Wonderful. Well, good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to coffee and devotions It's so good to have you this morning is where every day you and I we get together We have a little bit of coffee We get into the Lord's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together and this year 2022 will go from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon. I'm so glad to be with you this morning We're at Romans chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. Let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's Word. I Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word, and we pray now that as we read your word, that you would indeed be the one who would teach us. Please, Lord, work in our hearts that we would understand your word and that you would be glorified to work faith in our hearts. Please, Father, give us this grace. That we would walk in your ways in Jesus's name. Amen. All right, we are at Romans chapter 4 Romans chapter 4 verses 1 through 12. Here we go. I What shall we say? What then shall we say that Abraham, our father, has according to the flesh, has found according to the flesh? I'm sorry, I'm going to reread that whole section. That was not good. What then shall we say that Abraham, our father, has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scriptures say? Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sins. Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? not while circumcised but while uncircumcised. For he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also. and father also of circumcision, to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith, which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised. Well, we have an incredible passage for us. We need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize this? And C, what are we called to do in response to these words? So what is this passage getting on about, right? Well, he's just finished Romans chapter 3. At the end of Romans chapter 3, he's talking about where then is boasting? It's excluded by what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. And so he's going to continue this theme of talking about what does it mean to be justified by faith? And so he goes to the patriarch. He goes to Abraham. He says, tell me. How is Abraham justified? By works? Or by faith? And he takes us to Genesis chapter 15. And when he goes to Genesis chapter 15, this is a beautiful verse. This wonderful section where God takes Abraham outside. He says, look up at the stars. Count them if you can. Your descendants are going to be more numerous than the stars in the sky. On Sunday night, we were driving back from Solmsing up in Washington, Iowa, and as we just started driving back, the lunar eclipse was happening. And as we got closer and closer to the house, the eclipse was getting more and more full. And by the time we got just to about the field near our house, we pulled over the van and us and the kids, we turned off the van, turned off the lights. Everything was pitch dark in the country. And we looked up at the moon. And as we watched the eclipse happen, it was amazing. We could see more and more and more stars. We could see hundreds, thousands upon thousands of stars, bright clusters, some here, some there, fill the night sky. And Abraham goes out and he looks at that same night sky and he says, I believe. He trusts God. He believes. And the Lord accounts it to him as righteousness. The Lord reckons it to him as righteousness. So this is what this is getting at here in this first part. Not to him who works. The wages are not counted as grace, but as debt. And so he says, Abraham didn't work for that. God was promising him. Abraham believed. And God was gracious to him. Is it grace? Not a debt. God didn't owe this to Abraham. But God imputes it to him. And so he goes on logically from there in the next part. He says, but to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness. So he says, see, see, it's not just from Abraham. The patriarch. But if we go to even David, he teaches the same thing. It's not just those people who are good. As if there were any actually good. But it's the unrighteous that God justifies. So he brings our minds to Psalm 32. I love Psalm 32. If you have never had a chance to read or sing Psalm 32, get that one in your heart. I'm tempted to sing it now, but it'll turn off coffee and devotions. But our Psalter goes along the lines when it paraphrases the psalm we're doing just by God's providence. This is a psalm we're singing every day during our own family worship, and it goes something along the lines of what blessedness belongs to him who has forgiven been, for whom transgressions have been cleared and covered is his sin. This beautiful reality. That is the Lord who. Forgives. Whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. See, this is God justifying. Accounting to us righteousness. Now, I need to read something, too. I think Douglas Moo wrote a commentary on the book of Romans, and he's very helpful on this. He says this act of justification has nothing to do with moral transformation, but changes people only in the sense that their relationship to God is changed. They are acquitted rather than condemned. The act of justification is coming from God changing our relationship to him. We must make sure that we understand that justification does not equal sanctification. Now, sanctification flows from it. God makes us more and more holy. He has declared us to be his children. He has declared us to be his saints. He has declared us to be his holy ones. But our entire lives, he is going to continue to purge us of sin. But it starts at a punctiliar moment, at one time. The Lord declared us to be righteous. And so Paul continues on in the last section of this. He says, so the question is, is this only for people who are circumcised or uncircumcised? And he goes back to Abraham and he says, tell me, when did Genesis chapter 15 happen? Was Abraham circumcised then? He says, no. No, Abraham was not circumcised then. He was given this justification while he was still uncircumcised. So he might be the father of both the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the father of those who believe. See, it's not about the godliness, but it's about what God does. This is what Paul's driving at here. This is what he's getting at, is that there's one way to God, and that one way is faith. He raises up Genesis chapter 15, and he uses it as a banner for the gospel. This is what he's saying, that we have been justified by faith. We have been declared righteous. This idea of him accounting us is the word logizomai. And you can almost hear the word like logistics in that. But it's more of an accounting word. It's as if the Lord had a ledger, you know, a double-sided ledger. One side is credits and the other side is debts. And our debts are racked up. Right. The profits are in black. The debts are in red. And we are all the way in the red. I mean, just our accounting book is flowing in the red. But instead of the Lord counting that against us, giving us what we actually deserve. Instead, he accounts us righteous. He gives us the black side of the book. Indeed, he's going to count our sins to Christ. But what he does is he gives us Jesus's righteousness. This is good news. Luther said this is the the doctrine upon which the church stands or falls. And Abraham is our picture. We understand Abraham in Genesis 15 with his faith in God's promises. Now, James is going to pick up something else in Genesis chapter 22 when Abraham believes God and it produces fruit. But here in Genesis chapter 15. It's just believing God's promises. Wholeheartedly clinging on to him. Well, what's the best verse to summarize this? Like normal, I got a whole bunch in my Bible underlined. I'm going to say I have verse four. Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace, but as debt, right? We don't earn God's salvation here. I also have verse 12. but who walks in the steps of faith, which our father Abraham had while still circumcised. I also have seven and eight underlined, Psalm 32. Let me know, what would you underline in your Bible? The last C calling, what are we called to do? What impact does this have in our life? Are you justified? Do you have faith? Do you cling to God? Do you see what your works are as a filthy rags? This is what Isaiah says. And instead you cling to the promises and to the finished work of Jesus Christ. I pray that you don't get it confused in your heart that somehow your works or your decision to follow Jesus or anything that comes from you is what gives you a right standing before God, but that you are washed. overwhelmingly washed with joy of what God has done in giving us grace, in justifying us by faith, a faith that he gives us, a gift that he blesses us with. Let's pray now. Father, Thank you for your salvation Thank you For the amazing things that you have done and shown us in your word Thank you for your promises Thank you for your love Thank you Thank you do that you do not count our sins but that you have washed them Lord that you have removed them from us as far as the east is from the west And instead of showing us your displeasure, your face shines upon us. In Jesus's name. Amen. I pray that your heart is overwhelmed by the joy of Jesus Christ, that you may know that God's face shines upon you and that he is gracious to you. And I pray that you walk in his peace as you cling to Jesus Christ and as you rejoice in the Lord always. I'll see you later. Bye. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue. Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.