All right, turning your Bibles to Romans
4. Now I've often said, I think I told
the preachers class this 20 years ago, if I were beginning my ministry again, just starting out, and
was called a pastor at church. I believe I would begin in the
first chapter, in the first verse of the Book of Romans, and I'd
stay there until we finished that book, because I believe a person who's
acquainted, well acquainted with the Book of Romans in his heart
is well acquainted with the gospel. It's the book of God's man's
ruin and God's remedy. And now that I'm coming to the
end of my ministry here, I have done that very thing. I've started
chapter 1, verse 1 of the book of Romans, and we're going to
go through it, the Lord willing. And I'll keep going through it
until we get a pastor. Keep going over and over again,
but it's the gospel. That's what Paul said in the
opening verses. I'm separated to the gospel of
God concerning his son. And you know why I have to move
on. I know it's Alden's wedding now, Richard. Y'all knew I couldn't
come up with who was getting married. You'll be old someday. But it
came to me. I said, now when I get up there,
I'm going to tell them that it was there all the time. It just
took me a while to get up, write it down. Yeah. All right. Now, if you have not heard this
outline before by John Flavel, I want you to listen to it now.
And if you have not memorized it, well, you do so. It's a very, very brief four-point
outline, and it sums up God's method of grace. In fact, that's
where the outline is found in his book, God's Method of Grace.
Here it is briefly. Number one, all spiritual blessings
that God has for sinners is in Christ. God has nothing for a
sinner that is not in Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 says, Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who's blessed
us with all spiritual blessings, all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies in Christ. That's where they all are. And
point number two, these eternal spiritual blessings are ours
only by a divine union with Christ. Old brother E.W. Johnson used
to call it a vital union. And somebody says, what does
that word vital mean? Living, a living union. Christ said, I'm the vine, you're
the branches. If you abide in me, you'll bring
forth much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing.
So these mercies and blessings are ours by union with Christ. That divine union with Christ
comes by faith, comes by grace through faith, through faith,
by grace through faith. And that's the subject tonight,
salvation through faith. But Ephesians 2.8 says this,
for by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves,
it's the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. So that divine union by which
we receive all spiritual blessings from God in Christ is accomplished
through faith. And fourthly, he said, that faith,
that faith which saves, which is the gift of God, without which
no man can please God, comes to the center by hearing and
believing the word of Verily, verily, I say unto you, our Lord
said, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent
me, he has everlasting life. Faith, oh, the importance of
faith. And as we finish chapter 3, Sunday
night, and I spoke from verses 25 through 31, Paul showed us
the importance of faith. by mentioning faith six times
in those seven verses. Every verse but one talks about
this saving faith. Let's look at it. Six times. And here in these verses, Paul
shuts every door but that of faith. He destroys every foundation
but that of faith. And he says in verse 25, whom
God, talking about the Lord Jesus, whom God hath set forth in promise
and prophecy and picture and person, to be the propitiation,
mercy seat, through faith, through faith in his blood, to declare
his righteousness for the remission of sins that have passed through
the forbearance of God. And what's the next verse? To
declare, I say, at this time his righteousness, that he might
be just and the justifier of him that what? as faith, believes
in Christ Jesus. Verse 27, where is boasting then?
What's excluded? By what law? Of works? No. What
excludes boasting? Faith in Christ. Therefore we
conclude, verse 28, that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Verse 29, is he the God of the
Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yea, the Gentiles also, seeing
them. It is one God which shall justify the circumcision, how? By faith. And the uncircumcision,
how? Through faith. Do we then make
void the law through faith? God forbid. Yea, we establish
the law. And in the last verse of my text
tonight, Chapter 4, verse 16, he sums it up. We'll go back
to verse 1 in a moment, but verse 16, he sums it up. He said, therefore
it, salvation, righteousness, justification, redemption, is
of faith. And the reason for that is that,
number one, it might be by grace. It can't be by grace and be by
works. It's got to be by faith if it's
by grace. Salvation is by faith that it
might, number one, might be by grace. And secondly, salvation
is through faith to the end or to the goal or for the purpose
that the promise might be sure to all to see. It can't be sure
if it's by works. It can't be sure unless it's
by faith, unless it's a free gift. It's got to be in Christ,
it's got to be of God, it's got to be by grace, it's got to be
through faith to be sure. You can't be sure any other way. And thirdly, that salvation,
not only to that which is of the law, but that which is of
the faith of Abraham, who was the father of us all. That salvation
shall be for the Jew and also for the pagan. All right, so
in chapter 4, now there he set forth this truth, salvation is
through faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, six times, faith,
faith. And in chapter 4, to illustrate
this truth, to illustrate this truth that salvation, redemption,
righteousness is through faith, the Apostle Paul goes back and
chooses two of the most prominent, highly esteemed, God-honored
men who ever lived. That's what these first verses
in chapter 4 is all about. He goes back and he's going to
illustrate for us that salvation, redemption, by grace through
faith and faith alone, not by works. And he goes back and picks
up two of the most prominent, highly esteemed, God-honored
men Number one, Abraham. Abraham, whose name is mentioned
in twenty-nine books of the sixty-six books in the Bible. The sixty-six
books in this God's testimony, and in twenty-nine of them, this
man's name is mentioned. His name also appears over three
hundred times in the Word of God. Abraham, Abraham, Abraham,
Abraham, Abraham. Father of Saul. And of this man, Abraham, God
said, he's my friend. Abraham, my friend. Boy, that
just goes deep in my heart. My friend, Abraham. I need to
pay attention to Abraham. God said, he's my friend. He's
my friend. And then he goes back and Of
course, David, and I don't need to say anything about David to
any of you because you love David as I do and love his writings.
But here's one thing that the Lord said about David which should
cause us to sit at his feet. He said, I have found David,
the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart. So we're going to enjoy this.
This thing of salvation is through faith. A lot of times we say
it's by faith, and that's all right, but it's by grace, through
faith. It's not faith that saves us,
it's Christ. But we're saved through faith. All right, verse
1, chapter 4. Now, let's see what this says.
See if we can get through these 16 verses. Number 1. What shall
we say, then, that Abraham, our father, and as pertaining to
the flesh, our What did Abraham find that the rest of the world
didn't find? What did Abraham have that the
rest of the world in his day didn't have? Well, the questions
answered early in the Bible, way back here in Genesis 15. Genesis 15. What did Abraham
have that the rest of the world didn't have? What did he find
that the rest of the world didn't know anything about? In Genesis
15, verses 4 through 6, listen to the word of God. In Genesis
15, and behold, the word of the Lord came to Abram. This is before God changed his
name. Abram, 75 years old, called him out of idolatry and paganism. Came to him saying, This shall
not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of your
own bowels shall be your heir. And God brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now towards heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be
able to number them. And he said to Abram, So shall
thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord,
and he counted to him the righteousness. Abraham believed God. Believe
God. He saved right then. He justified
right then. He was declared righteous and
holy and perfect in Christ right then. Believe God. Almighty God gave to Abraham
the holiness of God, the immaculate holiness and righteousness of
God Almighty. Somebody said to Charles Spurgeon
one time, Mr. Spurgeon, if God gave you one
request, one request, like he did Solomon, one request, what
would you ask for? And Spurgeon immediately replied,
I'd ask for righteousness, the righteousness of God, the holiness
of God, without which no man will see the Lord. That's what
I want. And that's what Abraham found.
righteousness, perfect, immaculate holiness. Paul summed it up over
here in Colossians 1. Colossians 1, verse 21. Listen. And you, we have this
righteousness in Christ, this holiness, and you that were sometime
alienated enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath
God reconciled. How? in the body of his flesh
through death, to present you holy, unblameable, unreprovable."
You can't add anything to that. Holy, unblameable, unreprovable. But here is the key. In his sight. In his sight. That's what matters. In his sight. It's the righteousness
of God. Look at verse 2, Romans 4. Now,
was Abraham justified and righteous before God by his works? Was
he? Well, that's what he's asking
here, what he's talking about here, by his obedience. If Abraham
were justified by works, well, he's halfway up to glory, but
not before God. What's he saying? Here's what
he's saying. If Abraham were justified by works, if he were
justified, made righteous, by his works and by his morality
and by his obedience, then he has cause to boast. He has cause
to glory. But we know that neither Abraham
nor any man has anything of which to boast before God, because
we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. So therefore,
Abraham was not justified by works. That's perfectly clear. He has something to brag about.
But nobody has anything to brag about. Nobody has anything to
boast of. Everybody's sin comes short of
the glory of God. So that proves he wasn't justified
by works. He wasn't justified by works.
God's way of justification and righteousness is such that our
Lord Jesus Christ gets all the glory. Our Lord Jesus Christ
gets all the praise. And if any man has anything to
boast about or brag about or glory in, it's Christ. For of
God, of God, he is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. As it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. So if Abraham was justified by
works, he's got something to brag about. But we know that's
not so. There's no man at his best state
is altogether vanity. Christ is altogether lovely,
and we're altogether vanity. I'll read verse 3. But what saith
the Scriptures? What saith the Scriptures? Boy,
this ought to be our answer to every question anybody asks us.
What saith the Scriptures? Somebody comes up and asks you
a question, well, what sayeth the scriptures? Our only rule
of faith and practice is the scriptures. Our only confidence
and assurance is in the scriptures. Our only foundation of faith
is the scriptures. So regarding Abraham's righteousness
and holiness, what sayeth the scriptures? I found something
interesting. It's most interesting to me that
Paul, who wrote to the church at Galatia, and the church at
Galatia was having some problems. Some folks had crept in there
and pushed their way in there and began to try to preach salvation
by grace plus the law of Moses. Law and grace. works and faith. It's all right to believe on
Christ, but you've got to be circumcised, you've got to keep
the law, you've got to keep the Sabbath, you've got to pay your
tithe and all this sort of thing. And when Paul wrote to this church
insisting, insisting that works have absolutely nothing to do
with the salvation of a man's soul, absolutely nothing to do
with the salvation of a man's soul before God, He uses this
verse right here. What said the scriptures? Abraham
believed God and was called to him for righteousness. Let's
turn and see that. Galatians 3. That's right, Paul,
when he wants to set forth the fact that salvation is by grace
alone, through faith, not of works, this is the verse he appeals
to. Look at Galatians 3, verse 5.
He, therefore, that ministered to you the and worketh miracles
among you. Doeth he it by the works of the
Lord, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God,
it was counted to him for righteousness." Now that ought to satisfy you.
That's what he's saying to those Galatians. That ought to satisfy
you. Your father Abraham believed God. It was counted to him for
righteousness. So when we want to contest with
those who want to bring in works for salvation, let's just point
them back to Abraham, who believed God. Now the second thing I found,
when James was dealing with those folks, it was saying we're saved
by grace, but works don't matter. A man saved by grace and how
he lives doesn't count. And so James says, Just as Galatia
had that error that faith depended on works, these people had this error that
faith without works saves us. But James says that's not so.
What does he use to prove it? Same verse. Turn to James now.
Same verse. Same verse. In James chapter
2, James who insists that good works are an evidence of salvation,
not a cause. That a man is justified before
God, not by works but by faith, but works are important. He uses
that same scripture. James 2, verse 22. See'st thou
how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect,
complete? And the scripture was fulfilled
with Satan. Abraham believed God. And it
was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend
of God. So Paul is talking to a church who's trying to mix
grace and works, and he uses this same scripture. Let's go
back and look at Abraham. He's our illustration. He was
saved by faith without works. He believed God accounted him
for righteousness. And that's Paul talking to the
Galatians. Now when James is dealing with a church here, wherever
it was, with some folks that's saying, well, they believe God,
but it doesn't matter how you live. He says, now your faith,
which saves, is justified by your works. Your soul is justified
before God by faith alone. Your work, your faith, is justified
before men. by your works, because men can't
see your heart. You see what I'm saying? God
sees your heart. He knows you believe. He knows
you believe. But men can't see your heart. They can watch your life, listen
to your language, watch your attitude, and watch how your
so-called faith has affected you. And they say, well, faith
without works is dead. That's what James said. But they
use the same scripture. And that's the reason it's so
important. What saith the Scriptures? What saith the Scriptures? These
two men preached to different situations altogether, but they
went back to the same illustration. See what I'm saying? Went back
to the same. Abraham believed God was counted to him for righteousness. All right, let's look at verse
4 and 5. Now, consider these verses together. They've got
to be considered together, verse 4 and verse 5, have to be considered
together. Now, to him that worketh is the
reward not reckoned of grace, but of death. But to him that
worketh not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Now, here are three facts in
these verses, three facts. Number one, everybody involved
in religion is involved and they talk of two things, faith and
works. I don't care what your religion
is, if it's grace or free will or if it's Baptist or Catholic. Everybody that's religious in
this nation believes in faith and believes in works. That's
right, every one of them. They talk of faith and works.
They talk of grace and works. Everyone who has a hope of eternal
life talks about believing God and serving God. Believing God
and serving God, everybody does. Now, so Paul is going to show
us the difference here. In verse 4 he says, Now, to him
that worketh, a religious man, a man who claims to be saved,
like those old Jews, Paul said, I bear them record. They have
a zeal for God. They're not infidels. They're
not atheists, they believe in God. This man believes in God.
To him that worketh, to him that believes, he believes there's
a God, he believes there's a reward to be gained, he believes there's
a heaven to gain and a hell to shun. But this man depends on
his works. This man depends upon his works
and his morality and his own righteousness to recommend him
to God. This man is working for the reward. To him that worketh is the reward,
not reckoned of grace, it's a debt. He's working for it. The reward
is his, not by the grace of God, he thinks, but by his works.
You hear people say, well, he's gone to his reward. Well, I'm
quite sure of it. I'm quite sure of it. If he's
worked for it, he's gone to it all right, his reward. It's damnation, it's condemnation. He believes as a God, and he
believes as a heaven, and he believes as a reward, and he
believes as an afterlife, and he's working to gain it, and
to possess it, and to have that reward. He's working hard. Have
we not preached in your name, cast out devils, done many wonderful
works? We've done all these things.
We expect to be rewarded. It's death, and God's not in
debt to anybody. Now, what's the difference? But
to him that worketh not, but to him... Now this man, you believe
he doesn't work? What James just told us, that
wasn't so. Sure he works. Sure he works. He does work. He has works of
faith and labor of love. He obeys God. He labors in the
house of God, in the kingdom of God, in the family of God.
But he doesn't labor for a reward. He doesn't labor for salvation. He labors because he's saved,
he works because he believes God. He doesn't trust his work. This man who worketh not, but
believes on him that justifies the ungodly, he believes God,
he believes Christ, he believes in the blood of Christ and the
obedience of Christ, and he believes his righteousness is a filthy
rag. And like Abraham, listen, his
faith is counted for righteousness. You see that? Verse 4 talks about
this religious man who believes there's a God, believes there's
a reward, you know, believes there's a heaven, and he's striving
through his works and his good deeds and his professional faith
to gain that reward. And he'll never get it. But to
him that worketh not, He doesn't work to gain that reward. He
trusts Christ. He believes Christ. He rests
in Christ and Christ alone. And so just like Abraham, he
believes God and it's counted to him. It's imputed to him. It's reckoned to him for holiness
and righteousness. Turn to Romans 11. Listen to
this. Romans 11, verse 6. Listen. Verse
5 says this. Even so, at this present time,
there is a rhythm according to the election of grace. If it's
by grace, it's not of works. Otherwise, grace is not grace.
If works enter in anywhere, in any measure, at any time, in
our hope, then it's not a good hope. We have a good hope through
grace, the gift of God. But if it's of works, it's no
more grace, otherwise work is not work. All right, that's Abraham's
example now. Now look at verse 6, and Paul
takes us to David in verse 6. Let's hear from David. Let's
hear from David, man up to God's own height. Even as David also
described the blessedness of the man under whom God imputeth
righteousness, holiness, without merit, without works, without
anything you do, you don't contribute, you're saved just like the thief
on the cross. That's right, you're redeemed,
I'm redeemed and saved and declared righteous before God just exactly
like that thief. He saved a matter of hours and
went to glory. The Lord saved me 50 years ago,
but I'm just saved the same way He is. My righteousness is by
Christ's obedience, not by anything I've done or said or given. You
either. That's right. That's right. David said that, imputed righteousness
without works. Here is what David said, "'Blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom God
will not impute sin.'" Now, where did David say that? I want you
to turn to it, Psalm 32. I want you to turn to it. You'll
get a blessing out of this if you'll turn to that quotation. David expresses this imputation,
this mercy, this grace, this salvation in four ways. Now watch it here. David said,
verse 1, Blessed is he, O happy, twice happy, highly favored of
God. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven. What's a transgression? It's
trespassing. It's walking on forbidden ground.
You see a sign that says, no hunting allowed. You do it anyway.
You're a transgressor and a trespasser. And Almighty God has some laws,
and we've broken every one of them. We've trespassed, we've
transgressed the law of God. But he says here that our transgression,
our trespassing, our walking on forbidden ground is forgiven. all forgiven through the blood
of Christ. I remember their sins no more.
They're all forgiven. They're all put away. The blood
of Christ cleanses us from all transgression. Oh, happy is that
man. But what did the man give? Nothing.
What did he pay? Nothing. What did he do? Nothing.
Christ did it all. He paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Put away my transgression. All right, look at this next
line. Who's seeing is covered. Now, transgression is trespassing. And seeing here, seeing is the
sinfulness of our souls and bodies and minds. It's the filthiness.
The filthiness. And it says here, our filthiness
is covered from the eyes of God. You see, it's filthiness in sin
which separates us from our God. Your sins have separated you
and your God. But here our filthiness is said
to be covered by nakedness. That's the first thing God did
for Adam, covered his nakedness. Moses came down from that mountain
and he said to Avon, Why have you made the people naked? to
their shame. Why have you made the people
naked to their shame? That's what we are. Old Adam,
he said, I was naked. I'm going to hide from God because
I'm naked. And you better, if you can. But he says here, our
nakedness is covered. Our nakedness is covered. Turn
to Revelation 3, verse 18. Boy, you want that done now,
you want your nakedness covered, because he says over here in
Revelation 3 verse 18, look at it, Revelation 3 verse 18, your
transgression, your trespassing is forgiven and your nakedness
is covered. Revelation 3 verse 18, I counsel
you to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that you may be rich,
and white raiment What are they clothed in? White robes. Who
are these clothed in white robes? That thou mayest be clothed,
and the shame of thy nakedness does not appear. Don't let it
appear before God, your nakedness. And anoint your eyes with our
savage, you might see. David, boy, this man after God's
own heart said, blessed is that man whose transgression is forgiven. He's forgiven. And his nakedness,
his filthiness is covered in the robe of Christ's righteousness. That's right. White raiment. Then look at the verse 2 of David.
David's comment here, he's blessed is that man whose transgression
is forgiven, blessed is that man whose nakedness is covered,
blessed is that man to whom God will not impute iniquity. What
is iniquity? Well, transgression is trespassing,
doing what's forbidden, seeing the sinfulness, the nakedness
of the mind, soul, and body. Iniquity, iniquity is the root
of all this problem. It's original sin. It's that
sin of Adam. By one man's sin entered this
world, and death by sin. So this death, this original
sin, this curse, this evil nature, this rotten nature, flesh in
which dwells no good thing, is charged to our account. But he said, oh, if God will
charge it to Christ's account and impute not this iniquity
to you, you're blessed. You're blessed. My transgressions
forgiven, my nakedness is covered, and my old evil nature is not charged to me. But he's
charged to me righteousness. which my Lord in his perfect
light, born of a woman, made under the law, tempted in all
points to say I am without sin. What he did is mine, because
what I did was laid on him. He blew it away. It's eradicated. It's not here anymore. Now watch
this next line. Paul didn't quote this over there
in Romans. for, but David said it. And this
man, whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin and nakedness is covered,
to whom God will not charge iniquity, but charge holiness, and in that
man, his spirit, there is no guile. That's what he said about
old Nathanael. That's an Israelite in whom there's
no guile. What is guile? Well, guile is
deceit, guile is a hidden meaning, guile is hypocrisy, guile is
not dealing straight, it's dealing crooked. And when once a believer,
now watch this, in this man there's no guile, there's no guile in
this person. When once a believer knows who
Christ is, Once a believer knows what Christ has done in his life
and death and why he did it, he knows that. He's persuaded. I am persuaded. I know whom I
have believed. I am persuaded. And he knows
where Christ is now. That person will be truthful
and honest with God, aboveboard and open and honest
before God, no doubt. You see, when our debts are to
be fully paid, We'll declare all of them. If somebody comes
to you now next week and says, I'll pay all your debts, don't
hide anything from him. Better not. Don't hide it. Don't
hide it. No deceit, no hypocrisy. Let
it all hang out. That's what he said. When our
sicknesses and diseases are to be fully healed by his love and
mercy and grace, The man who believes it will confess every
one of them. I've heard here and here and
here and here. Peter said that, just watch me
all over because I'm in the shape where I need it. That's right,
no doubt. We will confess all of them.
You see, guilt, guile and deceit and dishonesty is not only impossible
with God, it's unnecessary. It's unnecessary. Now there are
certain things that you don't want to say to a person. You
just don't want to say everything to a human being. But with God,
it's different. You don't hide nothing. That's
right now. Nothing. You see, hypocrisy in
God is not only impossible before God, it's unnecessary. He knows
us. We have nothing to conceal. There's
no guile in the spirit of one justified by faith. That's how
he's justified. He knows it. There's no hypocrisy
in him who's seen the truth about himself in the light of the truth
about God. God's light has shone fully and
completely in every area of our being. That light of the truth
of Christ has revealed the truth about us. No guile, no hypocrisy. The truth
of God shows me that without Christ I'm condemned and doomed
and damned. The truth of God shows me that
in Christ I have a perfect righteousness before God, and yet in myself
I'm the chief of sinners. That's right. No guile. Go back to my text and I'll close.
As transgression is forgiven, sin is covered, filthiness is
covered, nakedness is covered, his iniquity is put away so that
he has imputed righteousness, and in him there is no guile.
Now verse 9 and 10. Cometh this blessedness upon
the circumcision only, upon the uncircumcision? Well, let's say
this. Faith was reckoned to Abraham
for righteousness, verse 10. How was it reckoned? Or when
was it reckoned? When was Abraham saved? We can
follow the life of Abraham and his life is an impressive life. His trials and tests and his
faithfulness and obedience and godliness and loyalty and all
just is unprecedented. That's right. day God called
him to the day of his death. And his obedience to God in all
things is a witness to his faithfulness, this man who is a friend of God.
But when was he justified? Back under the stars, when he
heard God speak, he prayed God, and he was justified, righteous,
Fifteen years later, he was circumcised. Twenty-five years later, he offered
Isaac. All these things happened later, but I'll tell you when
he was saved, when he believed God. And that's when you're saved,
when you believe God. Oh, Horatius Bonar wrote a hymn. Let me give it to you in closing. All that I was, my sin, my guilt,
my death, that's all my own. All that I am, I owe to thee,
my gracious Lord, alone. The evil of my heart and my life
is mine, it's only mine. The righteousness in which I
now stand is thine and only thine. So all that I am, even here on
earth, and all that I hope to be, when the Lord Jesus comes
and glory dawns, My song will be, I owe it, Lord, to Thee.
How much I owe. When I stand before the throne
dressed in beauty not my own, when I see Thee as I are and
love Thee with an unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I really know,
fully know, completely know how much I owe. It's by grace.