THE GREAT
DILEMMA
Romans 1:18-3:20 presented us with the great dilemma which all of mankind faces. It is summarized in 3:9:
“All, both Jews and Greeks are under sin;…
Paul has shown us that the whole world falls short of the righteousness that God requires”.
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (3:23).
Yes, even the Jews, who had the most direct dealings with God among the nations, fell short of God’s righteous standard. Having received the law of God and the nearness of God, no Jew had ever had kept the law of God, or had loved God consistently with a whole heart, mind, soul and strength. No Jew could ever say, “I am righteous in the eyes of a holy God”. If they tried to justify themselves, the law would testify against them. Every Jew failed the law.
If this was true of Jews, it was true of the gentiles. If they tried to justify themselves, their conscience would accuse them, says Paul (2:15).
This puts the whole of mankind in a serious quandary. If this holy God is the world’s Creator, and if He is also our ultimate Judge, then how shall we stand before Him on the day of judgement when we must give an account of everything?
This is
where we find ourselves in Romans 3:20.
THE GREAT
SOLUTION
In Rom.3:21ff we find God’s great solution – He is Christ the Redeemer. The answer to man’s great dilemma is found in 3:21 – the great “But now!”…
God’s solution to our great dilemma is a righteousness from God apart from the law (even though the law and prophets testify to it).
It is faith in the person and work of Jesus!
Faith in God through Jesus’ redeeming work becomes the operative word (see the word faith mentioned in 3:22, 25, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31; 4:5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22; 5:1,2).
A works righteousness or self justification before this holy God would never work! Both, Jews and gentiles must look to Jesus to be saved. This was the argument that the Pharisees and the scribes most strenuously resisted. They essentially taught works righteousness or law keeping as a way of salvation. That is the human default. All the religions of the world and most of so-called Christendom believe that good works are the way to heaven.
The story of the rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-25 is indeed the story of our world. He asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
He had the keeping of the law in in mind.
His understanding of the law was, “Do this, do that and you shall live”.
Jesus says, This is impossible with men (Mk.10:27)… BUT... ”follow me!” (Mk.10:21).
Biblical Christianity says, “Don’t look to the law for salvation” … BUT “Look to Jesus Christ and follow Him.”
It is
really hard for us to let go of this
idea of wanting to do something to earn our salvation.
The Bible
says, “Look to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn.
1:29,36) THIS IS THE GOSPEL!
And now, in Romans 4 we find the application of how anyone (Jew or Gentile) becomes a true believer- or as we would say - a Christian.
There is so much to say here,
that we will have to deal with this great chapter in two sermons.
4:1-5 ABRAHAM
JUSTIFIED BY FAITH
And now Paul addresses a problem in Chapter 4.
How could an Old Testament man like Abraham be made right/justified with God?
The standard Jewish answer was that Abraham would have been justified on the basis of his works. The Jewish Rabbis taught that God’s election of His people was based upon their merit. They maintained that their righteousness compelled God to choose them.
There is nothing new about that view.
Many modern Christians believe this.
Many modern people believe that we have sufficient goodness in us for God to choose us, or for us to want to choose God. However, that flies straight in the face of Scripture and especially Romans 3, with its explicit observation that no one is righteous before God![1].
This includes Abraham!
So how was Abraham justified?
How is anyone justified?
Certainly
not by works-righteousness. God has
another method. We turn our attention again to the gospel method of declaring
anyone righteous.
You will remember from Rom. 1:2 that Paul said that “this gospel was promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures…” (meaning the OT).
This is affirmed again in Rom. 3:21: “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets (i.e. the OT) bear witness to it…”.
And when Paul says in 4:3, “What does the
Scripture say?”, he refers to the OT. The OT already contains the solution
for our dilemma, and it is not “by works of the law”. Paul starts with a fascinating example:
Abraham – the father of the Jews.
4:1 “What then shall we say was
gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?” How was Abraham
justified, if justification can only be obtained through Christ’s work on the
cross? Remember that Christ came to this world only 1800 years later! In Abraham’s day the work of redemption was
not yet completed.
So how was this going to apply to
Abraham?
Was Abraham a true believer in his day? Yes undoubtedly. He was called the friend of God (2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; Jas.2:23).
But on what basis? Did his good works secure God’s approval? We know that he was a good man. But was he sinless? Did he have something to boast about before God? No (4:2)!
Then what? How was he justified before God?
4:3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. This is a quote from Genesis 15:6. Even the OT teaches that justification does not come from law keeping.
It came from believing God - having faith in God and His Word!
(i) Abraham believed God. Abraham took God, His Word, His plan for Him in Gen.15 and He believed God, by faith. God’s plan for Adam included future grace through Christ’s death 1800 years later
(ii) By his
believing in God, he was counted (credited) as righteous. Righteousness was imputed
to Him. Imputation always comes from the
outside – someone else credits your account! We know that Jesus, death would
have done that for Abraham. In fact, in John 8:56, Jesus said to the
Jews of his day, “Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He
saw it and was glad.” Somehow God
enabled Abraham to see His Saviour. In this sense Abraham became a Christian!
And in Abraham’s case the imputation
is not by way of works done, it is a gift! And it is obtained from believing God.
Paul explains this in 4:4,5.
4:4 “Now to the one who works, his
wages are not counted as a gift but as his due”. If you work, you get what
is your due. But if you are working for your salvation you won’t make it, since
you and everybody else always fall
short.
4:5 “And to the one who does not work
but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his FAITH is counted as
righteousness.” On this principle,
Abraham did not become a believer because he did acceptable works, but because
He believed in Jesus- God’s solution. [NB the sacrificial ram caught in the thicket
– Gen. 22:8,13,14 pointed forward to the gospel solution- Jesus Christ
the Messiah, the substitutionary Lamb of God]. He believed, and God imputed righteousness.
Imputation is a term borrowed from
the accountant’s office. It is the forwarding of a credit. In this case Abraham
was credited with an undeserved gift. He did nothing to earn it. He did not
work for it. It began all when he still lived in Ur. He wasn’t looking for God. God was looking for him. God spoke to him
there, and Abraham believed God! That was it!
4:6-8 DAVID UNDERSTOOD JUSTIFICATION
BY FAITH
And now to crown it all, in 4:6-8, we learn that another prominent OT figure, David, understood that same principle.
This quotation is taken from Psalm 32:1,2. “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count/credit[2] (cf. 4:3,4,5) his sin.”
Although David uses it here in a negative sense, the idea of imputation holds. God covers the sin of His people by the blood of the Messiah and therefore He will not impute sin to them. So, we learn that the greatest men of the OT believed that God’s way of justifying a sinner is by the imputation of His righteousness to them.
You don’t work for your salvation.
So many people that you may speak to
on the street will justify themselves and
say something like this, “I’m trying to be a good person. I try to
keep the Commandments. I try to be nice to other people... and therefore I hope
to go to heaven”. But this is not
the way it works in Scripture - not even in OT Scripture. Paul appeals to two of the most respected
figures of the Old Testament to prove his case.
4:9-12 TRUE BELIEVERS FROM ALL AGES
AND BACKGROUNDS ARE JUSTIFIED IN THE SAME WAY
In 4:9 – 12, Paul asserts that
this is indeed the only method of salvation for everyone - Jew (the circumcised)
and Gentiles (the uncircumcised). And incidentally both are Abraham’s
descendents – him being the father of many nations see 4:17-
cf. Gen. 17:5.
Romans 4:9-12 explains that the
blessing of being declared righteous by God is not limited to
those who are circumcised (Jews) but extends to the uncircumcised (Gentiles). And
here Paul strikes a straight blow at the self righteous Jew who held those that
were uncircumcised in contempt.
4:10 When was Abraham declared righteous?
When did he become a believer?
It was before he was circumcised. This demonstrates that justification is a result of faith, and not a result of circumcision or any other outward ritual.
OT circumcision, like NT Christian baptism is not it! It is merely a sign. In this case it was a sign or
seal of the righteousness that Abraham already possessed through faith (4:11).
Therefore, Abraham is the father of all who believe, regardless of whether they
are circumcised or not, making believing
- faith (and not circumcision) the key criteria in receiving God's saving blessings.
In essence, Romans 4:9-12 emphasizes that justification is based on faith, and not on adherence to religious rituals or ethnic identity. Abraham's example (undergirded by David’s own testimony) serves as a powerful illustration of this truth, demonstrating that God's blessing of righteousness is available to all who believe, Jew or Gentile.
WHY UNDERSTANDING JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH IS IMPORTANT
It helps us to see that the basis of
our Christian profession must never be approached from a works
righteousness.
Those who think that God would accept them because they have not murdered, not committed adultery, not stolen etc. must be helped to see that they must not trust in their self righteousness. This was the problem which the rich young ruler (Mk. 10:17-25) had.
Our self -righteousness will not stand in
the eyes of a holy God. If we ever think of ourselves as good enough for God
then our view of God and sin is too small.
We need a better solution, a better
covenant. We need to stand on better promises. That is essentially the
message of the book of Hebrews. If you are trusting in your own self
righteousness then you are trusting in yourself and not in Christ.
The Bible teaches a salvation that rests not on the work of man, but on the work of God.
Two important words contribute to that understanding:
Justification (God declares us righteous) and,
Imputation (God makes us righteous)
These form the foundation of our salvation. Both are the results of a gracious initiative of our God.
Hence we can never boast in ourselves.
Our boast is in God. Abraham boasts in Christ alone! David boasts in Christ alone!
And that is
what we are here to declare Sunday after Sunday, and
thereafter forever in heaven!
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