Romans 5:2 TWO FURTHER BENEFITS OF BEING JUSTIFIED - Access to God and the Hope of the Glory of God

 

Romans 5 speaks about the outworking or experience of being justified by faith. It is a wonderfully practical and encouraging chapter.

In Rom.5:1 we found the first result of our justification- Peace with God.  Being justified we are at peace with God. More importantly, God is at peace with us.

In Rom.5:2 we come to the second and third aspects of our experience of justification:

(i)                  “Through Him we have also obtained access by faith (see also 5:1) into this grace in which we stand…”.   The key concepts here are ‘access into God’s presence’ and ‘into this grace in which we stand’.

(ii)                “… and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!” Here, we will consider what is this the nature of the hope of the glory of God.

I.                    Access into God’s presence … and into this Grace

 a.       Access: The next benefit we receive  from  being justified  is  this:  We have access[1]  to God -   The word translated as access  means literally - “to bring into the presence of; to be introduced‘. 

You cannot invite yourself into the presence of the president of your country. Protocol is needed.  You need to be invited into his presence. Let us bring that idea to our text.  Before you became a Christian, you were "dead in your sins and trespasses" (Eph.2:1). 

You were an enemy of God (Rom. 5:10). 

You had no peace with God. 

Therefore you  had no right of entry, no access  into the holy presence of God. But now, “having been justified … through our Lord Jesus Christ”, you have access into God’s presence. 

Let us think about how that is possible.

Many people think that they are somehow worthy and entitled to come into God’s presence, into His heaven. Jesus says that this is not possible. Nobody can come to the Father on their own terms (John 14:6).  We come into God’s presence alone because Jesus Christ has purchased this access for us. 

Here is a small illustration: No one gets into a cinema or the theatre without purchasing a ticket. BIG POINT: No one gets to heaven  apart  from the price that Jesus pays   for our sin.  

b.      Into this Grace  in which we stand. We have seen that we receive access to God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus  by His shed blood, applied personally to us, without our merit – but by His grace alone, presents us to the Father ("These are the people you have given me out of the world" – John 17), and we receive a gracious response from God the Father. 

The book of Esther provides us with a lovely illustration. In Esther 4 the Jewish people who are at this time in exile in Persia, are in a real dilemma.  A Persian official named Haman incites a plot against the Jews. If this plot works every Jew in the Persian empire will die. Esther, a Jewish woman,  who  by God’s  providence has become queen  of Persia  for a time such as this (Esther 4:14)  has  the only opportunity left  to rescue  her people.  But there is one huge problem!  No-one  has  access to  the Persian king without being invited  – not even the queen. In fact, there is one law  that applies to such trespassers – they must be put to death (Esther 4:11). There is only  one possibility of escape.  If the king chooses to hold out his golden scepter towards that trespasser, then only  they may live (Esther 4: 11). With this in mind  Esther dares to approach the king. We read that  “she won favour in his sight , and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand.” (Esther 5:2). The strict  law  of the Medes and Persians  is set aside, when the king extends the scepter  – and Esther  received grace  to stand before him,  and  in addition she also received  his favour.  

This is an illustration of how it is with us and the great King of the Universe. 

As unredeemed sinners we could never stand in His presence. 

There can only be one  sentence for sinners  –  send this person away into  that place where there be weeping and gnashing of teeth (e.g. Lk.13:28).  But when Christ extends His scepter  to us, by His grace and favour alone, we have access into this grace  in which we stand before God.

We stand before God in an entirely new manner. God now delights in us, because He delights in His Son. All that belong to His beloved Son, are also loved by the Father. 

An Illustration: We as earthly fathers and mothers must demonstrate that same grace to our sons and daughters- in- law, when they come along. Why do we love them?  We love them because they love our sons and daughters. We love them and accept them, because they are loved and accepted by our sons and daughters.  This is how God re-acts to us:  We are loved on account of His beloved Son, who gave His life as a ransom. Our whole relationship with God is now different.  

Illustration: Imagine a man who lives rough on the street, just outside the great palace of a king. Inside the palace is everything that the mind imagines and the heart desires.  

But our man on the street cannot go inside. He has no right to enter. He is clothed in rags. But suddenly, someone comes to him on the street and says, “I want to take you into that palace. I will introduce you to the king. I will enable you … I will give you appropriate clothes to enter … which is exactly what Christ did for us. He took our filthy rags and He clothed us with His righteousness, and now we are fit for meeting our God in his kingly throne-room. And He will not chase us away.  In Christ He has extended his royal scepter to us.

But He does not only accept us.  This grace in which we now stand goes much further. His grace continues to be our portion as we live this life in daily dependence on Him.  Listen to this beautiful promise in  2 Peter  1:3,4:    

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to   his own glory and excellence,  4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

This grace in which we now stand  applies  to all areas of our lives: our marriages, our children, our relationships, our work, our church… everything! And, it is indeed a sufficient grace (2 Cor 12:9)… whatever our present circumstances may be.

 II.                 And we rejoice in the Hope of the Glory of God

(i) Peace with God (ii) access into Gods presence (iii) We now come to the third great experience following our justification :  “… and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God!”  (5:2b) The word  translated here as ‘rejoice’[2] is perhaps  better  translated as  ‘boast‘ or ‘glory in’  (so  also in  5:3,11)

What is it that be will rejoice/ glory/ boast in?  Answer: “the hope of the glory of God“.   Here we   will consider two aspects

(i)                  Looking forward to see the glory of God

(ii)               Looking forward to the glorification of our own bodies

Since we are now at  peace with God, and since we now have access to God by  faith into this grace  in which we stand, the next thing that awaits us is that we will actually  see the glory of God - God!  

 (i)                  Looking forward to see the glory of God

We begin with a few observation on the manifestations of God’s glory in the Bible:

The glory of God  in the OT  was usually seen  in “theophanies“ -  i.e. in unusual appearances  of God,  usually  bright light or fire or through angelic appearances. The effects of  seeing the glory of God were  inevitably  associated with fear  and awe. Very few people  actually saw the glory of God as often as Moses did. No nation saw manifestations of God’s glory more than the Israelites who  wandered in the desert for 40 years.

The glory of God in the NT is firstly seen in the angelic appearances prior to the births of John the Baptist and Jesus.  Secondly, the glory of God was seen  in Jesus’ own  ministry, particularly at His baptism (Matt. 3:16-17)  and  at the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-13  only Peter, James and John  saw this). The apostle Peter never forgot that, and recalls this event  in  2 Peter 1:17,18.

The  manifestations of Christ’s glory  were  also seen by   Stephen  in Acts 7:55  when  he was stoned: “being filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right  hand of God…”.  

Paul was overwhelmed by the glory of Christ on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3). He was converted at this time. Later in 2 Cor, 12:1-10,  Paul  recalls a remarkable experience  in which he  ‘was caught up to the third heaven...caught up to paradise… hearing inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell… surpassingly great (glorious) revelations…”

The glorious appearances of God in the OT and NT were certainly not normative. 

People normally saw  and experienced  Christ  as He  lived  in the days of his ‘humiliation’  in the form of a servant  (Phil 2:1-11). The Pharisees  could not  ‘see’  Him. His disciples  could not ‘see’ Him. They only ‘saw’ Him when He opened their spiritual understanding. 

In order for us to see Him now is by faith (see Rom. 5:1,2). But the goal is that we will one day in all His glory.

This is certainly Jesus desire as He expressed it in His high priestly  prayer in Jn 17:24:  “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Our future hope is “the hope of the glory of God“!  Do you remember the words of the Lord Jesus in Matt.  5:8-  “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God?”

This is what  rejoice in - not only that we are   justified;  not only  that we are at peace with God – but also that   we  shall one  day see the glory of   God!

That is our goal and your destiny!

 (ii)               Looking forward to the glorification of our own bodies

Knowing then that it is impossible for us  to see  the glory of God  in this  state of our fallen-ness (for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God –Rom. 3:23), how then shall  we be able to see Him and not die?

ANSWER: We need to be in possession  of a  glorified body !

The ultimate end to which God justifies us  is that  He  might glorify us! 

Remember that you cannot enter into the presence of God in your present state.  Something else must happen to make that possible: This is our bodily  glorification which is the last link in the chain of our salvation – see  Romans 8:18 and  30.

Paul says an amazing thing to the Philippian Christians, 

“…our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious bod. (Phil.3:20-21)

·       see also 1 Cor. 15:42-44; 50ff.

·       1 John 3:2 : “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. “

When we speak about  the hope of the glory of God we must think of two things :

1. That we will see God, and 

2. That we must be changed in order to see God.

 SUMMARY

Romans 5:1&2 contains precious truths. Take these sweets and meditate  on them; savour them.  (i) Peace with God (ii) Access to God (iii) The hope of the glory of God

May every encouragement be yours in Christ now and always!   

Next time we  will consider  the next  benefit of  being justified -   the ability to be a joyful Christians  even when we suffer (Rom. 5:3-5).

 

 

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[1] Gr prosagogē  - Found only three times in the NT : Rom 5:2; Eph 2:18; 3:12

[2]καυχώμεθα - first-person plural present active subjunctive of the verb καυχάομαι (kauchaomai), meaning "to boast" or "to glory".

Romans 5:1 - “Peace with God“

 

In his letter to the Romans the apostle Paul is a painting a portrait of humanity. 

In Romans 1:18ff he begins his portrait in dark colours as he sketches the lost condition of all humanity. The first colours of light emerge in Romans 3:21, as he sheds light on God's solution to man's great problem, as he paints in bold strokes the doctrine of justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone!

And then Paul inserts the picture of an OT man, Abraham. Paul makes the point that God always justifies His people (Abraham included) in the same way -by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.  Truly, by faith Abraham saw the day of Christ, and he rejoiced! 

This is the unfolding picture of our salvation, and as we now come to the 5^th Chapter we shall find even more light  colours added to this portrait as we consider the outcome of God's saving work in our lives.  This is where the doctrine of justification is applied – where it becomes intensely personal and practical.  The connection between Romans 4 and 5 begins with the word ‘therefore’.

5:1 “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith (just the way Abraham was), we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

We now come to some of the great out-workings of the experience of being justified, the first which is peace with God (5:1). The other results of justification follow: 

• "access   by faith into this grace in which we stand"  (5:2a);  
• "rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God”(5:2b)
• In 3:3–5  follows a wonderful statement  on how Christians can cope with their temporary sufferings
• In 5:5b-11 Paul overpowers us once more  with statements  about  the immensity of the love of Jesus, through whom we are  ultimately reconciled to God, and therefore  we  now have peace with God.

Today we simply want to revel in the thought of having peace with God. 

This is the first- fruit of justification (being right with God). A deep sense of peace! This is ultimately the deepest longing of the human soul.  While there are many ways in which people seek to be at peace in this world (and spend endless money to find it), the biggest human need is ultimately to have peace with God. Augustine (354-430 AD), Africa's greatest theologian is right when he says, "Oh Lord, our hearts are restless until they are found in Thee"! He may as well have said, ... "until they have peace with thee." The greatest question for every human being is ultimately this –  How will I stand before God? How will He admit me into His heaven? 

Thankfully the Bible does not keep us guessing. The assurance of peace with God is a biblical reality and it is the direct result of having been justified by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ.   

In this regard we want to consider three aspects:

1.      What is the nature of this peace?

2.      Do I have this peace? 

3.      The danger of a false sense of peace.

 1.  The Nature of this Peace

a. The problem of ‘no peace‘ 

Our first parents, Adam and Eve were created in God's image. 

• They were created for fellowship with God. 
• They were created for obedience to God. 
• But they deliberately chose to disobey the clear command of God in Genesis 2:17. 

This act brought about God's judgment. 

• They were driven out from His presence (Gen 3:24). 
• From this moment there was no peace between them and God, and there was no peace between them. 
• The dreadful results of this first act of disobedience have affected every subsequent son and daughter of Adam. Isaiah laments in 59:8, “The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made the roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.” 

And so, as early as Genesis 4 we find a murder in the first family. 

There is a great restlessness that sets in among the sons and daughters of men. It gets so bad that by the time we get to Genesis 6, God calls a halt!  His wrath upon mankind is demonstrated in a catastrophic flood. Only Noah, a righteous man in his day and his family had escaped the wrath of God. Sadly, after the flood, their subsequent generations were no better than those that lived before the flood.   Clearly, whilst the flood washed all evildoers away, it did not wash the effects of the fall and sin away.  And so, sin continues from the generations of Noah until this day.

Paul rightly says in Romans 3:10: “There is no one righteous – not even one...!“  See how Paul puts this in Romans 5:

• We are by nature weak and ungodly (5:6). 
• We are by nature sinners (5:8). 
• We are by nature enemies of God (Rom 5:10).  

There can be no peace between enemies, unless that conflict is somehow resolved. This is where the all-important work of Christ comes in

b. The solution to the problem is first described in Rom 3:21ff. This is the gospel. This is the Good News.  

•       It begins with God's initiative: a righteousness from God is revealed (3:21a)
•       The OT law and prophets knew about it (3:21b)
•      That righteousness is given to those who believe in Jesus (3:22)
•      Those who believe are justified by His grace as a gift (3:24a)
•   They are redeemed by Jesus Christ (3:24b)      
•    By Christ's blood the wrath of God is satisfied (3:25)
•      This gospel is for all who believe- Jews and Gentiles (3:29,30).
•      This gospel  even saves OT believers –  the example of Abraham is given.    He by faith trusted in God and he looked forward to the fulfilment of God's  promises in Christ. (Rom 4)

·       This faith leads to justification and this justification brings peace (Rom. 5:1)

There are two sides to this peace: 

• We have peace with God 
• God has peace with us.  

The first aspect, "we have peace with God" is the one we tend to think mostly of. We must know experientially that all our sins are forgiven.  

But since the process of peace always involves two parties we must also be assured, secondly, that God must be at peace with us.  And indeed, God is at peace with those who are justified. That important word, propitiation (Rom. 3:25) deals with the wrath of God against the sinner. He laid our sins on Jesus. He poured out His righteous wrath on the Lord Jesus Christ. We call this substitutionary atonement. 

How much must God have loved us to put our sins on Jesus!

 APPLICATION

 How do I know that I have Peace with God?

1.      It is a truth that the Holy Spirit applies to my heart and mind. This is a truth which I cannot settle in my mind alone, although my mind will have a part in this. The experience of peace is one of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22). While people may intellectually understand the doctrine of Christ’s substitutionary atonement, only the Holy Spirit can settle this truth experientially in our heart... and so we find it written  in Philippians 4:7:   "...and the peace of God,  which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Christ Jesus.

2.      I have peace with God when I know that God loves me.  We say this based on Romans 5:5:  “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  Again, please note that this is an important part of the work of the Holy Spirit. Love  is actually the first fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal.5:22). He gives me this inner assurance that  I am loved although I still appear to be a very imperfect person.  Before I was saved I could not say for certain, God loves me. But Romans  5:6 – 11 is the proof. I can feel the love of God. Therefore, I can feel at peace with God.  

3.      I have peace with God when I experience joy in all my circumstances. I have peace when my outward circumstances no longer dictate my  level of joy (Rom. 5:3-5). A person at peace with God can even rejoice in their sufferings. It is even possible to gain better perspective from sufferings. My joy in the knowledge of my justification overshadows everything else. Even the worst thing I might face, which is death,  even that  is no terror to me.  I know that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I  possess the peace of God that passes all understanding.

Can you see that a firm grasp of the doctrine of justification  and its effects can do so much to settle the matter of peace in your soul?

Characteristics of False peace

We end with a note on false experiences of peace. This is unfortunately a reality. We must deal with it.  Satan is the master of counterfeit. He masquerades as an angel of light.

1. Be aware of those who speak "peace, peace when there is no peace!” (e.g. Jer. 6:14) - describing the superficial treatment of deep problems by those who offer false assurances of peace, while ignoring underlying issues of sin and idolatry.

2. We do not possess peace with God simply by believing in Christ. Even the demons do that (Jas. 2:19).  Saving faith is trusting in Christ, by loving Him with all your heart.  Saving faith means to bear fruit.  If you love Him, you will obey Him. If you fail as a Christian, you will be quick to repent.  Believing in Christ is not simply an intellectual thing. It includes that but it goes beyond that when  we love the Lord Jesus  with all our heart and in word and in deed . 

3.  In fact, we do cannot possess peace with God if we sit lightly on sin.

4. We do not have peace with God simply because we never seem to be troubled by doubts, and fears.  People that do not have real peace with God are often much too glib. Everything is always fine with them. That is not surprising, because the devil makes sure that his own are kept happy.  A true Christian who has peace with God, may be in fact be subjected at times to questions and even doubt. It is not a sign of ungodliness or a lack of faith. God may be at work at times to show you that none of your inner resources will keep you faithful to Himself (the experience of Job). But if this  God is your God, He will always come back to show you that He is ultimately your Shepherd and Keeper of your soul. Your experience of peace  in the midst of suffering will become even profounder.  Christians will persevere because God perseveres with them.

5. We do not have peace with God if we harbour unforgiveness against others. Matt. 6:14,15 teaches that God will not forgive my sins if I nurture an unforgiving spirit. I will not be at peace with God.

Next time we will continue to mine this text for some more of its great riches, and to furnish us with a fuller picture, a brighter picture, of the justifying work that Jesus has accomplished for us on the cross – that our joy may be full.

Romans 4: 1-12 How Abraham became a 'Christian'

 

 

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.That is why I cannot endorse  the Paedo Baptist view, which promotes the baptism of children, effectively  administering the sign BEFORE the  evidence of  saving faith. Surely faith always comes first.  OT Abraham was circumcised in response to his faith.   NT believers should be baptised in response to their faith, and not in anticipation of their faith. 

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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[1] Note  that Paul’s observation in Romans 3:10-18 is based on a series of OT passages.  

[2] Logizomai – the idea of thoughtful consideration, involving deeper mental processes. It is variously translated at  reckoning or accounting, imputation, reasoning and deliberation, judging and considering