God's Power In Salvation - Romans 4:16-25

Romans 4:16-17 "For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist."

Introduction:

As the Apostle Paul works his way through explaining the crucial doctrine of justification by faith, we find him illustrating such by the Old Testament patriarch Abraham. Abraham's life can be read about in Genesis 12-25, throughout several Old Testament passages, as well as expounded upon in New Testament chapters such as Galatians 3:5-9; 4:22-31; Hebrews 11:8-19 and James 2:21-23. We looked in the last post at how one experiences God in salvation. Justification by faith sets the sinner in prime position legally to experience the other saving graces by experience. Elmer L. Towns expresses quite well the following sentiments about justification:

"In the same way, justification changes our legal papers in heaven; we become children of God." 

So what took place in Abraham's life with respect to his change of position in justification (Romans 4:16-22) is also said of believers today (Romans 4:23-25). In short, both Abraham and anyone who trusts in Christ is justified by faith and simultaneously experiences God's power beginning to operate in their life. How can we better understand the extraordinary power of God in Christian salvation and in what follows in Romans 4:16-25? In other words, justification's positioning of the believing sinner enables them to begin enjoying the following graces associated with God's power in salvation:

1. Power of a New Life. Romans 4:16-17

When God declared Abraham righteous in justification, on what grounds was there to make such a declaration? God's grace, as stated plainly in Romans 4:16. The crediting of the righteousness of Christ which was alluded to in the promises of salvation given to Abraham is what enabled Abraham to be deemed "right with God". Now notice another distinct grace that is alongside this legal declaration of justification. We find reference to God's ability to give life to the dead in Romans 4:17 - "(as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist." God's ability to create new life out of nothing in salvation is explained elsewhere. For example, consider 2 Corinthians 4:6 "For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." Paul later on in 2 Corinthians states in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, old things are passed away and behold, all things become new." 

So, justification is indicative of the fact that God by His Spirit was doing a living, powerful work in Abraham's heart. God's supreme declaration occurs in the context of new life imparted in saving faith. Such a powerful experience of God's power is what describes Christian salvation as well. Faith in Christ's death and resurrection points to the grounds of our justification - namely Christ Himself. His resurrection power demonstrates that what He did on the cross worked on our behalf. This incredible new life beginning in saving faith is empowered by the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11). So in salvation, one experiences the power of a new life. But how else is God's power experienced in salvation?

2. Power of New Hope. Romans 4:18-19

We read in Romans 4:18-19 "In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb." Abraham and Sarah's situation at the time God found them was, by all accounts, hopeless. They were both tangled up in pagan religion (see Joshua 24:1-3). Both of them were past the child-bearing years, compounded by the fact that Sarah was barren. Moreover, even after Abraham and Sarah began to walk with God, it would be another 25 years before God appeared to them formally to announce what would be the birth of their son Isaac. Physically speaking, things were bleak. 

But what did the saving faith of God inform Abraham concerning his situation? He realized he could not bring about the promises of God spoken to him. Sarah too resigned herself to the fact that she was incapable. But God did a work and what their faith told them concerning the realm of unseen realities would be confirmed later on in the birth of that bouncing baby-boy Isaac. Faith brought with it new found hope. Paul would later on expound on the amazing results brought about as a result of the hope poured into the human heart at salvation by the Holy Spirit (see Romans 5:1-5). Again, such experiences of God's power to Abraham is equated with experiences of his power in saving faith today.

So we experience God's power in salvation by way of new life, new hope and thirdly...

3. Powerful assurance. Romans 4:20-21

We read in Romans 4:20-21 "yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore it was also credited to him as righteousness." I love the word "yet". It is a small word but oh is it so powerful! It carries the thought of reversing whatever was said prior. Despite Abraham looking at he and Sarah's hopeless situation, "yet", they did not waver in unbelief. Only a heart touched by God and having experienced God's life-saving declaration of justification can look through the hard-times and find assurance in Christ. Faith both performs and informs the believer's heart and mind concerning God, Christ and all the blessings of salvation. As the hymn of old states: "blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!" 

4. God's power available to you today. Romans 4:23-25

As we close out this post today, Paul notes in Romans 4:23 that these truths "Now not for his sake only was it written....", but, notice in verse 24 "but for our sake also...". Paul's whole point in bringing Abraham forward to illustrate salvation and its crown jewel of justification by faith is to aid us in better understanding how it is we experience both positional change (justification) as well as life change (regeneration) and relationship change (adoption) as God's power in salvation. Truly, this reminds us of the theme verse of Paul's epistle to the Romans, Romans 1:16, concerning how he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also the Greek.

A Slow-Motion View Of God's Power Experienced In Salvation

Romans 4:16-17 "For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 (as it is written, “A father of many nations have I made you”) in the presence of Him whom he believed, even God, who gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist."

Introduction:

The above picture captures a baseball getting hit by a bat in extreme slow motion. Such an event is instantaneous from the standpoint of normal human perception. Today's post is going to consider another instantaneous event, a supernatural one, namely: the power of God experienced in the life changing moment of salvation. We will attempt to do this by a Biblical and doctrinal "frame-by-frame" view of Biblical salvation. Hopefully, we will discern a sequence of logical moments in an otherwise simultaneous, instantaneous event we call salvation. 

Justification is God's declaration of a change in one's legal standing or position before Him

Commonly, discussions about justification by faith detail the positional standing that changes with respect to the sinner's standing before a Holy God. Prior to justification by faith, the sinner is a child of wrath, in darkness, spiritually dead and condemned (see John 3:36; 8:24; Romans 3:10-19; Ephesians 2:1-4, 12; 1 Peter 2:10). 

Justification involves a changing about of the position of the person from primarily being identified as a sinner to having a new positional identity as a saint (see 1 Corinthians 1:2; 1 Peter 2:12). Elmer L. Towns in his volume: "Theology For Today" notes on page 457 an analogy of a foreigner becoming a legalized citizen of the United States to clarify this point:

"But as he becomes aware of his new legal standing, he may shout, cry, or break out into a grin. The emotional reaction has no organic connection to his changed legal status, but there surely is a cognitive awareness of his new advantages. In the same way, justification changes our legal papers in heaven; we become children of God. In response to this new relationship we may cry, rejoice or worship God in silent gratitude."

G.I Williamson in his commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith, page 105, matches Towns' observations in his comments on justification by faith:

"This means that at the instant we begin to trust in Christ we are then and there declared to be legally without sin, guilt, or future punishment. This declaration cannot depend upon anything done by the sinner. Faith which is not 'doing' but only dependence  upon what Christ has done instantaneously results in complete and eternal justification, provided it be true faith."

Since justification by faith involves God declaring a change in our position, what then occurs right before and right after it?

So what takes place when God's declares a believing sinner righteous? An important doctrinal truth that sheds light on justification is what Bible teachers call "imputation". In short, imputation has to do with the crediting of Christ's life and work to the sinner's account in saving faith, since on the cross, the sinner's life and sin was "imputed", or "reckoned" or "credited" to Christ on the cross (see Romans 4:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21). This act of transfer by God means then that in justification, what saves the sinner is not so much their faith, but the righteousness of Christ credited to them through the reception of it in faith. All faith can do is receive into its otherwise empty hands all that Christ did. So what logically occurs before justification by faith and what follows logically from it? Below we will see that the Holy Spirit's preparatory work of regeneration operates before and His work of adoption follows upon the heels of the grand declaration of justification. For all practical intents and purposes, all three occur simultaneously and none of them than take place lest all three are operating. Still, a closer look can yield why it is Christian salvation is truly amazing! 

Witnessing the redemption of a sinner in slow motion

I'm sure the reader has seen videos where they take an extremely high speed video and place it into "slow motion". It is important to recognize that Christian salvation involves a momentary act that is composed of distinctive moments that are logically prior to and following from justification. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 notes about our redemption: 

"Salvation involves the redemption of the whole man, and is offered freely to all who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, who by His own blood obtained eternal redemption for the believer. In its broadest sense salvation includes regeneration, justification, sanctification, and glorification. There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord."

In the first three chapters of Romans, we discover that mankind is faced with a three-fold crisis: a spiritual crisis, a moral crisis and a relational crisis. All three crises characterize sinful, fallen man. To address each of these crises, which are occurring simultaneously in the sinner on a practical, everyday level, God issues forth in the Gospel three distinctive "graces" that constitute the redemption or salvation of that person. Justification represents the second of these two and deals primarily with man's moral condition as a condemned and guilty sinner. There are two others which must be mentioned:

1. Regeneration. The Baptist Faith and Message places God's work of regeneration ahead of justification by faith in terms of logical sequence. It states: 

"Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace." 

The Baptist faith and Message then adds:

"Repentance is a genuine turning from sin toward God. Faith is the acceptance of Jesus Christ and commitment of the entire personality to Him as Lord and Saviour." 

2. Adoption. Though not specifically mentioned in the Baptist Faith and Message, the grace of adoption follows logically from one's legally declared change of position in justification. G.I. Williamson notes on adoption in his commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith:

"Adoption, as the term clearly implies, is an act of transfer from an alien family into the family of God Himself. It means that those who were by nature children of wrath, children of darkness, even children of Satan (Eph. 2:3, Col. 3:6, John 8:44), are constituted the children of light and and of God."

How regeneration, justification and adoption operate in the salvation of the sinner

Regeneration takes care of the sinner's spiritual death in sins and trespasses. Justification by faith is God's declaration over the sinner due to their simultaneous response to the Spirit's work in their heart. Justification takes care of the sinner's legal or moral crisis. But what about the relational crisis? It is where we find the grace of adoption grant the rights of responsibilities of the new found relationship legally declared in justification.  

Closing thoughts:

We aimed today to consider how the power of God is experienced in salvation. We did a "frame-by-frame" view of Biblical salvation, noting a sequence of logical moments in an otherwise simultaneous, instantaneous event we call salvation. We noted that there are the graces of: regeneration, justification and adoption. We discovered that each of these address mankind's spiritually dead crisis, moral crisis and relational crisis before a Holy righteous God. 

Faith Followed By Good Works - Understanding Justification and Sanctification

1 Thessalonians 4:1-3 "Finally then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more. 2 For you know what commandments we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality."

The respulsive nature of our sinfulness before saving faith that deserves judgment

Whenever you read some passages in the Bible, you may come away sometimes in shock or even disgust at the imagery and events. Certainly God's graphic description of the sins of His people is shocking and disgusting. Isn’t that what sin should be to us? Grotesque! James 4:4 reminds us - "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." 

The description of Jerusalem and Judah in Ezekiel's day would had matched any other wicked city such as Ninevah in Assyria, Babylonia in Babylon or Sodom and Gomorrah. God's point was well made - sin is disgusting, repulsive and should be despised by God's people. Moreover, our sin before a Holy Righteous God does nothing for us but to make us guilty and deserving of judgment. As a result of Adam's rebellion in the garden - death, sin and guilt have been inherited and experienced by every human being born in history (with the exception of Jesus).
  

How justification by faith alone removes the penalty of our sin

Whenever you turn to James 2, you read about the nature of true saving faith - that faith will always be followed by good deeds. Though we are saved by grace through faith apart from the law (the point of the book of Romans), yet saving faith should and must evidence a life that is not lawless (James' point). Both books do not conflict, but rather complement one another in seeing the same saving faith with respect to what it takes to get right with God in salvation (Romans = saved by grace alone through faith alone) and the nature of such faith following salvation (James = kept by grace and a faith that is never alone).

The Biblical doctrine of justification teaches that faith alone is necessary and sufficient to receive salvation. At saving faith, the entire active obedience of Christ in His life and passive submission in the cross and empty tomb is credited or imputed to our spiritual poverty. When Jesus was on the cross, our willful disobedient life and refusal to submit to God was credited or imputed to Jesus Christ. Hence in the Biblical teaching of justification, the spiritual transaction that occurs stems from a double-crediting, a double-imputation if-you-please. In other words, Jesus on the cross was treated like me so that in saving faith I could be credited the Father with the righteousness of Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). In justification, the penalty of my sin is removed. 

Justification by faith is likened unto a mother and the works of sanctification are the little children following 

However following salvation, good works proceeding from faith is the chief evidence demonstrating the reality of one's justification. (James 2:14-20) We are saved by grace through faith alone, however following salvation, we are being saved by a faith that is never alone. All good works that follow from the one-time Divine pronouncement of justification at saving faith is what the scriptures call "sanctification". Many over the centuries have wondered how justification by faith and sanctification in good works relate to one another. 

Think of faith as a mother and good deeds like the children that follow the mother. Wherever the mother is, the little children are there in close proximity. We see this in how human mothers and children relate to one another. We moreso see in the animal kingdom this same principle, such as ducklings or chicks following their mother. 

With justification, the penalty of my sin is removed and in sanctification the power of the necessity of sin is removed. Although the presence of sin won't be removed until believers are in the Lord's presence, the sanctifying work of the Spirit gives power to fight and overcome sins and desire righteousness. The wonder of sanctification is not only in being set free from sin's power, but also having the power to live right and do right for God on the basis of Jesus' credited righteousness. 

To further elaborate the distinctions between justification and sanctification: in justification, I am positionally deemed righteous by God with Christ's righteousness. In sanctification, the Holy Spirit is making me in experience whom God has declared me to be in position. Both graces together work in the Christian to make them like a child following after their Lord. 

Biblically illustrating justification and sanctification in action

We started out this post by noting the disgusting nature of sin. However James points out that a harlot by the name of Rahab was justified by faith and demonstrated such faith by hiding the Jewish spies in the days of the conquest of Jericho (James 2:25). She was justified by faith apart from works and continued living by sanctifying faith that does work. Can God save harlots? Absolutely! God's grace is the only thing that can reach you and me in the depths of our sin and Christ's blood is the only thing that can overflow the heights of our sin and wipe away its guilt. That's the relationship between justification and sanctification.

Heaven's Credit Card: Justification, Received By Faith Alone And Guaranteed By Grace Alone

Romans 4:4-5 "Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness."

Introduction:

In our last post, we considered how justification by faith can be likened to a Heavenly credit card issued by God to the sinner at saving faith. We noted that Christ alone is the grounds for justification. By His Person and accomplished work on the cross and by His resurrection, Christ in effect "paid the bill" demanded by God's Holy character on the sinner's behalf. We can summarize the whole point of understanding what Paul is arguing for in Romans 4:1-16: when God credits forgiveness of sin and Christ’s righteousness at saving faith, such Heavenly crediting is called “justification by faith”. 

Theologian Michael Horton states the radical nature of justification by faith in his volume: "The Christian Faith", page 620:

"'God justifies the wicked'. As a counterintuitive as it is simple, that claim which lies at the heart of the good new has brought immeasurable blessing - and trouble - to the church and the world. It is not the Pharisee, confident in his own righteousness, who went home justified, said Jesus, but the tax collector, who could not even raise his eyes to heaven but cried out, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' (Lk 18:9-14)."

Today’s post will further clarify for you the source, reception and guarantee of this transaction in justification by faith. 
We looked already at the source or grounds for justification: Christ alone. Today we want to explore how one receives this "Heavenly Credit Card" of justification as well as what guarantees the credit granted to the sinner will be forever accepted by God as enough. 

So we begin by asking the same question as we did in the last post: how is justification by faith like a heavenly credit card?

Reception of Heavenly Credit: Faith Alone.  Romans 4:4-15

The Apostle Paul is getting into the heart of the Gospel by unfolding to us the doctrine of justification by faith. Contrary to what some may teach, the Old Testament does not teach one way of salvation and the New Testament another. Paul’s whole point in explaining how the righteousness of God is brought down to the sinner at saving faith is to show how such truth was communicated in the Old Testament, beginning with the Book of Genesis. 

In Genesis 15:6, we read the same identical words: “Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Whenever we survey the Old and New Testaments, we find this central theme of the Gospel of “credited righteousness” or what is also called “Justification by faith” (Psalm 32:1-2; Habakkuk 2:4).

When we talk about "righteousness", what is meant by that term? righteousness is a life and conduct that is pure, innocent and perfectly pleasing with and before God. Since God’s righteousness is the righteousness of Jesus Christ and vice-versa, it stands from scripture that His righteousness is the only acceptable righteousness before God. We've explored this point already in the previous point, noting how the grounds of justification are found in Christ alone.

So then, how does that righteousness become my own? By what means does one receive the righteousness of Christ? We know from scripture that self-righteousness or any attempt to gain salvation by our own efforts falls far short of the purity, innocence and perfection that God and Christ have. Romans 3:20 states – “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” In the Apostle Paul's other major letter arguing for justification by faith, Galatians, we read in Galatians 3:11  – “Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “The righteous man shall live by faith.”

Notice how often we see the terms “justified” or “credited” or “reckoned”. These terms explain how the righteousness achieved by Jesus Christ in both His life, death and resurrection are transferred to the sinner’s account. 

Whenever a person writes a check and gives it to another as a gift, what happens is that the monetary amount written on that check is coming out of someone’s account. It was earned by labor or some other way. Whenever they give that check as a gift, the recipient must receive it in order to place it in their account. At the bank, the recipient of the check would had to signed the back in order to have the funds available to them. We could liken faith or trust in Christ as that little signature line supplied by God in His issuing forth of Heavenly credit. Once the person brings the check to the bank, the bank teller looks at the check and looks at the person who signed the check on the back and applies it to the recipient’s account. What has happened? The bank has regarded that money as the recipient’s own, even though the check clearly came from another person from the outside.

This illustration serves to aid in understanding how the righteousness of God and Christ is applied to sinner’s at salvation. Faith alone is both necessary and sufficient. Faith is the means by which the righteous merit of Christ’s life, death and resurrection is applied and received. The cross of Christ is the grounds and the choice and calling of God to that sinner is the beginning point of such salvation. The righteousness demanded by the law and yet unattainable is the same righteousness promised by the Gospel that is received by faith and credited to the sinner.

Guarantee of Heavenly Credit: Grace Alone. Romans 4:16

So we've seen that justification's foundations or grounds derive from Christ alone. We've also noted how the reception of justification or Christ's credited righteousness must have faith or trust. God deems faith by itself as both a requirement and an adequate means of receiving what He desires to impute to or credit to the sinner. But now, what guarantees all this? How do we know that God isn't going to do some sort of "bait and switch", whereby after one believes the gospel, now God demands works in order to "keep the salvation He gave to them".


Romans 4:16 states: "For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all." 

Grace, we could say, is God's freely given favor. Whenever God extends grace in any of its forms (common grace to all men, saving grace to sinners responding in faith, preserving grace for saints living in this world, empowering grace for resisting temptation or understanding the scriptures), God is in effect saying "you have my favor". In common grace, for instance, all men have God's favor in so far as they are right now enjoying all of the blessings and good gifts bestowed by God in this physical world (like sunshine & rain, Mt 5:45). Common grace grants God's favor while delaying what will be the sinner's judgment.

In the particular saving grace of God, we find that it is like a large dinner plate upon which the scrumptious doctrine of justification by faith rests. Henry Clarence Thiessen in his book: "Lecture in Systematic Theology", page 365:

"Justification thus originates in the heart of God. Realizing not only our lack of righteousness, but also our inability to attain to it, He in His kindness decided to provide a righteousness for us. It was His grace that led Him to provide it; He was under no obligation whatever to do it. In His grace He had regard to our guilt, and in His mercy, to our misery."


Grace originated in God's heart not just moments before the sinner's salvation, nor years, nor decades, nor centuries. Grace had always been in God's heart from all eternity. The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 refers to this gracious intention in its article five as "God's purpose of grace", connected to the Biblical doctrine of Divine election which Paul will develop more fully in Romans 8:28-11:25. The BFM 2000 states:
"Election is the gracious purpose of God, according to which He regenerates, justifies, sanctifies, and glorifies sinners."

The BFM 2000 then concludes its article on "God's Purpose of Grace" with this statement:

".... yet they shall be kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation."
God's grace is infinite in duration. His desire to save sinners apart from any merit done by them guarantees the salvation of His people - both as a group and individually. Thus, justification is by faith so that it may be by grace - as such grace guarantees it.

Closing thoughts:

The last couple of posts has considered Heaven's credit card: justification by faith. The credit of this card was paid for by Christ, and thus the grounds of justification by faith is in Christ alone. God issues this card and the only way in which it can be received is by faith alone. Saving faith, by itself, is enough and necessary to receive the pre-approved balance of Christ's righteousness into my otherwise morally and spiritual bankrupt humanity. Then finally, Heaven's credit card of justification is guaranteed by grace alone. To have credit from God with no worries of such credit being revoked, nor any fees like human performance means that the Issuer of such credit - God, guarantees the believer's justification because of His Son Jesus Christ.

Heaven's Credit Card: Justification, Paid For By Christ Alone - Romans 4:1-3

Romans 4:1-3 "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Introduction:

Most everyone today has had to use credit cards to make purchases. The idea of a credit card is simple: one has pre-approved funds provided by the credit card company that includes a monthly interest rate. When you or I go into a store or restaurant, the card can be used to pay for whatever item we choose. The store recognizes the card and accepts the payment made from it. The money is not the cardholder's money, but the credit card company's. Each month a bill is sent with the appropriate interest charges. Whenever one slides their card through a machine (or inserts it into a "chip-reader" slot), the transaction is complete and the words "card approved" will appear, telling the merchant and the customer that everything is in order. The process is all too familiar.

Did you know that there is a credit card spoken of in the Bible? We could call this credit card "The Heavenly Credit Card". This special card's balance was pre-approved by God the Father, paid for in full by the Son and is guaranteed by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 4 we find the Apostle Paul writes about this "Heavenly Credit Card" by referring to it by another name: "justification". 

In past posts we have explored the doctrine of justification by faith. In the Book of Romans, justification has certain legal meanings attached to it - referring to declaring the sinner "not guilty" at saving faith. There is another dimension to this marvelous truth of justification - in that, it is also used with reference to the world of commerce and banking. Romans 3:23 tells us that "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." 

Thus, the idea of the sinner being a "debtor" to a Holy righteous God gives further detail in one's overall understanding of justification. The Baptist Faith & Message 2000 defines justification along the lines of being both a legal and financial transaction of the spiritual sort: "Justification is God's gracious and full acquittal upon principles of His righteousness of all sinners who repent and believe in Christ. Justification brings the believer unto a relationship of peace and favor with God."

Heaven's Credit Card is Justification by Faith

If we were to summarize what today's post is all about, it would be the following: when God credits forgiveness of sin and Christ’s righteousness at saving faith, such Heavenly crediting is called “justification by faith”. Today’s post will clarify for you the source, reception and guarantee of this transaction in justification by faith. 
So, how is justification by faith like a heavenly credit card?

Source of Heavenly Credit: Christ Alone.     Romans 4:1-3

By what source or grounds does God justify believing sinners? Whenever we explore the wider context of Romans, we find the answer: Christ alone. We read for example in Romans 3:23-24  "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." In previous posts, we explored how and why the Apostle Paul used the Old Testament patriarch Abraham to illustrate this central truth of justification. How was it that Abraham was justified by faith before a Holy God? If we can think of Christ's crucifixion and resurrection as a Divine credit card machine, the heavenly credit card of "justification" had to be slid through Calvary to pay the bill of debt accrued by sinners to Holy God. 

If we look at the entire Old Testament era up to the cross, when can liken God's justification of people like Abraham as being placed on a huge I.O.U. Every instance of God forgiving believers in the Old Testament had attached a promissory note: "to be paid". At the cross, the credit card bill came due. Who would pay it? Christ would. Romans 3:25 summarizes: "whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed." 

So the Old Testament saints, like Abraham, were justified by faith in Christ just as much as New Testament saints are today. 

Christ paid the bill for sinners not only in times past but also included future generations of those who by God's grace would respond in trust in Him. Romans 4:25 states - "He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification." Romans 8:3-4 restates the power of justification by faith as grounded in Christ's accomplished work for believing sinners: "For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."

Thus the Heavenly credit card of justification is grounded in and based upon Christ alone. Great 19th century preacher C.H Spurgeon notes: 

“He was cast into the prison of the grave until it had been certified that our liabilities were fully discharged, and ‘If Jesus ne’er had paid the debt He ne’er had been at freedom set.’” 

So Paul is mentioning Abraham and then referring ultimately to us to remind us of from which basis justification by faith is administered: Christ alone. He is the grounds, the foundation or the basis of justification. 

The reason why Christ alone is the ground for justification by faith

The righteousness conferred upon the sinner at salvation is not the sinner's righteousness, since they have none. The ability to be right with God neither derives from the Law of God: since all it can do is demand the sinner to be righteousness, and thus not supplying it. The only source for the necessary righteousness or grounds of acceptance before Holy God is Christ alone. Theologian Loraine Boettner explains on pages 300-301 of his "Studies in Theology":

"By that life of spotless perfection, then, Jesus acquired for His people a positive righteousness which is imputed (that is, credited) to them and which secures for them life in heaven. All that Christ has done and suffered is regarded as having been done and suffered by them. In Him they have fulfilled the law of perfect obedience, as also in Him  they have been rescued from hell; and by His active obedience they are given entrance into heaven."

This is certainly exciting truth, isn't it? To know that Jesus Christ is the ground for Heavenly credit: justification. In Christ, the believing sinner is declared by God as "approved", "paid in full" and "purchased". In the next post, we will consider how the Heavenly credit is received: by faith alone.

More next time..... 

How The Concept Of Imputed Righteousness Clarifies Justification By Faith

Romans 4:3 "For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Introduction:

In our last post we had considered how Paul uses Abraham to illustrate the doctrine of justification by faith. The reader may had noticed the opening verse of today's post has containing "all-caps". The reason for this is due to Paul quoting from Genesis 15:6. As we noted in the last post, justification by faith alone is not just a New Testament teaching. This truth of God's declaration of the sinner's innocence at saving faith is taught in both Old and New Testaments. In today's post we are going to probe deeper into Romans 4 by noting how justification by faith works through a Biblical teaching called by theologians: "imputation" or "imputed righteousness". This concept will enable us to better understand what justification by faith is all about. 

The connection between Romans 1-3 and Romans 4

When one studies the first three chapters of the Book of Romans, humanity is depicted having three crises that can only be addressed by Justification: 

1. A spiritual crisis. Romans 1:18-2:3
2. A moral crisis.    Romans 2:4-29
3. A relational crisis. Romans 3:1-31 

With respect to mankind's spiritual crisis, the situation is one of being at enmity with God (Romans 1:18-31). The moral crisis involves being dead in sin and incapable of pleasing God by keeping the Law of God (Romans 2:1-29). By the time we arrive at Romans 3, the crisis is compounded by indicating how relationship-wise, fallen man is utterly bankrupt with Holy God and thus a debtor to His Law (Romans 3:1-20). 

In short when you and I are born into this world, we are in the spiritual, moral and relational equivalent of a credit crisis.  Unless our spiritual bank account is radically credited with righteousness, no amount of right living will balance out what is owed to God. Paul's key point in Romans 4 will be to illustrate God's solution to all of this by highlighting justification by faith as illustrated in the life of Abraham. 

Abraham is used to illustrate the kind of righteousness that was credited to Him at the moment of saving faith.  

So what type of moral and spiritual transaction occurs when once is "justified by faith"? Per Paul's argument and the Biblical teaching on justification by faith, God's righteousness, or to be more specific - Christ's righteousness, is transferred into the believing sinner's otherwise spiritually bankrupt moral bank account. This type of transfer is called "imputed righteousness" and lies at the heart of understanding Justification by faith. So we need to ask: what is "imputed" or "imputation" mean and how can it aid in shedding light on justification by faith?

Computers, Disputes, Reputations and Imputation

Perhaps the term "imputed" or "imputation" may be new to you.  Like "imputation", other words in our English language have the same Latin root "putare" (peu-ta-ray) which means "work that is accomplished".  I'm sure you have heard of a "computer".  The word "computer" comes from two Latin words: a prefix "com", meaning "with, together" and its root "putare", meaning "work accomplished".  Thus this blog that I am typing was accomplished by working together with a machine - i.e, a "computer".

Or how about a "reputation"?  A reputation is what others are "repeating" (re) about the work your accomplished (putare).  Everyone desires a good reputation.  

Or perhaps you have gotten into a "dispute"?  That is, you "disagreed" (dis) over what exactly was accomplished (putare). All these words derive from the same root word "putare", and are concerned about the nature of a given accomplished work.

Imputation means you get the credit for work you did not accomplish. So what about the work of salvation?  How is Christ's life, death and resurrection transferred to you at the moment of saving faith?  It is done by "imputation".  That is, the "work accomplished" (putare) is done in your place by another (in) resulting in you getting the credit.  When you go to a store and swipe your credit card, the cash register will display the message: "card accepted", issuing you the credit to purchase your item.  The store "imputes" or "credits" you with the funds to buy the item, even though those funds had been previously secured by the credit card company.

How imputation links together Christ's life and work on the cross to the believing sinner in justification?

In order for sinners to be "credited" with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, imputation had to be at work at the cross. That is, my sin and life needed "credited" to Christ so that at saving faith, His perfect work and life could be credit to me. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us: "He who knew no sin became sin for us".  The believer's sin was "credited" or "imputed" to Jesus Christ on the cross. He who never sinned was treated by, "credited" by God as if He had done our sin.  On the cross, Christ the "New Adam" (Romans 5:14) was treated like the "original Adam" who had sinned in Genesis 3.  Why?  The second part of 2 Corinthians 5:21 explains: "so that we might be the righteousness of God in Him". 

So at the cross, my sin was "imputed to Christ", because God had made a decision to set His affection on me to rescue me, convict me of my sin, and position me to trust in Christ's life and saving work.  The moment I did that, all of Christ's identity and work was "imputed" or "credited" to me.  I call this God's Heavenly Credit Card of Justification.  Unlike the credit cards we use, there is no bill that comes in the mail at the end of the month.  God did this on the basis of His grace and love. Truly we can praise God for imputing our sins on Christ, because only then could His sinless life and accomplished work be imputed to us in justification!

How Paul's Use Of Abraham In Romans 4 Illustrates Justification By Faith

Romans 4:1-3 "What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” 

Introduction: The Bible uses people to illustrate central truths

For every New Testament teaching or doctrine we can find at least one concrete, flesh and blood example of that truth.  When it comes to the central Gospel truth of Justification by Faith Alone,  we find such an example in the life of Abraham.  The Apostle Paul uses the life of this Old Testament figure to drive home the point of God's declaration of a sinner's innocence at saving faith - i.e justification.  

How does Abraham properly illustrate a sinner being declared righteous by God at saving faith - i.e justification?

Numerous passages in both the Old and New Testaments feature Abraham. As a brief sketch of his life shows - Abraham had been originally named "Abram", a pagan living in ancient Babylonia or what was called then "Ur of the Chaldees". 

The location of Abraham's home city is well known to the world of archaeology - located South of Kuwait in modern day Iraq. Excavations give insight into Abram's world. In his day there had been a large tower dedicated to pagan worship called a "zigguraut", mimicking its much larger patterned original - the Tower of Babel that we read about in Genesis 11:1-9. The picture below comes from the following article that details this archaeological find: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziggurat_of_Ur
 

This detail is worth noting, since Abram would had been a pagan worshipper of false deities. Joshua 24:2-3 spells out the rest of the story: "Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely, Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. 3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, and led him through all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his descendants and gave him Isaac."

So Abram had been involved in a major center of idol worship when God's grace broke into his darkness. Passages such as Genesis 11:27-31 and 12:1-3 both record God calling Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees to the land where God would have him to settle. Along that 800 mile journey, Abram's father and brother died. The journey was not easy. When Abram arrived in God's destination of the land of Canaan, tests were going to be administered to establish Abram's resolve to follow God (see Genesis 12:8-18). Despite all the tests and hard journeys, Genesis 13:4 records that Abram called on God for the first time. 

If for anything, Paul's use of Abram (whose name would later be changed by God to "Abraham") would communicate volumes to both Gentiles and Jews. The Gentiles, involved in the first century Greco/Roman paganism of their day - could find common ground with Abraham, who himself had been an idolater. The Jews of course would equally identify with Abraham, since he is their main patriarch from whence all the promises of God to the Jewish people commenced. Moreover, Abraham's lineage would be the very bloodline used by God to bring about the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. All in all, Paul's use of Abraham to illustrate the crucial doctrine of justification by faith could not had been a better choice. 


Abraham - the example of what it means to be justified by faith

When God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, 13 years would pass until the event in which God would speak to him in a dream in Genesis 15. The point of God appearing to Abraham in the vision of Genesis 15 was to reaffirm His promises to Him.  By receiving those promises by faith alone, Abraham demonstrated the concept of God having "justified" or "credited" or "counted" Abraham as being right with Him.  Paul's whole point here is that the doctrine of justification by faith is not some novel invention. We must not ever think that Old Testament salvation consisted of obeying God's ten commandments, since Abraham predated such by over 400 years. Instead, the truth of justification by faith alone is as much an Old Testament truth as a New Testament one. If Abraham, a former pagan worshiper, could be declared righteous by God at saving faith - surely anyone could.

Questions we can use to navigate through Paul's use of Abraham in illustrating justification by faith alone

Some key questions from Romans 4 will guide us in seeing how Abraham illustrates Justification by Faith.

1. Is Justification based upon human goodness? Romans 4:1-8

According to Romans 4:1-8 the answer is "no".  As mentioned already, Abraham had been called by God while He was worshiping other gods in Ur in Genesis 11:27-32.  Later on we would find out that his wife Sarah was barren, unable to conceive a child, a crucial key to God's promise to Abraham of numerous offspring.  Even after trying to bring that about himself with his handmaiden Hagar, Abraham demonstrated that he was unable to bring about anything contributing to his own salvation.  It was God's loving choice and calling of Abraham that explains Abraham genuine trust in God (Joshua 24:1-3; Nehemiah 9:7; Psalm 105:41-43; Isaiah 41:8; 51:1-2; Acts 7:1-4; Romans 9:7; 11:1).  As Abraham demonstrates, his salvation was by grace through faith alone.

2. Is Justification based upon the religious rite of circumcision? Romans 4:9-12

When Paul wrote Romans, many Jews in his day thought salvation was a result of circumcision plus faith.  Yet, when God spoke these words to Abraham in Genesis 15, it was before He had revealed the rite of circumcision in Genesis 17.  Justification then is not based upon how religious or irreligious one is. One is declared right with God by faith.  This is the argument of Romans 4:9-12.

3. Surely Abraham was justified by keeping the ten commandments? Romans 4:13-15

According to Genesis 15, it would be another 400 or so years before God would reveal the Law to Israel and Moses on Mount Sinai.  Abraham was not declared righteous due to keeping the law.  Rather it was by grace alone through faith alone - identical to how justification occurs today (John 1:12-13; Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the argument of Romans 4:13-15.

So as we close out today's post, what can we learn from Paul's usage of Abraham in illustrating the doctrine of justification by faith?

In short, Abraham was justified by faith alone. In Romans 4:21-22 we read: "and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able to perform. 22 Therefore it was also credited to Him as righteousness."  The essence of saving faith entails the idea of "firm persuasion".  The Hebrew word the word "amen".  When you here the word "amen", it means you affirm, agree, are fully persuaded of what is being said to you.  Thus Abraham literally "amened" what God promised to Him.  He could not do anything to earn it, nor could he accomplish it.  God alone could bring about the miraculous result of a son born to He and Sarah in their old age. (Genesis 21).  By faith alone he received the promise.  Abraham was justified by faith alone.