The Condition for Salvation

Transcript

GR 2216
09/15/2019
The Condition for Salvation
Romans 1-4
Gil Rugh

Let’s open your bibles. We’re looking into the book of Romans. It’s such a great book and a foundational book for understanding God’s work of redemption. In one sense, it’s all the word of God, and all of great importance. But the unfolding of the gospel of Jesus Christ is so central to everything that God is doing, that it is a crucial book to understand. I gave you an outline and we’re going to put that up. You can just look over those points to remind you where we are in the book. After the first 17 verses, which gave an introduction, then Paul spent the rest of chapter 1 and a large part, two thirds of the way through chapter 3, or so on. Chapter 3:20, put on Condemnation, talking about our sin, our guilt. Establishing the foundation, we need Redemption and he has dealt clearly with both Gentiles and Jews. He dealt with the Gentiles first, and the Jews would agree. Now, the Roman church is a Gentile church. But it obviously had a strong Jewish influence. There were problems that needed to be clarified in understanding redemption. He wanted it to be clear, all the Gentiles are guilty before God, but then he went on to show all the Jews are also. Just because you are more religious, more consistent in religious practices and have some benefits; the Jews had the Mosaic Law, they had all the Old Testament scriptures given to them, but that didn’t save them. They had confidence in who they were, their physical lineage of descendants of Abraham and his importance in the work of God and the plan of God, and in their religious activity. So, that section on condemnation.

When he’s done, as we saw at the end of chapter 3, this section in verses 19 and 20, “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law…” He’s just quoted that section. You can see in your bible, verses 10 and following. So, you can see, Jews, even your scripture says that of course, the Gentiles are saved. Verse 10, “There is none righteous, not even one…” the Old Testament scriptures say. But you understand, there is none righteous, no not one, that’s what he’s demonstrated. The Jews are just in as much need of the salvation of God as the Gentiles. It’s done so that, in verse 19, “…that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight...” All the Law could do was make them more aware of their sin and guilt. The Jews should have known this. They were to have their faith in the God who gave them His word. They couldn’t redeem themselves.

We have the animal sacrifices included. What did they think they were there for? They were to remind them of the sin and guilt that needed redemption. Then with verse 21 we move on to Justification. That’s a word from the word righteousness. How are we declared righteous by a holy God? Paul started that in chapter 3:21 and that will go through chapter 5:21. So, you see there’s a logical progression. We are all under condemnation, but there is a provision of justification. We go from sin and guilt to righteousness provided. Then we’ll talk about Sanctification, living out the new life we have in Christ. That will be chapters 6 through 8. I put there, Explanation. We need to keep it all balanced with “tion” on the end. I was going to put election in there, but instead, an explanation of how Israel fits into all of this.

Alright, you show Gentiles guilty, you show all of Israel guilty. But now, what? Have the Jews now just lost their place? They can become believers and become part of the church, and God’s done with the nation Israel. NO! So, that explanation of how the work of God in His plan of salvation fits in with all the promises He’s given to the nation Israel as a physical people, and the work of redemption enables the fulfillment of those promises. We’ll have that in chapters 9, 10 and 11 of Romans.

Then what we’ve called The Exhortation. We talked about that in our earlier study, as Paul often does. After he works through the doctrine, then he applies it. Through the exhortation here, now is how you live. So, chapter 12 begins, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God…” Now we have life in Christ, we’re new creatures, we’re now to live for God. Chapter 6 will talk about our Sanctification. We move from being slaves of sin to slaves of righteousness. So, present you bodies. All we do with them now, is in light of what He has done. That will carry us on into chapter 15, and then he will have a Conclusion as he wraps things up with some closing remarks.

So, you can see where we are. We’ve come through chapter 3:21 down into chapter 4, where that section is talking about justification. In verses 21 and following of chapter 3, he explained how God provided His righteousness. Verse 21 of chapter 3 says, “But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested…” It has been revealed, has been made known. He has shown we are unrighteous, but the righteousness of God, that which He has provided, has been manifested. And the Law and the prophets testified to that. This is not out of sink with the Old Testament, it’s not in conflict with the Old Testament. It’s consistent with what the Law and the prophets, the Old Testament scriptures taught and anticipated. Verse 22, It’s “…the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe…” What a concise, succinct statement. The righteousness of God, through faith, that’s how God’s righteousness is applied to us, through faith in Jesus Christ.

Having faith alone, we talked about, doesn’t do anything for you. But it’s the object that you’re trusting in, the person you’re trusting in, faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross. It’s “…for all those who believe; for there is no distinction...” The condemnation was encompassing, included all. The provision of justification, righteousness includes all, because there is no distinction. Everyone is in the same condition. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” So, we can be justified, declared righteous as a gift by His grace. You can’t earn it. We’ll get into this as he moves into that section regarding Israel.

When you make salvation a matter of works, it’s not grace. And it’s not a combination of faith plus works results in salvation, because faith plus works is not grace. Grace is given, undeserved, unmerited, unearned, because Christ did what was necessary for us to be justified. It’s through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation. It’s that sacrifice that turned away God’s wrath so that we could be forgiven. All these great things that have been accomplished in our salvation that are woven together. Propitiation, that word carries a concept of wrath being turned away, because sin has been dealt with by the death of Christ through faith. Faith becomes a key. Faith and believe occur 55 times in the book of Romans. A key emphasis and more often from chapter 3:21 down into the opening couple of verses of chapter 5, it appears again and again and again.

I’ve taken the time in other times we’ve studied this, to mark those. The word faith and believe, the same basic word. A noun form and a verb form. So, when you read through this, you’ll note that emphasis on faith. Faith, faith, which I’ve talked with you a number of times. The death of Christ did not save anyone. It made provision for the salvation of anyone, of everyone, with a condition. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” John 3:16. Important, if you are aware of some of the theological discussions that go on in this area. But there is an unrelenting emphasis, it’s by faith that the work of Christ is applied to my account. Without faith in Christ, I do not receive the benefit of His death. I am left under condemnation.

The end of chapter 3 sums up what will lead into chapter 4. Chapter 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since indeed God who will justify the circumcised…” the Jews, “…by faith and the uncircumcised…,” the Gentiles, “…through faith is one.” That’s crucial, we’ve talked about this, but it’s foundational to what is discussed from here on. There is only one God, so there can only be one way of salvation. It’s by faith. That’s the point, verse 30, “…since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith…” that’s the Jew, “…and the uncircumcised through faith…” that’s the Gentile, “…is one.”

For the Gentile, how will he be saved? By faith. For the Jew, by keeping the Law, NO! Why? There’s only one God. There’s one way to be declared righteous by Him, by faith in the provision that He has made. It’s the same for the Jew, it’s the same for the Gentile. We say something about, people are offended if you say their religion is not really a way to be righteous before God. That’s what he is saying, there’s only one God. So many times, I’ve taken people to this passage, particularly religious people who think their baptism, their confirmation and communion, and all their religious activities and keeping the ten commandments is the way.

This is key, there’s only one God. So, if we can find out how that one God saves anyone, we’ll see how He will save everyone who is saved. And this becomes key, it answers the question, is it necessary to take communion to be saved? Not saying communion is not important, but it doesn’t accomplish salvation. Baptism, is it necessary? If you’re going to be saved, is it necessary to be baptized? Could a baby be saved by being baptized? No, I was baptized as a baby. It just got me wet and I assume made me cry. I don’t know, I don’t remember. By faith, there’s one God.

Alright, what’s he doing when we come into chapter 4? That’s where we were studying when we left off sometime ago. Let’s examine the scriptures and find where there is one person saved by faith. He’s going to demonstrate this. He’s going to use the outstanding example for the Jews. Abraham is not the only man saved by faith in the Old Testament, he’s not even the first man saved by faith in the Old Testament. But he is the most important man for Israel. And what is said about his salvation by faith, is stated with a clarity that had not been made before. The truth was there, but you don’t’ have the same clarity of statement.

Leave your finger in Romans 4 and come over to Hebrews 11. Hebrews 11 is a faith chapter, an example of people who were saved by faith and lived by faith. So, he starts out, and where do we hit? Verse 4, “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain…” Verse 5, “By faith Enoch was taken up...” Verse 6, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him...” So, don’t want to confuse, like Abraham is the first person saved by faith. No. Go all the way back to the first family, Adam and Eve and their son Abel. He was righteous; by faith he was offering the sacrifice that was necessary. He came to God as God said, and it said why. He believed God. “…without faith it is impossible to please Him…” That’s foundational.

So, come back to Romans 4. We want to understand that we don’t lose our way here, that Abraham is not the first person in the bible saved by faith. But he is key for Israel. He’s the father of Israel and he’s the first person about whom that statement is made. He believed God and his faith was credited to him as righteousness. That helps us understand with clarity. Chapter 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found?” You see the Jewish influence and can understand people get confused when these Gentiles in the church at Rome placed their faith in Christ. Then you have the Jews coming and saying, we too believe in Christ. We’ve trusted Him and have Him as our Savior. But you know, that’s not enough. Remember God gave His Law. And He gave His Law hundreds of years ago, 1500 years ago. And we have His scriptures recorded so that you will have to keep the Law also to be saved, and be in the line of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Chapter 4:1, “What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.” You see, you can’t mix works. Abraham believed God, but if it was his faith plus his works, he can boast about something. Maybe it was 75% what God did and 25% what I did. But I can boast from the 25%, or the 10%. No! “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Simple, we go to the Scripture. What does the Scripture say? How many of the questions and challenges are answered? Let’s go to the Scripture. We don’t want to default to logic. The Scriptures are logical in that sense, they’re orderly, according to reason in that sense. But logic is not the authority. But there is, as we address things and communicate, there has to be an order. And we just don’t jumble things up in contradictory ways. “For what does the Scripture say?” It’s hard to interpret, everybody has their own interpretation. What does it say? “‘Abraham…” We know who Abraham is. He appears in Genesis 12 and subsequent chapters, “‘…believed God,’” placed his faith in God. We know what it means to believe something. We have a concept of God, a supreme being, the one who is to be worshiped and so on. “‘…and it was credited…’” We know when somebody credits something. These days they have a card and just walk through.

I was going through this with a professor at a college. Well, everybody has their own interpretation of Scripture. Well, let’s go to Scripture, take an example. What don’t we understand here? “…credited…” We know when something is credited to your account. “…as righteousness.” We know what righteousness is basically. We’ll talk about somebody as a righteous person. We have a concept of that even though it might not be the biblical concept. It’s a person who lives an upright life, respectable, doesn’t do bad, dirty things that people want to hide behind. Don’t let that happen. Everybody has their own interpretation. “For what does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God…’” What else did he do? Well, it didn’t say he did anything else. He “‘…believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Now, an explanation in verse 4, “Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.” Your boss comes to you after you’ve worked hard for a week or two, or a month, whenever your paycheck comes, and says, here I want to give you a favor, I want to do something gracious to you, to show mercy to you, here’s a check. No! That’s not what that is. I worked 48 hours a week for four weeks, doing the dirty work here. You’re not giving me something for free. I earned it. I worked for it. Scripture, God is so kind. He speaks down to us. Obviously, He could speak in such complicated ways that I wouldn’t have a clue what He is saying. His infiniteness; but He intends to communicate with us. So, verse 5, “But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies…” declares righteous, “…the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness...”

So, what do you have to do to be saved? That’s why the development from chapter 3:21 is foundational. This is clear. When you believe in God, you’re believing what He did in providing His Son to pay the penalty for sin, to turn away the justness of His wrath from us who deserve to be punished, who must be punished. The penalty must be paid. But that’s where Christ intervenes. You can’t earn it. “…believe in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness…” In effect, the death of Christ is applied to my account, the penalty for my sin is cared for, and God’s righteousness is applied to my account. Justly so, because the penalty for my sin is death, and Christ paid for it, in its totality.

And then he uses David in verse 6, “…just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works…” What he has shown, this is consistent. David is a thousand years after Abraham. Just using round numbers, Abraham is about 2,000 years before Christ. David is about 1,000 years before Christ. We jump from Abraham to David. Why? Because some things will not change the way God saves a person, provides His righteousness for that person. So, “…David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works…” Now in between Abraham and David, we have Moses. We’re going to put him about 1,500 years, in round numbers. The exodus occurs 1445, 1446 years before Christ, but we use these round numbers. Moses comes in, but wait a minute, David, the law has been in operation for roughly 500 years. But he’s not speaking about the blessing of the man who gets credited for his work in obeying the law. It’s apart from work.

And what does David say? He’s quoting here from Psalm 32, “‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven...’” Well, you know you’re guilty of lawless deeds, it’s hard to be credited as righteous by Law, you’re lawless. What he is saying, I mean you’re dealing with Abraham, now you’re dealing with David, the Abrahamic covenant, then the Davidic covenant, these revered men in Israel, and he says, “‘Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.’” You understand, once you’re lawless, once you’re guilty of sin, you can’t be saved by your works, because the penalty for sin is death. The law impressed that, there’s no reason to miss it. Here’s the sacrifices, the sacrifices, the sacrifices. It’s a bloody religion in that sense. All kinds of sacrifices going on, and bloody sacrifices.

Verse 8, “‘Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.’” David is consistent with Abraham. You can’t be saved by works because you’re a lawless sinner, and no matter what you would do that’s considered good, it can’t take care of the lawless sin you do. It is reasonable, it is logical when you think about it. If I only take one week of my life and go out and murder 47 people, and I say, now I’m an old man, look at me, and all the 76 years I’ve lived, out of that, only in 7 days did I ever murder anyone. Now you multiply the other days out that I’ve lived, and I think I should be credited as a righteous person. It doesn’t work that way. It’s stupid, and nobody thinks that way, except when they come to spiritual matters, religious matters and they think, of course I’m a lawless person, of course I sin, but I did some good works. Good for you. It can’t take care of the penalty. The wages of sin is death.

That’s the point here. And David, when he says, “‘Blessed are those…’” that’s why he can speak “…of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works…” He doesn’t use the word faith, but he shows that it wasn’t by works, because it’s my lawless deeds that are forgiven. My sins that have been covered. The Lord will not take into account my sin, but He’s credited me with righteousness. And David was speaking of righteousness provided as a connection too, as we’ve talked about with our salvation and the various things involved. The crediting to us of righteousness, which is connected to forgiveness. Because if there’s no forgiveness, there can be no provision of righteousness credited to me.

When David talks about forgiveness, our sins have been forgiven, sins have been covered, the sins are not taken into account. All of that is one aspect of my salvation that enables righteousness to be credited to me. Because it can’t be credited to me until the issue of my sin is taken care of. That’s the penalty and I am absolved because my penalty was paid. So, that’s what he is saying here. “Is this blessing then…” and now we’re going to go back to Abraham. He jumped ahead, here we’re writing to a Roman Church in a Gentile city. I take it, it would be at least a large portion Gentiles. But you’re expected to know the scriptures. He’s quoting scriptures and you can understand Paul doing it, he grew up in Judaism. He was a Pharisee who prided themselves in their meticulous knowledge of Scripture. But he’s quoted in firing these verses off. Gentiles, I was raised in paganism. The bible, we’re held accountable, get busy and learn it. Think about it, these people didn’t have the bible like you. You brought it with you, and you’ll take it home with you. They didn’t have that privilege. They weren’t carrying around the Old Testament. Amazing that these Gentiles would have had exposure to it. Roman pagans certainly weren’t looking to study the Old Testament Scriptures. But, based on this knowledge, if you don’t understand, you’ll have to do some studying, get ahold of it, cause you’re going to be held accountable for that knowledge.

Basically, it’s what’s happening with Paul. So, now we’re going back to Abraham. Keep in mind, you have the Church sitting here like you’re sitting here, and it’s a mixture of Gentiles and Jews, and I’d just be up here reading this letter to you. And you’ve got to be concentrating and listening. Trying to remember this, and take it in. And they didn’t even have those nice gel pens and papers or computers or things. It’s amazing, how accountable are we going to be? That’s another subject for another sermon. Here we are, verse 9. “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also?” Now we’ve got another thing. Alright, maybe I’m not keeping the law, but circumcision is necessary, because Abraham was circumcised, and so was David. So, alright you have a point. Keeping all the law, even major portions of it, may not be required, but circumcision is necessary.

Remember in Acts 15, the Jerusalem council, the conflict between some Jews who claimed to believe in Christ’s death and resurrection? But also said circumcision was necessary in keeping parts of the Law. Well, David was circumcised, what about Abraham? “Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, ‘Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.’ How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised?” Now you’ve got to think, I read this and read this, and I try to think of being a pagan Gentile, redeemed by God’s grace. I’m supposed to be sitting here tracking this. I’ve just got up to speed about who this man Abraham was and his significance in Israel. Now, you’ve got to think about when was he circumcised? You know, the bible wasn’t even broken down into chapters and verses yet. So, you couldn’t say, well I’ve missed verse 6. We’re blessed, chapter and verse divisions help us find our way.

Well, stop and think about it, was Abraham circumcised when God declared him righteous? Sometimes we need to stop and think. I don’t because I wrote it down before I came, so I didn’t get confused. When did God declare Abraham righteous by faith? Genesis 15:6. When was Abraham circumcised? Genesis 17. And you know what? A number of years passed between the time he was declared righteous. It wasn’t the next day, it wasn’t the next year, it wasn’t in 10 years! We’ll go back and look. Come back to Genesis 12, and this is about as far as we’re going to get. I just want you to pick up Abraham’s age here. Verse 4, he’s left his homeland. And Abraham is already a believer, because Hebrews 11 tells us He left His homeland by faith.

So, Genesis 15 is just the clarity of statement that we can hang things on. But verse 4 tells us that Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Haran; that’s what we’re here for. Alright, Abraham is 75. We come over to chapter 15, verse 6, that’s where Abraham believed God. God “…reckoned it to him as righteousness.” Alright, then we come to chapter 16, verse 3. We’re told that after Abram, which was the name of Abraham until God changed it to Abraham, that he lived 10 years in the land of Canaan. And then, you’re familiar with the story where he took his wife’s servant girl and conceived a child with her. Now this is sometime after he’s declared righteous in chapter 15. We don’t know how long, but then we’ll go over to chapter 17, and Abraham is ninety-nine years old. He was seventy-five when left his homeland of Haran, now he’s ninety-nine. Twenty-four years have gone by.

Now God reiterates the promise He gave to him in chapter 12. The Abrahamic covenant repeated a number of times, but here He promises, He tells him in verse 1, “‘…I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless.’” Then in verse 2, “‘I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.’” That was the promise given that Abraham believed in chapter 15. Here’s a childless man with a childless wife, they haven’t been able to conceive a child. And He shows him the stars and says I’m going to multiply your descendants, like the stars of the heavens, and it will be like the sands of the sea also. And Abraham believed God. So, Abraham fell on his face, God talked with him and said, My covenant is with you, and He changed his name from Abram to Abraham. I’ll give your descendants the land and all.

We’ll jump down here, and He promises him in verse 19, your wife will bear a son, his name will be Isaac, and I will establish My covenant with him, again in verse 21. So, after this conversation, you know what happens? Abraham gets circumcised. How old is he? Verse 24, “…Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised...” Now, note the next verse, “…Ishmael his son was thirteen years old…” Well, that son was conceived in chapter 16, which was after chapter 15. I’m good at numbers, at math. In chapter 15, he was declared righteous. In chapter 16, he conceived the child with the handmaiden, the servant girl Hagar, who was named Ishmael. We’re told that Ishmael is now 13 years old. You allow for the approximate year for the child to be conceived and then the 9 months and the birth, he’s 13. So, we’re about 14 years at least gone. We’re not sure how old Abraham was when he conceived this child who is now 13.

We can figure out how old Abraham was, how much time went by between chapters 15 and 16, if any time, so we can say for sure at least 14 years have passed since Abraham was declared righteous. The commentaries say 14 to 17 years because we have a condensed account of Abraham’s life, obviously. And when he’s declared righteous in chapter 15, we can’t be sure how old he was. So, what’s the point? The point is, that at least 14 years have gone by, probably 15, after chapter 15 where he’s declared righteous, before he gets circumcised. That’s the answer to the question. Come back to Romans 4. You had to be ready for this, verse 10 of chapter 4 of Romans, “How then was is credited (reckoned)? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised…” You understand and remember our argument back in Chapter 3 of Romans, verse 30, there’s only one God. He justifies by faith and only by faith.

Let’s find an Old Testament example of Abraham. Abraham was declared righteous before the law. Abraham was declared righteous before he was circumcised. So, how can you say, circumcision, you’re saying there’s another God? The God who justified Abraham by faith and the God who justifies people by faith plus circumcision? You say, okay, you belabor this, but how many people will tell you that baptism is necessary for salvation? Tell me when Abraham was baptized? How many years after Genesis 15 when God declared him righteous, did he get baptized? He never did! So, you believe there’s one God? Then there’s only one way to be saved. He’ll go on to explain the way circumcision fits in and the law, as He goes on in the rest of the chapter. I didn’t realize, we’d reviewed this stuff, but we’ve got to be clear. And it encompasses every other thing. No matter what a person says, it’s not believing Christ plus anything. It’s believing Christ! Does that mean that nothing else is important? Of course, other things are important, but they are not necessary to be saved. And that’s the point that has to be established firmly before we can move on. You don’t know what’s involved in getting saved? You’ll corrupt the foundation and everything. We’ll just expand the error. So, God is patient, He takes us back to basic things.

Alright, let’s have a word of prayer. Thank You Lord, for the clarity of Your word. Lord, we do review these things. We review them Lord, we want to be sure they are settled into our life. They are a part of our very being. This is truth that we will live out. That will control our thinking. We will not be confused. We will not be deceived. We will be firm and clear in our understanding of the wonderful truth. You have accomplished everything for us that could ever be done, for us to be declared righteous before You, a holy God. And we can receive that as a gift by faith. How wonderous is Your salvation! We give You thanks, in Christ’s name. Amen.