Let's look at verse 9 of Romans
4. It starts off, cometh this blessedness. And that's where I got the title
of the message, this blessedness. This blessedness is the blessing
of Abraham. That's what it's called over
in the book of Galatians, the blessing of Abraham. That's what
the apostle is talking about in the context here, talking
about how Abraham, who the Jews held in high esteem, and who
they even went so far as to use their physical connection with
Abraham, their physical descendency from Abraham, as a ground for
their being made right with God. We be Abraham's seed. You know,
how many times you read that in the scriptures when the Lord
was preaching the gospel or dealing with truth or when the apostles,
and I think about passages like John chapter 8. You remember
where Christ talked about how the truth will set you free?
And how the Pharisees, Jewish unbelievers, how they come back
at him, they said, well now wait a minute, we weren't born in
bondage, we're Abraham's seed. And you know, really, you know,
it's amazing how false religionists will lie to themselves. And that's
what, you know, even we can do that if, you know, the Lord has
to bring us to our senses, doesn't he? But they'll lie to themselves
because, you know, they said we were never in bondage to any
man. Well, who was in control of Judea
at that time? The Roman Empire. And they were
forced servants of Caesar in that sense. They had to work
with Caesar. You remember in their attempts to discredit the
Lord, and then in their final attempts to bring him to trial
and crucify him, they had to work with Caesar, had to work
with the Romans. So they were in bondage, but
they claimed that they weren't because they were Abraham's seed.
And what they were saying there is that we're not sinners. We're
right with God, we're righteous. And one of their points was,
we're Abraham's seed. And Christ said, well, I know
that you're Abraham's seed physically. I know that you're ethnically
a descendant of Abraham physically. But he said, you're not Abraham's
seed spiritually. Because Abraham, listen, Abraham
didn't do what you were doing. You're trying to kill me, the
Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, God in human flesh. You're trying to accuse and kill
me. He said, Abraham didn't do that. And later on in John eight,
remember in verse, I think it's verse 56, he made this statement.
He said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and
he was glad. So they were Abraham's seed physically,
but not spiritually. Well, this blessedness is the
same blessedness that David described back up in verse six. Look at
it. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. Now that's the
blessedness that it's talking about in verse nine. Come of
this blessedness. So here's what we know. Now,
you remember when we first started on chapter four, I talked about
how God made a lot of promises to Abraham. If you go back and
read Genesis 12 and Genesis 15 and Genesis 17 and passages in
between, God made a lot of promises to Abraham. Some of those promises
were physical, earthly. temporal, and they applied only
to Abraham's physical descendants. Like, for example, the giving
of the land of Canaan. Alright? And that he was going
to make them a nation and all of that. There's physical things
there. But then there's also spiritual promises that God made
to Abraham. which do not apply to the physical
descendants, but only to the spiritual descendants, both Jew
and Gentile. And it's clear in this context
that that's the kind of blessing that Paul's talking about here.
He's talking about how God justifies a sinner. How God saves a sinner. And then the blessing here is
described plainly. And I don't know how people can
get away from it. I guess when they get to verse 9, they stop
thinking about verse 6. But you know what people say,
well, he's talking about this blessedness, that God's going
to give that land back to the Jews. This blessedness is not
to an earthly nation, and it's not concerning an earthly land.
This is not about real estate here on earth. This blessedness
is the blessing of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness
without works. And that's salvation, that's
spiritual blessings, that's eternal life. And so he says, verse nine,
cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision, that's
the physical Jews, the physical descendants of Abraham, does
it come upon the circumcision? Is it for a Jew only? One who
is born naturally to Abraham, or upon the uncircumcision also. Can any Gentiles have any part
in this blessedness? That's what he's saying. Or do
they have to be converted? Do they have to be proselytized?
You remember Christ talked about that in Matthew 23. He says you
go about trying to make converts, and what do you do when you get
them? Make them two-fold more the child of hell than you are.
That's what he said to them. What does that mean? It means
they were teaching them a false way of salvation, a way of death. And so he says, does this blessedness,
this blessing of righteousness imputed without works, does it
come on the Jews only or on the Gentiles also? He says, for we
say that faith was reckoned, the word reckoned means imputed,
to Abraham for righteousness. Now what is that faith there?
Well, that faith there is the promise that God made of righteousness
imputed without works. What do we believe? You see,
this is what people need to understand about the word faith. You cannot
separate faith from truth. If you separate faith from truth,
what do you have? You believe a lie. Isn't that
right? Now, people all over this country,
they can believe whatever they want to believe, but that doesn't
make it true. Just like, there's no kids here
this morning, so I'll say this, I don't wanna warp their world,
but you know, they believe in Santa Claus. But sooner or later you're gonna
say, see, no, that's not the case. Believe the moon's made
of green cheese, you know, whatever. But believe in life. People who
believe that salvation is conditioned on themselves believe a lie.
Whatever condition it is. People who believe that it's
their believing that makes the difference between saved and
lost, they don't have faith in Christ, they have faith in their
faith, they're believing a lie. The faith here is the body of
doctrine, the teachings of the gospel, wherein righteousness
imputed without works is revealed. And so what he's saying here,
he says faith was reckoned. What God promised to Abraham
was reckoned to him for righteousness. Now what did God promise Abraham?
Well Christ himself said it, Abraham rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and he was glad. So it's the promise that God
gave to Abraham in the gospel to send Christ as the Redeemer,
the Messiah. To die for Abraham's sin and
bring in righteousness for Abraham as well as all of his chosen
people, Jew and Gentile. Now look at verse 10. He says,
how was it then reckoned? Well, what is he talking about?
You know, we say, well, the word reckoned means imputed, means
charged, it means accounted. So what does he mean? How was
it then imputed? Now, there are a lot of people
today who believe this. They believe, well, God imputes
righteousness as a result of our believing. Well, that's not
how it's reckoned. Okay? That's wrong. God doesn't
do anything for us by way of salvation because of anything
we do. You understand that? He doesn't
give us or do anything for us or to us because of or as the
result of anything we do. Everything we do that is honoring
to God by way of blessing, by way of believing, repenting,
is the result of what He has done for us. Grace, grace, grace. So how was it then reckoned?
Now what Paul shows us here And the translation is right, I believe.
He shows us here exactly what he's talking about. Look at it,
verse 10. How was it then reckoned? When, now he's talking about
a when here. When Abraham was in circumcision
or in uncircumcision. Was righteousness imputed to
Abraham when he was, after he was circumcised, physically,
or before when he was in uncircumcision? Now that's, you remember what
I said about the Jews, the unbelieving Jews. They basically, I've said
this before, they basically had three points upon which they
boasted of a right relationship with God. Their physical relationship
to Abraham, and then their circumcision. You see, we're not, that's why
they were called the circumcision, okay? And then they claimed to
have kept the law of Moses, but they didn't. So he says, well,
let's see then. All right, we've already settled
the issue of what Abraham found according to the flesh. A physical
connection with Abraham has nothing to do with righteousness, with
salvation, with forgiveness, with the right relationship with
God. He's already settled that. Now, what about circumcision?
Does it have anything to do with it? Well, how was righteousness
reckoned to Abraham? Was it before or after he was
circumcised? Not in circumcision, verse 10, but in uncircumcision.
Righteousness was reckoned to Abraham before he was circumcised.
So in other words, circumcision didn't have anything to do with
it. It meant nothing. Now you remember the apostle
over in the book of Galatians chapter six, you remember that?
He was talking about it in verse 14. And he stated there what
I always call the believer's confession. And you can find
that, obviously you can find a believer's confession all over
the Bible. But this is a great example. of a true believer's
confession. And it's in Galatians 6 and verse
14 where he says, but God forbid that I should glory, that I should
boast or have confidence, save or accept in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, what is the cross? That's
his death. That's his blood. That's the ground of salvation. That's his righteousness. And
he says, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world. And look at verse 15 of Galatians 6. For in Christ
Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creation. New creature, new creation. Circumcision
had nothing to do with it. And it's clear back here in Romans
chapter four and verse 10 that Abraham was justified in his
day. Now somebody said, well how could
he be justified if Christ had not already come and performed
the work? Because it was by the sure and
certain promise of God, and in God's mind, and it's God that
justifies, in God's mind it was a done deal. All the promises
of God in Christ are yea and in him, amen. Abraham had a surety
already. Now the surety had to come in
time and pay the debt. He had to redeem Abraham by the
blood He had to pay the debt. He had to settle the issue. And he did. And Abraham knew
that he would. Just like David. Remember David
on his deathbed? He said, although my house be
not so with God, he hath made with me a covenant that's ordered
in all things and what? Sure. Now why was it, who ordered
it? God did. Not David. And why was
it sure? Because it wasn't conditioned
on David. Had it been conditioned on David,
it would have failed. If it were conditioned on any
of us, it would fail, isn't that right? Conditioned on David's
substitute, David's surety, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's
clear. Well, look at verse 11 and 12
now. He says, Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal
of the righteousness of the faith. You notice that? That article's
correct. The faith. What was Abraham's
faith? The gospel. Salvation by God's
grace based on the blood of Christ. The faith which he had yet been
uncircumcised. You say, he believed God's promise
before he was circumcised, that's a gift of God. And that he might
be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised. And that righteousness, now here's
another clear testimony of what's imputed. It's not faith, our
believing, that righteousness might be imputed unto them also.
How do I know? that Christ's righteousness has
been imputed to me. How do I know that? Because that's
an act of God. See, that's God's court of justice.
How do I know that I can claim that I'm righteous in Christ?
Well, that's what he's talking about. We believe we've been
brought to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit to believe
in Christ, to trust him, to know that our salvation was conditioned
on him and that he fulfilled all those conditions. That's
how we know. But he tells us here that outward
physical circumcision was a sign, means it was a mark, a token. And he says it was a seal, that's
like a stamp or a signet or a label, to show this, that Abraham had
already been justified by God's grace through the merits of the
promised Redeemer. And what he's showing here is
that physical circumcision was a type, a picture, of spiritual
circumcision. Now, if you turn back the page
to Romans 2 and verse 28, Paul had already spoken of this now.
And you gotta keep Scripture in its context. See, that's the
problem with people today in reading the Bible. You read Romans
chapter 2, then you jump to Romans chapter 3, And it's like they
forget Romans chapter two, but don't forget it. And here's what
he said, look at it. And you remember what led up
to this in Romans two? He's talking about the judgment
of God's law. And here's what he says. Basically,
doesn't matter whether you're physically circumcised or not,
either you keep the law or you don't. And if you don't keep
the law, then the law condemns you. Now if you keep the law,
which nobody does, None righteous, no, no. If you keep the law,
you're fine whether you're circumcised or not. And then he starts showing,
now circumcision was given to Abraham, not for any reason that
the Jews imagined, that like, well, that makes you righteous,
that makes you right with God. No, no, no. It was given as a
mark, a token, a seal of something greater. And here's what it is,
verse 28. of Romans 2, for he is not a
Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly,
and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not
in the letter, that is not physical according to the law, whose praise
is not of men but of God. You see what it's talking about.
We'll go back to Romans 4. So Abraham received it, look
at verse 12. And it says, and the father of circumcision to
them who are not of the circumcision only, that is the Gentiles, but
who also walk in the steps of the faith. In other words, we
believe the same thing Abraham believed concerning salvation. We believe the same ground of
salvation that Abraham, all right? And that faith of our father
Abraham, which he had been yet uncircumcised. You could go all over, you know,
I think about Philippians chapter three and verse three. You remember
what that says? Paul writes, for we are the circumcision. And he's talking about spiritual
circumcision because he's talking there in the church of Philippi
to both believing Jews and believing Gentiles. And he says the way
we know that we've been circumcised in heart and ears, as Stephen
said, all right, we are the circumcision, we worship God in spirit. All
right, we worship God in the spirit. In other words, what
that means, I believe it's two things. It means we worship God
not as we think him to be, but we worship God as he reveals
himself to be in his word. And we worship him from the circumcised
heart, sincerely, in truth and in spirit. So we are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit, Some translators say by the Spirit.
Either way, it's true. And he says, and we rejoice in
Christ Jesus. That word rejoice there in Philippians
3.3 is the same word glory in Galatians 6.14. God forbid that
I should glory. It's the same word glory in 1
Corinthians chapter one, where he talks about at the end of
that chapter, let he that glorieth glory in the Lord. means have
confidence. We have confidence in Christ.
Our assurance, our boast is Christ. What he did, his righteousness,
his blood, and have no confidence in the flesh. That's what he's
talking about. So it's a time. This proved that
Abraham is the father of all them that believe, both Jew and
Gentile. Now, when he says Abraham is
the father of all them that believe, he's not saying that Abraham
is our father in the same way that only God can be called our
heavenly father. When we pray, we say our father. That title is never to be given
to any human being. Did you know that? I hear these
guys, you know, referring to Catholic priests. Well, Father,
that is wrong. Only God is our Father. But why
does he call Abraham our father? Only in this sense, that Abraham,
God has determined to use Abraham as the prime example. And the word is archetype. You
ever heard that word? The archetype. All right, I think
I've put that in your lesson. He's the prime example of how
God justifies the ungodly. He's the prime example of what
it is God commands us to believe and receive in the gospel. And
right here's the content of it. Righteousness imputed without
works. Just like David said it, Abraham
the same way. And that's how Abraham is called
the spiritual father. And you can read about that.
I've got this written out in your lesson here. Look on the
back of the... Well, let's read verse 13 and I'll go to that.
It says, for the promise that he should be the heir of the
world. Now, heir of the world, that's
referring, I believe, to the new heavens and the new earth.
We inherit. A new heavens and a new earth.
He's certainly not talking about this sinful, cursed world. Who'd
want to be heir to that? We will receive a glorious blessing
of eternal life in the new heavens and the new earth. Peter spoke
of it. This world's going to burn up.
That's why I talk to you about environmentalists all the time.
How I always think about this. People talk about climate change.
Well, I believe in climate change. I do. This world is never gonna
stay the same. I believe man is the culprit.
And I'll tell you how far back to take it. Adam fell and brought
the whole world under the curse. And doesn't Romans chapter eight
tell us, the whole creation groaneth until the revelation of the complete
nation of the children of God. So, and this world's gonna burn
up. Now, having said that, I'll tell
you, I think we ought to be responsible. And I think we ought to be good
stewards. I don't want me or my children or my grandchildren
drinking dirty water or breathing dirty air. I don't. So we ought
to be responsible and accountable and do what we could. But we're
not going to save this world. And I'll tell you another thing.
Man cannot destroy this world. I don't care what they say. I
don't care how many atom bombs they build. Man can, only God
created it, only God destroyed it, is going to destroy it. But
the world that Abraham inherit, and all who believe, sinners
saved by grace, that's what Abraham was, were heirs of the world. Gonna inherit the earth, but
not this old sin-cursed earth. The new heavens and the new earth.
All right, so he says, for the promise that he should be the
heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through
the law. In other words, this salvation,
this blessedness, this glory of the new heavens and the new
earth, it is not in our possession because of our works of the law. But he says it's through the
righteousness of faith. It's in our possession through
righteousness, which Christ accomplished, according to faith, according
to God's promise, you see. And so, look at, well, he says
in verse 14, this'll be our last verse today. Yeah. He says, for if they which are
of the law be heirs, if those who are trying to be saved by
their law works, if they're the heirs, if they inherit this blessedness,
this world, he says, well, faith, what God promised, is made void. And the promise made of none
effect. It's kind of like what Paul said
in Galatians 2 and verse 21. He said, if righteousness come
by the law, then Christ died in vain. He didn't have to come
and die. But look in the back of your lesson. We'll close with
this. Look at Galatians 3, 26. Listen to this. It says in verse
26, for you are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. The evidence that you're a child
of God is you believe in Christ. rest in Him. Verse 27, for as
many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ,
you believe in Christ. Verse 28, there's neither Jew
nor Greek, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male
nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus, equally. And if you be Christ, that's
a possessive, if you belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's
seed and heirs according to the promise. That's what Paul's saying
there, he just sums it up in those verses there. Okay.