Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening and now
for today's program. Welcome to our program. I'm glad
you could join us today for this message. And if you'd like to
follow along in your Bibles with the message, I'll be teaching
from the book of Romans chapter 4, Paul's epistle to the Roman
church in the New Testament, Romans chapter 4. And the title
of the message is Righteousness Imputed Without Works. Righteousness Imputed without
works. And that title is taken directly
from this passage and I'll show you that in just a moment. But
what's going on here is, you know, as the New Testament, in
the beginning of the New Testament days, Paul especially, as the
gospel began to be spread throughout the Gentile world, the apostle
Paul was christened by God as to be really the apostle to the
Gentiles. Not that the other apostles didn't
preach to Gentiles, but that was his special mission. And
God used him greatly to go around the Gentile world and start and
raise up churches. Paul didn't start them, God did,
but Paul was the instrument. And that's why you have in these
epistles, you have like the church at Corinth, the church at Philippi,
the church at Ephesus. Well, here's the church at Rome.
And Paul is writing this doctrinal letter to the church at Rome,
and this church was made up of believing Jews and believing
Gentiles. That's the nature of the New
Covenant church. That's described beautifully
in the book of Ephesians, for example, chapter two, that God
has a people out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation,
both Jew and Gentile. God's elect, the word elect,
that refers to those whom God chose before the foundation of
the world and gave to Christ, and who Christ came to redeem.
And that's evidenced by their believing, their being brought
to faith in Christ under the preaching of the gospel. Well,
as is the case here on this earth, the church will always be plagued
with infiltrators trying to bring in false doctrine. false gospels
that will make salvation conditioned on or based on the works of man. And in this particular instance
that Paul's dealing with, he's dealing with those Jews who claim
to believe the gospel, but who did not really believe the gospel,
evidenced by the fact that they wanted to bring Gentiles under
the Old Covenant law, law of circumcision, And of course circumcision
was really before the Old Covenant. It was begun in Abraham. They
wanted to force Gentile believers to be circumcised in order to
be more saved, more righteous, holier, or to be saved at all. And they would invoke Abraham,
their father, their physical father. And so when Abraham was
circumcised, you need to be too or you're not really a child
of God. Well, Paul starts, this is Romans 4 in verse 1. And he
says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father, now
Paul says our father, he's talking about Abraham being the physical
father there of the physical Jews. And he says our father
because Paul himself was a physical Jew. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews,
remember, of the stock of Israel. So he says, what shall we say
then that Abraham our father, and here's the key, as pertaining
to the flesh hath found? The flesh there being Abraham's
physical nature. That would refer to anything
that would apply to Abraham in his physical self, whatever he
did, whatever he didn't do, his circumcision, physical circumcision. What did Abraham find? based
on the flesh. And then he says in verse two,
for if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to
glory. He's got a reason to boast and
to brag. He can have confidence in his
works. Even in his circumcision, if
he were justified by works, he hath wear of the glory." But
look at the next phrase now in verse 2. This is the key. Underscore
this. But not before God. Not before God. And that's the
issue, friend. It's not how you claim to be
or how men and women see you. It's how does God look at this
thing? Now if Abraham were justified
by works, he's got a reason to boast in himself. But that's
not the case when it comes to salvation. It's not the case
when it comes to the forgiveness of sins. It's not the case when
it comes to being righteous before God. You know what it is to be
justified? How is a sinner justified before
a holy God? Have you ever considered that
question? How can a holy God be righteous
or just, true to himself, and still justify a sinner like me? Have you ever considered that
question? How is a sinner justified before God? You know what it
is to be justified? It means to be declared by God,
not guilty. Some people say, well, justification
means just as if I had never sinned. That's a bad definition
for it. You see, the reason is, you can't say it's just as if
I had never sinned. First of all, God doesn't deal
in as if. What God deals in is reality.
I'm a sinner, I have sinned. Now how can I, a sinner who has
sinned and deserves nothing but death and damnation, how can
I be justified before God? That's the issue here. How was
Abraham justified before God? To be justified means to be declared
not guilty. And it goes further. It means
to be declared righteous before God. Righteousness is the perfection
of God's law and justice. How could I be righteous in God's
sight? I'm a sinner. Well, you know,
the unbelieving Jews And we're going back here, he says, what
shall we say about Abraham our father as pertaining to the west?
Well, the unbelieving Jews basically had three things that they gloried
in as evidencing or getting their right relationship with God.
And number one was Abraham is our father. They boasted and
gloried in their physical connection with Abraham. And so they would
say something like this, you know, well, we be Abraham's seed. We're children of God. Well,
look over in Galatians chapter 3. In the book of Galatians chapter
3, and I could go to a lot of passages of scripture on this.
But here's the key. Paul says here in Romans 4, as
he's going through this, what shall we say? about Abraham and
what did he attain as pertaining to the flesh. If he were justified
by works, he hath room to glory, reason to glory and boast, but
not before God. And then he says in verse three,
for what saith the scripture. Now what does God's word say
about that? I know what this fellow says,
I know what that fellow says, know what this preacher says
or that preacher, what does God say? And over in Galatians chapter
three in verse 26, he makes this statement. And he's talking to
both Jew and Gentile here now. Not just the Jews, not just the
Gentiles, but Jew and Gentile believers. And he says, for you
are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. Who are
the true children of God? Those who believe in Christ Jesus. Those who believe that Christ
is their whole salvation. That Christ is the only one who
obtained the forgiveness of their sins, who made them right. Christ
is my only righteousness. He goes on to say, for as many
of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Now to be baptized into Christ there is not referring to the
ordinance of water baptism. The ordinance of water baptism
is important. Not to be saved. It won't save
you. Not to be washed from your sins.
It won't wash away your sins. The ordinance of water baptism
is a confession that Christ is my salvation. It's a confession
that His blood cleanses me from sin. But to be baptized into
Christ means to be placed into Christ. It means to be united
to Christ. When were God's children placed
into Christ? Well, the Bible says they were
placed into Christ before the foundation of the world. Chosen
by God unconditionally and put in Christ, given to Christ. They
were placed into Christ at the cross. That's their redemption. Christ died for His sheep. All that he did in his obedience
unto death was as the surety and the substitute of his people.
But then the Holy Spirit comes and brings them under the preaching
of the gospel and they're placed into Christ by faith. And that's
what it means to put on Christ. When you put on Christ means
you believe in Him. You submit to him as the Lord
your righteousness. Now he says there in Galatians
3, he says, now in Christ, there's neither Jew nor Greek. That means
Gentile. There's neither bond nor free,
there's neither male nor female. Now those distinctions are there
and they're recognizable, but they have nothing to do with
a sinner being justified. They have nothing to do with
a right relationship with God. He says, for you are all one
in Christ Jesus, and if you be Christ, in other words, if you
belong to Christ, then are you Abraham's seed, Abraham's children,
and heirs according to the promise. And the promise there is the
promise of salvation by the grace of God. in and through the Lord
Jesus Christ. So if you think you're a child
of God, if you think you have a right relationship with God
because you were born a natural Jew, that won't work. No sir,
you don't have anything to glory in. The second thing that the
unbelieving Jews gloried in was their circumcision. And that's
a real issue here in Romans chapter 4. What did Abraham find according
to the flesh? They were imposing circumcision. These false Jewish professors
were trying to impose circumcision on the Gentile believers as to
making them more saved or holier or even to gain salvation. But
over in the book of Galatians chapter 6, And verse 14, here's
what the scripture says. This is Paul writing to the church
at Galatia, to both Jew and Gentile believers, as he's inspired by
the Holy Spirit. And he says this in verse 14,
he says, but God forbid, that I should glory, boast, save or
accept in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world
is crucified unto me and I unto the world." And he goes on to
say, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything
nor uncircumcision but a new creature, a new creation. And
he said, as many as walk according to this rule That doctrine, God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross, peace be on them
and mercy and upon the Israel of God. You see that? Circumcision
will not save you. And the only thing that really
matters to evidence a child of God is circumcision of the heart.
Well, the third thing that unbelieving Jews would boast in is that they
would say, we follow and we keep and we obey the law of Moses.
Now they didn't do that, but they claim to. Well, what says
the scripture? Well, back over in Romans chapter
three, beginning at verse 19, here's what Paul wrote by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit. He said, now we know that what
thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the
law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may
become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law, there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. So what saith the scripture? Look back at Romans chapter four
and verse three. Here's what the scripture says.
Abraham believed God and it was counted, it was counted unto
him for righteousness. Now, Abraham believed God and
it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now, it's important that we understand
by the context what he's talking about. First of all, he says
Abraham believed God. Well, somebody says, well, I
know I'm saved because I'm a believer or because I believe. Well, let
me ask you a question. What do you believe? People believe
just about anything. And if you go around the city,
if you go around the state, or go around the country, go around
the world, you're gonna find a lot of different people who
claim to be Christian, who believe a lot of different things. We
believe this, we believe that. I know people who tell you, we're
Christians, but we believe you have to be baptized to be saved.
Water baptism. And that's wrong. That is not
Christianity, friend. Baptism, water baptism, is not
a condition sinners must meet in order to be saved. You see,
salvation is not conditioned on sinners. It's conditioned
on Christ and He fulfilled the conditions. What happens in the
life of a believer, in the new birth, in believing the gospel,
is the fruit, not the cause, of salvation. Salvation is by
grace. Paul wrote that. He said, 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 says there in Romans 4.3
that Abraham believed God. Well, what did God promise Abraham? Well, if you go back to the Old
Testament, God made many promises to Abraham. But the promise that
Paul is talking about here in this passage is the promise of
the gospel which was this for Abraham. God promised Abraham
that in the future he would send a Savior, a Messiah, a surety,
a substitute who would stand in Abraham's place and die for
Abraham. and shed his blood as the full
payment of all the sins of Abraham. Not just Abraham, but all of
his chosen people. Christ himself said it in John
chapter 8. He said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he sought and
he was glad. And it was counted that it there
refers to the Messiah's work. that God promised Abraham. It's
what God promised Abraham. Some people will read that verse
and they'll say, well see, Abraham's faith was counted. That word counted means imputed.
Imputed means charged, laid to his charge, his count reckoned.
In other words, Abraham believed God and it, the it there does
not refer to Abraham's act of believing. The it there refers
to what God promised Abraham and that's the Messiah, Christ.
It's the righteousness of Christ was counted to Abraham. And he goes on in verse 4 of
Romans 4, he says, Now to him that worketh is the reward not
reckoned of grace but of debt. Now if salvation is something
you have to work for, then it's not reckoned or counted or imputed
of grace, it's not grace, it's debt. You see, we need to understand
that when it comes to salvation, when it comes to forgiveness,
when it comes to being justified before God, it is never a matter
of what God owes us by way of a debt. In other words, God did
His part, you do your part, and then He's obligated to pay you
in some way. You see, grace is all about getting
something I don't deserve and have not earned. So now to him
that worketh, if you're working for salvation, if you're working
for righteousness, well then the reward is not reckoned or
imputed or counted of grace, it's of debt. But, go on, but
to him that worketh not, now how much plainer can that get?
but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly." What can ungodly people do to earn salvation? Nothing. All they can earn is
the wages of sin, and that's death. Do you believe on Him,
God, who justifies, who declares not guilty, who declares righteous
the ungodly? And it says, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Now his faith there is a noun.
It's not a verb. His faith. What is your faith?
What is my faith? What do I believe? What is the
substance and the object of faith? Well, my faith is in Jesus Christ. Paul said it this way, I know
whom I have believed, I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. What was Abraham's
faith? Abraham's faith was in Christ
for righteousness. His faith is counted, imputed.
That's the righteousness of Christ. And to prove that, go on to the
next verses there. Look at, he invokes David, King
David. And he says in verse six, even
as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, under
whom God imputeth, charges, accounts, reckons, righteousness without
works. Righteousness imputed without
works. You see, the righteousness that
I have, in which I stand before God, had absolutely nothing to
do with my works. In fact, if it did, it wouldn't
be righteousness at all, because my works always fall short."
Well, David spoke of that, and Paul is quoting from the book
of Psalms, Psalm 32, verses 1 and 2. He said, David said that when
he said, look at the next verses, saying, Blessed are they whose
iniquities are forgiven, Now how is iniquity forgiven? By
the blood of Christ. Whose sins are covered? How are
sins covered? That doesn't mean covered over
as hidden from view. It means their debt is paid. It's by the blood of Christ.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Do you see that? Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not charge with sin. Now how can God justly, God who
is the supreme judge, God who always judges according to truth,
God never pretends, God never fakes it, God cannot look at
me and say, well, I know you're a sinner, but I'm gonna pretend
like you're not. No, He can't do that. He's a
just judge. He must always do right. You
see, justice is the foundation. Righteousness is the foundation
of His character. Yes, God is a God of love. Yes,
God is a God of mercy. Yes, God is a God of grace. But He cannot show love and mercy
and grace at the expense of His justice. That's why the question
even comes, what shall we say then, Paul wrote, as Abraham,
our father, according to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham
were justified by works, he's got room to glory, but not before
God. How is a sinner justified before
God? Well, the only way a sinner can
be justified before holy God is through the imputed righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way. There's
no other way. You see, if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ
died in vain. That's what Paul said. And David
shows it here. Abraham shows it. Abraham and
David both are examples of how God justifies the ungodly. And it's not It's not through
the works of man. It's not even by our faith, that
is, our believing. You see, every justified sinner
will be brought to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no
doubt about that. The scripture says it. But upon
what ground does God justify the sinner? God justifies the
sinner on the ground of the one righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And what exactly is that righteousness? It is the merit, the value. It is the credit, the worth,
the quality. It's everything that makes it
real. That Christ went through on the
cross of Calvary in His obedience unto death for the salvation
of His people. What did He have to do to work
that righteousness? He had to die in the stead of
his people. He died as the surety of his
people. He is the surety. What does that
mean? A surety is one who stands in the place of another and has
the debt of that other put to their account. Christ took my
debt, the debt of sin. One of the words for sin in the
New Testament is the word debt. And so, as my surety, he stood
in my place, having my sin imputed, charged, accounted to him, that's
my debt put to his account. And he had to pay the bill. he
had to pay the debt in full. And he did it by his obedience
unto death as he kept the law of God, as he satisfied justice. That's what it means in John
19 30 when Christ said, it is finished. It's completed. Romans
10 4 says Christ is the end of the law, the fulfillment, the
perfection, the finishing, the completion of the law for righteousness. to everyone that believeth. And
that's why the gospel message is the revelation of the righteousness
of God, as Romans 1 16 and 17 says, not the righteousness of
men. You see, the righteousness of
man will do us no good. Do you know, in this world, in
this fallen sinful world, there's no such thing as the righteousness
of men because we have no righteousness. But you know there was a time
that man had righteousness? You know when it was? It was
in the Garden of Eden with Adam before he fell. But it was still
the righteousness of man. One thing you can know about
the righteousness of man, it is always changeable. You see
Adam in the garden before the fall, his continuance in the
garden was always conditioned on his obedience, but he fell.
So there is no hope for sinners. in righteousness of men. But
men have no righteousness. The scripture says there's none
righteous, no not one. There's none that doeth good,
no not one. By deeds of law shall no flesh
be justified in the sight of God. When we stand before God,
what will we plead? as our ground of salvation, our
right and our title. Will it be what we've done for
Him? If it is, we'll hear Him say, depart from me, you that
work in iniquity. We need righteousness imputed
without works. I hope you'll join us next week
for another message from God's Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1102 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia, 31707. contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
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today and may the Lord be with you.