I did choose thee, Lord. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nybert. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I'm asking this question this
morning. Can a sinner be really righteous
before God? I'm going to read a verse of
scripture from Hebrews chapter 11, verse 4, and keep that in
mind as we consider this question. Can a sinner actually be righteous
before God? In Hebrews chapter 11, verse
4, we read, By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice
than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts,
and by it he being dead yet speaketh. Now, the fact that Abel offered
unto God a sacrifice lets us know that in and of himself,
by himself, he was not righteous. He couldn't approach God on his
own. He could only approach God through
a sacrifice. But this Scripture says that
he obtained witness, and God is the one who gave him this
witness, that he was righteous. God testifying of His gifts.
Now, what does the Bible mean by righteousness? I need to make
this clear. You see, you cannot be partially
righteous. You can't be righteous sometimes. Righteousness is altogether righteous. It's a perfect standing before
the holy law of God. It means the law of God, the
Ten Commandments, can look at you and say, there's no sin in
that man. That's what the Bible means by
righteous. Sin is the transgression of the law. Righteousness is
the fulfilling of the law. The Lord said to the Pharisees,
except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of heaven."
So when the Bible speaks of this term, righteous, it means righteous
altogether, a perfect righteousness before God's law. Now, how can
a man who is sinful like Abel, like me, actually be righteous
before God? Now, the text I just read regarding
Abel, does not say that righteousness was imputed to Abel, although
it was. It doesn't say that Abel was
viewed by God as righteous, although he was. It does not say that
Abel had a legal standing of righteousness before God, although
he did. It says, Abel was righteous in
his person before God. This is God's testimony of him,
that he was a righteous man. He obtained witness by God himself,
God testifying of his gifts. You see, the offering that he
brought made him righteous, and God testified to the gift of
righteousness that he'd given him. This was a righteous man,
and God was testifying what was real. You see, men think that
God views us as righteous if we're believers, but not really.
He knows what we are underneath that, but that's not what the
Scripture teaches. If God testifies of a man that
is righteous, that means he really is righteous. He is counted righteous
before God because he is righteous before God. It's not that he's
merely legally counted righteousness, but underneath it he's not. No,
he is righteous before God. Abel was righteous in his person
before God, so that God actually had respect to him. The account
of Genesis chapter 4 says unto Abel and to his offering, God
had respect. Now, God will only respect perfect
righteousness. This man, Abel, who was a sinner
in and of himself. You know, his name means vanity.
This man, Abel, was righteous before God. Now, there are only
two kinds of people in this world, the righteous and the wicked. Now, let me repeat that. There
are only two kinds of people in this world, the righteous
and the wicked. Here's something that's amazing,
though. All of the righteous believe themselves to be wicked
and see their need of the righteousness of Christ. And all of the wicked
believe themselves to either be righteous or have the potential
to be righteous by some work of theirs. They may even say,
well, I know I'm not righteous, but I could be if I turn things
around. One of these days, I'm going to turn things around.
Now, two kinds of people. the righteous and the wicked. Now, the first time the word
righteous is used in the scripture is with regard to Noah. God said regarding Noah, thee
have I seen as righteous before me in this generation. Now, that's how God saw Noah
and how God sees things is how they really are. He says regarding
Noah, thee have I seen as righteous, a perfect standing before me
in this generation. Now, in the previous chapter,
in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5, we read where God saw that the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Now, that's what God saw, and
God sees things as they really are. Now, how can that be, and
yet Noah is seen as righteous, because Noah was included in
that group that God saw when he saw that every imagination
of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, how can Noah be seen as
righteous in light of that? Romans chapter 3 verse 10 says,
there is none righteous, no, not one. Now, how can Abel, how
can Noah, how can any sinner Be righteous before God when
the Bible says that there is none righteous, no, not one. You know, I see that. There is
none righteous, no, not one. I feel it. I believe myself to
be unrighteous and evil in and of myself. I'm a sinner. That's
just the fact of the matter. I'm a sinner. I've heard people
say, how can a preacher say he's a sinner? Well, he's being honest.
Anybody that's honest knows that they're nothing in and of themselves
but sinful. Now, how can somebody like that
actually be righteous before God when the Scripture says,
what is man, that he should be clean? And he that's born of
woman, that he should be righteous. Behold, he putteth no trust in
his saints. The heavens are not clean in
his sight, how much more abominable and filthy is man that drinketh
iniquity like water." Now, can a sinner be righteous before
God? The answer is yes. And I'm not
talking about diplomatic immunity. I'm not talking about God gives
him a legal standing as righteous, but he's really not righteous
underneath it all. I'm talking about being truly righteous before
God. Now, how can that be? I've got
five points to this message. First, we're righteous by union
with Christ. This is the heritage of every
believer. Every believer is righteous by virtue of union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Secondly, righteous by imputation. The third point is righteous
by the gift of God. The fourth point is righteous
by nature, and the fifth point is righteous by faith. Now, let's consider all five
of these, and we can't really understand how a sinner can actually
be righteous before God without an understanding of all five
of these things. Now, first of all, righteous
by union. What do I mean by that? Hebrews
2, verse 11. says, both he that sanctifyeth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. The elect, those who believe,
are one with the Lord Jesus Christ. Not simply close together, but
they're one with Him. They are united to Him. They've
always been united to Him. Ephesians 1-4 says, according
as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
God's people have always been united to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in 1 John 4, verse 17, we
read, Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment. Now, what in the world could
give somebody boldness in the day of judgment? We go on reading
in that verse, in 1 John 4, verse 17, it says, "...herein is our
love made perfect, that we may have boldness on the day of judgment. For as He is, so are we in this
world. Is He righteous? Then I am too. I am united to Him, that the
only thing that will give somebody boldness on Judgment Day is perfect
righteousness. Not a cover-up righteousness
or a paste on righteousness that says, I'm legally righteous,
but I'm really not, underneath it all. No, I mean perfect, absolute
righteousness. That's what gives us boldness
on the Day of Judgment. And if I'm in Christ, just as
He is righteous, if I'm one with Him, if I'm united to Him, I'm
righteous. His righteousness is my righteousness
before God. I am righteous. And here's a
scriptural illustration of this. In Romans chapter 5 verse 12,
now Adam was the representative of all men. All men are in him. He's our first parent. All men
are represented by him. All men are united to him. Now
Romans chapter 5 verse 12 says, For by one man sin entered into
the world, and death by sin, so that death passed upon all
men in that all have sinned." Notice it doesn't say that Adam's
sin was charged to their accounts. It actually says they sinned.
When Adam sinned, I sinned because I'm one with him. I was united
to him in the exact same manner. When Christ completely obeyed
God's holy law, everybody that's united to Him obeyed God's holy
law perfectly. We're perfect in the Lord Jesus
Christ, united to Him. So the first way I can understand
that I can be righteous before God is if I'm united to the Lord
Jesus Christ, if I'm one with Him. This is a great mystery.
It's declared. Explained no, but declared yes.
Every believer is in the Lord Jesus Christ, united to him,
one with him. And everybody that's one with
him, his righteousness is their righteousness. Actually. Really. And my second point is
righteous by imputation. In Romans chapter 4, beginning
in verse 6, we read, Even as David also describeth the blessedness
of the man, under whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose
sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin." Now, this is the great Bible doctrine
of justification. To be justified means you stand
before God without guilt. It doesn't simply mean you're
forgiven. It means you're not guilty. It means you're perfectly
righteous before God. Now, the way a man, a sinful
man, can be righteous before God is this. God does not charge
him with his sin. It was imputed to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, I'm not denying my sin.
I'm not denying the reality of my sin, the grievous nature of
my sin. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Oh, my sin. That's what I mourn
over, my sin. But here's my hope. My hope is
that God doesn't charge me with my sin. And the scripture teaches
that blessed is the man whom the Lord imputes righteousness
without their worst. Blessed is the man whom the Lord
will not impute sin. He didn't impute my sin to me. That's my
hope. My sin was imputed to the Lord Jesus Christ. It became
His so that He became guilty of it. God has the authority. to take my sin and lift it off
of me and place it upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's exactly
what He did. And just as truly as my sin became
His, His righteousness becomes mine. Listen to this scripture
from 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21. For He hath made Him, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to be sin. Who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him." My righteousness
is not based upon the righteousness of Jesus Christ. My righteousness
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Isaiah 54, verse 17 says,
their righteousness is of me. saith the Lord." This is what
John speaks of in Revelation 19, 8, when he says the saints
are granted this fine linen, clean and white. This is the
righteousness of the saints. The righteousness of Jesus Christ
is the righteousness of the saints. So, I'm righteous by God not
imputing my sins to me. He didn't charge me with my sins.
He took my sins and placed them upon His Son, and He takes the
righteousness of His Son and He places it upon me so that
the very righteousness of Christ is my righteousness before God.
Righteous by imputation. Now, thirdly, righteous by gift. Righteous by gift. Righteousness
is the gift of God. And if God gives it to me, it's
mine. Listen to this scripture from
Romans chapter 5, verse 17. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. Now, God gives righteousness
as a gift. As a matter of fact, in verse
15 of this same chapter, "...but not as the offense, so also is
the free gift." Righteousness is called the free gift of God
in verse 16, "...and not as it was by one that sinned, so is
the gift. For the judgment was by one man to condemnation, but
the free gift is of many offenses unto justification of life."
You see, righteousness is the free gift of God. Remember, Abel was in and of
himself a sinner. I am in and of myself a sinner. But if God gives me the gift
of righteousness, then I'm righteous. Well, how do I know that God
has given me this gift of righteousness? Everybody that God gives this
gift to, they receive it. Did you notice in verse 17, it
says, they which have received abundance of grace and the gift
of righteousness. I receive Christ's righteousness
as my only righteousness before God. David said in Psalm 71,
16, I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. So every believer is righteous
by gift. So we see that a believer, a
simple man in and of himself, is righteous by virtue of union
with Christ. He's righteous by imputation,
God imputing the righteousness of his son to him. He's righteous
by gift, and fourthly, every believer is righteous by nature. Now, did you hear that? Every
believer is righteous by nature. Now, how can that be when the
Scripture says our natures are sinful? Because when God saves
somebody, He gives them a new nature. 2 Peter 1.4 says we're
partakers of the divine nature. Now, this is what the new birth
is. When God saves someone, when they're born of the Spirit, when
they're born again, they're given a new nature, a holy nature,
a righteous nature. John describes it like this,
in 1 John 2, verse 29, if you know that he is righteous, you
know that everyone that doeth righteousness. is born of Him. Now, the only way you can do
righteousness is if you are righteous, if you have a righteous, holy
nature. John goes on to speak of this
in 1 John 3, verse 7. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, For the devil sinneth from the beginning, for this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil." Now, listen to this scripture real carefully.
Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. Now, I've heard people try to
interpret that, and they say, well, sin is not the course of his
life. He doesn't practice sin. You know, that's just dishonest. That's dishonest. Do you practice
pride? Do you practice lust? Do you
practice anger? All these things. There's no
sin in your heart that you stopped. No sin in your heart that you
don't practice. What this is talking about is
that new nature, that holy nature that does not commit sin. Now, my flesh, my old nature,
the old man that's in me, you can read about it in Romans chapter
7, all it does is sin. But the new man does not sin. This is the man Paul is talking
about when he says, I delight in the law of God after the inner
man. that new man that he's placed
in there. Now, this made God describe Lot. You remember Lot? You read Lot's
history in the Old Testament, and not much good can be said
about him. Remember how he pitched his tent towards Sodom, and then
he ended up living in Sodom, and when God comes to destroy
Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot lingers. He doesn't want to leave, and
the angels grab him by the hand and yank him and pull him out.
There wasn't much to him as far as what we can see. Yet when
God gives testimony of this man, He calls him just Lot, that righteous
man, and He even speaks of His righteous soul being vexed in
2 Peter 2, verses 7 and 8. Now, if God said He's a righteous
man with a righteous soul, you may not see it, but God does,
and God sees things as they really are. This is the real me, the
true me, the new man, the righteous man. Now, what is the evidence
that I have this righteous nature? I believe the gospel. And this
leads us to the last point. Can a sinful man actually be
righteous before God? Yes, he can. Righteous because
of his union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Righteous by imputation,
Christ's righteousness being imputed to him, his sin being
made Christ. Third, righteous by divine gift,
God gives him righteousness. Fourth, righteous by nature,
the new nature that God gives. Now, the fifth point is righteous
by faith. Romans chapter 4, verse 5 says,
"...to him that worketh not, but believeth." On him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Now, does
that mean faith is a substitute for righteousness? Not at all.
Faith is not my righteousness before God. The merit of Christ
is my righteousness before God. Faith didn't keep the law for
me, Christ did. Faith didn't die for my sins,
Christ did. Faith is not now at the right
hand of the Father interceding for me, Christ is. Faith believes
that. What is the one evidence that
I'm united to Christ? How can I know that I am united
to Christ? I believe on Him. I trust Him
only as my righteousness before God. Therefore, that tells me
I've always been united to Christ. What is the evidence that Christ's
righteousness has been imputed to me? You can't tell by looking
at me. I can't tell by looking at me.
What is the evidence that God has taken the righteousness of
His Son and charged it to my account? Faith in Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. You can't see that righteousness
has been charged to me, but the evidence that it has been is
that I believe the gospel. I'm trusting Christ right now
as my only righteousness before God. What is the evidence that
God has given me this gift of righteousness? Faith in Christ. I'm trusting Him as my righteousness
before God. What is the evidence that I have
this holy nature, this righteous nature that performed righteousness. It's not something I can see.
Now, every believer does actually perform righteousness, but it's
not something I can see. As a matter of fact, if you read
in Matthew chapter 25, when the Lord commends the righteous for
the things that they've done, you know, you came to me in prison
and so on, they said, Lord, when did we do this? We didn't know
we did it. And the wicked all thought they
had done it. So what is the evidence that I have this righteous nature? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in His righteousness is
my perfect standing before God. Now, understand this. Paul said
in Romans chapter 14, verse 17, the kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, it's not rules and regulations, it's not do's and
don'ts, but righteousness. Here's the kingdom of God. righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, here's what a believer
is, righteous before God. And, oh, what peace we experience
by really believing that Jesus Christ is our righteousness before
God. Now, if you Take any of that
away and make me have to look at myself in any way I have no
peace But what peace I have knowing that he is my peace before God
that he is my righteousness before God But if you want to know the
truth about me All you got to do is read Matthew Mark Luke
and John and there is my history. There is my life. There is my
righteousness before God the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink, but it's righteousness peace and joy in the Holy Ghost
What joy we receive from this. In Revelation 22 11, John said,
He that's unjust, let him be unjust still. And he that's filthy,
let him be filthy still. You see, as you live, so you'll
die. As you die, so you'll awake. But he also says, he that's righteous,
let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. That is the heritage of every
believer. And one of these days, our Lord
speaks in Matthew chapter 13, when all things that offend are
cast out, He says, Then shall the righteous shine as the sun. Can a sinner really be righteous
before God? Yes. Every believer is. Now we have this message on CD,
DVD, or cassette tape. If you call the church or write,
the email address will send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying
that God will be pleased to make himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send a request to messages at ToddsRoadGraceChurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.