chapter of the book of Romans,
Romans chapter 4, and tonight I want us to look at verses 9
through 16. Cometh this blessedness then
upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness, How was it then reckoned when
he was in circumcision or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision,
but in uncircumcision. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet been
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that
believe. though they be not circumcised,
that righteousness might be imparted or imputed unto them also. And
the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father
Abraham, which he had been yet uncircumcised. For the promise
that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham
or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none
effect, because the law worketh wrath. For where no law is, there
is no transgression. Therefore, it is of faith that
it might be by grace. To the end, the promise might
be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the
law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who
is the father of us all. Tonight, as we look at these
verses, I want to ask Six questions. I read one time the first man
who came up with this way of teaching by asking questions. I can't remember his name, but
he certainly has been a big help to me in studying the scriptures. And I encourage all of us as
we read the word of God and study God's word that we ask questions. We ask questions from the word. And the first question I want
to ask tonight is, what is this blessedness? What is this blessedness? The apostle says in verse nine,
cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only. What
is this blessedness? Well, he's just told us that,
hasn't he? He quoted David. If you look
back, beginning in verse six, even as David also describeth
the blessedness. What is this blessedness that
comes upon the circumcision and upon the uncircumcision? Well,
he tells us that it is the blessedness of the man unto 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. What is this
blessedness that Paul is speaking of here. Well, you notice he
mentions basically three things in those words of David from
the psalm. First of all, this blessedness,
now, we could use one word, I believe, like an umbrella word to describe
this blessedness, and it is the word justification, because that's
the subject, of course, that Paul is dealing with in this
passage of Scripture. But in justification, David described
the blessedness of this person in this way. He is a man that
God imputes righteousness without works. That's the blessedness,
the person to whom God imputes, reckons, counts righteousness
unto those persons without works. Secondly, the blessedness is
God forgiving our iniquities and covering our sins. Now, you know the word atonement
means covering. And so when we read here of God
covering our sins, we recognize he's speaking about the fact
that the Lord Jesus Christ paid the penalty by his death for
our sins. This is the blessedness, the
blessedness of the man that God imputes righteousness without
works, who forgives their iniquities, covers their sins, and notice
that last thing, the man to whom God will not impute sin. Those that God justifies in Christ
by his righteousness, he will not impute sin to them. Why? Because he has imputed their
sins unto their sharing. Now sin can only be in one place
at a time. Think about that. It can only
be in one place at a time. It cannot be both upon the surety,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and also upon those for whom he stood
as a surety. This is that blessedness. The
man to whom God will not impute iniquity. And as I said, Paul
is speaking basically in this passage of justification. So
that's the first question. What is this blessedness? And
truly, how would you ever value, put a value on this blessedness? It would be impossible, wouldn't
it? to put a value, especially a monetary value on this blessedness
that he's speaking of here, justification. The second question, why would
Paul ask this question? Notice the question, cometh this
blessedness then upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision
also? Why? would the apostle ever ask
such a question as this? Well, we know from the word of
God that he asked this question because there were those who
were convinced, who were not only convinced, but they taught
and they troubled the people of God, the children of God,
by teaching that somehow circumcision, the law, is connected with justification. If you look back in Acts chapter
15, in Acts chapter 15, we know that
the church met here in Jerusalem. Sometimes this is referred to
as the first church council. And it was convened because of
false teachers who had come among the churches of Galatia and began
to teach, yes, faith in Christ, that's good, but that's not all
that is necessary. You must be circumcised and keep
the law of Moses. Notice in verse one of verse
chapter 15, and certain men which came down from Judea, taught
the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after the
manner of Moses, you cannot be saved." In other words, they
made it a matter of salvation. A person could not be saved if
he were not circumcised. And by circumcision, remember,
We're talking about a person coming under the law of Moses.
Paul in Galatians, he makes the fact that he said, if you be
circumcised right into these believers in Galatia, the church
is there, then you become a debtor to the whole law. The whole law. Now I know men like to divide
the law up. They like to divide it up into
three divisions, the moral, the ceremonial, and the civil, but
the law was won. It was won. It wasn't three parts
of the law. The law is won, and they would
have these people. I know most of the good writers,
I should say, they say, well, yes, The believer's not under
the ceremonial law, and he's not under the civil law that
was given to the nation of Israel, but he is under the moral law. But the law was won. Now that
doesn't mean that men are antinomians against the law, or law breakers,
we know that. But still, the children of God,
we're not under that law of Moses. We're not under that law. We
don't worship on the seventh day. We don't circumcise our
children, our male children on the eighth day. We don't command
that everyone tithe. I mean, you just go through that
law and see what it required. And God's people are not under
that law. And it's so important to recognize
that God's people serve God. We do what we do because we're
constrained, not by the law, but rather by love, by love. The love of Christ, the Apostle
Paul says, constraineth me. So why would Paul ask this question? Because there were people at
that time who said as much, that if a person were not circumcised,
then they could not be saved. And therefore they were teaching
that this blessedness This blessedness that we mentioned there was somehow
connected with obedience to that law, the law that was given to
the nation of Israel. And therefore, it was for the
Jews only. That's the thing about the false
teachers that came among the churches of Galatia. They wanted
those people, those Gentile believers, to become Jews, basically. They wanted them to take the
law and to be circumcised and come under the law and live as
Jews. Here's the third question. How
does Paul answer that question? How does he answer the question
in verse 10? Well, he gives the example of
Abraham. Verse nine, the last part of
verse nine, he said, for we say, and he had said that if you look
back and he's quoting when he said that in verse three, for
what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. In other words, Abraham was justified. This blessedness came upon him
by faith in the promised Messiah, the promised seed. And Paul says,
this is what we say. We say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham, that is by his faith in Christ, the promised Messiah,
that this righteousness was reckoned unto him. But here's the thing. When that happened, was Abraham
circumcised? or uncircumcised. Well, we're
not going to do it, but if you would take the time to look back
in Genesis, you would find, for instance, in Genesis 15 and verse
six, and he, that is Abraham, believed in the Lord and he counted,
that is God counted it, reckoned it to him for righteousness. Was Abraham at that point circumcised? And of course he wasn't. It was
years later. It was several years later. It
was after the birth of Ishmael. Remember the son he had by Hagar,
the servant woman. It was after his birth and he
was 13 years of age. Scripture tells us that. He was,
Ishmael was 13 years old when God told Abraham, gave him the
sign of circumcision, but he had been justified years before. That's how Paul answers this
question. Does this blessedness then come
upon the circumcision only or upon the uncircumcision also? Well, he answers it by showing
that when this blessedness came upon Abraham, he wasn't circumcised. In fact, he lived years before
God gave him that sign of circumcision. Here's my fourth question. Why
then was Abraham circumcised? Look in verses 12 and 13. And
the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision
only. No, verse 11. And he received
the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith
which he had, yet being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of
all them that believe, though they be not circumcised, that
righteousness might be imputed unto them also. Now, I have four
reasons here I want to give us tonight Answering that question,
why then was Abraham circumcised? Well, my first answer is it served
as a sign. As this verse says, he received
the sign. It served as a sign or a token
of the covenant that God made with Abraham and his seed, his
natural seed concerning the land of Canaan. Let's look at this,
if you will, turn back to Genesis chapter 17. Why was he circumcised? Well,
first of all, it served as a sign, as a token of this covenant that
God made with Abraham and his natural seed concerning the land
of Canaan. Genesis 17, beginning with verse
eight, we read, and I will give unto thee and to thy seed after
thee the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan,
for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God. And
God said unto Abraham, thou shalt keep my covenant, therefore thou
and thy seed after thee in their generations This is my covenant
which you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after
thee. 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. So it was a token or a sign of
the covenant that God made with Abraham and his natural seed
concerning the land. Verse 10, this is my covenant
which you shall keep between me and you and thy seed after
thee. It concerned the land, verse
eight, I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee the
land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan. So that's
the first reason that I believe that Abraham was circumcised. His second sign, second reason
rather, it was a typical sign. Now, as we see, circumcision
was given 400 years before the law was given. But it was incorporated
into the law, just like tithing, just like worshiping on the seventh
day. was given years before the law
was given, but it was incorporated into the law that God gave to
the nation of Israel. And so circumcision, like all
the ceremonies of the law where blood was shed, where blood was
offered, it had a typical picture of the blood of Jesus Christ
that cleanses from sin and also the circumcision of the heart. Now, what is the circumcision
of the heart? It's a new birth. It's a new
birth. That's what it is. The circumcision
of the heart. God removing the heart of stone
and giving a heart of flesh. You read that in Romans chapter
2. We've already looked at that. The third reason, and I quote
Robert Haldane here, who I have found over the years to be the
best, the most helpful, commentator on the letter of Romans that
I've ever ran into, Robert Haldane, a Scottish pastor. But let me quote what he said.
It is said that it was a seal. Notice that in the text again,
Romans 4, verse 11. And he received the sign of circumcision,
a seal. Notice it was not only a sign,
but a seal. Robert Haldane said, it is said
that it was a seal of the righteousness of the faith. Now notice which
he had. Abraham had this righteousness
that was imputed to him by faith, by his faith in the promised
seed. Everyone who was circumcised,
they didn't have this righteousness imputed unto them. All of his
descendants were circumcised, some were believers, some were
not believers. But this was a seal to Abraham
himself, the scripture here says, of the righteousness of faith
that he received by faith, which he had, which Abraham had. Let me go back and start that
quote again. It is said that it was a seal of the righteousness
of the faith which he had. That is a seal of that righteousness
itself, namely the righteousness of God. Now this is what's important,
which he had received by faith. It was a seal, assurance, or
pledge that the righteousness by the imputation of which through
his faith he was justified, although," now listen, although at that
time, not in existence. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ had not come and worked out this righteousness, which
is imputed unto those that believe, but this was a seal to Abraham
a pledge that the righteousness by the imputation of which through
his faith he was justified, although not then in existence, should
in the appointed period be brought in. And then he went on to say,
it was affixed to his posterity and not to cease to be so till
the thing signified was accomplished. In other words, until the Lord
Jesus Christ came and obeyed God's law, establishing that
righteousness by which men are justified, then the right of
circumcision, it was to be done away. It has no signification
whatsoever. I was preaching in California
many years ago. I remember two men asked me that
question because they were older men and when they were born,
they had not been circumcised and they read in the scripture,
it speaks a lot about circumcision. I had a neighbor, this is another
story. She was reading through the New
Testament. She got to the letter of Galatians. She came down.
She said, I've got some questions. I said, I know what it's going
to be about. It's going to be about circumcision. People, people
read the scripture sometimes and they don't understand that
what circumcision was. It was a sign, but after what
it signified or assured Abraham of that righteousness once Christ
came and fulfilled the law on the part of his people, then
that seal has no signification whatsoever for believers. In fact, I believe in one place
Paul says, are you circumcised? Are you not circumcised? It makes
no difference. But what does make a difference,
he said? is a new creation. Let's see
if I can find that. I believe that's in Galatians
chapter six. I'm gonna be ashamed if I can't
pull it up here. But let's look here in Galatians
chapter six and see if we don't see this. Yes, in chapter six, in verse
15, Paul said, for in Christ Jesus, Neither circumcision availeth
anything. Man be circumcised, doesn't mean
he's right with God because he's been circumcised. Man hasn't
been circumcised, doesn't mean that he's right with God. Neither
one of them has any signification, but here it is, a new creature. That's a new birth, isn't it?
A new creature created new in Christ. If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creation, new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things have become new. And all of these outward things,
no matter what they might be that distinguish men, one man
from another man, Jew from a Gentile or whatever, that doesn't mean
anything in our relationship to God. But what does count?
is that a person be born of the Spirit of God, be a new creation
in Christ. All right, let's go back to my
fifth question, and I'll hurry. What is the promise spoken of
in verses 13 through 15? What is the promise? Well, the
promise is that Abraham would be the heir of the world. For
the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not
to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness
of faith. For if they which are of the
law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none
effect. Because the law worketh wrath,
for where no law is, there is no transgression. Now it is called
the promise, you see here, the promise that he should be the
heir of the world. But it doesn't just mean this
world in which we're living, but it means the world to come. The heir of this world and the
world to come. Let's see that in 1 Corinthians
3. In 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle
Paul tells believers, Abraham and all other believers, that
all things are ours. In 1 Corinthians 3 and verse
21, therefore let no man glory in man, for all things are yours. An heir inherits something, doesn't
he? And what the apostle is saying
here is that Those who are children of God are heirs, joint heirs
with Christ, and everything is His, so everything is ours. It was Abraham's, this world
and the world to come. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or the world or life or death or things present or things to
come, all are yours. And you are Christ, and Christ
is God's. And look with me also in Luke
chapter 20. Luke chapter 20. And verse 34. But they which shall be accounted
worthy to obtain that world, What world is he talking about?
The world to come, eternal world. They that shall be accounted
worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead,
neither married nor given in marriage, neither can they die
anymore, for they are equal unto the angels and are the children
of God being the children of the resurrection. Now that the
dead are raised, even Moses showed at the bush when he called the
Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. For he is not a God of the dead,
but of the living, for all live unto him. What is this promise
spoken of here? It is eternal life. It is the
world to come, the glory land, as we sometimes read. Let me read you these two verses
from Galatians. Is the law then against the promises
of God? God forbid! For if there had
been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded
all under sin that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. If there had been a law given,
the law of God, Paul later in this letter of Romans tells us
the law is good, the law is just, the law is right. It has to be,
it's God's law. The problem never was with the
law, The problem is with us. We do not have the ability to
obey that law, any law, perfectly. And that's what God requires. Only Christ did that for us. And here's the last question.
What's the conclusion here in verse 16 in Romans chapter four? Therefore, here's his conclusion
of these few verses. Therefore, it is a faith that
is justification, this blessedness. It is a faith that it might be
by grace. Now, if salvation is not by faith,
then it cannot be by grace. Paul makes this ever so clear,
doesn't he? If salvation is by grace, then
it must be by faith. If it is by faith, it is then
by grace. But there's no other way. You say, how do you know that?
Because this is God's way. This is a way that God has fixed.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It is
by faith, but If there was any other way, if it was making,
let's just say, make an example, make a pilgrimage. What if we,
if God said, well, you may be saved if you make a pilgrimage,
make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, like the Mohammeds, they want
to make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Mecca, yes, once in their lifetime
at least. There's nothing, it'd be by works
then, wouldn't it? That'd be so clear, so evident. But no, simply only believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this way, It is by grace,
for by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. Let me close with this quote
by Henry Mahan. We are born sinners and have
failed many times. I can say amen to that, can't
you? We are born sinners and have failed many times. The future
holds no hope for us apart from God's grace. That's the reason
we love to sing about God's grace, isn't it? We love to talk about
God's grace because the future would hold no hope for us, for
any of us, if salvation were not by grace. May the Lord bless these thoughts
to all of us here tonight.