Abraham is a prototype. He's the one who God holds up
to us to show us this is the way He saves us. So we're his
children in the same way when we believe because we do what
he did. And so all true believers whose
faith is described by the object of it. How do you know you have
faith? It depends on who you believe. It depends on what you
believe about him. That's the way you know. How
do you know you have faith? Well, let me ask you, who do
you believe? You say, well, I believe, you know, a lot of people will
say, I believe Jesus Christ. Well, what do you believe about Jesus
Christ? Well, I believe that he died for everybody, that he
loves everybody, and those who accept him will go to heaven.
Well, then you believe a different Jesus and a different gospel.
Because in Galatians 1.15-16, Paul says this is the test. This is the test of a true gospel
or a false gospel. You either preach the gospel
that I'm preaching, Paul said, or I don't care if you're an
angel or an apostle or anybody else, you're cursed. You're cursed
of God. You don't have the true gospel.
And the true gospel is that Jesus Christ alone is our righteousness. And we do nothing in order to
justify ourselves before God. God alone justifies out of His
grace because of what Jesus did. And because God determined to
do it. And He tells us this and gives
us faith to see and understand it, persuading us of it, and
then we receive it as our own. That's what he's talking about
here. Look at verse 23. Now, it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, this righteousness, but
for us also to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on him
that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. What is the object
of our faith in verse 24? What is the object of our faith
in verse 24? It's the Lord God, the Father of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, who raised His Son from the dead. Wasn't that
the same object of Abraham's faith? He promised that he would
justify the Gentiles and the Jews through Jesus Christ. And
that's what Abraham believed. And so we believe him too. And
because he raised up Jesus from the dead, what does that mean?
It means that he died. It means that he died for a reason.
Look at verse 25. Who was delivered. Why was Jesus
delivered up to death? For our offenses. And then it says, and was raised
again for our justification. You see, He brings the point,
the Apostle so expertly brings the point through all that we've
been saying to bear on this one thing. That our faith is the
Lord Jesus Christ in His redeeming work on Calvary. that He actually
accomplished our redemption. And on the basis of His redeeming
work, God justifies us. Our sins were laid on Him. His
blood paid the full payment. The discharge was made by the
judge. The guilty was set free. Not
only set free from guilt, but clothed with a full righteousness. And that righteousness was evidenced
and proved when God raised Christ from the dead. The significant
thing about this verse, in verse 24 and 25, one of the significant
things, and this is the significant thing in all that we say and
do, is that God received from Christ for me, the sinner. And God looks upon what Christ
did as if I did it. If you can understand that, if
you can be persuaded of that in your heart, that God has provided
and received His Son, and therefore He justifies, He says they're
righteous, not because of what they did, but because of what
Christ did, then you understand and you believe the God of justification. Let's pray. Father, we pray that
you would give us this faith, as you gave to Abraham, to be
fully persuaded that what you promised you not only are able,
but actually have performed. You have established your own
righteousness in the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
you declare it to us that we might believe it. To see it,
to see it as done, to be persuaded that it's true, to lay hold on
it as ours, on the warrant of your word, that you justify the
ungodly, and we as sinners are in need of it and have no other
way to be justified, and you've provided it and laid it out before
us and declared it to us, and we come to you for it. We ask
you to look upon our Lord Jesus Christ and receive Him for us.
bearing our sins, fulfilling our righteousness, giving us
access into the throne of grace itself. Lord, we thank you for
this word. We pray, Lord, that you would
teach us in our heart the centrality and the supremacy of this doctrine
of how you justify your people in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
for his sake alone, in his name we pray. Amen.