(Romans) Justification — Willie Mullan

Romans 4: The Unity of the Passage

This evening again, through Paul's letter to the Romans, and we're at chapter four this evening. Paul's letter to the Romans, and at chapter four, and we're going through those first twenty-two verses.

The reason that I have embraced the first twenty-two verses is because they all stand in together, and they're very closely knit together on the subject. And to stop short of verse twenty-two, I believe, would spoil the exposition of the truth that stands in this passage.

When I come back on the following Tuesday, we'll be going through the last three verses of chapter four, and the first five verses of chapter five. And if you read them carefully, you'll find this, that the last three verses of Romans chapter four, and the first five of chapter five, bring before you one of the greatest Christ-exalting, soul-filling passages in the entire Word of God.

My, the truths that are there are really amazing, but I'll dig them out for you and present them to you when we get back again. We're doing the first twenty-two verses of chapter four this evening. Now, can I just remind you that last week, in the third chapter of verse twenty-one, with the first two words, "'But now,' Paul made us face up to the wonders of this dispensation in which we live.

You see, in chapter one and two and three, up to verse twenty, he'd been looking up the past, the past dispensation. But when he came to verse twenty-one of chapter three, he let us know that we were in a new dispensation, where God was dealing with mankind under a new principle.

So he cried with his full might, "'But now!'. He'd been looking up the past, and now he shouts, "'But now!'. And if you take those two words, you can place them before many verses in chapter three. Supposing I should read verse twenty-four like this, "'But now, being justified freely by his grace.'".

It would let you see that we're in the dispensation of the grace of God. And in this dispensation, God is justifying men freely. You don't have to pay for justification. And you can't work for it, you can't steal it.

God gives it out freely, because this is the dispensation of his grace, and what grace gives only faith can take. The hand of faith takes the gift of grace, and he justifies men freely by his grace. But remember, verse twenty-four continues, "'But now, being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.'".

You know, there had to be a mighty work done at the place called Calvary, ere the grace of God could flow out and give us this justification that we can take by the hand of faith. Yes, the grand work of this mighty dispensation that we're in is Calvary.

And you remember how we concluded last week? We could take the first two words of verse twenty-one, and we could bring them to verse twenty-eight. But now, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law at all.

My, that's Protestant doctrine, isn't it? That's the foundation of the Protestant faith this evening. We believe with all our hearts, we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone, without the deeds of the law at all.

Without any doing, without any pain, without any suffering. We don't need purgatory to be justified. We don't need penance. We don't need priests. We don't need popes. We conclude that a man is justified by faith without any doings whatsoever.

We're not doing to get faith, not a bit of it. If we do anything, it's because we are saved. We'll keep the horse before the chariot of a timeless evening. But you know, when Paul got all this over, saying, but now, being justified freely by God's grace, but now in this dispensation we conclude that a man is justified by faith alone, without the deeds of the law.

Then, of course, this brought in a question at the end of the chapter, verse thirty-one. Do we then make void the law through faith? You see, the law was a wonderful thing. Supposing we just look at the ceremonial law.

I, in God, gave the ceremonial law, and the ceremonial law was teaching all the time that there must be a sacrifice made for sin, that the wages of sin is death, that the soul that sinneth shall surely die.

Do we make that void through faith? Not at all. We establish the law because our faith proclaims that Christ died for us. It's from the redemption that Christ completed by his death at the place called Calvary that we rest this evening.

Abraham's National Question and the Two Answers

This is good teaching. Now, when Paul got all that off his chest, he's ready to start chapter four, and that's where we start this evening. We're at verse one, and here's another tickly question for you.

What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? Now, one of the things that you need to know if you're going to understand the wonderful letter to the Romans is this, that very often Paul writes from the glorious position that he stands in embrace.

But sometimes he turns round and he takes his place out of where? Out of Jew again. And to bring out light for all in summary, he asks the sort of questions a Jew would ask. And of course, when he teaches that we can be justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law, he naturally anticipates the sort of question that the Jew would ask.

It's a national question. If you ever sat at an old Orthodox Jew's side and tried to lead him into the joy of God's salvation, you would find that he would toss out a tremendous lot of these questions.

I did this for months with an old Orthodox Jew on the Antrim road, and I anticipated all these and had the answers from the word of God too. You see, if you would talk to a Jew about being justified by faith alone without the deeds of the law, he would say, did Abraham our father find this out?

And that's the very question that's before us now. It's a national question. It's something that would come from the Jew. You see, the very fact that Paul put it like this, what shall we say then of Abraham our father?

Shows you that he's taking the Jewish position. Abraham our father! Shows you that he's taking the Jewish position. And you know, the Jew would ask, did Abraham find all this out? Now, when you are asked checkerly questions, there are two ways that you can tackle them.

One is by logic, and I don't advise that. Unless you're quite capable of really tackling it by logic, you just leave it alone. Because I find if you start to reason with the devil, that usually he'll out-reason you.

But Paul tackled it both ways. First of all, he gave a logical answer, and then he did what I would advise, he gave the scriptural answer. And if you can shut up people's mouths by the word of God, don't bother about the logic at all.

But to this national question, Paul gave both a logical and a scriptural answer. Now, the logical answer is in verse 2. He says, for if Abraham were justified by works, or you can put it, if Abraham were justified by the deeds of the law, or by works, it's quite clear, isn't it?

He asked thereof to glory. You know, if you're going to work this thing out in your own way, you can boast a bit about it, can't you? But you know, he puts this little bit in, but not before God. God will allow glory in its presence.

And the boys that give the testimony and say, I did it, and I have it, and I've got it, God pity you. When you're doing a lot of glory and then you don't know it, and God just forgives your ignorance, that's your trouble.

So that's the logical answer. Couldn't he boast about it if he worked it out on his own? But he's a scriptural answer, wasn't Paul a great man? Verse 3, says what? Says the scriptural. Mind you, Paul must have known the Old Testament pretty well to pick this one out.

He's thinking about Genesis 15. What says the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Let's go to Genesis 15 and see what was going on. The book of Genesis, chapter 15.

Abraham Believed God's Promise

I would like you to know and note that Abraham was an old man here. In fact, if you go to chapter 17, you'll find his age. Verse 1 of chapter 17, and when Abraham was 90 years old and nine. He was 99 in chapter 17, and he wasn't very far from it in chapter 15.

I want you to get that into your mind. It's established by scripture. He was an old man now. And God's coming to him. Verse 1, chapter 15. After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield, and thine exceedingly to watch.

And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abraham said, Behold to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir.

And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And God brought him forth abroad and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell them the number of the stars, if thou be able to number them.

And God said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And here's what happened. And he believed in the Lord. Or as Paul put it, Abraham believed God. Mind you, there were many things to bring unbelief into us all.

You see, he was standing, it seems to be at night, and he's saying to God, I have no child. And he's well over night there. And of course, naturally, physically speaking, it seemed impossible. God said, You'll have a child out of your own bowels, and I'll tell you more.

Have a look at the stars, if you're able to number them. So shall thy seed be. And like a flash, he bowed his head, and he believed God. The question whether any one of us would have done it or not. Man, we would start and argue about the physical make-up, wouldn't we?

Say I'm too old, and Sarah's too old. We'd have a whole lot of wee things to say to ourselves. We would argue with God in a minute, you know. And let me tell you this, it's constant unbelief, constant unbelief.

You know, we wouldn't only have argued from the physical argument, but we would argue from the numerical argument. My word, all must have smiled at God and said it's impossible. A lot of that may be true.

But Abraham didn't argue. Abraham just believed God. And the moment that his heart responded to the promise of God, God counted him absolutely righteous. That's how he got made righteous. Righteousness and justification was in vain.

You know that. So, Paul's proving the point from Scripture now. And the old Jew will have to accept his own Scriptures, won't he? That even Abraham, who is the father of the nation, so to say, my, he was justified by faith without the deeds of the law at all.

Why, it was years before the law came. Years before the law was given. The law was given by Moses. But this is a long way up the line, isn't it? This is Abram. This is before the law came at all and he was justified by faith.

You know, this is the problem that I have sometimes in the inquiry room with those who would seek God's salvation. My, they can't believe God. The great Petion can't believe God. You know, when God comes to me and says, look, I gave my son and I spared him not a Calvary, and he in his own body bear your sins on the tree, then I just believe that.

It doesn't give me any bother whatsoever, no quibbles in my mind at all. A fellow said to me, my, you can believe that so easily, can't you? I said, yes, I can believe God at any time, of the day or night.

God cannot lie, so I'm safe enough. God cannot break his promise and remain God, so I'm safe enough. Lots of things God cannot do, you know. Faith, this is where some of you unbelievers are stuck in this meeting.

You simply can't believe God at your trouble. It's too good, it's too big, it's too wonderful, it's a great pity of your mentality, that's what it says. Great pity. You're sitting there and push it on belief, and it'll take you to hell if you don't watch.

Doesn't give me any problem looking at the cross, knowing that he, his own self, bear my sins in his own body on the tree. You say they weren't committed then. No, of course they weren't. I wasn't born.

Somebody says that's a problem, that's no problem to me at all. If God says he doesn't give me any problem, I believe God. I just believe God, that's all. That's all I ever had to do. Who did you think you had to believe me?

You just have to believe God. You see, God is so wonderful that God can see the end even before the beginning has begun. He can see the end from the beginning. And our God is the God who caused those things which are not as though they were.

My, he saw every blot and sin and sin that I was committing. He knew every one of them, and he who knew them took them and laid them on Christ. And Christ bore my sins. Oh, it doesn't bother me at all.

Even if I couldn't solve it like that, I can still believe it. A big fellow said to me one day, he said, I can't understand the text like that. I said, there's nobody ever asked you to understand it. You just have to believe it, and if you don't want to believe it, you can go to hell.

Nobody ever asked you to wash your hands. You're asked to believe God, and it's a pity of you if you can't believe God. Great pity of you. I can believe God no matter what he says. Just you show me God's Word and I can believe it.

My dear friends, this is the faith that justifies. You know, when God says, Christ bare my sins in his own body on the tree, and when he backs it up with saying, Christ died for my sins, and when he backs it up with saying, when Christ had purged my sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty and I can just believe all that just in a flash.

I know he bared them, I know he died for me, I know he purged them away in his own blood and they can't be found, they're blotted out. I know that. I believe. And I get great joy in exactly what Abraham did.

He just believed God. There's no more in it than that, isn't there? And that's why some of you are not saved. You can't believe God. You can lift the telegraph. Oh, you believe they took the tricolour out of the window, don't you?

You weren't up the fall, sure you weren't. Oh no, you can believe the old telegraph. Oh yes, you could believe all the stuff and nonsense that's in the telegraph at times. But you can't believe God. Well that's us, isn't it?

You can't believe God. Can't believe God. Well let's get on with this. I want you to notice that this is the righteousness that Abraham acquired and he got it by faith. He just believed God. So that in these first three verses of chapter four, we're back at chapter four again, you'll notice the national question that Paul anticipated, and then in the second verse the logical answer, and then in the third verse the scriptural answer.

And we're face to face with the righteousness that Abraham acquired by faith. Now we come to these next two verses, and here we see the clarity, or the clearness of Paul's preaching. You know, the preaching of this man really fills me, because he's absolutely clear.

Clarity in Preaching and Justification of the Ungodly

You know, one day Dr. Ironside put his big arm round me and gave me a squeeze and he said, well I'll tell you a wee thing. New preaching always endeavoured to be clear rather than clever. And I thought that was real good.

Because it's clarity that's needed, you know, so that you understand what we're about. Dr. Ironside told me that there was a wee girl who came to the tabernacle where they preached every Sunday morning.

She was just five years of age, and one Sunday they were going out, all the folks, and he was shaking hands and he couldn't do it with them all, he missed some of them, and he saw the little girl going past and she turned to her mummy and she said, Mummy, I can just understand every word you say.

He said that was the greatest compliment that was ever paid to me as a preacher. He says I always aimed at the little girls that would understand. So we need to be clear, but just watch how clear Paul is.

Now in these two verses, he marks three persons as it were, him that worketh, and then in verse five, him that worketh not. Two different persons all together. But then he notices him that justifieth thee ungodly.

That's a great phrase, isn't it? Now just let's get inside it out. Paul's saying in verse four, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. You see when you work all week, you've made an agreement with your employer that you'll go at a certain time each morning and you'll leave at a certain time each evening, and when it comes to the end of the week, you know, he's not being a bit gracious when he comes and gives you your pay.

A noise and debt to you. He's got to pay you. Why, if he kept it back there would be an uproar, wouldn't there? It wouldn't be a strait, it would be a freight. Now when you work for anything, well it's a debt.

A debt. To him that worketh, God would be indebted to him if he had to pay him. But that's not how it goes, is it? Here's what it says, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

But to him that worketh not, but simply believeth. What's this mean then? On him that justifieth the ungodly. I want you to get that. You know, I'm not preaching for thirty years, and giving my money to God for thirty years, and praying for thirty years, and hoping at the end of the thirty years God will be very kind and justify me.

Not at all. God justified me when I was an ungodly creature. Our God is the God that justifieth the ungodly. That's the Well this is a wonderful God, isn't it? This is really amazing. Did I tell you? There is no judge in the land.

Not even the Lord Chief Justice could justify the ungodly. He couldn't do it. How could he do it? If the man's in the dock and he's an ungodly man, how could you justify him? There is no one who can justify the ungodly.

Not one. If he's ungodly, he's ungodly. And yet the amazing thing is that our God justifies the ungodly when he believes. When he believes. When an ungodly sinner just bowed his head and said, I'll take like a word.

You say that Christ bore my sins. You say that he died for my sins. You say that he purged my sins. I'll take like a word. If there's a man you know he's justified. Justified by faith alone without any word of it.

Oh I tell you that's great. Well that's something to lecture us all, isn't it? It's absolutely clear. It's put out in two verses. Don't know what they fiddle about and get much stuff for. Two simple wonderful verses that every one of you could memorize and forever repeat.

Man you could slay all the poofish priests in the country with the two verses. Our Paul just doesn't let his board and go with the dog so easy. He says, I want to show you righteousness that Abraham requires.

And then he comes out with two verses that are very clear preaching. And now he goes back to David, isn't it? Very wonderful. Then he's David again and he, such is the blessedness that David describes.

Verse six. Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without words. Saying, and he's back at the thirty-second psalm. You see Paul knew the Old Testament all right.

Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. You know it's a great joy to stand before God and to know that you're forgiven. Great joy. We have the forgiveness of sins. You see, we're not waiting until we get to the end of the journey and then do about two thousand years in purgatory and hope that God will do it.

That's poofish nonsense. That's what that is. We have the forgiveness of sins. We have the forgiveness of sins. Oh do you know a man who knows that God has forgiven him, he ought to have some sort of joy in his soul.

Blessed is the man, the word blessed there is happy. Happy is the man and you ought to be happy. You can die happy either, knowing that you're forgiven. But then it goes further. Not only iniquity is forgiven, but sins are covered.

Because David was preaching in the Old Testament, wasn't he? And by the sacrifices in the Old Testament an atonement of a kind was made and sins were covered. Oh but we go further than that. Our sins are completely blown out, never to be remembered, no more forever.

The New Testament covenant says your sins and your iniquity will I remember no more. I tried to teach the class here on one occasion that there's all the difference between God remembering no more and man forgetting.

Oh no, we all forget things. I'm the greatest theoretical that you ever thought. I can remember scripture all right, but there's a thousand things I can never forget. You see that's just a human weakness.

Oh but God has got no human weakness about him. This is a act of God and only God can act like this. God has the prerogative to remember no more. That's a divine act. That's not forgetting, that's not human weakness.

That God just says, all right, this fellow has put his faith in the sacrifice. Do you believe my words? Yes Lord. And without a fight, he remembers. So that I just stand in his presence from that moment onwards, asserted in the beloved, wearing this robe of righteousness, justified by faith alone.

It makes you happy. Makes you happy. That's the source of salvation I preach and believe in. My dear friends, this is what you call salvation by grace. And we are saved by grace. Now watch this, and not only is David describing the man unto whom God imputes his righteousness without worth, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. You know that's a very wonderful thing, isn't it? You see we were just saying that God took our sins and he laid them on Christ. He imputed them to Christ.

We do sing sometimes, he took my sins and my sorrows and he made them his very own. And he did, you know. And he did. Well you know God just can't wait for Calvary with a doctor and resurrect him and put them back on me, can he?

There'd be no justice about that. So he can't do it. This is something God can't do. Can't impute sin to me again. Finally God can't twice demand, first at my bleeding, surety hand, and then again at mine.

So this is a wonderful salvation. When you begin to work it out you wonder where these people ever read who talk about being lost again, because I just don't understand them at all. They never read the Bible and say, just pick up a few scraps of wisdom about talking a lot of silly nonsense.

That's what they say. When you're here and I'll have a light with them any time you like. I'll butter the lathe onto them with the Word of God. Oh, been far too wonderful and far too splendous to be made light of.

The man on the top will not make light of Calvary. In Thomas, the work of the cross. And it's not to be in Thomas. Not for a moment. This is too mighty. This will be the glory of heaven for all eternity.

The Lamb slain. Oh, so you can see what he's getting at here. Now he comes to another very important part in this passage. He comes to the broadness. I've called it the broadness of the Apostles' argument.

The Broadness of Abraham's Justification

Now just watch how Paul gets about this. Verse 9. Cometh this blessedness or this happiness then upon the circumcision only. Because you know what that means, don't you? That's the Jew. All the meals in Israel were circumcised on the eighth day, and I don't need to go into that.

So he's just there arguing, does this blessedness come on the Jew only? Or upon the uncircumcision also? You see the Gentile nations around the Jew, they were the uncircumcised. You remember David called Goliath the uncircumcised Philistine.

And so Paul's arguing now, is this blessedness only for the Jew, or for the Gentile, or for the circumcised Jew, or for the uncircumcised Gentile? For we say that faith was reckoned through Abraham for righteousness.

That's what we say and that's what we believe. That's what the Scripture says. Then he comes to the argument really, how was it then reckoned? When he was in circumcision? Or in uncircumcision? And he answers that, not in circumcision.

At the time that God took Abraham up to see the stars, if you like to go back and have a look at the whole history of Abraham, he wasn't circumcised at all. He wasn't circumcised in uncircumcision, but in uncircumcision.

Watch this 11th verse. And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he already had, being uncircumcised. They talk, you know, about circumcision and sprinkling being sort of cold on the neck.

They do, you know. They tell me that in the New Discretion that sprinkling indeed takes the place of circumcision in the Old Colony and I want to know where that ends. And you ask any minister to point it out in the Word of God where he found that out and I'll tell you he'll have a bit of a job.

But I can tell you that there is not even a shadow of any such thing in God's Word. If you don't believe me you just go and ask your minister where he finds it. And I did this meeting for any man that is found to find it.

I just define it and I just don't throw my weight on carelessness. I'm just asking you to bring me the Word of God and let me see where God says that sprinkling of babies will take the place of circumcision.

And if you know where it is I would like to see it because I've never met it. But I'm too old-fashioned, I know it's not there. And supposing that they could find some sort of little thing that might help them, and I don't think they can't even find a little thing, I would have to tell them that Abraham was justified by faith before he was circumcised at all.

So that the faith came before the circumcision of his death. So that faith does come before baptism in the New Testament. So then you can't really sprinkle babies and call it baptism because you'll need to have faith.

My dear friend, it's faith first every time. We are as baptized as the world. You remember the Corinthians hearing Paul teaching the gospel? We are baptized. You remember the Philippian eunuch? When he saw the water he said to Phillip.

The Ethiopian eunuch, when he saw the water he said to Philip, What doth him do me to be baptized? Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest. And that just clinches it. It's only believers.

But there's no nonsense in this book of covenant theology as they call it. It's devilish theology that I see. It comes from pagan Rome down North Street they have it. Sprinkle all the children down there and send them to the church of Rome to take them.

And a good lot of boys are following right on, aren't they? They want to follow God's word. You'll notice that Abraham was uncircumcised when he believed. And this was not to feel for the Jewish race and for nobody else.

Watch this. Verse 11 again. He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had being uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised.

That righteousness might be imputed unto them. And also, I am the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham which he had being yet uncircumcised.

You know all that God wants us to do is to walk in the faith that Abraham had when he was uncircumcised. Man, all that God's asking you to do is to just bow your head and believe his words. That's all.

And you need to do it, you know. Some of you old sinners have quibbled with God for long. My, you'd wonder if God would keep his word to you. It's a pity of you. You're really making God a liar. My, when you quibble with God, it's the thing that will put you into hell.

It's unbelief. It's a great pity of a wee fellow, five foot six, who can't believe God, isn't it? What sort of a God do you think he is? What about the promises he's made? Do you think he's trying to fool you?

If you bow your head, son, and believe God, you'll be justified. Now, not only do we notice the broadness of the apostles' arguments, but look at the greatness of the promise that God made to Abraham.

The Promise to Abraham and Faith in the Impossible

Break their chin with that knife. For the promise that Abraham should be the heir of the world was not through Abraham or his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. You know, which the believers that's going to rule the world.

I'll tell you, that would upset Khrushchev a wee bit, wouldn't it? Why, he's got other notions. Didn't he tell you that our faith will give us victory even over the world? And when Jesus reigns, we believers shall reign with him.

Well, this is a mighty promise that was given to Abraham to be heir of the world. And it was given to him, mind you, when he was yet uncircumcised. Watch this, verse 14. For if they which are of the law be heirs, then faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect but working for it, because the law works at last.

For where no law is, there is no transgression. Why you think that this couldn't work out from law? You'll remember this when you go out tonight, those of you who've got motor cars, that there's a new law for motorists, and a wonderful sound.

And when you go to the top of the street, you'll turn left no matter where you're going. And heaven help you if you turn right. There's a boy sitting at the door yonder, and he'll have a different book in his hand if he gets you out there.

So you see, last week, we could have went straight over and turned right, but there was no last week. Ah, but there's law on earth, and law works at last. The penalty of the law must be paid. Law. You've just got to obey it.

So you can't work in promises with the law, can you? And you can't work in faith with the law, can you? I said, what is it? Well, it would make faith void, and the promise of no effect. So it had to be on the dispensation of grace.

Watch this, verse sixteen. Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to the end that the promise might be true to all the seed. Not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is father of us all, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations.

Watch the tense here. God talking to this man in the dark. I have made thee a father of many nations. Before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things which be not as though they were, who against hope believes in hope that he might become the father of many nations.

That's the faith he has. God says, I have made you a father of many nations. God saw the end from the beginning, and in God's mind the whole thing was done. Abraham had the faith to believe that eventually I'll be the father of many nations.

Now that's real faith, isn't it? You see, when God took Abraham out into the dark, he gave him this promise. So shall thy seed be. And I've already told you that that would have staggered a crowd of us.

My, it was a sweeping promise, wasn't it? That he would be the heir of the world, and that those who would follow in the footsteps of his faith, my, they would be more than the child in the sky. My, we have no doubt that who will be on the women's side at the end, you know.

The Lord Jesus will have the pre-eminence in all things, and there's no doubt about that. But watch the persuadedness of the patient Ingram. Oh, this is the great part of the wonderful chapter. Verse 19.