Romans chapter four tonight, we're coming to verses one through five. You know, originally I lived in California. And in California, there are homes that were built on the edge of cliffs overlooking the ocean. And some of those homes end up falling down the cliff because they were not built on a strong foundation. That is the problem of building something without a solid foundation. It will not stand. In Jerusalem, when I went last year, I saw that the walls of Jerusalem were built on bedrock. Something very different from the sandy cliffs that those houses were built on that I told you about that fell into the ocean. archaeologists have been able to dig down so that you can walk next to the retaining wall of Herod's temple. So this is a wall that dates back to the time of Jesus. It was a retaining wall to hold up the platform that Herod's temple was on. And you can see, in part of that section, you can see that that retaining wall was built on bedrock. Also, if you go around the outside of the old city of Jerusalem and you look at those walls which do not date back to the time of Jesus, but they are still very old, you can see how those walls that surround the city also were built on bedrock. And so while a human army may be able to demolish the walls of Jerusalem, or God certainly could bring down the walls of Jerusalem and of the temple, those walls are not going to crumble like what you see in California with those houses. Those walls are not gonna crumble because they are built on a solid foundation. that shows you the great value of a solid foundation. We have been studying the gospel of God. And our text tonight shows that this gospel that Paul proclaimed, this gospel that the New Testament reveals to us, stands solid on the foundation of the Old Testament. The gospel in Paul's day was attacked again and again and again from all corners. And though it was attacked, it could not fall because it stands on a firm foundation. That being the inspired word of God in the Old Testament. So before we get into this text about the Old Testament foundation of the gospel, I want to review what we have seen so far. Where in Romans do we find the first statement of the theme of the book? Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Chapter 1, verses 16 and 17 gives us the theme of the book. It is about the gospel of God, that is the gospel that comes from God, is given by God to us. We have seen that the first main section about the universal condition of men, women, boys, and girls under sin, and therefore in need of salvation, In the next section that started in chapter 3 verse 21, that we're in the middle of now, that will go through the end of chapter 4, this section is about the gospel as the righteousness of God by faith. I've listed in your notes for you the main points that we've seen so far in this section. Here are the five main points we have seen. One, now that Christ has come, God has fully revealed his gift of righteousness, a right standing with God that he gives apart from man's works of the law. Number two, this righteousness is received through faith in Jesus Christ by all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile. Number three, all who believe are justified by God, by His grace, on the grounds of the redemption and propitiation the Father accomplished in the sacrificial death of Christ. Number four, in this way God has shown that he is both just and the justifier of the one who believes in Jesus. And number five, there is no place for boasting in yourself or in what you have done, for one is justified by faith alone, apart from works of the law. And that brings us up to our text today, chapter four, verses one through five, which I'll read to us now. Please stand in honor of the word of God. Chapter four, verse one. What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. This is God's holy word. Please be seated. I put a question in the bulletin for discussion. Why does Paul bring up Abraham at this point in Romans? And why is Abraham and David, who will be mentioned in the next verses, Why is Abraham and David brought up and not someone else from the Old Testament? So the first part of that, why does Paul bring up Abraham at this point in Romans? Secondly, why is Abraham and David brought up and not someone else from the Old Testament? What do you think? Mom? So Abraham had faith, which ties into what we've been seeing about how one is justified, it is by faith. Other thoughts? Chris. Yes, good. So at the end of chapter 3, verse 31, he said that this doctrine of justification by faith does not overthrow the law, but rather it upholds the law. The Old Testament, which when we think of the law, we think of the Old Testament, and when we think of the law, we think of the first five books of the Old Testament. So Paul now is bringing up some examples from the Old Testament, from the law, to show that that's what God revealed back then is consistent with what Paul is saying now. Very good. Anyone else? Yes, Abraham was very significant. He was the father of the Jewish people, the father of the nation of Israel. They had a great respect for him and for good reason. He's a very significant figure in the Old Testament who is highly esteemed by the Jews, absolutely. Any other things that we can add to that? Let's dig into this, and as we do so, I think you'll see even more as far as answers to those questions. There's two main sections here in our text. The first is verses 1 through 3, which speak of how Abraham was justified by faith, not works. Look at verse 1. What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? Or a more literal translation in the American standard, what then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh has found? What did Abraham find? Paul's question here is, what did Abraham find in this matter of justification that Paul has been speaking about? Paul is about to, in chapter four, show that Abraham and David were justified by faith, not by works, and that God's dealings with Abraham teach that Jews and Gentiles alike are justified in this manner. Chapter four will demonstrate what Paul said in chapter three, verse 21, about the law and the prophets. Look back at chapter three, verse 21. He says, but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it. So the law and the prophets, the Old Testament, bears witness to justification by grace through faith. They bear witness to this gift of righteousness, this gift of a right standing that comes by God's grace to the one who believes. And now, in chapter 4, Paul is going to demonstrate this. First by speaking of Abraham, who is found in the Law, in the first five books of the Old Testament. And then, by looking at David, who is found in the Prophets, the rest of the Old Testament. that contrast between faith and works of the law that Paul developed in chapter three is gonna continue all the way throughout chapter four as he discusses Abraham and David. The Jewish people's forefather, Abraham was the Jewish people's quote, forefather according to the flesh. We've seen that term according to the flesh before. I put in your notes chapter 1 verse 3, which says that Christ was descended from David according to the flesh. So biologically. And now in chapter 4 verse 1, as Paul brings up Abraham, he refers to him as our forefather according to the flesh. the Jewish people's biological forefather. The Jewish people rightly highly esteemed Abraham and David because the Old Testament places them right smack dab in the middle. places them central in this grand story of God's dealings with his people. We see the centrality of Abraham and David in Matthew chapter one, verse one, when Matthew introduces his gospel as the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. It could probably be said that Abraham and David were the two most significant figures in the Old Testament. And Paul is gonna speak about both of them here. Both of these men who are highly esteemed rightly by the Jewish people. Now what Paul is about to show us in our text about Abraham challenges the common conception of unbelieving Jews concerning how Abraham was justified. In one of the commentaries that I read, there were numerous quotations from Jewish writings around the time of the New Testament that reflect a belief that Abraham was justified by works. Yet that's not what the Bible says. but that was the common belief among the unbelieving Jews was that Abraham had been justified by works of the law. Now, Paul is going to show us that that is absolutely not true. In verse two, we read, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. That would be contrary to what Paul has taught about justification. The idea of Abraham being justified by works and then having something to boast about. Do you remember what was said in chapter 3 verse 27 about boasting? Look back at chapter 3 verse 27. Paul said, then, that is in light of this doctrine of justification by grace through faith, then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Or we could say, by what kind of principle? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. If justification is by works, it does not exclude boasting, but because it is by faith, it does exclude boasting. It leaves no room for boasting. Paul's already spoken about that. He brings it up again here in chapter four, verse two, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. One of Paul's concerns in Romans, is to show that God's way of salvation leaves no room for boasting, neither for Jew nor for Gentile. The climax of this thought is gonna come at the end of chapter 11. That section on God's sovereignty in election and the great scheme of history, of what God's purposes are in the different stages of history as he is fulfilling his plan of salvation. And it's all going towards chapter 11, verse 36, be to God be glory forever, amen. The way that God saves people, Jew and Gentile, leaves no room for boasting in yourself, no room for boasting in your works, but it directs all the glory to God and God alone. We spoke last time about the solas of the Reformation because we were seeing the principle of salvation by faith alone rather than salvation being by a combination of faith and works. And so we talked about some of the solas of the Reformation. that salvation is not only through faith alone, but it's also by grace alone, that saving faith is in Christ alone, that the source, the authority of the gospel, the authority of truth is the scriptures alone. But there was one that I left out. soli Deo gloria, to God alone be the glory. And that's taught in scripture, that in salvation, God alone receives the glory. And the Reformers declared that biblical truth And we see that in the book of Romans, it's being unfolded. And part of the way Paul's unfolding it is that he's bringing up to our attention that if salvation was by works, there would be a place for boasting in yourself, boasting in your works. But the way of salvation excludes boasting. So Paul, after he says in verse two, if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. He then says, but not before God, which seems to be his way of dismissing the thought that Abraham had something to boast about. Verse three, for what does the scripture say? This is what Paul always does. He always goes back to the Old Testament scriptures. He stands on that foundation. He stands on that authority. He shows that everything that he teaches is grounded on the Old Testament revelation God has given. So he says, for what does the scripture say? It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what some church has told you. What matters is what does the scripture say? And so he raises that question for what does the scripture say? And then he quotes from Genesis 15, verse six, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now, Paul recognizes that this is a very, important verse in the Old Testament as pertains to how a person is made right with God, how a person is saved. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now understand that the Bible does not teach that Abraham believed in Christ. It says here Abraham believed God. God had not yet revealed all that there is for us as believers to believe about Christ. There had been some promises of Christ, but God was just beginning at that point in history to reveal who Christ would be and what Christ would do. So it doesn't say that Abraham believed Christ, it says Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God's promises that would be fulfilled by Christ. Abraham certainly looked forward to the fulfillment of the promises. But what we're told is he believed God. Paul here is showing us that justification has always been by faith and has never been by works. Paul's point is not that justifying faith has always been faith in Christ. God has always required that his people would trust him, trust his word, believe his promises. And now that he has sent Christ, it is specifically in Christ that we are to believe. We have a word it in this sentence. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. What does the it refer to? It refers to Abraham's faith. That's made explicit in verse 9b, which says we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. So when it says Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, that is his faith in God was counted to him as righteousness. Now note this word counted. It is a very important word. Paul is gonna repeat it in the verses that are to follow this. Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Or the new American standard, it was credited to him. Or the new King James, it was accounted to him. The Greek word here in Romans is an accounting term. The concept of something being counted to a person is found in Philemon verse 18, and I put it in your notes. where Paul is speaking to, in his letter to Philemon, who is this wealthy believer in the church at Colossae. And Philemon had an unbelieving slave named Anesimus, who had been unfaithful to Philemon. He had run away, he had run away to Rome. And in Rome, the Lord directed him to the apostle Paul. And the Lord brought Onesimus to believe in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. The Apostle Paul became Onesimus' father in the faith. as the Apostle Paul not only was involved in bringing him to Christ, but also was involved in discipling him. And Onesimus became useful to Paul in ministry there in Rome, but Paul had to send Onesimus back to Philemon. Because things have to be made right between Onesimus and Philemon. Now in this letter that Paul sends back with Onesimus, Paul writes to Philemon, if he, that's Onesimus, has wronged you at all or owes you anything, charge that to my account. Look at that word charge. Charge that to my account. Very similar word to our word counted. Abraham believed God and was counted to him as righteousness. Onesimus here was the one who had the debt. But Paul says to Philemon, don't count Onesimus' debt against Onesimus, count his debt against me. charge his debt to my account. This word in our text, counted, means to reckon to a person, to put to his account, to impute to him. Impute is a very important theological word. You see it in some translations in the book of Romans. Understand this word impute means to count to, to reckon to, to put to someone's account. Here this word to count to him means to put to your account something that does not belong to you. Abraham was not righteous in God's sight. But Abraham believed God, and God by grace counted it to him as righteousness. He counted to Abraham's account a righteousness that was not of his own. Abraham was not righteous before God, but God counted his faith to him as righteousness. And this is the essence of justification by faith. So not only is Paul rooting his doctrine in the Old Testament, but he's also, by quoting the Old Testament, explaining more to us about the essence of justification. He's talked about justification as God giving a gift of righteousness. He's used the word justified. God has justified the believer. Now he describes it here as God counting one's faith to him as righteousness. When Abraham trusted in God and believed his promise, God counted Abraham righteous. Through faith in God, Abraham was counted righteous. This is the exact thing that Paul has been teaching us in his epistle. Justification by grace through faith. So having shown this in God's dealings with Abraham, now in verses four and five of our text, the second half of the text, Paul is going to use that to elaborate for us upon justification. And we could summarize verses four and five as justification is about the ungodly being counted righteous by grace. Look at verse four. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. Paul brings up an illustration from everyday life. If you have had a job, you can relate to this. Think about the first job that you had, and think about what you did for your employer. Your employer required you to do certain things, to do certain work for him. And when you did that work, you were earning a paycheck. And when your employer gave you your paycheck, that paycheck was not a gift of grace. That paycheck was something that you earned, something that was owed to you. That's the idea here. It's something that many people can relate to. Paul says, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. The word gift here is translated from the Greek word that's often translated grace. And the new King James translates it grace right here. Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as grace, but as his due. Note that word counted. We saw it in the previous verse in that quotation from Genesis. Now it comes up again. His wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due. When one works for an employer, his wages are not calculated following the principle of grace, but his wages are calculated following the principle of what is due him, what is owed him for his work. It would certainly be wrong for his employer not to pay him. And the employee could take his employer to court for such a failure. I was just talking earlier today with someone who attends our church, and he was just telling me about the financial difficulties that he's been in the last year, including after he had to quit one job, he started another job, and he worked for like five weeks for this man that he already knew ahead of time, and after five weeks, the employer had not paid him, and he said, this is not working out. And so they had to separate ways. And this man in our church was expecting a paycheck, but this man refused to give him his wages. Well, that's wrong, right? It would be wrong for an employer not to pay you for the work that you did. The employee could take his employer to court for such a failure. Now this concept that we have here in verse four, now the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due, this is contrasted in our text to justification by faith in the next verse, verse five, look at it. And to the one who does not work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. Now notice in there those words in reference to God, him who justifies the ungodly. What do you think is the significance of this phrase referring to God as him who justifies the ungodly? What's the significance of that phrase? Yes, certainly means God gets the glory. We're ungodly. He justifies us, the ungodly. He gets the glory. Mom? Because we are ungodly, we are utterly undeserving of justification. We don't deserve to be declared righteous. Yes. Any other thoughts? significance of this phrase, he who justifies the ungodly. towards us, you know? He's given us the faith and the justification. So we don't contribute any merit of any kind. This is a great work of God's grace. This terminology certainly highlights the great magnitude of God's grace in justification. God justifies the ungodly. And it teaches that God does not first make a person godly and then declare them righteous. That's a Roman Catholic idea, that first God, makes you godly, he makes you righteous, and then he declares you righteous because he's already produced some righteousness in you. That's not the gospel. That's a false gospel. Here's the true gospel. God justifies the ungodly. We don't make ourself somewhat acceptable to him. Now we are completely unacceptable to Him when God justifies us and declares us righteous. Look closely at verse five. To the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly. This is the person who has no good works to show. who has nothing to commend himself to God, but believes in the God of the gospel. The one who does not work, he has no good works to commend himself to God, but he believes in him who justifies the ungodly. He believes in the God of the gospel. As back in chapter three, verse 28, this verse speaks of what theologians call sola fide, that we're saved through faith alone, not a combination of faith and works. The one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly. This person stands guilty before the law with nothing to say for himself, but he believes in the one who by grace justifies the ungodly. And for this one, verse five says, his faith is counted as righteousness. And now that Christ has come, we've already seen in chapter three that this faith for us is specifically in Jesus Christ. You see that in chapter three, verse 22, faith in Jesus Christ. You see it again in chapter three, verse 26, faith in Jesus. that the righteousness of Christ is put to the account of the one who believes. And the one who believes, their debt of sin is therefore cancelled. So both of that happens. Christ's righteousness is placed in our account. and our debt of sin is canceled. We're pardoned. We're freely forgiven. Our guilt is removed. God takes us who are unguilty, ungodly, because He's righteous. He pardons us. We're no longer guilty. We've been forgiven, and we've been declared righteous, clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Now, there aren't many computer programmers here, but a computer programming illustration came to my mind, and I think even if you're not a computer programmer, I think you can follow it and appreciate it. But that's my background, so that's what my mind went to. In computer programming, there's something called a pointer. It's something in a computer language. And the pointer points to an area in the computer's memory. Now, here's the illustration. If you believe in Christ, then God does not assign your standing with God to be equal to God's evaluation of your deeds. Your faith in Christ is like a pointer to Christ. God assigns your standing with God to be equal to God's evaluation of the deeds of the person to whom your faith points. We talked before about faith as a channel. It's not something that is righteous. It's not something meritorious. Faith is simply a channel through which we take hold of Christ, through which we take hold of Christ's finished work, through which we take hold of Christ's righteousness. Or another way to describe it is what I'm saying is faith is like a pointer to Christ. So that when God assigns to us, our standing before him. He doesn't assign it to be equal to his evaluation of our deeds, but rather he assigns our standing to be equal to his evaluation of the deeds of the person to whom our faith points, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because our faith is in Christ. It is Christ's righteousness that God looks at when he looks at our account. because he has placed Christ's righteousness in our account. Justification by grace through faith was not just foretold in the Old Testament. We're seeing here tonight that justification by grace through faith was the way of salvation in the Old Testament and has always been the way of salvation. Ever since the fall, justification by grace through faith has been the only way of being made right with God. There has never been, since the fall, another way of being made right with God. So I have four points of application. Number one, as you read the Bible, I hope you're reading all of the Bible. As Christians, we need all of the Bible. We need the whole counsel of God. Some sections are harder to understand. Some sections are harder to apply. But we need all of the Bible over the course of time. We should regularly be reading through each book of the Bible. Now as you read the Bible, recognize that it teaches one way of salvation throughout. When you're reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, I'll skip some, Samuel, Kings, Psalms, the prophets. As you're reading through all of the Bible, understand that all of it teaches one way of salvation, justification by grace through faith. You gotta understand that as you're reading the Bible. Number two, follow the example of Abraham's faith. So Paul is pointing to Abraham's faith as something that we should follow in. His faith is there in scripture as an example of the channel through which each person must come to God and be made right with God. It must be through faith. Follow the example of Abraham's faith. Number three, rather than boasting in yourself or your works, glory in the God who justifies the ungodly. Remember what he said about boasting in verse two. Because salvation is not by works, there's no room for boasting. So rather than boasting in yourself or your works, glory in the God who justifies the ungodly. And number four, in Jewish evangelism, show that Abraham was justified by faith, not works of the law. As you speak to religious Jews who know their Old Testament, most likely they will have a view similar to that which was common in Paul's day, that Abraham was justified by works of the law. Show them as you evangelize them that Abraham was not justified by works. Show them from the Old Testament scripture that Abraham was justified by faith. And also show from the Old Testament the need for atonement in order that God would be just in justifying Abraham and his children by faith. How could God be just? You can put this to your Jewish friend. How could God be just and at the same time justify Abraham by faith? Abraham wasn't righteous in and of himself, but he believed God and God counted his faith to him as righteousness. God gave him a gift of a right standing with God. How could God be just and forgive Abraham of all of his sins? There has to be atonement made for Abraham if God is to be just and the justifier of Abraham by grace through faith. Well, since there must be atonement in order for anyone If Abraham couldn't be justified by works, you can't be justified by works, I can't be justified by works. He's the great ancestor of the Jewish people. If he couldn't be justified by works, you can't be justified by works, I can't be justified by works. If Abraham needed atonement, you need atonement, I need atonement, that God would be just and at the same time able to forgive us and give us salvation. Can those sacrifices in the Old Testament atone for sin? No. How could blood of goats and bulls take away our sin against the Holy God? There must be a greater atonement. Consider what the New Testament says about Jesus Christ being that atonement. That is the foundation, the grounds that God provided for the gift of justification he gave to Abraham. And he gave to every Old Testament saint. So Paul is helping us understand how to evangelize Jews. And we have so many unbelieving Jews around us in this part of the nation. Just go to Highland Park. Many, many. Go closer to New York City, more. Go up to Brooklyn, more. We have a Jewish mission field all around us. We need to be understanding from the Bible how to intelligently share the gospel with Jewish people. That was Paul's great, great ambition in the book of Romans. He talks about how he wished that he could be accursed in the place of his unbelieving Jewish kinsmen if somehow God would, on that basis, give them If somehow they could be saved, Paul is willing to be accursed, eternally accursed in hell, if that would somehow bring about the salvation of his Jewish kinsmen. So Paul says in Romans 1, verse 16, I'm not ashamed of the gospel. because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. You see that priority he put throughout the book of Acts. He'd always go to the Jewish synagogue first. After some would believe, the majority would reject, then he would turn to the Gentiles. That was his pattern. We must have a great passion to evangelize the Jewish people. and we must be praying for their salvation. And this, what we're studying today and what we'll continue to study in chapter four will help us in that. Any questions about anything that we have seen tonight or any comments to edify us? All right, I hope that, Dad. Yes, good point. Yes. Excellent, excellent. So in evangelizing your Jewish friend, moving from the need for atonement, than to the prophecy of Isaiah 53 of the true atonement which is fulfilled in Jesus Christ as the New Testament abundantly proclaims. Good. Anything else? All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gospel that you have given to us. This is good news. Oh, Lord, may we not take it for granted, but Lord, may we be so thankful to you tonight, tomorrow morning when we wake up, and every day. Lord, if justification was by works, there'd be no hope for us. We would all be lost in our sin underneath your condemnation. but you have shown amazing grace in providing the sacrifice of your very own son, in providing a way of salvation that is by your grace on the basis of what Christ has done, received through faith in him. Oh, we cannot thank you enough. Help us, Father, to to live worthy of this gospel and to share this gospel with others. Lord, we pray for our Jewish friends, our Jewish neighbors, the Jews who live in our community. We pray, Father, that you would bring them to know Jesus as the promised Messiah. as their savior, as the only atonement that can make them right with you. Lord, we pray that you would save many. Lord, give us opportunities to be involved in your work in this way. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.