I want to take a few moments
to look at that passage that Brother Jim just read. This scripture,
I've preached on this a lot of times. You've heard it preached.
Some of you who preach in this pulpit in my absence, you've
preached on it, Romans 3. Mainly I'm going to deal with
verse 22. But the title of the message is Faith of or faith
in, question mark. Obviously, I'm going to deal
with those two words, of and in, and why, what I think that
we should know about this. But let me begin this way. You
know, Bible translations are something to behold. I know that.
There are good translations. There's bad translations. My
favorite translations of the Bible are the King James Version
and the New King James Version. I think that the King James is
closest to the original. I'm not a King James only person. The reason for me that that's
so obvious is if that were true, then nobody had the written word
of God until 1611, you know. So, I'm not King James only,
but that's what I use, and I think some of you may have the new
King James Version. That's fine. I like that version,
too, because it just takes the, mainly it just takes the these
and thou's out. It says you and all that. So
that's okay. But I've often said this. I've
said that the Gospel is a very simple message. I mean, a little child can understand,
if taught of God. Now that's, we understand that,
the natural man receiving, not the things of the Spirit of God.
The Gospel is a simple message of salvation by grace. Salvation
from our sins by the grace of God, through the blood of Christ,
through His righteousness alone. What He did, not what we do.
But the Bible is not necessarily an easy book to understand. I mean, you think about Genesis
to Revelation. You have to put in some time
to use the rules of scriptural interpretation. That's why I
wrote that book on rightly dividing the word. There are rules. And
of course, the main thing we know is that God, it must be
revealed. The scriptures must be revealed.
It's a revelation from God. And I think I mentioned last
week, or I may have been preaching this on television because we
recorded last week, how there's so many people who read the Bible
and even memorize it, and they miss the message of it. Like
the Pharisees of old, you do search the scriptures. In them
you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify of
me, Christ said. If you read Genesis, Exodus, Viticus, all
the way to Revelation, and you don't know the true Christ as
he's identified and revealed in this word, you've missed it.
I don't care how much of it you can quote, or like the Pharisees,
you might sew it in your clothes today, they wear it on the bumper
stickers or something like that. But either way. But words mean
things, and it's amazing how you see one little word, how
it can change your ideas and change your thoughts. And just
like here in Romans 3.22, we see the faith of Jesus Christ,
that word of. And then it talks about them
that believe. We talk about believing in Jesus
Christ, of Jesus Christ, faith of Christ, faith in Christ. Those
are two important things. And these words mean something
and how one little two-letter word can change your focus and
how you interpret the scriptures. And it's not easy. I heard a
preacher say one time about the word all. Now you know how people
When they read the Bible, the word all and every and world,
it becomes everybody without exception. And it doesn't, usually
it doesn't mean that. Those are pronouns that have
antecedents that refer to specific things that they're talking about.
And the context determines that. I heard a preacher say one time,
he said, all means all and that's all it means. Well, if I were
to stand up here and say this, make a statement like this, all
lay eggs. Now surely you'd think I'm talking
about all chickens or all birds or whatever. I might be speaking
metaphorically about people who make foolish statements. They
lay an egg. There's a lot of eggs being laid this morning
in that sense. But all don't lay eggs. I hope
you don't. But you see what I'm saying?
I'm using that just to make a point. That, no, no, all means whoever
they all they're talking about. That's who it means. World means
whoever it's talking about. That's what it means. And that's
why you have to read the Bible. But let me give you an idea here
of where I'm going with this. Now, as Jim said, what Paul's
talking about here, what's his subject? How God justifies a
sinner. Now that's his subject, right?
Well, what is this justification thing? Now, he says, look at
verse 20, he says, therefore by deeds of law, now what is
that? Well, that's obedience to the
law, shall no flesh be justified in God's sight. What is it to
be justified? It means to be put right with
God. And that includes this, it means
having my sins forgiven. God forgives my sins. Why is
that part of justification? There has to be justice here. That's what that means. In other
words, God doesn't just arbitrarily forgive my sins or your sins. He's not like some old grandfather
who has grandchildren and it doesn't matter what they do,
you're going to forgive them because you love them. That's
not what God's like. God is a just God. He's a righteous
God. He's a God of truth. We read
it this morning. He will by no means clear the
guilty. In other words, in order for Him to clear me, the guilt
has to be removed. And He's got to do it in a just
way. So God forgives my sins, but He has to do it on a just
ground. His justice must be satisfied.
We see that over in verse 25 here. In one word. Propitiation. What does that
mean? That means someone came and took
my place and satisfied the justice by his death. That means God's
wrath is removed because of this person who took my place and
of course it's talking about Christ. But justification goes
further than just the forgiveness of sins. It also is the declaration
of righteousness. God declares me righteous in
his sight. Now, not in your sight, because
if you see me, you say, well, you're not committing sin right
now. Well, let me tell you something. I'm growing older right now by
the second. I'm not the guy I used to be.
And that's a consequence of sin, isn't it? So you see the consequence,
but we're all sinners. Even our best efforts to obey
God never measure up to the perfection of righteousness of the law.
So how does God justly declare me righteous? It's based upon
Christ's righteousness imputed. And what is Christ's righteousness?
It's the righteousness of God. How can that be? Because he's
God manifest in the flesh. Okay? So that's Paul's subject. And here's what he says in verse
20. Look at it. Therefore, by deeds of law shall no flesh be
justified in God's sight, for by the law is the knowledge of
sin. And now, in verse 21, he's going to define that phrase,
the righteousness of God, and tell us how God justifies the
ungodly. Now you remember that term, the
righteousness of God, was used back in Romans 117 when Paul
was giving us a short definition of the gospel. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, the Greek also,
for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith, that
is, from knowledge revealed. to faith, knowledge received
and believed, for the justified, those whose sins are forgiven,
who are declared righteous before God based upon Christ's righteousness
imputed, they live by faith, God-given faith. They live looking
to Christ, they live believing Christ. So now he's gonna define
that a little, he's gonna give us a longer definition of it.
And here's what he says, but now the righteousness of God,
without the law, Now that cannot be without any obedience to the
law because this righteousness of God, which belongs to Christ,
he gained it by obeying and satisfying the law. He was made under the
law. So what does he mean? Well, context tells us. What
did he say back in verse 20? By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified. That's no sinful human being.
So when he says, but now the righteousness of God without
the law, what he means is without our obedience to the law. And
the whole Bible backs that up, doesn't it? You're saved by grace,
not of works, lest any man should boast. So, this is without our
obedience, and this righteousness of God without our obedience
is manifested, it's made known, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. This was the issue of the Old
Testament. Moses and the law and the prophets, And then he
says, now here's our text, verse 22, even the righteousness of
God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ. You see that? The faith of Jesus Christ. Now
some translations change that to in Jesus Christ. One of my
favorites does that. Most of them are more modern
translations. But my point in this message,
no, they've got it right. Now the actual word that's translated
could be technically translated either of or in. But what determines
which? What's he talking about? He's
talking about the righteousness of God. How does that come about? By the work of Christ. And what
is the work of Christ? The work of Christ is his faithfulness
to do and accomplish and fulfill what he promised to do before
the foundation of the world. And that's the righteousness
of God, so this should be the faithfulness of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them. Now, again, I love the King James
Version, but it sometimes adds words that aren't in the original,
and the words upon all are not in the original. So what it would
read, it would read this way. It would read, the faith of Jesus
Christ unto all them that believe. Now believing, that has to do
with our God-given faith in Jesus Christ. But we are not justified
by our God-given faith in Jesus Christ. Our faith in Christ,
which is the gift of God, and we don't, listen, I wanna tell
you, you cannot overemphasize the blessing of and the need
for God-given faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. You must have faith. Our faith in Christ, our believing
in him, that's the gift of God's grace, and he gives it to every
one of his people, not just the son. Believing, from faith, that's
knowledge revealed, that's faith, our faith, what do we believe?
To faith, knowledge received, knowledge believed. The justified,
those whom God has justified, they live by it. We live by faith,
that's the God-given means of living. Looking unto Jesus, the
author and finisher of our faith. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. So it's the gift of God. Our
faith in Christ is the fruit of being justified. It's the
fruit of Christ's righteousness imputed to us. The Bible says
in Romans 8 and verse 10, that if Christ be in you, this body
is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life, which includes
faith, our faith in him. It's life because of righteousness. because of what Christ did. Christ
said, if I be lifted up, I'll do what? I'll draw all unto me. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
no wise cast out. So you see, our faith in Christ
is the result, the fruit, the effect of our having been justified
by the faithfulness of Christ. Is that important? You bet it
is. Our faith in Christ connects
us to him spiritually. Sometimes it's called putting
on Christ. When did you first put on Christ?
When God brought you to believe in him. By faith you put him
on. Our faith in Christ is the work
of the Holy Spirit within us and gives evidence of spiritual
life within. If you've received Christ, you
were born of God. Believe in Him. And by our God-given
faith in Christ, the Lord keeps us looking to Him as the author
and finisher of our faith. And listen to this. Our faith
in Christ glorifies our Father in Heaven. So is that important? You bet it is. Is that necessary? Oh, yes. And I don't ever want
to preach a message or write an article that diminishes the
need and the value of believing in Christ. If you don't believe
in Christ and you continue in that state all your life and
die without believing in Him, the Bible says that's an evidence
that the wrath of God abides on you. So there's no question
about that. However, we must never consider
the blessedness of our God-given faith in Christ to the exclusion
or even the negligence of the ground of our salvation, which
is Christ's faithfulness to do his great work for us according
to his promise. In considering the grace of our
faith in Christ, we must never depend upon our faith in Christ
as to the ground and security of our salvation, or a condition
that we've met in order to make his work successful. We depend
totally upon His faithfulness to accomplish our redemption
by His death on the cross as our surety, our substitute, our
redeemer. Listen to this. This is from
the Old Testament Lamentations chapter, and I'm reading this
because, you know, I had a fellow ask me one time, he said, well,
why would Christ need faith? He didn't have to have faith.
Do you know that God's faithfulness is one of His attributes? Listen
to this. This is Lamentations 3 verse
22. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed because
his compassions fail not, they are new every morning, great
is thy faithfulness. And then look up in Romans three
here, look at verse three. Paul says, what if some did not
believe? Talking about the Jews who did
not believe God. Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? Now God promised to save all
Israel. I can show you scriptures that
say that. But who is the Israel that he's talking about there?
He's talking about spiritual Israel, Jew and Gentile, God's
elect chosen by God before the foundation of the Lord and given
to Christ Jesus. They're all gonna be saved, read Romans 11. But now the majority of the ethnic
national Jews did not believe. Well, does that mean that God
is not faithful to his promise to save all Israel? Did God go
back on his promise? Was God not able to keep his
promise? No. Verse four, God forbid. Yea, let God be true. In other
words, let God be faithful. And every man a liar. And he says, as it is written,
that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and mightest overcome
when thou art judged. God is faithful. Before the foundation
of the world, God chose a people and gave them to Christ. His
son, the second person of the Trinity, and Christ promised,
agreed to do everything necessary to save the people of his choice. That's right. And the Bible says
in 2 Corinthians 1.20 that all the promises of God are in Christ,
yea, and in him, amen. The writer of Hebrews wrote in
Hebrews 10.23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without
wavering. Let's keep on believing in Jesus
Christ without wavering. And here's what he put after
that, for he is faithful that promised. You know what he's
saying there? Persevere in the faith, knowing
that it's God who preserves you. He's faithful. He won't let you
go. He said he'd save to the uttermost them that come unto
the Father by him. And he's faithful. God has never
broken a promise. Christ has never broken a promise. God in human flesh. He's never
broken a promise. He's never failed to fulfill
a promise. He's faithful. And clearly, God's
faithful. Revealed in the glorious person
and finished work of Christ is the ground of our salvation.
Look at it, verse 22. Even the righteousness of God.
Now, what is the righteousness of God? That's the entire merit
and value of what Christ accomplished in his obedience unto death as
the surety, the substitute, and the redeemer of his people. That's
what the righteousness of God. And how did that come about?
By our faith in him? No. By His faithfulness to do
all that He promised to do. The faithfulness of Jesus Christ. That's our assurance of salvation.
His faithfulness. He will not let us go. And it's
upon all them that believe. Now that's our believing. If
He was faithful to do for you or me what He promised to do,
He'll bring us to believe in Him. It's upon everyone that
believes. His righteousness is imputed to everyone that believes.
Righteousness imputed is the ground and the cause. Believing
is the fruit and the effect. And there's no difference. Look
at verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. Being justified freely, being justified. Now that's his
subject, isn't it? Unconditionally, that's what
freely means, without a cause. by His grace through what? Through
your believing? No, through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus. Now why do so many modern translations
translate that in Jesus Christ instead of off? I'll tell you
why. It's because of man's emphasis on his believing as the ground
or cause of his salvation. And it's wrong. I could show
you other scriptures here, But think about this, clearly it's
God's faithfulness. Our faithfulness is the work
of God in us through Christ by His Spirit through the Word.
It's all of grace, it's the fruit of Christ's work for us. But
the context determines it and shows it. Now let me show you
a couple other scriptures and then we'll be through. Look at
Galatians chapter two. And you can mark this in your
Bible. If your translation, whatever it is, if it has end, for me,
I just mark it out and put it off. But now you may disagree with
me. And you have every right to be wrong. I'm telling you, this is what
it is though. Look at Galatians 2.16. Now what's Paul's subject
here? How God justifies a sinner. Same
subject. Look at it, verse 16, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law. Now what
he said in Romans 3? But by the faith of Jesus Christ. We're justified by what Christ
did. What he was faithful to do. What
he promised to do. And he was faithful to do it
to the very end. that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ. We're justified by his faithfulness,
his work, his merits, his blood, his righteousness. And not by
works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh
be justified. So that should be, I don't know
what translation you have there that might say in, but it should
be of. And then turn the page over to Galatians chapter three. Galatians chapter 3. Now again, what's his subject? He's talking about justification.
How a sinner is justified, made right with God. He'd already
said up here in chapter 3 that no man is justified by the law,
verse 11, in the sight of God. It's evident the just shall live
by faith. Now that is our faith in Christ
because he's saying those who are justified, they live looking,
depending upon, believing, resting in Christ. That's our faith in
him. But then he says, Christ hath redeemed. The law's not
a faith. The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. That's our sin imputed to him, which he fell under the
curse of God's law to die for our sins. Cursed is everyone.
and hangeth on a tree. And he did all that, verse 14,
that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Now we receive the promise of the Spirit, how? Through God-given
faith. How do I know the promises of
God? How do I believe the promises of God? The Spirit brings me
to faith in Christ. Rest in. But look over at verse
22. He says, but the scripture hath concluded all under sin. That's all of us by nature, in
a state of sin and death, that the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ. Now, the promise of salvation
for God's people was not by our faith in him. It's by the faithfulness
of Christ to do what he said he'd do. And it might be given
to them that believe. You see there? He's not repeating
the idea there. He's giving the ground and the
effect. This promise of salvation was by the faithfulness of Jesus
Christ that it might be given to those who believe in Christ. You see the difference? And then
one more, Philippians chapter three. Look at Philippians chapter three.
Now, the apostle here in this passage is talking about Faith
in Christ and repentance of dead works. Both are the gift of God. Both are given to God's people
because of what Christ did on that cross. And his point here
is that faith looks to Christ and what he did as the ground
of our salvation. Look, if I have God-given faith,
I'm resting in what Christ accomplished in His death for my forgiveness,
for my righteousness before God. And he says, look at verse seven,
he says, but what things were gained to me? Those I counted
lost for Christ. And what he means there, well
he says in verse eight, yea, doubtless, I count all things
but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dumb, that's all his efforts to be righteous,
that I may win Christ. Now look at verse nine. And be
found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, not any righteousness that I worked out by keeping
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. That righteousness
which is through what Christ accomplished. His faithfulness. the faithfulness of Christ, the
righteousness which is of God by faith, the righteousness which
we receive by God-given faith. Romans 10 says it this way, that
by faith we believe in that which God accomplished in the propitiatory
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it says in Romans 10 and
verse 10, it says, for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made. In other words, our
faith is not our righteousness. Our faith believes unto righteousness. How? It believes in Christ. And
that's what Paul's saying here. Be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith or the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. So Christ's faithfulness is the
ground of our justification. He faithfully carried out the
will of the Father to provide redemption through his finished
work on Calvary. He said that, quoting him in
Hebrews chapter 10, he said, I come to do thy will. It's written
in the volume of the book. And all whom God has justified
by his grace based on the faithfulness of Christ to work out righteousness
for us, they'll be given the grace of faith, the gift of faith,
to believe in Him and to rest in Him and to cling to Him, persevere
in the faith by the preserving grace of God, which is the fruit
and effect of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Now I hope that's
clear for you. We've had some discussions on
that People on the internet, and I thought, well, that might
be something that we all need to hear. So, all right.