This message, titled Faith Alone, from Romans chapter 4, verses 1-12, was preached at Winchester Reformed Presbyterian Church in Winchester, Kansas. For more information, visit us at winchesterrp.com. This morning we'll be continuing our series through five great truths of our salvation. A few weeks ago, we looked at the first of these great truths that we have been saved by grace alone. And today, we'll be looking at what is essentially the other side of that same coin. That justification is by faith alone. In our text this morning, Romans 4 1-12. But before we get into our text, it seems necessary to explain what is meant by the term justification. This is one of those church words that we don't use every day. And it can have different meanings depending on the different contexts in which it is used. And when we say justification is by faith alone, we're using that word justification in a legal sense. And this is how the Apostle Paul uses that term. In the courts, when someone is justified, they are declared righteous in the eyes of the court. They have no crimes held against them. Now when we apply this to salvation, we see that justification is being declared righteous before God. When I was younger, I was taught that because I am justified, it is just as if I had never sinned. Justification is an act of God's free grace wherein He pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in His sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. Here in the first part of Paul's letter to the church in Rome, he's been building up toward this doctrine. He's shown the wicked state of man apart from God and their need for a Savior. He explains in the beginning of Chapter 3, that no one is righteous on his own. That no works of the law can make one righteous in God's sight. The second half of chapter 3 is really where Paul makes crystal clear that it's not by works of the law, but by faith that we are justified. Romans 3.28 says, For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Now this would have been somewhat confusing to the first century Jewish hearer. So Paul goes on and he explains that this has to be the case. He says, Or is God not the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is One who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. It's because the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation, not simply to the Jew, but also for the Gentile. And because of everything that Paul has argued previously about the inability of man to make himself righteous in God's sight, that we have to understand that justification is by faith alone. And our passage this morning is an illustration. It illustrates that this doctrine, justification by faith alone, is not something that's new. God's not changing how He justifies people. Paul uses the illustration of Abraham to make this point clear. So hear now the Word of the Lord from Romans 4. We'll begin in verse 1. 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 the 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. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well. and to make him the father of the circumcised, who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Thus far the reading of God's word. Let us ask his blessing on it. Heavenly Father God, we do thank you for this word that you have given us and we ask that you would add a blessing to the reading of it. And now as we come to the preaching of this word, we ask that you would open up our hearts to receive this message that you have prepared for us. Let us understand this doctrine in a new way, in a greater way, so that we may glorify You because of what You have done for us. So we ask that You would be with us in this time. And we ask this in Christ's name, Amen. Now it's interesting that after laying the foundation of justification by faith alone, Paul anticipates some pushback from his hearers. He anticipates the question, but Paul, if that's the case, if the law does not justify, what then of our fathers? What of one of the most important men in our history? What of our father Abraham? So as if to answer a question that has not even been asked, Paul uses the example of that great father to the Jewish people as the example to prove justification is by faith alone. So what of Abraham? Look with me at our passage once again. 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. Now let's pause right there for a second. I want us to take a moment and to think about that phrase, that line, and what is meant by it. That line, for if Abraham is justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. I want you to think of something that you're proud of. Something that you worked hard to do and you're proud of yourself for doing it. Kids, have you ever scored that game winning run or hit that buzzer beater basket to win the game? Youth, have you ever put in the overtime and the hard work on an assignment for school or for a project And you've gotten that A that you worked so hard for. Adults, have you ever put in all of your effort into a job or a project just to see it be successful? I'm sure at some time in our lives we've all experienced something that we worked hard to do and we took pride in it. And that's what Paul is saying here about Abraham. If Abraham had done anything to earn his justification, then he would have something to be proud of. He would have something to boast about. But it's interesting Paul adds that little line, but not before God. Any kind of The justification that can be earned by works is not a justification before God. We may work to be justified in the sight of man, but we could never do enough to be justified before God. And Abraham wasn't justified by works. He didn't have anything to boast about. He didn't put trust in His own works, and He didn't attain anything from His own works. Let's look at verse 3. For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Paul is bringing to mind one of the most sacred moments in Jewish history when God made His covenant with Abraham. This was that covenant that made them a people. This was that covenant that set them apart as God's chosen nation. And Paul is calling to mind that ceremony by quoting Genesis 15 verse 6, proving that it was through Abraham's faith that it was counted to him as righteousness. It wasn't because of anything that he did. No, it was simply because he believed. Because he had faith. Let me stop for a second because I can hear the objection already. But Josh, believing is something that you do. How is that not a work? Well, we must remember Ephesians 2 and verse 8. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God. Faith is a gift. It's given to us by God. It's not a work. It's not something that we do. It's a gift of God. And we can't just skip over the phrase, and it was counted to Him as righteousness. Other translations say it was credited to Him as righteousness. Now, in our lives, we have debts and we have credits. If you owe something, that's a debt. But if you have an account and something is put into it, then you have a credit. When thinking of justification, our debt is our lives for all eternity. That is the debt we have because of sin. You owe God an eternity of being judged. And it's a debt that we can never pay. But the credit in justification is the righteousness of Christ. So your debt has been wiped clean. You are given the payment for your sin, which is the atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus. So in the gift of faith that Abraham had, he was credited the righteousness of Christ. And so that means that Christ's righteousness is counted as Abraham's righteousness through his faith. And the same is true of you as well, if you are in Christ Jesus. Your debt has been paid, and Christ's righteousness is now your righteousness. And Paul goes on in our text to explain this with another example, that of a worker. Verse 4, 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." If you work, you get the payment for your work. When we get a paycheck, It's not considered a gift, but what's owed to us because we have fulfilled our duties of our job. But when it comes to the debt that we owe for our sins, we can never work enough to deserve justification. Apart from Christ, our work can only ever earn us hell. But God says that through our belief in Christ Jesus, because of the faith that we have in Him that has been given to us as a gift, our faith is counted to us as righteousness. Our sin debt has been paid. And Paul uses the words of David in Psalm 32 to make this clear. Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin. So not only is this a gift, that has been given to us, but it's also a blessing from the Lord. So this begs the question, who is this blessing of justification for? It's just for the circumcised, right? Paul used the example of Abraham and that he was justified by faith. And then he used the words of David to show that justification is by faith. But both of those men were circumcised. So this blessing is only for the circumcised, right? Wasn't circumcision given as the covenant sign? Surely God doesn't justify apart from that covenant sign. Is the blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? Now, this may seem like a strange question for us. And that's because we're not living in a time where the gospel was primarily given to the Jews. It was to them that the mysteries of God had been given. So to the first century Jew, this would have been a very real question that they would have had. And Acts 15 shows us that this was a real concern of the Jews at that time. It says, but some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, You cannot be saved. And then a little further down in Acts 15 and verse 5, but some believers who belong to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, it is necessary to circumcise them in order to keep the law of Moses. So Paul answers this question, this very important question by continuing his explanation of the justification that Abraham had received. For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. To answer this question of whether this blessing of justification by faith alone is for the Jew only, or if it's for the Gentile as well, he looks to the state of Abraham at the time of His being justified. Now under the Old Covenant, the sign that showed one was part of the covenant people of God was circumcision. Many of the Jews rested in their being circumcised as proof that they were right before God. But this was an error in thinking. This was placing trust in one's religious acts to be sure that he is justified. But Abraham wasn't justified after his circumcision, but before. And this is something that they should have known. These Jews, they knew their Bibles well. They knew the covenant ceremony between God and Abraham in Genesis 15. Abraham was declared righteous before God in Genesis 15, but it wasn't until Genesis 17 that he was given the sign of circumcision. It was about 14 years after he had been declared righteous that he had been given the sign of the covenant. Abraham's faith and righteousness was not a result of him being circumcised. No, we're told he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. Now to understand a little bit about circumcision, we need to understand these terms, sign and seal. Circumcision was a sign, and we all know what signs are. I was in Topeka yesterday, and there was a sign on the highway that said, Topeka Zoo. I didn't think that that sign itself was the Topeka Zoo? No. Instead, I understood that it pointed toward the Topeka Zoo. Because that's what signs do. They aren't the reality of the thing signified, but instead they point toward that reality. Circumcision wasn't the righteousness that Abraham had by faith, it pointed toward that righteousness that he had, which was the righteousness of Christ. The bloody sign of circumcision pointed toward the bloody redemption that was found in Christ's death on the cross. But not only was it a sign, circumcision is a seal also. Now, in our modern context, we don't really think about seals much. But in times past, and honestly, in not too distant past, seals were a very important thing. When a king was to put down a decree to his people, he would write out that decree and then seal the parchment with his royal seal. And this was usually an imprint that was made in wax. And it served the purpose of showing to all who saw that the decree was authentic and was truly from the king. And so it was with circumcision. Circumcision was the seal that the King of Kings put on His people to show the world that they were truly His. And so Abraham received this sign and seal not before he was declared righteous, but after. It wasn't because of circumcision that Abraham was declared righteous, but because of his faith in the One whose righteousness had been given to him." And the Bible is clear that God justifies the ungodly apart from works and makes them righteous because of the righteousness of Christ given to them and received by faith. And Abraham being made right before God by his faith before receiving the sign and seal of circumcision was for a purpose. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised so that righteousness would be counted to them as well and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Paul makes it clear that circumcision was to point to justification by faith alone. If the Jews rightly understood that covenant sign, they would have seen that it told them to look to God in faith. That was one of the reasons for circumcision. But Abraham was declared righteous before he received that sign. And that was to show that he was not just father Abraham to the Jews who had been circumcised. But that he was also a father to the Gentiles who were uncircumcised, but who came to the Lord by faith. The example of Abraham is an example to us. But that's not to cast aside the Jews who had received the sign of circumcision. No, Abraham is the father of the circumcised. who are not merely circumcised, but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Circumcision is not what justifies. Circumcision is not what makes Abraham one's father. Those who have received the sign and seal of the covenant, must walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. It's not circumcision that justifies. It's not works that justifies. It's not religious action that justifies. It's faith alone which justifies. The common thing between those of the circumcised and the uncircumcised who have been justified is that they have both been justified by faith. Brothers and sisters, you may be sitting there thinking, We've been talking a lot about this thing called circumcision. This covenant sign and seal that was given to the Old Testament people of God. Does this have anything to do with us? We're not living under the Old Covenant. We don't put our faith in circumcision like some of the first century Jews did. What does this matter to us? How does this apply to us? Well, the primary way that this applies to you here today is that you will be justified before God if you simply believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and have faith in Him. Romans 10 9 says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. The only way to be justified before God is by faith. But there's another way that this applies to us in our modern context. No, you may not be like the first century Jew who is placing his trust in a circumcision for justification, but are you doing it with that new covenant sign and seal of baptism? Do you believe that because you have gone through the waters of baptism, you are justified? If so, you're no different from the Jews of Paul's day. Look to the covenant promises that are signified in your baptism. Trust in the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon you, making you new. Lean upon the blood of Christ, sprinkled upon the mercy seat, purchasing your redemption. Believe in the one into whom you have been baptized. Justification is not by our works. Justification is not by our circumcision. And justification is not by our baptism. Brothers and sisters, Justification is by faith alone. Let us pray.