Back when I was a teenager and even a young adult, one of the things I tried not to do, unless I had a lot of time to spare, was to ask my dad to explain certain things to me—like how mechanical devices, such as a car runs. You see, my dad wouldn’t just tell me that the car’s engine runs the car—No, he would get out a piece of paper, draw an engine, with most of its parts, and spend the next 15 to 20 minutes explaining to me in great detail, more than I ever wanted to know about internal combustion engines. He loved to explain things and he loved to get into the details because he enjoyed not only the fact that something worked—he enjoyed knowing why it worked.
Well, the Apostle Paul was a lot like my dad—he too, enjoyed and found great value in explaining how things worked—especially how God in His sovereign purpose chose to save sinners from their sins and from His wrath for their sins.
Listen, the Christians who really know their God are the Christians who understand their salvation. And Christians who understand the nuts and bolts of their salvation understand life and why life is sometimes so very hard and filled with hard things and hard suffering. Christians who understand their salvation because they see it from God’s point of view because they have invested time and work in studying a Book like Romans are able to persevere through life not merely as those who survive but as those who thrive because they know and understand that everything that happens to them occurs for a divine reason rather than mere random chance that has no reason.
And while I could go on and on in explaining to you why understanding your salvation is beneficial to you—let me just sum up the reasons by saying that God’s ultimate purpose in our salvation is His glory—and whereas God is glorified greatly in saving us—He is intensely glorified when we who are saved come to know, understand, and find great joy in the details of how He saves sinners. And this is what Paul begins to explain to us beginning in Romans 4.
Now, by way of review, the Apostle Paul, in Romans 1-3 has been explaining to us why mankind is condemned before God what God has done to remedy that condition. In essence, he explains in Romans 1:18-32, that all people without exception have suppressed His truth and replaced His means of finding happiness, joy, significance, satisfaction, and the answers to life’s questions with their own means and devices. They have, as the prophet Jeremiah put it, “forsaken the fountain of living waters (God) with cisterns, broken cisterns of their own making that can hold no water.” And in rejecting God as the greatest treasure and pleasure in life—all people without exception have condemned themselves to an eternity in hell—which is the only fit penalty and place for people who have treated as unglorious the great and glorious and awesome and majestically incomprehensible God of all that is and is not.
Then in chapter 2, Paul makes the point that there is simply no way for us to be religious or spiritual enough to make up for our sin. And finally in chapter 3:1-20, the apostle Paul explains that this sin of despising God, rejecting God, ignoring God, neglecting God, and not trusting and enjoying God as the greatest treasure and pleasure in life is universal—there are no exceptions—every person who has ever been born and ever will be born is guilty and thus condemned to an eternity separated from God.
Romans 1-3:20 is the bad news of the Gospel—we are sinners who are separated from God and condemned to an eternity of separation from God in the
Now, here, beginning in Romans 4, Paul begins to explain God’s plan of salvation and today we will see how it is that God saves people and that this has always been the way and always will be the way that God saves people from their sins and the punishment for their sins. In teaching us how God saves sinners—Paul, first shows us what does not save sinners in God’s sight—our own good works and personal merits.
In Romans 3:1-8, Paul uses two very well-known Jewish personalities to make his point that no one has ever been saved by their own merits, works, or standing. Abraham was the father of the Jews and David was the King of the Jews. Other than Moses, these two men are probably the most important and prominent men in all of
Those who have found acceptance with God have not done so through good works but through simple faith in Christ Jesus alone.
On the way to the Shepherds Conference I was talking to a young man from
1. The life of Abraham reveals that salvation is not the result of works but faith. (
The first thing I want us to understand in verse 1 is what it is that Paul is asking in his question. Another way of putting it, which helps us to understand exactly what he is asking and answering is: “What did the Old Testament Father or Patriarch discover about God’s salvation with respect to our flesh or our works?” In other words, what role, if any, do we play in our salvation? This is the essential question Paul is going to answer for us in chapter 4.
A. Abraham found that if salvation were based upon one’s works, it would be an earned salvation and those saved would have something to boast about because of their part in earning and contributing to their salvation. (1-2)
If Abraham, the man the Scripture refers to as “the friend of God” was justified—that is declared righteous and thus acceptable to God on the basis of his own good works—then he has contributed to his salvation and thus earned it and thus has a reason to take credit for his salvation. “But not before God.” In other words—But this is not the way it is! God’s work of salvation is exactly that—God’s work not man’s.
God desires and in fact demands all the glory in salvation. Thus, nothing in the work of saving sinners can be attributed to the sinner or the sinner would be able to claim some of the credit. All of the work in saving a sinner is accomplished by God. Salvation is all of God and thus all of grace (Rom. 3:27-28; 11:6).
B. Abraham found that salvation is not based upon one’s works but rather upon one’s faith and so he believed God and his faith in believing God was credited to him as righteousness and he was subsequently justified. (3-5)
Ø Note how Paul begins this argument in verse 3: “For what does the Scripture say?” That is of the utmost importance and we should not miss it. Paul appeals to Scripture as the final authority. He does not appeal to his own opinion, feelings, church tradition, church history, religious scholars, or a church vote. No, his final and only authority is what God has said in the Scriptures. And we should be no different—especially when it comes to our salvation and how God saves sinners. The final authority in what is required for salvation is what God has said is required not what we may feel or think is required.
Ø And note what the Scripture says: “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”The Scripture Paul is referring to is Genesis 15:6. He argues that Genesis 15:6 does not say "Abraham worked for God and therefore was justified." Nor does it say, "Abraham did acts of love and therefore was justified." Nor does it say that Abraham made progress in character formation and therefore was justified. It says, Abraham believed in the LORD and that his faith was credited to him as righteousness.
Now please note the context surrounding this verse. In Genesis 15:1-6, we have God concluding a promise to Abraham that He began to communicate to him in Genesis 12. Now look at Abraham’s response to God’s promise in verse 6. Note that verse 6 says that “Abraham believed in the LORD”. By-the-way, this is the first time the word “believe” and the first time the phrase, “believe in the LORD” is used in the Bible.
To believe “in” the LORD is to fully embrace not only the promise of the Lord but Lord Himself as the giver of the promise. In other words, the promise is believable because the maker of the promise can be trusted to be true to his word. So here in Genesis 15:6, Abraham is believing in the Lord to be true to His promise and this trusting in the Lord is what God reckons to him as righteousness. What this means is that when Abraham believed in God and wholeheartedly embraced Him as His God by believing His promise and acting upon it that God “reckoned” or “imputed” or “accounted” to Abraham a righteousness that did not belong to him.
In essence, upon Abraham believing in or even “into” God--God applied to Abraham’s account His own divine and perfect righteousness and thus was able to “justify” Abraham, which is to simply declare him as a righteous person. And this is essential for anyone who desires to be in a relationship with God and have eternal life. What did Jesus say was required to go to heaven in Matthew 5:48? We have to be as perfect as God is! That means as righteous as God is. And when God, upon Abraham believing in Him, imputed His own righteousness to Abraham—He in essence, attributed to Abraham’s life—His own divine righteousness—so as to make him acceptable to Him. That is what it is to be justified. And it is the result of faith in God not works.
And in Romans 4:5, Paul makes the point that this is how God saves us as well. When we believe in Jesus Christ as the God-man as our Lord and Savior—when we fully embrace Him as the only way of salvation and come to Him to be forgiven of our sins—we too, are “justified”. You see, the moment you believe in Christ and trust Him as the only way of salvation—God the Father immediately forgives you all of your sins and imputes to your account all of Christ’s righteousness thus making you in God’s sight as righteous as He is and thus acceptable to Him. Look at 2 Corinthians 5:21.
Now it is important to also understand that just as the righteousness attributed to the believer’s account is not his own—neither is the faith that is exercised to procure it. Again, remember that salvation is all of God. It is God’s work from beginning to end and no part of it—even the smallest part—is of us—for then God would not receive all the glory—He would have to share it with us. You see, even the faith to believe is given to those who do believe or else it would be a work. And if you don’t believe that believing in Christ for salvation is God’s work in your life—look at John 6:28-29.
And what was it actually that Abraham believed and we have to believe to be saved? The gospel. Jesus made the point in John 8:56-58 that “Abraham rejoiced to see His day”.
In other words, Abraham saw and knew from afar—prior to it actually happening the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Seed of the woman Who would destroy the works of Satan and sin and provide salvation for all whom would believe from all the people groups of the earth.
How did he see this—how did he know this? God told him. Look at Galatians 3:6-9 and especially at verse 8. Verse 6 ties us back to Genesis 15:6 but notice what it was Abraham believed—it was the Gospel preached to him by, according to the first part of verse 8—“The Scripture”. Now, the interesting thing about this is that there was no Scripture even recorded at the time of Abraham. To be sure, the events and the words, which would be recorded as Scripture in the Book of Genesis had taken place and were taking place—but nothing had been recorded as of yet. So what does Paul mean when he says that “The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.” Well, the key is to find out Who said: “All the nations will be blessed in you.” Find that out and you’ll have the identity of who is being referred to as “The Scripture” here in Galatians 6:8. The One Who gave Abraham this promise was none other than the LORD Who spoke to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. Thus, Paul is equating The Scripture with The LORD and I think specifically with the member of the Godhead Who does speak to us and Who did inspire Scripture—God The Holy Spirit. Thus, the Gospel—the Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, God The Son, alone was preached to Abraham by God Himself and in believing God—Abraham was saved.
2. The testimony of David reveals that salvation is not a reward to be earned but rather a gift to be received and enjoyed. (
Finally, in verses 6-8, Paul uses another Old Testament personality—one who was a forgiven adulterer and murderer to explain to us what the ungodly sinner who believes the Gospel receives—Forgiveness of His sins and true happiness and joy and freedom.
CONCLUSION
And so here we are this morning—some of us are sinners who have believed God and run to the cross of
How can you get right with God, and be forgiven, acquitted, counted as righteous in his presence rather than guilty and ungodly?
Only by trusting in the One who justifies the ungodly.
Christ died to pay our debt. Christ lived to provide our righteousness. When we despair of ourselves and trust the God who justifies the ungodly, God reckons our sin as punished on the cross, and God reckons Christ's righteousness as imputed to us.
Do you want to be right with God? Do you want to have under you a firm unshakable foundation for life and eternity? Do you want peace that passes all understanding? Trust in the One who finds His greatest joy in forgiving sinners who will come to Him by placing their faith in Christ.
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