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Justified by Faith Part II

Romans 4:9-25

• The word for “accounted” is logizomai

• It is used 41 times in the New Testament

• 19 times in Romans

• 11 times in Romans chapter 4 alone

• So this is the most important chapter in the Bible on our justification by faith.

• Our New Kings James Version uses the words: “accounted,” “counted,” and “imputed.”

• It is a mathematical calculation in which God is saying that He has written off, as gone forever, all of the sin in your life, if you have trusted in His vicarious atonement through Jesus Christ.

• God has then deposited into your account His own righteousness to your credit.

• Now the books that once showed you completely bankrupt, show that you are the possessor of all that God requires for eternal life.

• Romans chapter 4 contains some of the most powerful arguments ever given of the beautiful grace of God with no human finger prints upon it.

• Paul is using two great heroes of the Jews, Abraham and David, to show that even before Christ, we could be justified by faith only.

• Here’s that word again: faith was “accounted” to Abraham.

• The mathematical formula is here all over again. The ledger said Abraham was bankrupt, but God has credited to him all righteousness

• And Paul asks an important question.

• Now I realize that we have many guests that may be asking, “Why is he talking so much about circumcision?” First of all, I don’t usually.

• But Romans was written partly to Jewish believers, and circumcision was extremely important to them.

• In the Talmud a Jew was told that he could not even come to the Passover Feast without the mark of Abraham, which was circumcision.

• Rabbinic tradition said if a Jew turned back to idols, and was sent to hell, that God would actually put back the foreskin or uncircumcize that Jew before sending him to hell. That is how much the Jews venerated circumcision.

• Then even more radical, Abram was uncircumcised when he believed.  At least 14 years before he was circumcised he trusted in Christ, and it was another 430 years before the law was given.

• Circumcision was a sign of faith! 

• Righteousness is accounted to those who believe: Jew or Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised.

• If you believe God, you are a child of Abraham.

• The promise was not only made to Abraham, but to all of us who would believe in Christ, the seed (singular).

• The promise was not made to those who would keep the law. The law came 430 years later.

• The promise was made for those who believe in Christ by faith.

• Abraham believed God! He did not just believe in God. Even demons believe in God.

• Abraham believed God! God wants to be believed! He wants to be trusted! 

• This is the point of the book of Galatians.

• Christ was made sin, on our behalf, so that we could be forgiven of all our sin.

• The law was given to show us that we could not satisfy the perfect God who demanded perfection.

• The law humbles us so that grace can exalt Christ!

• The promise stands based on faith, not the law.

• In other words, if the promise of God was dependent on us keeping the law, then how could we then depend on Him?

• God could make such a promise! He could have said, “If you keep the Law you can go to heaven.”  But Paul is saying that you would have no certainty!

• We would be so insecure. By 10:00am we would have broken some part of the Law and we would be headed to hell.

• You look at someone and get angry; you would be guilty!!

• You covet this guy’s cool truck; you would be guilty!!

• You think a lustful thought; you would be guilty!!

• You just drive down Woodmen; you would be guilty!!

• The reason God’s promise is sure is because it is dependent on grace, dependent on God, not dependent on us.

• It is dependent on being undeserved! Unearned! That’s pretty remarkable stuff!

• That makes me want to sing, to worship, and to be thankful!

• This verse quotes a verse from Genesis and is very interesting because it is in past tense. Isaac was not even born yet.

• The God we serve calls the things that are not, as though they are! Because they are in His heart, they exist in His heart before they are reality on earth!

• I like that because God can look down at me and say “You, Steve, are justified, sanctified, and glorified.”

• That’s really good stuff!

• Satan cannot even believe it: “OK God, I see that he’s justified, but sanctified? Did you see him in traffic today? No, it can’t be! Do you see the thoughts in his mind?”

• Satan says, “And another thing, there’s nothing ‘glorious’ about this guy, Steve. He walks around in grubby clothes, and wears Hawaiian shirts a lot! There is nothing glorious about him.”

• But, no, I don’t have to listen to Satan. My God says that He calls “those things which do not exist as though they did.”

• Again this verse references a passage before Isaac was born! God already knows what He’s going to do!

• You may have no hope today! But God does, God has hope for you!

• He see’s what He is going to do in your life 20 years from now.

• Imagine this! Abraham is about 100 years old, as good as dead, but God sees His plan and Abraham believed God!

• He believed in the Word of God. That is all he had to believe in was the Word of God: “So shall your descendants be.”

• There’s no church, no Bible, no people of God yet, and Abraham believed God’s word!!!

• God has hope for you today! In your impossible situation, he sees what is going to be!

• In other words, if Abraham looked at his own body, he could have been staggered at the thought of having children. But he didn’t.

• Now Sarah did, and she laughed, but Abraham did not.

• He did not look at the circumstances, but believed God.

• So they named their child “laughter”:  Isaac.

• But when God makes a promise, He keeps it.

• When you stagger at the promises of God, you are not glorifying God.

• Your complaining and whining is not glorifying God.

• This is why it is called the gospel, the good news!

• The Bible has not been given just to substantiate a record of some guys who lived thousands of years ago, but rather the Bible has been given to be passed on to us. If we will also believe in Christ, in the same way as Abraham, the righteousness of God is accounted to us.

• The impossible can happen to you also. if you will believe!

• Just like a miracle happened for Abraham and Sarah, God can do the same thing for you!

• The impossible thing is that you are a sinner and you can’t remove that. Even your thoughts make you a sinner; it is your nature. We are all sentenced to death, but God is holy and He is separate from sin and He has devised a plan.

• He is just and the justifier of the ungodly! 

• Ex. I thought that salvation was being a “goody two shoes.”  But I looked at my shoes and they weren’t too shiny! I thought I had to wear a little tie and go to confirmation class, and I tried to be religious but I knew the deep seated problems of my heart, my thoughts, my motives.

• Then somehow, God had grace for me. He put someone across my path, a radio program, a billboard, an article, a passing comment.

• And we each realize there is a loophole in all of this; an open door for us!!

• And we learn that God has punished His Son so that we don’t have to be punished.

• And it truly becomes amazing grace!

• There is a Way, and a Truth, and a Life: Jesus! And He has never taken His eyes off of you! He wants to wash and cleanse you!

• When Jesus looks at you, He sees righteousness, because it has been accounted to you. He doesn’t see your sin anymore!

• All of my debits have been removed, and all of His credits have been placed into my column!