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Intro:
Paul has told us the future of those without Christ many times now.
He has spoken from the perspective of a Gentile, a Jew and then lumping everyone together.
Then we come to this magnificent part of where everything changes.
Paul speaks to us of the importance of believing in the blood (death, burial and resurrection) of Christ.
He broaches the subject of belief there and then in Chapter 4 he is going to use this whole section to talk about faith.
Remember who he is talking to:
The Jews are still reeling after hearing Paul talk about the uselessness of trying to measure up to what God desires through the law.
In case there is any question in their mind Paul is going to go to their biggest heroes and explain how Faith is not some new idea but even in the OT faith was what saved and not works.
The righteousness of God in the gospel is not some new last ditch effort to redeem people.
This is his plan that can be seen in the law and the prophets as well.
Paul uses to explain how God’s great plan of salvation was in complete harmony with the Old Testament.
Paul is going to do this by talking about Abraham and David.
Watch and pay attention as we watch this master genius stroke of God through Paul’s writing showing the Jews what really mattered.
Slide Practical Case Study
After all, with Abraham we are talking about the one that God referred to as his friend.
Abraham is considered to be the father of the Jews in their mind and David is their premier king.
Watch and pay attention as we watch this master genius stroke of God through Paul’s writing showing the Jews what really mattered.
Slide Practical Case Study
Here Paul is going to show how critical faith is in the life of the believer.
Paul will teach us that Righteousness is really a five letter word, you spell it F-A-I-T-H.
This is his plan that can be seen in the law and the prophets as well.
Righteousness is really a five letter word, you spell it F-A-I-T-H.
I.
The Father of Faith -
We saw last week what the word Justify means.
(as if I had never sinned)
In this passage we are going to see 3 different words that all play off of this word and all have the same basic meaning.
In these first 6 verses we are going to find 3 different words that have the same basic meaning.
The words are, reckon, impute and count and they all mean “to put to ones account.”
These words all mean the same thing.
Count: to put to ones account.
An accounting term.
To put to ones account.
Impute: to put to ones account.
Justification means righteousness imputed (put to our account) and gives us a right standing before God.
It gives the idea that Paul spoke of in speaking of the slave Onesimus.
This is the idea of imputation.
These verses show clear proof that the principle of justification by faith apart from works of any kind was also the principle that operated in the Old Testament.
This isn’t some new doctrine that Paul was teaching.
The Jews considered Abraham to be the greatest patriarch of the Jewish nation.
He was the primary example in their mind of justification by works.
The claim that God justifies people based on their faith seems to run against their idea of Abraham but Paul will show that is a farce.
Paul says so what did Abraham our father find in all the works that he did in the flesh?
That is a pretty big question for people that thought that no one had ever achieved as much as Abraham with his works.
In the second verse Paul makes reference to that he just laid out.
He was justified by faith.
Justification isn’t something we feel, we may not feel forgiven but we are.
Justified isn’t the way we see ourselves, it is the way that God sees us.
How God sees us though is truly what matters way more than how we see ourselves.
When we are convinced that God sees us that way, we have the assurance of our justification.
There is no way that even Abraham can boast.
He may be able to glory to those that are watching on the outside but he has no ability to boast before God and God is really the only one that counts.
Slide Room for Boasting
Boasting is an illegitimate arrogance that contradicts the gospel message.
Justification isn’t something we feel, we may not feel forgiven but we are.
Justified isn’t the way we see ourselves, it is the way that God sees us.
How God sees us though is truly what matters way more than how we see ourselves.
When we are convinced that God sees us that way, we have the assurance of our justification.
This gives us nothing to brag about.
If we brag about our faith it is like a drowning man bragging about the fact that HE made it possible for the lifeguard to save him.
What does the Bible say?
Abraham BELIEVED God, his life is a testimony of believing God.
He was called out of his homeland, he believed and left in
He was told to sacrifice his son and he believed.
His belief was counted as righteousness.
That word counted is an accounting term.
It was placed on his account as righteousness.
Paul says, “hey if someone works and gets what they DESERVE that isn’t grace, it is a debt.”
If I work a job and am told I will get paid $12 an hour then work for 10 hours and get paid $120 there is no grace at all.
Paul is saying that if Abraham was saved by his works or in combination with his works then he did not experience grace at all.
Grace and works are not put together in some magical mixture so that we can be saved.
It is all by grace and grace alone.
II.
The Forgiveness of Faith -
What a powerful statement made here in this verse.
To the one that doesn’t work, but instead believes on HIM that justifieth the ungodly, his FAITH is counted as righteousness.
What matters is faith in him.
He isn’t making a statement that it isn’t important to work, he is making a statement that trusting or believing or having faith in your works will not work.
Here Paul is referring to the last chapter as well.
Even Abraham wasn’t saved by anything other than faith.
And then he switches focus.
Even David describes how blessed a man is that has had righteousness imputed to him without works.
Paul wasn’t satisfied with proving his point from only the great patriarch so he called in another Old Testament heavyweight.
Let’s talk about David.
This is making reference to .
How blessed are those whose sins are forgiven and whose sins have been covered.
David removes all doubt that there is any way that he can be called righteous outside of grace.
David is THE king that the Jews looked at as the most important and even their national hero.
Paul says Abraham and David both knew the power of forgiveness and grace.
The amazing truth of faith in him and in him alone and not the works that they had done.
Speaking of blessed, the one that God doesn’t impute sin to is blessed.
III.
The Family of Faith -
Speaking of blessed, the question is when did Abraham receive his righteousness?
He was known as the father of circumcision since God gave this sign to him and his descendants.
Paul makes reference to where we find that he was counted as righteous.
This was anywhere from 14-29 years before being given circumcision so the only logical answer was that the righteousness that was given to him before not after circumcision.
It was not a result of his works at all.
Paul is trying his hardest to show them that the wall of division has been taken down between the Jew and Gentile.
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