You would go ahead and turn to
Romans 1. I'm going to begin with verse
15, left off with verse 14 a few weeks ago. As we look back at the previous
two studies that we had here in the book of Romans, we see
how that Paul writes to the church here at Rome, and he tells them
that He was a servant of Jesus Christ, and he was called to
be an apostle, and he was separated to the gospel of God, this same
gospel that we're going to talk about this morning. Then he tells
him that the gospel was promised by God before by his prophets. And as Bill said in the back,
this same gospel that we believe here today and are going to talk
about today is the same gospel that Abraham the same gospel
that David and Moses and all the Old Testament saints believed
and had all their hope in. Then he speaks peace to those
believers there at Rome and that church at Rome. As we begin the
message this morning, I am going to be talking a lot about the
gospel and the righteousness that is revealed within this
gospel. a righteousness that a sinner
must have to stand without blame before God. As we begin this
morning in verse 15, I'm going to go ahead and read verse 15
through 17 to begin with. In verse 15, so as much as in
me is, Paul says, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that
are at Rome also. For I am not ashamed of the gospel
of Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to every
one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
For therein, within this gospel that I am about to preach to
you, Paul says, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, as it is written, The just shall live by faith. And
as we begin this morning, We talk a lot about the gospel and
in religion today, there's a lot of talk about the gospel. Everybody's
got their own definition of what that gospel is. We know when
I was in false religion, I believed I believed the gospel. My definition
of that gospel was not what I'm going to talk about this morning,
though. My definition of the gospel had to do in some way,
to some degree, with what I was going to have to do to stand
before a holy God. By things that either I did or
I wasn't able to do to appease this angry God, that was my definition. And you have different variables
here. Some of them say, well, you've
got to believe on Jesus. And they'll put faith in there,
but some of them in certain religions will go even further and say,
no, you've got to keep the law. You've got to worship on Saturday.
You've got to touch not, taste not, handle not. And so there's
a lot of different notions out there of God that we build up
in our own mind, in our own imagination, which is no God at all. So as
we begin here in verse 15, Paul says, So as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the gospel to you at Rome also. Paul was
ready, he was eager and able to preach the gospel to this
church here at Rome. Paul's eagerness was due to the
grace and power of God, this God that gave him this boldness
that he needed that was in Christ Jesus. One man wrote, These conquerors
of the past like Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon, all of these conquerors here,
they marched with the protection of their armies to enforce their
will upon men. The difference between these
men here and the Apostle Paul was that Paul, he marched with
the word of the cross, the gospel of God, which he himself says
is to the Jews It's offensive. And to the Gentiles, it's foolishness.
Then Paul says, so as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach
the gospel. This right here, this phrase,
it expresses the readiness of his mind to do that work. Whatever
difficulties may lay ahead for him, this declares what a willing
mind he had to preach this gospel to this church here at Rome and
elsewhere. He talks about to you that are
in Rome also, having to do with this great metropolis of the
Roman Empire. This right here was a very public
place and also where the heat of persecution was during that
particular time. Verse 16, as we begin here in
verse 16, Paul says, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
The gospel is the preaching of the glorious person. the finished
work of Christ in his death to satisfy the justice of God, to
satisfy this justice for his people and redeem them by his
blood and secure for them eternal salvation forever. It is this
gospel of God that sets forth the glory and the power of Christ. to save sinners by his shed blood
and this righteousness that we're going to talk about this morning
imputed, charged, reckoned to the sinner's account. The words,
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ expresses that the
apostle was not ashamed of it. That is, to preach it which he
fully did and faithfully and plainly and consistently, openly
and publicly and boldly in the face of all this opposition that
he encountered here throughout that part of the world during
his time. Not being ashamed of this gospel
of Christ also expresses that he had the utmost value of it
and esteemed it, his highest honor, that he was employed to
preach in it. Paul's reasons for this were
because it was the gospel of Christ. which Christ himself
preached, which he had learned by revelation from Christ, and
of which Christ was the sum and the substance of this gospel.
Still speaking of not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ, Christ
says here in John 3, verse 19 and 20, and this is the condemnation,
that lights come into the world, and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved." Go ahead and turn to John 15,
verse 18. Sinners by nature will not bow
to God's gospel, which is this light that John is speaking of. Christ says here, if the world
hates you, You know that it hated me before
it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hated you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted you, They will also, if they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept
my sayings, they will keep yours also. The gospel that God's elect
believe and have all their hope and all their trust in will bond
God's elect together under one truth. And if we are faithful
in telling people, friends, relatives, If we're faithful in telling
them the truth about this gospel that we're going to be talking
about this morning, of how God is to justify an ungodly sinner,
the same gospel that we love so dear will divide us from those
that do not believe the gospel that we're preaching. This is
the light, or the gospel, this gospel message that all men hate by nature.
even God's elect until God does a work of grace in their heart.
Here in John 16, 3, Christ tells us just how far the natural man
will go due to their hatred for this gospel. A good example is
Cain and Abel. And you all know the story of
Cain and Abel where God required that they bring a sacrifice.
And God had told them what to bring. They had to bring the
blood of an animal. perfect without spot of blemish.
And of course, Abel brought this sacrifice to God, which was a
picture and a type of Christ. But his brother, his brother
Cain, he brought the best that he could do, the works of his
hands. He thought he was really doing something that would please
God, since it was the best thing he had to offer that he produced. He brought that to God, and God
did not accept it. He told him, if you do well,
if you do what I require with bringing the right sacrifice,
that blood sacrifice, if you do well, you'll be accepted.
Now, when all this happened, and God didn't accept Cain's
sacrifice, he became angry. And they had a talk, him and
his brother Abel. And Abel sided with God in this
matter on what was required as he was looking to Christ in that
sacrifice, that blood sacrifice. And his brother killed him. He
became angry. And like I said, by nature, we
do not love this gospel. We won't have any part of it.
And here in John 16, verse 3, this is Christ speaking. These
things have I spoken to you, that you should not be offended. They shall put you out of the
synagogues, yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you think
that he doeth God's service. And these things will they do
unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." I
can look back to when God first revealed his gospel to me and
caused me to flee to Christ. for my only hope for justification
and eternal life. Now, unlike in what we just read
here in John 3.19, where the natural man will not come to
this light of this gospel, God's word of how he saves the sinner,
God had done a work in this center in order to cause me to see my
helpless and hopeless estate and condition before God. So
when the light of the gospel was preached I readily came to
the light. God had caused me to see through
the light of the gospel that all God says concerning the sinner
is true. Now, this caused me to repent
of ever thinking that I could appease this holy God that we
are going to have to deal with apart from a perfect righteousness,
a perfect righteousness wrought out by Christ and imputed, charged
to my account. Unless and until God regenerates
and gives life to a sinner, he will not admit of his self-righteousness
and religious pride. And that's where we are all by
nature. He will flee from the true gospel
and he'll hate this truth that God's elect so dearly love. God
must make us willing in the day of his power. As we have seen
in the previous verses here that we just read how this gospel
is an offense to the natural man, now we'll look and we'll
look at and we'll see that it is the wisdom and power of God
to believers, those God's elect, those sheep that the Father give
Christ. It says, for it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The gospel applied
by the Holy Spirit in the new birth has power. In James 1.18,
of his own will beget he us with the word of truth, that we should
be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. Here we see how faith
is required in salvation, not as a cause, not as a ground of
salvation or the conditions that we must meet to attain and maintain
salvation in any way. But as the instrument whereby
we are able to view, we are able to receive and love Christ who
is our salvation. It is the power of God instrumentally
as it is the means made by God in quickening dead sinners, enlightening
blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, softening those hard hearts that
we have by nature, and making friends out of enemies. Go ahead
and turn to Philippians 3, if you would. Philippians 3, and
we'll begin at verse 7. It is the power of the Holy Spirit
who gives spiritual life from Christ and convinces sinners
of sin in order to drive them to Christ for righteousness and
for eternal life. It is experienced and known as
sinners are brought to faith in Christ and repentance from
dead works. and former idolatry. Now, here
in Philippians 3, this is the Apostle Paul speaking here. The
Apostle Paul says, But what things were gain to me, those I counted
lost for Christ. We are speaking of things here
as Paul is speaking here, things in his former religion that he
thought were gain. which was his works in former
religion, his keeping the law and doing those touch not, taste
not, handle not, and all these things. He said, I count them
lost for Christ. Yeah, doubtless, and I count
all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do
count them but done, that I may win Christ and be found in him.
not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith, that I may know him, and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made
conformable unto his death, even if by any means I might attain
unto the resurrection of the dead." Now, once God's word,
his gospel, In the hands of God the Holy Spirit is heard and
believed from the heart the desired results will be as we just read
concerning the Apostle Paul and every one of God's elect who
was saved by God's grace in Christ. The fruit and effect of this
conversion is stated clear in these verses we just got through
reading where the Apostle Paul speaks of how that all things
that he counted lost for the excellency of Christ. The extent
of this power of God is unto salvation. The gospel is a declaration
and revelation of salvation by Christ and is a means of directing
and encouraging souls to lay hold upon it. The persons to
whom this applies are, in general, everyone that believes This does
not suppose that faith gives the gospel its virtue or its
efficacy. But the phrase, to every one
believeth, is only descriptive of the person to whom the gospel,
attended with the power of grace of God, produces the desired
results. In other words, the desired results
of this gospel preached out is that God's elect come to faith
and repentance, and that Christ be exalted. and that God be glorified
in all things. This power of God unto salvation
is to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Now, the gospel
is not for one particular group of people. It is for God's elect
out of every nation. It is to the Jew and to the Gentile. It is to the Jew first only that
the gospel was first preached out in Israel. This was God's
plan and his way of bringing the gospel and salvation to all
his people throughout the world. Now, to the Jew first, as they
had an advantage over the Gentiles to begin with. This advantage
that the Jews had was through the peculiar privileges which
were conferred on them. So the gospel was first preached
to them by Christ and his disciples. And even when it was ordered
to be carried into the Gentile world, it was to begin with them
and became effectual for the salvation of many of them. Now,
concerning the word Greek used here in this verse, it does not
mean a native of Greece, but of all Gentiles when it talks
about to the Jew first and also to the Greek. all the Gentiles
who were under the influence of this Greek culture within
this Roman Empire, where these believers at Rome were. Now we
will look at verse 17, where the apostle states, for therein,
within this gospel that we are talking about, is the righteousness
of God revealed. Now, by the righteousness of
God here does not mean the central righteousness of God. which is
God's perfection of character and His nature, and Him being
a just God in His essential nature. Even though God's essential nature
is revealed in this gospel that we're looking at, it is not the
righteousness of God spoken of here in verse 17. Nor is this
righteousness of God the righteousness by which Christ Himself is righteous,
either as God or as mediator. Now, folks, I'm going to go over
a few verses here in just a moment, and I want you to pay close attention
to these things I'm about to say. These words are words of
life in the hands of the Holy Spirit. This is the righteousness
of God that is revealed in this gospel that we claim to believe
here at this place and have claimed to believe for many years. As
we just got through saying that this righteousness of God is
not the essential righteousness of God, But the righteousness
that we're speaking of here and spoken of here in Romans 1 verse
17 is the righteousness which Christ wrought out by His obedience
to the precepts of the law. This right here, what we're talking
about is this perfect satisfaction to law and justice that Christ
performed. It's Christ bearing the penalty
of a broken law in the room and in the place of his people, and
by which they are justified in the sign of God by this righteousness
that Christ brought out by himself, this righteousness that even
now is at the right hand of the Father as Christ sits here now
and will throughout eternity. As this is called the righteousness
of God, Now, this righteousness of God is in total opposition
to the righteousness of man, self-righteousness, that we all
are by nature. This righteousness justifies
men in the sight of God. This righteousness is of Jehovah
the Father, as he sent the Son to work it out. In being brought
out, God the Father approves and accepts it, as Christ was
raised from the dead. Now, this is the righteousness
that is imputed to God's elect that we're talking about. Jehovah
the Son is the author of it by his obedience unto death. He
accomplished it, and Jehovah the Spirit reveals it to the
sinners, and he works faith in them to lay hold upon it, and
he pronounces the sentence of justification by it in our minds
and our affections and our will. This is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Now, this is said to be revealed in this gospel, this
righteousness that we're talking about. That is, it is taught
in the gospel. That is the word of righteousness,
the ministration of it. It is manifested in and by the
gospel. This righteousness is not known
by the light of nature, nor by the law of Moses. It was hid
under the shadows of the ceremonial law and is brought to light only
by the gospel. It is hid from the natural man,
even from the most wise and the prudent of men, and from God's
elect themselves before conversion, and is only made known to believers
to whom it is revealed by God. This righteousness of God spoken
of here in verse 17 is God's perfect and just way of redeeming
sinners by the Lord Jesus Christ. God must always be true to himself. He's a loving and a merciful
and gracious God. But he is also a righteous, a
just and a truthful God. He cannot ignore sin, and all
sin demands and deserves eternal death according to God's law.
As we will see in some of the following scriptures, God is
clear concerning his justice in punishing sin. If you are
a sinner, and we all are by nature, by nature in practice, then either
we must die an eternal death because of this sin, or a suitable
substitute must take our place. And Christ did. He was our substitute. He worked out this righteousness
on our behalf. His blood was shed on that cross.
Here in Genesis 2.17, and it's going back to the beginning about
sin, it says, But of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. Behold, all souls are mine, and
the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine.
The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die." In Romans 5.21,
that is, sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. I'm reading a lot of scriptures
here, but I think we need to pay attention to them. Romans
6.23, For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hebrews 9.22, And almost
all things are by the law purged with blood, and without the shedding
of blood there is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness
of sin. The question then comes, after
seeing all these scriptures of the penalty of sin being death,
How can this God be both the righteous judge and a loving
Father? How can a sinner be just with
God? In Job 9, Job answered and said, I know
it is of a truth, but how should man be just with God or before God? And in Job 25,
verse 4, how then can man be justified with God, or how can
he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and
it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight, how
much less that is a worm, and the Son of man which is a worm.
It is easy to see that Job was convinced that God was a just
God in all his actions. So the question then comes, since
this God that we all have to deal with is a just God in all
His ways, how can this just God and how can man be just with
God since we know He is just? If not the angel, and if not
man in his best estate in which he is vanity when compared to
God, then much less frail, feeble, mortal, sinful, men, even the
best of men, considered in themselves and with respect to their own
righteousness, which is filthy rags. For to be just is not to
be so through an infusion of righteousness and wholeness into
men. And we've heard a lot about that.
Another word is imparted or imbued. This righteousness is not received
in that way. It's not something that's put
in us in such a way that we become righteous in ourself. It must
be imputed. It must be charged. It must be
accounted. This is a legal term. We must receive this righteousness
by imputation and imputation alone. But to be just is a legal term
and stands opposed to condemnation. For a man to be pronounced righteous
in a judiciary way, he cannot be reckoned or accounted by God
by any works of righteousness done by man, since man's best
works are imperfect, not answerable to the law by way of fulfillment.
For our works are very defective and therefore are not able to
justify us before this holy God. It is a certain thing that a
man can never be just or justified with God in such a way or through
any righteousness wrought out by man. For if the inhabitants
of the heaven are not pure in God's sight, which are the holy
angels, and if man at his best estate was altogether vanity
when compared to God, what must sinful morals be? If God should
mark our iniquities or enter into judgment with us, we could
not stand before him without blame. A man can only be just
in the sight of God, this holy God that we are talking about,
through the imputation of the righteousness of Christ as God
accounts it to us, putting it upon us, clothing us with it,
and so reckoning and pronouncing us righteous through it. This
act of God wherein he reckons his righteousness is entirely
consistent with the justice of God, him being a just God. Now,
by this righteousness the law is fulfilled, magnified, made
honorable, and justice satisfied, so that God is just while he
is the justifier of him that believes in Jesus. Go ahead and
turn to Isaiah 45, if you would, verse 21. Here Isaiah begins to tell us
that not only is God just, it says, "...tell ye, and bring
them near, yea, let them take counsel together. Who hath declared
this from ancient times? Who hath told it from that time?
Have not I the Lord? And there is no God else beside
me, a just God." and a Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I
am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return. That unto
me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall
one say, And the Lord have our righteousness and strength."
Is that not your testimony this morning? Surely, shall one say,
In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall
men come, and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall
glory." These are the issues of salvation that we are talking
about here. If God is to be glorified in
our hearts, Man by nature in his self-righteousness devises
his way of works which denies God's glory in every way. Man
cannot be justified before God by his own works in any way. In Romans 3 verse 19-20, Now
we know that what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them
that 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 the
sight of God, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." That
ought to settle the issue right there. By deeds of law, there
shall be no flesh, no flesh be justified in his sight. But by
nature, we're going to go about and still try to do those things
that we think that will appease God in some way and satisfy him
in some way. In Ephesians 2, verse 8-10, "'For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself
is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath aforeordained, that we should walk in them.'
Now man's righteousness here always falls short of the requirement
of perfect of perfection that God has required. Romans 3.23
says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The righteousness of God that
we are talking about this morning, this righteousness of God is
revealed in the gospel, always opposes and cancels out man's
attempts at righteousness in any way. Let's look at some scripture
that shows us that salvation must be by grace and not of In
Matthew 5.20, for I say unto you that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,
ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Behold,
back there this morning in our Bible study, he talked about
that, about those Pharisees and about that these Pharisees here,
they went about doing everything. that they could to appease God
by their works. They went to extremes in everything
that was required there as far as keeping of the law, the touching
not, tasting not, whether they fasted one day or two or three
days. Now, this scripture talking about
the scribes and the Pharisees, of course, Christ tells us that
unless we possess a righteousness, that exceeds theirs in every
way, we shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Let's
turn to Romans 9, verse 31. Romans 9, verse 31. We see here
in these verses that the majority of the nation of Israel did not
attain to this righteousness that we're talking about because
they sought it by the works of the law. Says, But Israel, which
followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained it, not attained
to this law of righteousness, wherefore, because they sought
it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For
they stumbled at the stumbling stone, which was Christ. As it
is written, Behold, I lay in the sign of the church of God
a stumbling stone, and a rock of offense, and whosoever believeth
on him shall not be ashamed. in Romans 10.4, for Christ is
the end of law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. In
Titus 3, beginning in verse 4, but after that, the kindness
and love of God our Savior toward men appeared, not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy. He
saved us by washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit.
Now, sinful man's attempt to make himself righteous by his
works are the fruit of unbelief and a denial of the gospel of
God's grace in Christ. I'm not going to be able to get
as far as what I thought I was going to get this morning, but
I do want to make it clear that what we're talking about having
to do with Paul and him as he writes to the church at Rome
here in verses 15, 16 and 17, As he talks about this gospel
of God, as he talks about this righteousness that's revealed
within this gospel, we're distinguished. It should
distinguish us from a lot of religions, a lot of the religion
of today. This gospel that we believe,
wherein the righteousness of God is revealed, This righteousness
that we have all our hope and all our trust in is what Christ
worked out. This righteousness is a perfect
satisfaction to God's holy law, and He worked it out, and God
imputes it to His elect, all those that He gives Christ in
eternity, to come to live and die as their substitute and surety. And this righteousness is what
we've got to have, folks. to stand before this holy God.
That's God's standard of judgment. It's what Christ accomplished
in his life, in his death. And I pray to God that he'll
use this message to save sinners and to edify his elect.