Well we've been looking mostly
in Romans and we're going to continue there this morning with
reference later to James. We've been looking at how the
righteousness that God requires is manifested and grasped and
made your own in the gospel. That's what we've been looking
at. This is the key thing. How should a man be just with
God? How can we be, we who are by
nature in our flesh the enemies of the living God, how can we
be reconciled to God? How can we do that which God
requires. Now all sorts of different religions
says, oh you must do these things, you must do what the church says,
you must do what the imam says, you must do what this form of
religion or that form of religion says, and there are those who
quite frankly completely deluded who say well never mind we're
all heading up the same mountain to the same top where God sits,
the one God, but we're just coming at it from different directions.
I'm sorry, not true. How do I know it's not true?
I read what this book says. This book? Sola Scriptura was
the theme of the Reformation, the Scriptures alone, to the
law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this
word. What word? These 66 books of
the Bible that were inspired by the Spirit of God. When men
set aside for the purpose of it were inspired by God to write,
they wrote in their own style, you can tell the style of Paul,
you can tell the style of Peter, you can tell the style of David,
you can tell the style of Moses, they wrote in their own way,
yet a 100% consistent, oh no, the Old Testament disagrees with
it, no it doesn't, no it doesn't, no it doesn't. The Old Testament
is patterns and types, the New Testament is the fulfilment of
the patterns and the types. This is our rule and our guide,
the Scriptures, to the law and to the testimony. By God's Spirit
opening our eyes and giving us light, we see how does God say
that the righteousness that he requires is achieved. How do you get it? Because do
you know something? We're all going to die. We know
that, don't we? Happens all the time. Look all
around us. Funeral directors just up the
road from us. They're busy. They make a profit. Plenty of
business going on there. We're all going to die. Everybody
does. What are you going to do then? However good a life you
have, what are you going to do then? You need to be right with
the God that created you. Oh, well, I just choose not to
believe in a God that created me. Well, you're a fool, says
the scripture. This book says you're a fool.
The fool has said in his heart, no God for me. The fool God calls
you a fool, a fool. The fool has said in his heart,
no God for me. You've got to face that God.
How are you going to be right with him? Because he requires
nothing other than the righteousness of God for you to get to heaven.
How are you going to get there? What are you going to do? How
good are you going to be? How are you going to make up
for all the things that you haven't done? Oh gosh, do you see? Do
you see what a challenge it is? But we've seen, in these verses
of Romans 3, the righteousness of God made plain in the gospel. We've seen redemption. What do
I mean by redemption? I mean the payment of the debt. I mean the payment of the penalty,
the payment that the law of God demands for sin has been accomplished
by Christ Jesus, who is God, who is God, who is very God,
God in flesh, who came to this earth to take on him the flesh
of his people, that in that flesh he might do for them that which
they can never do for themselves, and he might establish their
righteousness, and satisfy the law's demands that the soul that
sins, it shall die, in the place of every one of them. These people
is a number that cannot be numbered, an innumerable number, but every
single one known to God. They're called the elect of God.
Oh I don't like the idea of election, I don't think that's a horrible
doctrine, no I'm not having that, no it's not fair. Well you better
take some scissors and cut loads and loads out of your Bible,
in fact you'll end up with virtually nothing left if you're honest
because the Bible is full of the fact that God is a God of
sovereign grace and either you bow to him or you remain his
enemy. He has an elect, an innumerable
multitude from every tribe and tongue and kindred in all ages,
and that elect is justified. They're justified on the basis
of what Christ has done. They're put into the good of
everything that Christ has done. And how do they receive it? And
how do they know it? And how do they sense it? And
how do they appreciate it? And how do they live by the light
of it? By faith. By faith. All of it without law
works. You see, there's nothing that
we do, listen to this carefully, there is nothing that we do in
the flesh that improves our standing in the holiness that God requires.
You know, I know I'm not holy enough for God, so I'm going
to do this, that and the other. I tell you, there is nothing,
nothing, nothing that we do in the flesh that improves our standing
in the holiness that God requires. And so those that have true saving
faith, say with Paul in Philippians 3 verse 3, we have no confidence
in the flesh. Absolutely none whatsoever. The
law, as it was given to Moses at Sinai, when they came out
of Egypt, defines the righteous requirement of God. It was already
written in the human conscience, but it was made explicit in tablets
of stone on Mount Sinai. And sin is the transgression,
the breaking of that law. And with that transgression comes
penalty. and justice is required and satisfaction
must be made to the law that demands that penalty. And from
Moses to Christ, the Jews, the Israelites, the people of Israel,
lived nominally under the constraint of that law. You read all about
it in your Old Testament. From the time of Moses through
to the time of Christ. From Exodus through to Malachi,
you read all about the Jews, Israel, living nominally. They
kept straying, they kept going away, they kept getting it wrong,
God kept rebuking them and punishing them for their idolatry and their
faithlessness. But they lived nominally under
the constraint of that law and it was upheld by the scribes
and the Pharisees and the elders and the high priest and all of
those things. That's how they lived before Christ came. So
this is the question. We've been looking at Romans
3. Is Romans 3 simply a New Testament way of getting right with God? Is that it? You know, in the
Old Testament there was the Jews way of getting right with God
and it was according to the law and the temple sacrifices and
all of that. And then you come to the New Testament and there's
this new way. Therefore now, by the deeds of the law, there
shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is
the knowledge of sin. But now, in the New Testament,
the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being
witnessed by the law and the prophets. Is Romans 3 simply
a New Testament way? Is what Christ has accomplished
simply a New Testament way of getting right with God? Now to
whom Do the Jews, the Israelites, all, even to this day, trace
their ancestry? I mean, be in no doubt that Jews
today cannot trace their ancestry. They don't even know which tribe
they came from. They really do not know that. It's just, it's
gone, it's gone, it's gone completely. But nevertheless, there are people
who nominally are Jews and they trace their ancestry ultimately
back to Abraham, who was the father of Israel, the father
of the Jews. And Paul then asks, as we start
chapter 4 of Romans, how was he justified before God's holy
requirements? How was Abraham justified in
the sight of God? How was Abraham made just with
God that he might not face the condemnation for his sin because
a sinner he really was he was a sinner just like all the rest
of us Abraham was a liar he lied he used deceit at times he disobeyed
God in in so many ways he was a sinner he was he was so how
was he justified before God's holy requirements so let's look
at chapter four of Romans If you like, I'm going to do what
I normally don't do, but I'm going to go through this verse by verse
this morning, so I want you to follow with me. Let's go through
Romans chapter 4, verse by verse, and follow it with me, and let's
see what it says, because as I said, where do we get our doctrine
from? We don't get it from the church,
or from the teacher, or from whatever else. Please don't say
that you get it from me, only insofar as what I say accords
with what this book says. That's it. Only if you hear the
Good Shepherd's voice through the words I speak, listen to
me. Don't listen to me because I'm not... I'm nothing. I'm nothing
at all. Nor is anybody else in any authority. You know, it's not the case of
ordaining somebody to give them some right to do things, not
at all. It's the Holy Spirit that gives
the message and the true people of God hear, hear the Good Shepherd's
voice. My sheep, said Jesus, hear my
voice and follow me. How do they hear it? Through
the under-shepherds that Christ has given to his church because
he's given ministry gifts. So then, Let's look at chapter
4. What shall we say then? You see, we've said, righteousness
is established by what Christ has done. And you are counted
righteous as you believe in what he has done. And so, does that
mean that the law is now of no effect? No, we saw that last
week, verse 31, we don't make void the law through faith, rather
we establish the law. The law is only established,
God's righteous requirements are only established in flesh
through faith. It's only those of faith looking
unto Jesus who actually please God. That's it. Those who do
all sorts of things to deprive themselves, to do all sorts of
things that they think are law works that will be satisfying
to God, that make them better than anybody else, you know,
they do all the works of somebody who is so good to everybody else,
I'm telling you, in the eyes of God that's filthy rags righteousnesses,
and it counts for nothing. The only thing that counts is
faith. Looking to the faith of Jesus
Christ in all that he accomplished, that establishes the law. So,
what shall we say then? verse 1 of chapter 4 that Abraham
our father our ancestor as pertaining to the flesh he's our ancestor
says Paul who himself was a Jew what did he find? does this disagree
with what he found? 4 verse 2 if Abraham were justified
by works if the things that Abraham did then he's got something to
glory in hasn't he? ooh aren't I a good boy? Look
what a good boy am I, I've done all of these things and I've
done it well. But he hasn't got anything before God to glory
in. 4 verse 3. What does the scripture say?
Is that not what I've just been saying? What does the scripture
say? That's the rule, that's the test,
that's the only standard. This is what the scripture says
about Abraham. It doesn't say it About him keeping
the law it says Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him
for righteousness. Genesis 15 verse 6 and you know
I've told you many times it wasn't Abraham's act of believing that
was counted to him for righteousness but what Abraham believed in. And what did Abraham believed
in? that God would send a Messiah, a Christ, a substitute, and that
that one would come and would satisfy the law for all of his
people. That's what he believed, and
that was what was counted. It was what Christ was going
to do that was counted to him for righteousness. It was what
Christ has done that is counted to you and me if we have the
faith of God's elect. That is what is counted for righteousness,
not the works that we do now. Verse 4. To him that worketh
is the reward, what reward? The reward of eternal life, the
reward of heaven. To him that works is the reward
for that work, not reckoned of grace, but of debt. You go to
work, I tell you I'm in a happy position of not needing to go
to work these days, being retired, but If I was to ask, Peter, why
do you go to work? Well, you certainly don't do
it out of the goodness of your heart. You do it because your
employer is in debt to you. And how does he settle the debt? He pays you your salary. When
you work, you expect to be paid for it. you know if I get somebody
to come and do some jobs for us when they've done the job
that I asked them to do and I agreed a price for I am then in debt
to them until I have paid them because they have fairly done
what they said they would do for the price they said they
would do it then I am in debt to them to him that works is
the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt but verse five to
him that worketh not For to him that doesn't work to be justified
with God, to be just with God, but to him that believes on him
that justifieth the ungodly, His faith is counted for righteousness. He believes on him that justifies
the ungodly. Verse 26 of chapter 3, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just. God remains
just, and yet he's able, on the basis of what Christ has done,
to justify to show in the books of eternal
divine justice that there is no sin against the one who believes
in Jesus because Jesus has died as paid the law's penalty for
that person's sin. His faith is counted for righteousness. Look at the blessing of it, verse
six. Even as David also, describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. What a blessed
state to be in. That's in one of the Psalms. David says, blessed is the man
to whom the Lord does not impute sin. Saying, verse seven, Psalm
32, verses one and two. Blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Only they. Not all men. Blessed are they. And who is
it that makes the difference? It's God who makes the difference.
He is the God of the universe. Not men and women. God is God. God is sovereign. You cannot
have a non-sovereign God, it's a ludicrous concept. God must
be sovereign over everything, and he's sovereign over salvation. And he says, blessed are they
They. Out of all men, blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is the man, verse 8, to whom the Lord will not impute sin. What a blessed state to be in.
We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. It is
appointed to man to die once and then the judgment. What have
you done? This is my law, this is my righteousness. How do you stand before that
righteousness? Sinner, sinner, all, all the
world condemned. Now we know what things 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. Guilty of sin and therefore deserving
of the condemnation, the penalty, which the law of God has prescribed
for sin. The soul that sins, it shall
die. But blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man whose iniquities
are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Are you in that state? We must all stand before the
judgment seat of Christ and receive the things done in the body.
And can you imagine that great day when all things are brought
to an end? How? I don't know, the scriptures
give us ideas, I don't really know how, but all things are
coming to an end, all this world is coming to an end. And we must
all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and all the books
will be open. But for those who are in Christ,
for whom Christ has died, whom Christ has purged their sins,
whom Christ has redeemed from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for them, all those people, every single one of them, stand
there with their sins not imputed to them, with their sins covered. I sought for the sins, says God
in several places in the Old Testament, I sought for the sins
of Judah and of Israel, of Jacob, and I found them not. Why? For
Christ has taken them out of the way. Now then, who gets this
blessing? Who gets this blessing? Is it
Jews only or is it Gentiles as well? Verse nine, cometh this
blessedness then, this blessedness of having sins forgiven and not
having sin imputed, does it come upon the circumcision only? That's
the Jews because Abraham of course was given the sign of circumcision
as we'll see in a moment. Does it come upon the Jews only
or upon the uncircumcision, the Gentiles also, for we say that
faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? How?
When he was circumcised or before he was circumcised? No, he gives
the answer straight away. Not when he was circumcised,
but before he was circumcised. That's when this blessedness
of faith was counted to Abraham for righteousness. Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. If you turn back to Genesis chapter
15, keep your finger in Romans 3, but turn back to Genesis and
chapter 15 and there we see God meeting
with Abraham. Who met with Abraham in Genesis
15? It must be the Lord Jesus Christ. for no man has seen God
at any time. But the only begotten Son, who
is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known. All of
the appearances of God to man in the Old Testament are in actual
fact the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. And Abraham is receiving
promises from God, and he wants assurance about those promises.
But in chapter 15, it's before he was given the seal of circumcision. that comes a couple of chapters
later verse 10 of chapter 17 every man child among you shall
be circumcised and you shall circumcise the flesh of your
foreskin and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and
you but in chapter 15 that was before Abraham received the sign
of circumcision that was before then But in chapter 15, there's
this most mysterious bit towards the end of the chapter, where
he asks for a sign and God tells him to get some animals and lay
them out, kill them and lay them out and cut them in pieces and
go down the middle of them, divide
them one side to the other. This was in ancient rites and
practices. the sort of the sealing of a
covenant a covenant was on the basis of something solid and
he said look I'll show you the basis on which the promise that
he's going to be the father of many many people the father by
faith of many people and between those pieces that he'd cut towards
the end of chapter fifteen of Genesis there was a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp You know in the Exodus out of Egypt later
on, in the book of Exodus, we see God appears to the children
of Israel in a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke, cloud
and fire. Here there's a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp. Is this not symbolically God
passing in covenant assurance between the pieces of a sacrifice.
On what basis was Abraham's justification established? That of sacrifice. And God was there in the midst
of it, and it was looking to the sacrifice that would come.
And it becomes even more graphic when we get to about chapter
20, 21, where he takes Isaac, where he takes Isaac to sacrifice
Isaac at the command of God, because he believes that this
son whom God has given him, could this one be the Redeemer? Could
this very one be the Redeemer? He was wrong of course, but it
was a picture. It was a picture. In Isaac shall
the promise be fulfilled. So you see, this reckoning of
Abraham who by faith was counted righteous with God not on the
basis of any works it was before he was given even the sign of
circumcision never mind four hundred and thirty years before
the law was given verse eleven of chapter four of Romans he
received the sign of circumcision a seal of the righteousness of
the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised he already was
righteous on the basis of faith What he looked to, when he was
uncircumcised as we saw, he was already counted righteous, but
he was given circumcision later as the seal, as the sign of the
putting off of the works of the flesh, that he might be the father
of all them that believe. that includes us, though they
be not circumcised that righteousness might be imputed to them also
and the father of circumcision to those who are not of the circumcision
only but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father
Abraham which he had being yet uncircumcised as Paul writes
in Galatians In Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Gentile,
male nor female, all one in Christ Jesus. There is no difference.
We're all made righteous with God, we're all justified by God
on the basis of looking to that one sacrifice for sin for all,
for all time, for all his people, that Christ made at Calvary.
Verse 13, for the promise that he should be the heir of the
world, that Abraham should be a father of a great people, was
not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, it wasn't if
you keep the law then you will be, but through the righteousness
of faith, the righteousness that comes, that is apprehended by
faith. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, those that try and get it by keeping law, those
who try and improve their standing in holiness, in the sight of
God, by the works that they do in the flesh, they look to the
things they do and they go, oh gosh, that's been a good day
today, that's maybe better before God. If they which are of the
law be heirs, those that think like that, faith is made void. You see, faith is made void.
And the promise made of none effect, because it is received
by faith. You see, the law, verse 15, works
wrath. That's what the law is for. Transgression
of the law is sin. And the penalty for sin is death
under the law. Where there is no law, there
is no transgression. That's why the law was given,
to make it plain, to make it absolutely clear, verse 16. Therefore,
it is of faith. What is of faith? The promise
to Abraham. The promise of what? The promise
of righteousness. The promise of being acceptable
to God, of being justified by God. It is of faith that it might
be by grace to the end. Grace? not of works. Grace, entirely
the gift, the free gift, the undeserved, the unmerited gift. If it wasn't, it wouldn't be
grace, it would be works and then it would be wages. The wages
of sin tells us, we're told in Romans 6 at the end of it, the
wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through
Christ Jesus our Lord. It is a faith that it might be
by grace. To the end the promise might
be sure to all the seed. All of them, all of Abraham's
seed. Does that mean all of those who are descended from him by
natural generation? No, not only to that which is
of the law, the Jews, but also to that which is of the faith
of Abraham. Paul says exactly the same again
to the Galatians. We are all by faith. If you have
the faith of Abraham, you are sons of Abraham. male or female
you are sons of Abraham he's the father of us all as it is
written I have made thee this is what God said to Abraham Genesis
17 verse 5 I have made thee a father of many nations a father of many
nations because in many nations in all nations are those who
have the faith of God's elect given by his grace by the Holy
Spirit before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the
dead, who makes alive the dead, who makes alive those who have
no spiritual light, no spiritual eyes, no spiritual ears, he gives
them eyes and ears to hear and believe, and calls those things
which be not as though they were, who against hope, by which he
means against reasonable hope, in the face of everything counting
against it, who against hope, believed in hope he hoped even
though there was no reason for hope why? because he was an old
man he was an old man nearly a hundred years old and God had
said there'll be a great nation multitudes of people will come
from you you will have a son and great multitudes of people
and he was nearly a hundred years old there was no hope naturally
when you get beyond a certain age you can't have children anymore
you're too old But against that hope, against that reasonable
hope, he believed what God had said, that he might become the
father of many nations. According to that which was spoken,
so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith,
because God had given him faith, he considered not his own body,
now dead, infertile, when he was about a hundred years old
neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb because she was about ninety
years old and verse twenty he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief He didn't go, I don't know, I'm not going
to believe that, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God,
glory in believing and trusting God's promise. He believed God. He trusted God. God had spoken
and he said, if God has spoken, I don't understand, I don't know
how, but he will do it and he will accomplish it. And therefore,
verse 22, it, what? that which he looked to. What
did he look to? That God would send a Messiah
to satisfy the demands of the law and of his justice and save
this people that would come from Abraham, the father of all the
faithful, all who have the same faith as Abraham. It, that work
of Christ, was imputed, counted, reckoned, written up in the books
to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead. Do you see what the scriptures
are saying? Boys, do you see what the scriptures are saying?
If we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
if we believe God's Word, if we believe His promise concerning
what He has accomplished in redemption, that will be counted to us for
righteousness. So when I face the fact that
however young I am, one day I'm going to die and I must stand
before God, if I'm believing in Jesus, if I'm trusting in
Him and what He has accomplished, God will count me righteous,
and God will say to me on that day, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world into eternal bliss in the presence of the living
God, because he's accomplished it. If we believe on him who
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, his finished redemption. Jesus our Lord was delivered
for our offences. He actually paid the law's penalty
and he was raised for our justification, to confirm our justification. So, in summary, God has always
and only ever saved his people from their sins on the basis
of the redemption accomplished by Christ Jesus. What he did
has satisfied the justice of God, has paid the law's penalty
for his people's sins, and his blood alone is the price required. And it's for us also, if we believe. This is the Word of God. This
is what it says to us. Looking to the finished redemption
and accomplished justification made by Christ, we are counted
righteous on the basis of what he's done. Not law works, but
faith. apprehending redemption accomplished
so turn over to James chapter 2 and I'm just going to be two
or three minutes here and then we'll finish James chapter 2
verse 14 well verse 24 let's let's start
there start at the end Why does James seem to contradict? We
read it earlier. But why does James seem to contradict
what Paul says? You see, in verse 24, James says,
you see then how that by works a man is justified. What? I thought
Paul just said it was by faith and not by works. Why does James
say by works a man is justified and not by faith only? Why does
he say that? Well, I think what James is talking
about here in this passage is there are different sorts of
faith. There are different sorts of
faith. Right? Different sorts. So, if you go
to verse 18, Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest.
You have faith that there is one God. You do well. The devils
also believe the same thing, but they tremble. They're nothing.
They've got that faith. There are different kinds of
faith. There's religious faith. Oh, it's the religion of my family
and of my father's and of the line that I come from. There's
fleshly faith. There's a faith which is just
the, you know, some people are more religiously inclined in
their flesh than others. There's a superstitious faith.
There's a superstitious faith that is prepared to believe all
sorts of mumbo-jumbo. There's a mere head knowledge
faith. that's the faith that we read
about in verses 18 and 19 the devils have got head knowledge
faith says James the word of God to us says the devils have
got head knowledge faith but it doesn't save them there's
only the saving faith of God's elect that is true faith true
faith that acts on what it sees how does it act? like Abraham
with Isaac because Abraham saw what God had told him when God
told him to do something He acted on it. Like Rahab in Jericho. You know, Rahab was there on
her own. She could see what was going to happen because God had
revealed it to her. He'd sent the spies to her and she hid
them in the face of all the people all around her. And she acted
on what she believed. What did she believe? She believed
more than just that another nation was going to come and invade
Jericho, she believed in the salvation that God revealed,
and she acted upon it. And the whole of Hebrews 11 is
like that. You read the whole of the faith
gallery. All of those Old Testament saints who, on the basis of what
they saw of the redemption that Christ would accomplish, they
acted. And like you, if you have true faith, will believe God
in everything he says. When he says that he saves by
particular redemption, that God from before the foundation of
the world chose a multitude that no man can number, and them and
them alone are the objects of his grace. They and they alone
are the ones for whom Christ died and shed his precious blood.
And because God has said it, as he most certainly has in this
word, you believe it. you might not be able to explain
it to somebody else but you believe it because God has said it in
the face of all worldly and religious opposition in chapter 11 of Hebrews
read it in the face of all worldly and religious opposition all
the ones listed there believed God and acted but you don't measure
your progress by the works your faith does we know that because
Jesus said the righteous will he says come because you did
all these good works and they'll say when did we do it when did
we give you a cup of coffee we don't remember doing that I said
when you did it to the least of one of these my servants you
did it to me No, this isn't really a contradiction at all. There's
perfect harmony in all of Scripture. The fact is, what James is saying
is, that true faith, the faith of God's elect, acts upon that
which it sees. It acts upon it. It doesn't go
around bragging about it, but it acts upon it. Do you? Do I?
Do we you know, put our money where
our mouth is as they say when it comes to spending money, do
we actually come up with it? Do we put, do we act on the basis
of that which we see by faith? So then, the redemption Christ
accomplished has always been, Old Testament and New Testament,
it has always been the way God justifies his people. And it
is the faith of Christ that made satisfaction, and the believer's
faith in Christ that apprehends and grasps it, and thereby knows
the blessing of it. I hope that's clear. Romans 4. Justification. Justification,
faith and works, how they relate to one another. There's no contradiction
with James, it's absolutely clear. Abraham, and all the Old Testament
saints, David, Noah, Seth, Enoch, all the way down the line, right
the way through, all of them, justified with God solely on
the basis of that which Christ did in the middle of time, at
the pivot of time when he came and bore his people's sins on
the cross of Calvary. Amen.