In Romans chapter 4, let's read
verses 1 through 3. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, has found? For if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but
not before God. For what saith the Scripture? What does the Scripture say?
Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
Now look at verse 10. How then was it reckoned? Circumcision or in uncircumcision? So we have the doctrine here
in chapter 4 of imputation. We'll come around to that in
a minute. One of the great doctrines of the Scripture is that of imputation,
and yet it has suffered much at the hands of modern preachers
and teachers. Yet if one does not know imputation
and understand the doctrine of imputation, they cannot hold
true views either of condemnation or of justification, knowing
that the real cause of condemnation and the real cause of justification
has to do or has a tie to imputation. And a careful search of the Scripture
will reveal unto us that there is to be found a triple or a
three-fold imputation taught in the Scripture. All of them
are very vital. They are, number one, the imputation
of Adam's sin to the whole family of humanity. You have that in
Romans 5. verse 12 through verse 19, being
the major proof text for it is in chapter 4, Adam being a federal
head of the race. His sin, therefore, is imputed
to all. Secondly, the imputation of the
sins of the elect to Christ. Not the imputation of the sins
of everyone or of the whole world, but of the elect. When our iniquity was laid on
Christ, Isaiah 53, verse 6. When He was made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21,
when He bore our own sin in His body, 1 Peter 2 and verse 24. And then the third instance of
imputation is the imputation of the righteousness of Christ
unto the elect, whereby the righteousness of the one comes upon the many
under the justification of life, as we read in Romans chapter
5, and by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. That's verse 18 and 19 of chapter
5. Now that passage back there in
chapter 5, 12 through 19, is in the form of a conclusion that
is drawn from the doctrine of justification that Paul had unfolded
earlier in the Roman epistle. And verse 12 begins a comparison
which is not finished until the end of verse 18 and 19. Paul
seems to feel the necessity to interrupt himself and fully explain
what he means by the last phrase of Romans 5 and verse 12 that
said, for that all have sin. He would not have his readers
to misunderstand the meaning of those words. that this was
not referring to personal sin of the individual, but for the
sin that entered into the world by and through Adam, and it brought
death because death passed upon all men. In that one or the first
sin of Adam is the sin of us all. And this is laid out Verse
13 to verse 19 of chapter 5. Notice, for example, you have
multiple mentions of certain things. First of all, one man. Verse 14, Adam's transgression. Verse 15, the offense of one. Verse 16, one that sinned. Verse 17, one man's offense,
and verse 18, the offense of one. But something else is also
appearing here. Not only is it one man, but it
is also one transgression that is in view. It is called one
offense. It is called the offense, the
offense of Adam. And the gist of the passage is
to prove that the one sin of Adam has been imputed unto all,
that it is the cause of the reign of death over the human family. Because Paul said, even for the
formal giving of the law, and even over those not transgressing
a positive commandment as Adam did, that's in verse 14. Also
in verse 21, Why sin reigned under death. And one great proof
that Adam's sin is imputed unto all is seen in the fact that
the penal consequences of Adam's sin, which is death, has passed
upon all and rules and reigns upon the entire human family. so that we are made sinners by
the sin of Adam and made righteous by the death and obedience of
our Lord. Now especially, let us hear from
Paul again, he has made him who knew no sin to be sin that we
might be made the righteousness of God. Now Thomas Goodwin, an
old Puritan wrote, how Christ was made sin needs to be explained,
and he said, quote, lest any of your thoughts run too far,
unquote. And run too far in either direction. Such as some who teach that Christ,
when he was upon the cross, literally, actually, fully was sin. That one called this absolute
substitution in a sermon. Are there some who claim that
healing is in the atonement? And therefore, when Christ was
upon the cross, He became cancer and He became TB and He became
leopards and all those kinds of wild imagination. So there
must be a distinction that is made between the imputation of
Adam's sin to us and the imputation of our sins unto Christ. in that the imputation of Adam's
sin to all was by derivation, him being the federal head of
the race of mankind. His sin is our sin, for we sinned
in Him. That's the message of Romans
5 and verse 12. And also, from Him we partook
of a fallen and a depraved nature. We received a double blow, as
it were, in Adam, number one. a corrupt nature, and number
two, guilt. We became guilty before God Almighty. On the other hand, in the imputation
of our sin unto Christ, it was not the sin of all, but the sins
of the elect that were made to lie upon Christ. as well as our
sins were imputed unto Christ, not by derivation, but by a willing
assumption of them on the part of Christ our Lord, in accordance
with the covenant made between the Holy Three. And the imputation
of our sin then unto Christ did neither deprave Him, nor did
it condemn Him, for it could not do either. The imputation
of our sin unto Christ did not in any way, shape, form or fashion
defile that nature of our Lord Jesus, so that even while He
was bearing our sin, suffering the penalty of our iniquity,
He remained holy, undefiled, and separate from sinners. Whereas
we are said to have sinned in Adam, and our sins to be imputed
into Christ, yet it cannot be said that He sinned in us. That is, it cannot be said that
Christ sinned in us when our sin was imputed unto Him. had the imputation of our sins
unto Christ in any way caused any deprivation in Him, we would
have then lost our Redeemer then and there. Or any time sin should
have entered into Christ, He is disqualified as our Redeemer. Now, this is another proof of
the foolishness as such as teach that Christ might have sinned. I guess you know that it is the
common opinion of the majority of Christians and preachers today
that they believe, yes, it was possible that Jesus Christ might
have sinned while he were here in this world wearing our flesh. The truth that is a sure anchor
is that it was impossible for Christ to become depraved, impossible
to deprave Him or to condemn Him or to corrupt Him in any
way, even in having all the sin of all of the elect laid upon
Him, even in being numbered among the transgressors. making his
soul an offering for sin, as Isaiah 53 said, he was yet the
holy and unblemished one of God. Just think, had not our sins
been imputed unto Christ, had he not willingly assumed
them, then had God required those sins at our very own hand. And we have nothing to pay with,
nothing to pay the debt, for the debt is very great. Now,
the third aspect of imputation, and the main focus of our study
this evening, which is the imputation of the righteousness of Christ
or the righteousness of the law unto the justification of life. Now at this point it probably
is wise for us to stop and define what we mean, what we understand
by the doctrine and the word imputation. What is imputation? The best place to get a crash
course on this subject is Romans chapter 4, where the word appears
no less than eleven times in that one chapter concerning Abraham. But the Greek word is, oh, some
thirty-nine or 40 times in the New Testament. And what might
confuse us a bit is that it is translated by several different
words as it is brought over into English and in our New Testament. Now, some words that you might
see translated by that word are reasoned. Another word is numbered,
reckoned, counted, concluded. imputed, charged accounting laid
to their charge. These are some of the ways that
that word is translated. In Romans 4, at least in the
King James Version, the same word is translated three different
ways as we look through that scripture. One, it is translated
counted. And you see that in verse 3 and
in verse 5. Counted, that's the word. Secondly,
it is translated impute or imputed. And here is the most frequent
one. You'll find it in verse 6, 8,
11, 22, 23 and 24. And then the third way
that it is translated there is the word reckoned. And you'll
find that in verse 4, verse 9 and in verse 10. Why the translator
did not use one and the same word in all places It's hard
to say. But the word that is used there,
impute or imputation, means to put either to the account or
the credit of another. It means to accredit. Robertson
said in his word pictures in the Greek New Testament that
it is an old and is a common verb meaning to set down accounts. We all remember that from our
days of the old country store, setting down an account, to set
down on the ledger, and then to reckon it all up and put it
to the credit or the debit of one. Owen explains the meaning
of the word in this way, quote, to think, to esteem, to judge,
to refer, that is, to have a thing or matter counted, reckoned,
credited, are imputed. And then in dealing with them,
those people in accordance with the thing or the matter that
is imputed to them as debt or credit. Thus we are treated as
if we had entered into the garden, ate the fruit with our hand,
and took the fruit with our hand and ate it, just as Christ was
punished on the cross as if He had been the world's greatest
transgressor, when in fact He knew no sin, He had no sin, was
not sinful in any way or degree. Then the righteousness of the
law is imputed to those whose sins Christ died for, that is,
whose sins were imputed unto Him, and He bore them and answered
the dead. Then the righteousness of the
law, based upon that, is imputed unto the elect. Now concerning
the last two aspects of imputation, of our sins to Christ and of
the righteousness of Christ unto the elect, Owen wrote this, neither
we nor he have actually done the thing that are respectively
imputed. Or to expand upon the thought,
Christ has not committed any sin. He has not been disobedient
in any way or in any degree. He has not once transgressed
the law or God's will or design, neither thought or in word or
in deed. He hath no sin of his own. that is imputed unto him. On the other hand, the elect,
the believer, has not done those things that are imputed or accredited
unto them. They are not inwardly, not personally
holy and righteous in the sight of God. They have not fulfilled
the law of God. And imputation, brother and sister,
is not by infusion. It is not by infusing sin into
Christ or infusing righteousness into the elect. The doctrine
of imputation is so very important because of its being an integral
part of justification in the sight of God, that sinners are
justified just like Abraham was by an imputed righteousness. Now, let's shift our focus there
into chapter 4 of Romans where Paul discusses and connects justification
and imputation. And he does so from the experience
of the great and revered patriarch Abraham, which had to carry much
weight with the Jew, for Abraham was their most popular character
of the Old Testament. No Jew would doubt or deny that
Abraham was a justified man in the sight of God. So Paul
does a very wise thing here. He raises the question, how was
Abraham justified? In Romans 4 and 1, what shall
we say then that our father Abraham as concerning the flesh hath
found? Our forefather, the progenitor
of the race. How was it with him? What was
the case with him? They spoke with pride of father
Abraham. Even the Lord spoke to the Jews,
acknowledging in John 8, verse 56, Your Father Abraham. So did Stephen in Acts 7, verse
2. Now Paul brings in the case of
Abraham as proof of what he had written in the last few verses
of chapter 3, that one is justified by faith apart from works of
the law. And this is true whether it be
Jew or whether it be Gentile. Romans 3, 24-31. Now concerning
the manner of Abraham's justification, Paul stays with the Scripture,
asking in Romans 4 and verse 3, What saith the Scripture? For the Scriptures speak, and
they speak loudly of the justification of Abraham. And what do they
say in regard to Abraham. Just this, in the second half
of Romans 4.3, Abraham believed God and it was counted. It was
imputed. It was reckoned. It was accredited
for righteousness. Righteousness was put to the
account of Abraham by and through faith. Now the passage Paul refers
to is found in Genesis 15 And verse 6, pardon if you will,
a short rabbit chase, but we'll have him skinned and cooked in
a minute. Abel was the first one we meet
with in the Scripture which had a sacrifice unto God. Noah, first
mentioned as finding grace. Judah, the first mentioned, as
being a surety for another, of course, a type of the suretyship
of Christ. We find that in Genesis chapter
43. Now concerning Abraham, John
Owen, the great Puritan exegete, made two points. Number one,
that the first express declaration of justification of a sinner
found anywhere in the Scripture is that of Abraham, that Abraham
is the first one ever said by the Scripture to be justified,
but the first to be openly declared, who is the father of all of them
that believe. Romans 4.11, Romans 4.16. Now the second point was that
the first expression of the nature of justification declared that
the main essence of justification is imputation. And that which
is imputed is said or called righteousness. It was imputed
unto him for righteousness, that is, to Abraham. And this is what
Abraham, our forefather, after the flesh has found. He believed
the word of God and righteousness was imputed unto him. So Paul has answered the first
question in regard to Abraham. What was the manner of the justification
of Abraham? Answer, righteousness was imputed
unto him. And for good measure, Paul confirms
it in Romans 4, verse 6 and verse 7 by a passage from David out
of the 32nd Psalm and verse 1 and verse 2. In verse 9, Romans 4,
it contains another question. Does this blessedness come upon
the circumcised only or also upon the uncircumcision? This blessedness refers to the
thing mentioned in verse 6 to verse 8. The last half of verse
9 he said, We say, for it is written, faith was put to the
credit of Abraham for righteousness. Follows the question then in
verse 10, faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousness, how
then was it reckoned? And he repeats two conditions
or states And verse 9, was righteousness put to the credit of Abraham
when he became circumcised? Or was it put unto Abraham when
he was as yet uncircumcised? And Paul answers certainly, truly,
it was the latter. And in this Paul strips the Jews
and all of us of any and every hope an expectation of a justifying
righteousness apart from that freely imputed and gained by
the Lord Jesus Christ. He would, as it were, use Abraham
as the great original model. And Abraham was justified before
he was circumcised. He was justified before the giving
of the law so that the promise that Abraham was to be the heir
of the world, verse 13, was neither to Abraham or to his seed, by
the law, but through the righteousness of faith. Now, we must not think
that this righteousness was imputed to Abraham. We must not think
that this righteousness is imputed unto Abraham, is the unique and
exclusive property or blessing of Abraham. For Paul says down
in verse 23 that this faith was imputed unto Abraham for righteousness. It was not written for Abraham's
sake alone. It is relevant. to all believers. It did not pertain to Abraham
exclusively, uniquely, or only. For in verse 24 of Romans chapter
4, this same righteousness is and will be imputed to the ones
believing. Now let's say a few things about
faith here, lest like Goodwin said, some might run too far. It's nature and it's object. Lest some make or try to make
a Savior out of their faith. Many have done that. Many have
made a Savior out of their faith. After all these years of studying,
reading the Scripture, and good expositor to hearing the preacher,
I hadn't found no better description of faith than that by a man named
Bell in his work entitled, View of the Covenant. And it's quoted
by Robert Haldane in his commentary on Romans chapter 4 and verse
6. And this is a great statement.
Let me share it. Faith rests upon Christ alone. It in effect excludes itself
as a work in justification. Faith is not a thing upon which
a sinner rests. It is his resting upon Christ. Therefore, one must not bring
in his faith as a part of his justifying righteousness. His
faith is not in his faith, but it is in Christ. His act of believing
is not the first cause of justification. This would be nothing else but
works under another name." They have erred already who view faith
as man's part in this great work of salvation. And as the primary
reason that some are justified, they attribute it therefore unto
faith. They further err who think that
faith, that is, believing, is within the natural ability of
any person yet unregenerate. And they do not think that this
needs a work of grace in order that one might believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul reminds his readers, Abraham
believed God. Righteousness was imputed unto
him. What was it that Abraham believed
is another good question. And what was it that he believed?
Answer, he believed what God said. He believed what God revealed
unto him. He believed what God declared
unto him. Why did Abraham believe it? Answer, because God said it. Because God cannot lie. John Owen defined the nature
of justifying faith, that it consists in faith's approval
of the way of justification and salvation in Jesus Christ as
is proclaimed in the Gospel. And John Brown, another writer,
added this, the faith by which one is justified, is their being
enabled by grace to receive as true what God has revealed, respecting
the way of salvation." There are two great things that make
up the whole of justification and they both flow out of the
satisfaction and the propituary death made by Christ. Number one, there is the non-
imputation of sin. Paul says in Romans 4 verse 8,
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. This is from Psalm 32 and verse
2 where there it said, Blessed is he unto whom the Lord imputes
not iniquity." They are pardoned. They are forgiven. They are not
put to the account of. God does not calculate them against
us any longer. Abin Ezra, another old-timer,
paraphrased it this way, whose sin God does not reckon so as
to bring them into judgment and require of them the debt." They
are imputed to Christ and He has paid the debt. There is a
full and free remission of sin unto the elect because their
surety Christ answered the whole debt in His death upon the cross. The non-imputation of sin. Secondly, the second half of
justification consists in the imputation of righteousness,
the non-imputation of sin and the imputation of righteousness. Paul in Romans chapter 4 and
verse 6 draws this conclusion from David's words in the 32nd
Psalm to confirm the truth in regard to Abraham. In the third
verse, Abraham believed God, it was counted, reckoned, imputed,
put to his account for righteousness. Then in verse six, even as David,
as was with the case with Abraham, David also described or pronounced
or says the same thing, declares the one blessed to whom God imputes
or reckons or credits or counts righteousness without are apart
from works. It is by free favor. It is by
sovereign grace. Taking, receiving, requiring
nothing whatsoever from the hand of the sinner. Note this, the
imputation of righteousness cannot rest upon the purity of our faith
or our works or our keeping of the law, for none of these are
done to absolute perfection, our righteousness then would
be an imperfect one. I think I agree with John Murray,
that Paul makes the imputation of righteousness synonymous,
that is, one and the same with justification, so that God's
elect are justified by an imputed righteousness. Remember, if you
will, that justification is forensic, that is, It is a legal act, or
it is the edict passed by a judge. It is not moral renovation in
and of itself. It does not cause the spiritual
renewal, but is a sentence that is passed in our favor or our
behalf. Just not condemn the non-imputation
of sin. And when the people In Luke 7
and verse 29 it said there, they justified God. Now think about
this for a moment in closing. They justified God. It does not
mean that they made Him holy, but it means that they declared
Him or praised Him as being such. They justified God. Even so, God imputes a real saving
righteousness to such as Christ satisfied for, having abolished
all of their sin and taken them away, giving them right and title
to eternal life. Righteousness is imputed unto
them, the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of the law.
So I close with this question. Are you content to rest the salvation
of your soul upon the finished work of Christ only? or upon some work or merit of
your own? Are you content to rest the salvation
of your soul upon the finished work of Christ and the imputed
righteousness of Christ and needing nothing else, nothing else at
all except that for our justification that removes all refuge and lets
us see clearly our justification in its proper light?