Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. I will try to be brief, I will
be lying to you. Turn to Romans chapter four again,
Romans chapter four. That's in the New Testament. We may laugh, but some folks
probably don't know that. Romans chapter four, I'll read
the verses that I spoke from last time so we can have a little
more of the context. What shall we say then that Abraham
our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory, but
not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace,
but of debt. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David, Also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works Saying Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness
then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not, not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. And I can add, rightfully so,
because thus saith the scripture. Now Paul in writing about righteousness
imputed, and I don't mean to belabor this, but I do hope we
can begin to get a hold of this. It is not imputed righteousness
as opposed to imparted righteousness, as if there are two kinds of
righteousness, one imputed and one imparted. It is rightfully
said, and I'm sure I will make the mistake, so I'm not, like
I said, I'm not trying to run this into the ground, but it
is actually righteousness imputed. And that same righteousness is
imparted. But I will, and it's not even
my message this morning, I say, based upon the word of God that
righteousness imparted must come before righteousness is ever
imputed. And my basis for that is the
scripture, good seed has to fall on good ground. Then and then only will the good
seed and the good ground bring forth actual lasting fruit. That's not my message. Paul in
writing about righteousness imputed here, has Abraham as a prime
example of this divine blessing of grace. Sadly for most folk
it is just a religious phrase, righteousness imputed. Sadly
for most folk it is just something they read from some creed. and
have never really ever experienced that righteousness imputed because
they have never ever really believed God. Now, again stress, it's
not just that we believe in God, though all who believe God certainly
believe in God. We believe in his existence,
but we believe God. We believe God is who he says
he is in this book. And we do not try to lessen that
for any man or woman's sake. But we also believe what God
says in his book. And this is not my message, but
this book, in this book, God says there is an old covenant
and a new covenant. In the Old Covenant, there is
no salvation. And in the Old Covenant, it is
impossible for man to serve God under and through and in all
of those things. Because there's some that's tried
to say that God's people are not under the law, but they're
still in the law. No. No. No, there is no true service
of God in and under and by the old covenant. It is only in the
new covenant. And of course, Hebrews makes
it quite clear when the writer, even in the Old Testament, spoke
of a new covenant, he's already made the first old. So Paul here
begins using, as I said, Abraham as a prime example of this divine
blessing of grace, imputed righteousness by believing God. Now since every
word is to be established by at least two or three witnesses,
Paul now calls in David, our brother, to confirm this righteousness
imputed. Does he not? Now he will briefly
mention this second witness. and then go right back then to
Abraham again, as we could see from the context when I read
it. But it's not merely some legal
thing that Paul's trying to establish here. Well, I gotta have two
witnesses. He don't always give two witnesses. Because when it
says, for what saith the scripture, that is enough witness. Now, did you hear what I said?
That is enough witness from the get-go. But notice what is amazing. He says, in verse five, trying
to kind of get to the end of the content, but to him that
worketh not, we talked about that, looked at that last time,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. This is a specific
kind of faith. Remember, not a flesh faith,
not a works faith, a faith that's wrought of God. but to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. Now he has introduced a paradox
into the issue. He has. He has introduced a paradox
into the issue because God is a justifier of the ungodly. Does
God not declare righteous men right? He would if there were
one. Does he not declare good to actually
be good? He would if there were any good
but Him. But there's none good. There's
none righteous. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. And any good that seems to flow
from us, if it is indeed good, It is not because of our flesh
and our works. It is God working in us, both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. And by God's grace,
I plan on never abandoning that truth. But notice, that justifies
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness, even as David
also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works, but then he doesn't talk about
how he does that. Have you noticed that? He doesn't
talk about David's believing God, does he? Now do you see
what I'm trying to get at here? He doesn't use David as an illustration. Remember, he's not a type. He's
not a shadow. David was a real, true, bona
fide believer in God and a believer of God. He believed God. But
that's not what Paul says here, does he? He says this, even as
David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed
righteousness without works, saying, this is what David said,
blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven. You see that? And whose sins, and I can say,
rightfully so, with not adding anything to the context, and
blessed are they whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. But remember, he's justifying
sinners. He's justifying the ungodly.
They got sin. They have sin. They have sins. And they have iniquity. But God
is justifying them by faith. By faith. Let's look at what? is said here
from David. Righteousness imputed without
works is, according to Paul, the equal same thing that David
said as to Abraham's blessing, even as David also describeth
the blessings of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works, saying, the fact is, it can be said here, in spite
of their works, because they have iniquities, sins, and sin. But God has what? He has forgiven their iniquities. He has covered their sins. He will not impute their sin
unto them. So again, Paul is quite clear.
Though we might say, some would say, well, Paul's looking at
the opposite side of the coin. That's okay, I mean, there's
nothing wrong with that illustration. But it is one coin here. With
two separate sides. But without the other side, it's
a forgery. You see what I'm saying? It's
a forgery. Now, God helped me this morning
to be able to present this. And God helped me and you to
be able to receive this this morning. Faith and even believing
God. Dare I say it? Yeah, I will even
though I know some will misunderstand it and some will brand me with
some name as lately we have been branded. Believing God ain't
worth spit unless your transgressions are
forgiven. and unless your sins are covered,
and unless God refuses to impute to you your sin. And you don't reach that by believing. You believe because God's already
accomplished that for you in Christ Jesus. Now say, somebody
says, where does it say that? In this whole book. The preponderant
testimony of the scripture is this whole book. He will go on
to say, now Paul proves it, but he don't say it right here in
this immediate context. But God commendeth his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if
when we were what? Enemies, not believers. but the
exact opposite of a believer. An unbeliever, for if when we
were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son. Now if you weren't reconciled
to God when Jesus Christ died, you will never be reconciled
to God. But I will go further. If you
were reconciled to God, you were reconciled to God when his son
died in spite of your enmity toward God at the time. And that's
just the way it is. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. So here David's
description. saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven. That makes this ungodly man happy. And it does not, even though
we are no doubt accused of it, it does not make me want to be
more ungodly. I wish, and that's all it is,
I wish I was less ungodly. But I am ungodly, and I can't
change that. Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Well, it's all will. Can the Ethiopian just will?
Now we know what he's known, that pop star, he changed the
color of his skin, but it took surgeries and chemicals. But you can't just will to change
the color of your skin. any more than a leopard can just
wheel to change his spots. Only then can those that are
accustomed to do evil do what? Good. Good. I'm glad that along
with believing, along with righteousness imputed by faith, I am glad that
it has a foundation of iniquities forgiven, sins covered, and God
refusing to impute my sin to me. Because that's what I've
got to have before believing God is of any value to me whatsoever. Most people kind of see it as.
I know they don't always say it this way, but they're kind
of hoping they're believing God, or at least believing in God,
and doing religious things that go along with believing God,
and believing in God outweighs their iniquities, and their sins,
and their sin, if they even understand the difference between the three.
But that ain't so. That ain't so. That's David's
description. Saying, blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And Paul said
that's David saying the same thing we're talking about through
Abraham. But yet it's the opposite side of the coin, if you will.
Or it's like a fine diamond. Now I think everyone here understands
that, but that diamond that some of you ladies probably got in
your ring, your engagement ring, it didn't come out of the ground
looking like that. It does look like a kind of like a white rock
and someone skilled had to do what they take that they start
cutting away certain parts and they begin to reveal different
facets of that diamond. That's a good illustration of
this too. That diamond ain't worth spit. If you crunch it
all into powder, what is it? I mean, they don't even use powder
for these blades. It is a diamond bit. It has minuscule
diamonds prepared for the job. What I'm trying to get at is
this. Believing God is right, but it would have had no value
had Jesus Christ not settled the sin and sins and iniquity
question. If he hadn't of took care of
the problem, believing God would mean nothing. Righteousness imputed, David
said is without works. But look at the works a man does
have, iniquities. It's not just no good works,
but the works they do have are opposed to the very thing. the
very blessedness that is bestowed upon them. Do you see it? Blessed,
saying blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Now hold on to your saddle horn,
we're gonna jump a creek, as O.L.R. Shelton used to say. Hold
on now, you got a hold of it now? There are people that want
to argue about, well, iniquities, sins, and sin. Go back and read
Psalm 3, 23, 24, and 25 sometimes. Sometime. I'm not gonna do it
this morning. Paul changed the words. At least I didn't see a mouth
drop. I've seen mouths drop here before. He changed the words. The first word David used when
he says forgiven is transgressions. Paul uses the word iniquity.
Somebody says, what's the difference? They ain't none. They ain't none. But our theologians love to argue
the differences. Somebody says, what's the difference
between sin and sins? They ain't none. They ain't none. The flow in the stream is no
different than the fountain that is producing the flow. It's the
same thing. The flow is simply the conglomeration
of all that's coming out of the fountain. Sin is what we are. Sins is what
we do. But I also am sins. And I do
sin. So let's not get, as Earl used
to say, so heavenly-minded that we become of no earthly good.
And all we're doing is sitting around arguing doctrine with
men and women. God help me, I've been there
before. And God to some degree has delivered
me from that in my old age. Maybe it's just because I'm getting
old. And I just don't like to argue
anymore. Now I proclaim and when they
meet me in the kitchen or they meet me here and the eyes bug
out and the veins pop out, I smile and shake their hand. You just
keep preaching the word, keep preaching the word, keep preaching
the word and eventually they can't stand it no more. And you
don't have to run them off. They will leave. They will leave. Righteousness
imputed, David says, is without works, but it equals this, iniquities
forgiven. Righteousness imputed without
works, it's believing God, but it equals even this, sins covered. Covered from who? Not covered
from me. I still see my sins. But I don't
see them as God sees them. Oh, wait a minute. God don't
see them now. Because blessed is the man whose
sins are what? Covered. Covered by God in a way that
the holy God can say, I don't see them anymore. I'm not up here just trying to
teach you a good little lesson and go through everything. I'm
trying to preach unto you the gospel of the blessed God who
saves ungodly men and women through Jesus Christ. Thirdly, righteousness
imputed without works, according to David, equals this, God refuses,
God refuses to put your sin to your account. I've even heard
the argument. It was tried here, and I refuse
to engage in it. It was said along this line,
what never says Christ died for our sin, just that he died for
our sins. Well, we're damned then, because
God had to take care of the source, the fountain, as well as the
flow, because they are no different. They are no different. Iniquity,
transgressions, sins, sin, it's all the same thing. It's what
we are and do in the fall of Adam. And even when God saves you,
and even after God saves you, even in light of God's holy law,
even Paul the apostle was forced to confess, to will is present
with me. We've been accused that we got
no will for God's law. We disrespect God's law. We are
against God's law. But he said, to will is present
with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. And he didn't say God gives me
that later or any time, did he? He forces us because of that. The wheel's there, but the ability,
how to perform it, is not given us even in regeneration. We still
don't love God with all we are, but we do love God. We do not
love our neighbors as ourself, but we do love the brother. And Paul, well, no, maybe what,
the book says love is fulfilling, of the law. Isn't that what it
says? So off my back, you spiritual
transvestites. Huh? Well you don't know that
the Bible talks about spiritual transvestites? What is a transvestite? Well it's a lot more than this,
but it's a man who dresses in women's clothing. Or a woman
who dresses in man's clothing. Did our Lord Jesus himself not
say beware of wolves in sheep's clothing? So you spiritual transvestites,
get off my back. You take your error somewhere
else. You join up with the rest of your spiritual transvestites
because we by God's grace will continue to preach salvation
by grace, service by grace, walk by grace, everything by grace
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Somebody says you're angry, yes
I'm angry. Because when the glories of my Lord are assaulted it offends
me. You remember I think what Calvin
said, even a dog will bark when his master is assailed. And they're not assailing me,
I know that. I know they're assailing God's
holy word. Blessed is that man, blessed
of God. And it's not proven by what He
gives you in this world. He may take everything from you,
but if He's given you faith because He has what? Forgiven your iniquities,
covered your sins, and will not impute your sin to you. You got
it all! If you... spend the rest of your
life in a convalescent home with your arms and your legs unable
to use them. If God gave you faith, it's all
yours in Christ. You are blessed. But my mind,
my old mind, the old man said that can't be true. And now come
on, when things are going good, we feel pretty good. When the
bottom drops out, we start wondering. and doubting. Now do we not? Do we not? But this is blessed. Blessed are those whose iniquities
are forgiven and God did it in justice and holiness. He did
not just pass over sin and just let it go. Blessed because God
takes inventory of the God-given faith and he says that's righteousness. That's righteousness. And God
will not inventory the believer's sin. You see it? That's what, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not take an inventory of what you are. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Now, if that
don't make you a shouting Baptist, you ain't even a good Presbyterian. But he's dealt with it all. He's
dealt with it all, with transgression or iniquities, either one, and
he's dealt with transgression, he's dealt with sins, and he's
dealt with sin. He's dealt with it all for us.
That's truly a blessed place to be, isn't it? So then, righteousness imputed
and sin not imputed go hand in hand.