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We’re back to Romans this morning. You’ll remember it started in Romans 1:16 where Paul declares he’s not ashamed of the gospel because it’s a message that has the power to save sinners. The gospel reveals and provides God’s righteousness to us by faith. We need it. We’re all ungodly, unrighteous. We’ve suppressed God’s truth and exchanged it for a lie. We’re all under the wrath of God, which is being stored up for sinners, whether Jew or Gentile. But then Paul turns the corner in chapter three and explains how God’s righteousness is available to sinners by faith in Jesus Christ. Christ on the cross satisfied God’s righteous demands against sin. Through Christ God is just and the justifier of everyone who believes in Jesus (Romans 3:26).
Now in Romans 4 Paul assures us this message of justification by faith is not a new message. Both Abraham and David were saved the same way. There has always been one way for sinful men and women to stand before God, and that one way is by justification by faith alone in Christ alone by the pure grace of God alone. Paul now emphasizes the great doctrine of imputation, which underlies God’s justifying sinners. It all has to do with reckoning. That’s what they say down in Greenville, SC. “I reckon I will.” “Reckon I’ll see you in church tomorrow?” In this chapter you have the Greek verb “logidzomai” eight times. It means to reckon, to count, to credit, to impute. You see it in verses 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11.
We want to thoroughly understand this quintessential theological truth of imputation. R. C. Sproul declared, “The doctrine of imputation is, for me, the non-negotiable.” He even suggested to John MacArthur that instead of being called “Evangelicals” we should be called “Imputationists.” But he agreed it wouldn’t fly in the mainstream. By the time we’re through this morning, you should be able to explain imputation clearly to anyone who asks.
DOUBLE IMPUTATION – THE GREAT EXCHANGE
2 Corinthians 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
Galatians 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”–
There are actually three imputations. The third is Adam’s sin was imputed to us; we’ll see that in Romans 5. Here in chapter four, we’re looking at the double imputation or as some call it, the great exchange. The first is the imputation of our sin and guilt and liability of punishment to Christ’s account. Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us.” In Galatians 3:13, “Christ became a curse for us.” If you are a believer, your sin and guilt was imputed or counted to Christ’s account, and He paid for it in full on the cross. The second imputation is Christ’s righteousness to your account. Christ’s life of perfect obedience to God’s will is imputed to your account. Second Cor. 5:21 ends, “that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” This is seen clearly in Romans 4:6, blessed is the man “to whom God credits or imputes righteousness apart from works.”
Put simply, the guilt of your sins was imputed to Christ when He died on the cross, and Christ’s righteousness was imputed to your account with God the moment you trusted in Jesus Christ. Why is this so important? Because this transfer of sin and righteousness (imputation) lies at the base of the great doctrine of justification by faith alone. Justification means God declares the sinner righteous. That’s why this doctrine is so important. The foundation or basis of justification by faith alone in Christ alone is God’s work of imputing your sin to His Son who bore the punishment of it on the cross and God’s work of imputing Christ’s record of perfect obedience to your account! That’s the double imputation, the great exchange, or as one 2nd century believer called, “the sweet exchange.”
GOD JUSTIFIES THE UNGODLY WITHOUT WORKS OF ANY KIND
We’ve seen the great truths about justification by faith alone in Christ alone purely by the grace of God alone without works of any kind, religious, moral, or social. No one merits justification by their own works. Paul is crystal clear in verses 4 and 5.
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,
Speaking of verse 5, Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “This is, I do not hesitate to assert, one of the most important verses in the whole of the Bible.” Who is the man God justifies? He who does not work (his works can never earn or merit salvation). He who is ungodly and deserves God’s wrath. Therefore, justification is entirely God’s work! Man adds nothing! Justification does not make us righteous; God declares us righteous. “You mean I don’t have to do anything to be saved?” Yes, you cannot do anything to merit salvation. To think you must add something to make your salvation sure is to misunderstand justification by faith and this doctrine of imputation. You couldn’t earn it if you tried for 1000 years.
The one and only way anyone ever goes to heaven to be in God’s presence is to be wrapped in the robes of Christ’s righteous. Whitefield in a great sermon on imputation from Jeremiah 23:6 cried out to the masses of his hearers, “To where will you flee without Christ’s righteousness? The pitiful fig leaves of your own righteousness will not cover your nakedness… Adam found them ineffectual and so will you.” Justification by faith alone means you look to Christ and to nothing else and no one else.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare no trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.
Imagine you are about to die in the next few hours. You are guilty before God, and you know it. God is a holy God and will not receive guilty sinners. Plus, you sinned against an infinitely holy God. That means the punishment of your sin must be infinite and eternal. So, there you are, on the edge of eternity, a foul and guilty sinner, helpless to save yourself in the hands of a just and angry God. Your plight couldn’t be worse.
You are looking at an eternity of punishment, separated from God’s love and mercy, consigned to an eternal hell with absolutely no end. All is truly doom and gloom. You are assigned to that outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. And you are completely unable to change your condition. There’s nothing you can do.
Suddenly God beams the gospel light into your heart. He shows you how you can enter heaven instead of being cast into hell. He takes your sins off your soul, all your guilt, all your lawless deeds, and He transfers them to His own Son to suffer for them on a Roman cross. Then He takes the perfect righteousness of His Son and transfers or imputes it to your account. Now you are free from sin and its guilt, and you stand before God clothed in Christ’s perfect righteousness. And as you slip into eternity God says, “Enter into the joy of your Lord!” That’s the blessing of double imputation and eternal acceptance by God.
THE BLESSEDNESS OF FORGIVENESS
Romans 4:6-8, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits (imputes) righteousness apart from works: 7 “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHOSE LAWLESS DEEDS HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN, AND WHOSE SINS HAVE BEEN COVERED. 8 “BLESSED IS THE MAN WHOSE SIN THE LORD WILL NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT.”
Now Paul quotes from David’s Psalm 32. David was considered Israel’s great hero, good shepherd, mighty warrior, poet, and king. But in fact, David was a first-class sinner. Remember what he did? Way too many wives, adultery, murder, lies, deception, living with a guilty conscience. David was a sinner to whom God imputed righteousness apart from works of the law and whose sinfulness God forgave, covered, never to look on it again!
How does David respond to this forgiveness? Spurgeon on Psalm 32 says, “The word blessed is in the plural, the blessednesses! The double joys, the bundles of happiness, the mountains of delight.” David writes, “Oh the relief and pure happiness, the untold blessedness of the sinner to whom God imputes righteousness and to whose account the Lord will absolutely not (a double negative in the Greek meaning certainly not, no question) impute sin.
Having confessed his sin and received God’s forgiveness, David’s heart overflows with sheer joy and happiness. The forgiven, justified David knows that God will never hold his sins against him.
“My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,
my sin not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul.”
Can you put yourself in David’s situation to hear from the almighty holy God, “I have transferred, imputed your sins to My Son on that cross and then I have transferred or imputed His perfect righteousness to you, all freely by My grace, because I loved you from eternity past!” This is the wonderful and glorious gospel message! Is this a reality to you personally? Can you join with David in his spiritual happiness and bliss?
But you still doubt, “There must be something, some religious practices I must do to assure myself of my salvation. Surely, I need to be baptized or, as a Jew, I need to be circumcised.” Paul answers this.
FOLLOWING THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
Romans 4:9-12, Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “FAITH WAS CREDITED TO ABRAHAM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS.” 10 How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; 11 and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.
We need to understand the Jews confidence in circumcision. Jewish writings clearly say that if you are circumcised you’ll go to heaven and if you are uncircumcised you’ll go to hell, period. One line from the Book of Jubilees written before Christ said, “And every one that is born, the flesh of whose foreskin is not circumcised on the eighth day, belongs not to the children of the covenant which the Lord made with Abraham, but to the children of destruction.” This was the Jews strong conviction and tradition.
But Paul didn’t rely on human tradition. Remember in verse 1, “What does the Bible say?” When you want answers to questions, you go to the Bible. So, Paul goes to Genesis to prove that Abraham was not circumcised when he was justified. He was justified in Genesis 15 and at least 15 later in Genesis 17:24 he was circumcised at the age of 99 years old. So as cocksure as the Jews were that God only saves the circumcised, Paul says, “No, you haven’t read carefully.” Abraham was justified before he was circumcised.
This was the big issue at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. Paul was in Antioch reporting about God saving the Gentiles when some men came from Jerusalem and insisted, “Unless you are circumcised according to the tradition of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Paul and Barnabas forcefully refuted them. You have the same thing in Galatians. There were all these Judaizers insisting on circumcising the Gentile believers. Paul calls this a false gospel and pronounced an anathema on it.
So, what was the point of circumcision for the Jews? It was a sign and seal that these were God’s special people; but it did not mean they were all saved. A wedding ring is a sign of marriage, but it doesn’t marry you. Your wedding certificate is like a seal, but it too doesn’t marry you.
We can apply this to church traditions and practices of many groups of people, Christians, Moslems, and Hindus are convinced by doing religious rituals and rites they are helping to save themselves. People crawl on their knees at holy sites, lash themselves with whips, and many are trusting in their baptism to save them. Baptism is one of the seven sacraments of the Catholic Church. The church falsely teaches that grace is imparted to the soul through the sacraments. They falsely teach infant baptism gives grace, removes original sin, and makes the baby a part of the church. Some Protestant denominations baptize babies, teaching that baptism marks them off as a covenant child. They think baptism has taken the place of circumcision, when Scripture nowhere teaches such a thing. Believer’s baptism is also just a sign. The act itself has no saving virtue. It’s a sign that the believer is trusting in Christ alone.
In verse 12 Paul ends this amazing portion with this picture of Abraham leading the way as
Christ alone. Paul’s point is this: never let Satan blur God’s great plan of salvation. No religious ritual can bring you to God. It does nothing to make you acceptable to God. The only requirement is to recognize you are a sinner before a holy God and so put your trust in Christ’s payment for your sin. Faith is the very opposite of self-reliance.
SO WHAT?
But what about James 2:24? James says Abraham was justified by his works in sacrificing Isaac on the altar. But check out the context. James is talking about the evidence in Abraham’s life of his justification in Genesis 22. Paul here in Romans is talking about the basis of his justification, faith alone.
Do you understand the doctrine of imputation? If you do it will lead you to sincere desires to please your God by your obedience. It will lead you to a life of praising God for His abundant mercy and grace shown to you in His Son. But never forget. Your obedience as a believer will never be the basis of your acceptance by God now or when you pass from this life.