John Samson Fills in Today for a Lesson from Romans 1-4

Welcome to The Dividing Line. My name is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, right at effectualgrace .com.

It's a delight to be here filling in for Dr. James White, who, this very moment, is preparing for a debate in Durban, South Africa.

Any update, Rich, that we need to know about? Anything you want to say? Okay, well, we're gonna stop and pray about halfway through the show.

He is going to be doing a debate on Christology of the gospel, this

Christology of the Gospel of John, and the Christology of the

Quran in the Gray Street Mosque in Durban, South Africa. And so we're told that that's going to start at 830 their time, they're nine hours ahead of us.

Right. So in just over 28 minutes. And again, this,

I was a little confused last week, I may have thought that the mosque debate already took place, because I get a little confused when they're doing it in an off room, which is like a conference room or something like that.

Yeah. This is the one they're going to be in the mosque. Okay. So this is the big one.

This is the big one. So we'll be praying probably halfway through the show and we'll stop to do that.

It'll be terrific to do that. Amen. Wonderful. Well, today on the program,

I'd love for us to turn to God's Word, this time on the subject of justification by faith alone.

It is absolutely imperative we understand this and believe the right doctrine in this area, because heresy flies at every corner.

And as Martin Luther said, it is the article upon which the church stands or falls. It's true for the church.

It's true for any church. And it's true for any individual. What you believe about the gospel matters.

I remember just recently having interaction with a fellow minister, someone I'd known since the early 80s, and he was upset with me, to put it mildly, because I was challenging him because he went into certain churches and talked very strongly about how much we had the gospel in common now.

And I will just be honest and say it was Roman Catholic churches. And I said, do you not preach justification by faith alone?

I said I had a funeral service that I was part of at a Roman Catholic church.

They had no idea who I was. The family asked me to speak. And I used the time to speak of the gospel and the fact that anyone who believes the true gospel can be saved.

But if we don't, we're under the anathema of God. And I said I felt I was duty -bound to say that.

And this gentleman said, well there's been so much accord now between Protestants and Catholics.

I said the rhetoric is a lot kinder, but the anathemas of Rome still stand from the

Council of Trent back in the 16th century. And he came back with an illustration.

He said, John, do you imagine Jesus at the judgment of heaven and standing there with a clipboard to make sure we have all our doctrine right before entering into heaven and we have to check off the list.

And if we don't get it all right, we have to go to hell. I said, no, I don't imagine that at all.

But we do have to get the gospel right. Jesus said you have to believe that he is divine. He says unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins.

That's Jesus. John chapter 8 verse 24. It's absolutely imperative we believe the right thing about Jesus.

And then I would just respond to your comment about Jesus with a clipboard with one word,

Galatians. As long as Galatians is in the New Testament, what you and I believe about the gospel is important.

As James White has pointed out many times, all the Judaizing heretics added to the gospel was one word, circumcision.

Jesus with a clipboard would say, you get this one wrong. You're out of here. You're not even a true brother.

Paul called the Judaizing heretics false brothers. They had so much in common with the

Christians in the gathered community. They were singing the songs. They were believing perhaps in the true

God, in the Messiahship of Christ. They just believed that you had to do something other than simply believe to be saved.

In our day it's belief in the gospel plus a whole number of other things. But for them it's just one thing.

You add one thing to the gospel and Paul writes that word anathema over the whole thing.

Galatians chapter 1. You want to see Paul ticked and upset and grieved and angry?

You read Galatians. He under the power and influence of the Holy Spirit wrote some of the strongest language imaginable about the issue and about the gospel and about those who would not affirm it.

You think, does Paul not understand love? Doesn't he understand that the fruit of the Spirit is love?

Absolutely. Paul writes of that in the same book, the book of Galatians. The fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience.

You can love people by simply telling them, unless you repent you will likewise perish.

Jesus loved people and said that and Paul wrote what he wrote knowing what love truly is and what truth really is so that the truth of the gospel would stand.

He opposed Peter to his face. Galatians chapter 2 talks about. So what is this issue of justification?

It is the most important thing we understand regarding the gospel. It's the heart of the gospel and I'd love for us to take some time today to look into it.

At the heart of the question that justification by faith alone is answering is, how do we stand before a holy

God? How can we approach him? David the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 130 verse 3, if you

Lord, if you Lord should mark iniquities, who could stand? It's a rhetorical question that's not answered by the text but the obvious answer is no one.

No one could stand before God if God marks iniquities. It only takes one iniquity, one sin to cause our record to be blemished and we need atonement.

It's a drastic thing to sin. You and I are sinners. I'm not talking to anyone who is not a sinner here.

We are all sinners. We've all fallen short of the glory of God and are all going to be justified the same way.

Romans chapter 3 talks about. In our day it's not popular to talk about this because many have lost sight of the realities of heaven and of hell yet we learn more about hell from the lips of Jesus than anyone else.

People have a hard time believing in a God who would send people to hell and yet the

Jesus of the New Testament says he actually throws people there. They don't voluntarily jump into the lake of fire.

He throws them there. That's the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the father of Jesus.

That's his father he talks about. It's so important we get the right God in the biblical gospel and what does justification answer?

How can we who are unrighteous, who have sinned, who have committed cosmic treason by defying

God by our thoughts, our words, our actions every day that we've lived. How can we stand before God?

A lot of people are not aware of their sin because to be quite honest the church hasn't talked much about sin.

We've talked about how to have a happy life, happier pets, greener grass, wonderful vacations, seven steps to this, eight steps to that but very few are talking the biblical gospel and I believe we need a re -evangelization of the church.

We need to know what God says. We need to know a biblical gospel and if we're to turn to anywhere in our

Bibles to understand the gospel I believe the center point of it all would be the book of Romans.

I believe every book of the Bible is inspired by God but some are more clear on what the gospel is than others and Romans is all about the gospel especially the first eight chapters and Paul is writing to Rome having never been there and wanting to establish the gospel in the hearts and minds of the people and he writes in chapter 1

Paul, a servant or slave of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for the gospel of God.

We could spend much time on each of the words because they are significant here but I remember learning from someone who knew

Greek a lot more than I did at the time and I'm still learning it but he said the key word for him in this particular verse is one that goes under the radar and I was all ears and he said it's not the word slave or Christ or Jesus or called or apostle or gospel or God he says all of those are highly highly significant but what is really important for me is the word of and I was all ears what what the word of he says yes because there are two senses in which you and I can use the word of you can speak of something that is about someone it's the gospel of God the gospel about God or you could speak in the possessive sense and that is to speak of the gospel of God as belonging to God he says that's the sense in which this

Greek word is being used it is God's gospel Paul is set apart for the gospel belonging to God and the high implication of this text is it's

God's gospel don't mess with it I'm a servant I'm a slave of Christ Jesus called to be an apostle set apart for God's gospel and in the book of Romans he wants to outline that and many would say his theme is outlined in chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 and depending on which commentary you pick up you probably all find that every one of them agrees that in verses 16 and 17 he outlines the theme of the entire book for I'm not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the

Jew first and also to the Greek for in it it's being the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed from faith or faith as it's written the righteous shall live by faith what an amazing couple of verses here loaded these verses are in our society people don't see the need for righteousness oftentimes we want peace and harmony and feelings of adequacy and self -worth but our biggest need is righteousness and in the gospel righteousness is revealed

I wonder if that's what you and I think when we think of the gospel oftentimes we think of the love of God rightly so we think of the mercy of God but we should also think of the righteousness or justice of God because Paul writes and says that's what he sees in the gospel in it the righteousness of God is revealed in it being the gospel

God's righteousness is revealed and it's from faith from first to last as one translation puts it we receive this righteousness by faith from beginning to end as it's written the righteous the just those declared just in the sight of God shall live by faith historically the church received much because of a

Latin translation of the Bible except that in the Latin translation the word for righteousness is a word that is justificatory and it means to make righteous except when we come to the

Greek which is the original language of the New Testament the word is not meaning to make righteous but to declare righteous decay

I soon a is the Greek word and when Martin Luther was exposed to the

Greek New Testament Erasmus had translated the New Testament into Greek and although Erasmus was on the wrong side of the debate when it came to grace he was used by God dramatically by producing the first Greek New Testament and Luther read it and saw that there was a discrepancy between the meaning of the

Latin word which was the word that scholars had been exposed to and now for the first time in centuries the

Greek of the New Testament was now being made available decay soon a which means to declare righteous and there's all the difference in the world and for Rome the belief was

God would not declare anyone righteous until they were inherently righteous grace has been given to them they've cooperated with that grace and over a period of time oftentimes thousands even millions of years in purgatory because if someone dies and has any blemish on their soul they don't go immediately to heaven they go to a purging place called purgatory in the

Roman Catholic system I believe the place exists for one moment but that's the belief and over a period of thousands of years even millions of years the purging takes place under the fires of purgatory whereby at the end of that process

God see someone absolutely righteous he looks down and says I see that soul is now perfect because of my grace of course because of my working in them and now

I can declare them righteous in my sight and they can be escorted by the heavenly angels from purgatory to heaven come now receive the benefits of Christ's cross that is the

Roman Catholic doctrine of justification that God makes righteous and declares someone righteous when they are inherently righteous they would look at the

Protestant position and they did as a legal fiction they would say it's fictional to say that God declares someone right in his sight when they are not inherently right in his sight they are sinners but the gospel declares that God declares someone righteous when they are inherently unrighteous and in Romans chapter 1 verses 18 through to chapter 3 and let me look at it verse 20 all the way through Paul then starts by talking not about the love of God or even the righteousness of God but the wrath of God verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven you would think wouldn't you that when

Paul is saying the theme is I'm not ashamed of the gospel it's the power of God for salvation let's talk about the gospel well he does but before he talks about any good news the word gospel is a word that means good tidings good news before he ever gets to that he explains what the bad news is and the bad news is

God is good and he's just and he's righteous and therefore he has to punish sin his anger against sin is the overflow of his righteousness and the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness is not a strange place to start it is for our modern minds who think it's not a positive message to talk about the wrath of God but the good news is only seen as good news in the light of the bad news of God's wrath being against us and it's something

Jesus laid out very very clearly the same chapter of John chapter 3 this speaks of God's love for the world in chapter 3 verse 16 speaks of his wrath on all that do not obey the son and come to him and believe in him john 336

Jesus makes that clear the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress or hold under the truth they know the truth but they don't allow it to come into their conscious minds they want to keep it under they want to just I don't want to deal with it

I want to suppress that for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them and then it talks about his invisible attributes clearly revealed verse 20 on through the rest of the chapter there's a litany of sins listed as a downward progression of sins and we won't take the time to to look at all of those but you read through that and you see really society today and society in every culture it's

God's assessment of the entire human race and for the

Jew who might be looking over the shoulder of Paul as he's writing this he might say go get those dirty

Gentiles go get them you you just lay the axe to the tree you go get them and in chapter 2 it's as if he says okay righteous

Jews you think you're righteous you've got the law you've got the holy commandments of God but do you keep them and in chapter 2 he really goes for the

Jews and says anyone with the law of God do you keep it do you observe the very law that you say you love and in chapter 2 he lays the groundwork to talk about Jews being under the wrath of God as well he says there's a benefit in hearing the word of God rather not hearing it but if you don't do it it's not helpful at all and in chapter 3 he sums it up in verse 1 says what advantage has the

Jew what is the value of circumcision much in every way to begin with the

Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God you know the oracles of God you know the statements that God has made you're clear about them you know which books are his what if some were unfaithful does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God by no means let

God be true though everyone were a liar as it's written that you may be justified in your words and prevail when you are judged and he goes on and talks about the standard of the law which is perfect the law is holy and good as Romans 7 points out verse 9 what then are we speaking as a

Jew are we Jews any better off no not at all for we've already charged that all both

Jews and Greeks Greeks is another way of talking about Gentiles are on the sin both

Jews and Gentiles are condemned under the law of God they're under sin as it's written and then he basically has obliterated all excuses and all attempts at self -justification but he looks across the field of war and thinks is anyone still standing they shouldn't be but let's just make sure he loads the machine gun with bullets these bullets being verses from the

Old Testament loads it up and he just lets it fly and with verses from the

Old Testament of course the New Testament not yet written he tells the story of the universal guilt of the human race none is righteous no not one out on you being just a little dramatic

Paul isn't this hyperbole aren't you just going a little too far on you just being poetic you're wanting to fill up space in the

New Testament and you want to speak in these tones really no none is righteous now get this no not one what about this lady of it no not what about this guy of it no not one no one understands no one seeks for God not only is our condition repulsive in the sight of a holy

God we're not even wanting God we don't even seek for God people like to devise services in churches for seekers which is strange when

God says there are none there is no God seeker if you are now someone who seeks after God it's because God first sought after you

I believe services should be devised to please God number one and for the people of God they should be evangelistic

I'm sure but it's the people of God gathering to worship the one true God and they should be regulated as he desires it's the same in the

Old Testament when God set up the tabernacle he didn't say take a survey of the Canaanites sees what type of service they'd love to come to it was a tabernacle devised to the nth degree by God he says not only will you have this happen in the service but you will have it with this color worn by the priest by this kind of pole of this length with this kind of trapping and nothing else will suffice it's my way of the highway well

I don't like that I never thought you would it's God who says this is the way

I will be worshipped you'll approach me in a holy way and this is what I devise and design and define as holy and you try something else well there's chapters in the

Bible that talk about two brothers who tried something else and God executed them personally it's a holy thing to come before God so what then are we

Jews any better off not at all we've already charged that all both Jews and Greeks are under sin as it's written none is righteous no not one no one understands no one seeks for God all have turned aside together they've become worthless no one does good not even one no one does good not if they're not doing things for the glory of God you can build a hospital not for the glory of God and building a hospital is better than going around murdering people there are different degrees of sin but if you and I are not doing what we're doing for the glory of God and in the name of God and in the name of Christ it's a good work in societal view culturally would say that's applaudable but if it's not for the glory of God it's not something that God is pleased with even our best attempts at righteousness of vices their sins but where's that in the

Bible Isaiah 64 6 all our righteousness is as filthy rags the religious mind could understand it if it said all our sins are like filthy rags but all our righteousness yeah the best we can do is filthy before God God are you not impressed

I build a hospital in your name yeah and you wanted your name on the side of it mm -hmm you wanted people well

I no no no I really did you do it for the glory of God fully I don't know if I've done anything in my life fully 100 % for the glory of God I'd like to fool myself sometimes and that's part of my sin

God is so good he forgives even our splendid vices as John Calvin called our works splendid vices it gets worse their throat is an open grave they use their tongues to deceive the venom of asps is under their lips that's like snakes their mouth is full of curses and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood in their paths a ruin and misery the way of peace they have not known there is no fear of God before their eyes these are probably not verses you'll find on your refrigerator anytime soon and verse 19 sums it up now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law why did

God send the law I know I know the religious mind understands God sent the law to show us his standard that's correct

God sent the law so that we would be righteous uh -uh error God gave the law to show up the fact that we could not keep it because our hearts are depraved our hearts want sin we love our sin we don't loathe our sin unless God has converted us and given us a new heart parts of stone do not weep over sin maybe they would weep over the effects of our sin but not sin itself so why was the law given is what says so that every mouth may be stopped you could say so that everyone would shut up what every mouth may be stopped yeah all the excuses all this all the attempts at self -justification that would stop the law shows us we have not kept the law when you ask what is the greatest sin

Martin Luther answered that question by saying well what is the greatest commandment the greatest commandment is love God with all your heart soul mind and strength oftentimes we think the greatest sin is murder adultery and all of the sins of the flesh which indeed are grievous sins but if the greatest commandment

Luther explained is to love God with all our heart soul mind and strength not doing that is the greatest sin and I don't know if I've done that one day of my life loved

God fully with all my heart soul mind and strength even to think wrong thoughts is to dishonor

God wrong thoughts about him wrong thoughts about his gospel all of that is sinful so the law was given so that every mouth may be stopped and the whole world may become accountable to God may be held accountable to God guilty before God verse 20 it's a key verse for by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight since through the law comes knowledge of sin

God has never accepted any man into heaven by observing the law for the simple fact that no one has kept the law except one and that is where the gospel begins to break force from the darkness of man's universal sin one emerges who is man fully man fully

God he lived a sinless life and died an atoning death and there we begin to hear about the good news of Jesus Christ and at the end of those 20 when everyone is completely stripped of all attempts of self -justification all rights no one's getting into heaven no one will be declared right in the sight of God no one we justified by law keeping ever since through the law comes a knowledge not of righteousness but of sin it reveals our sinful hearts thank

God Paul did not stop there there's another word in the text it's the next verse verse 21 but but now the righteousness of God remember that's what

Paul expressed as the theme of the gospel Romans 117 in it the righteousness of God is revealed well up to now he hasn't talked much about the righteousness of God he's only talked about the wrath of God well now having done so he says okay now we can talk about some good news but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law although the law and the prophets bear witness to it in other words the law the

Old Testament the prophets speak of this even through the sacrificial system of the

Old Testament it was pointing forward to something better than those sacrifices a once -for -all sufficient sacrifice for sin the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe we need to recognize even here is a revelation of justification by faith alone the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who do what believe don't see anything else added believe but there is no distinction for all who's the all

Jews and Gentiles everybody for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift we're gonna stop there just for a moment and take time because right now the debate of James White in Durban South Africa is taking place and let's just stop for a moment and just pray for that shall we those that are listening live watching live you please join me in prayer father we just thank you for this amazing tremendous opportunity in Durban South Africa in a mosque where your champion your man

James is now about to stand up anytime now to proclaim the truth about God the truth about Christ Lord we pray that your providence would rule in this situation we know it will but Lord we pray that it will we pray father for your kingdom to come your will to be done

I pray for James that his health will be strong his voice would be strong his mind would be clear

Lord that you bring to his remembrance the things that he's prepared in his heart for this debate Lord we know that this debate will be not only witnessed by many to this very day this very hour but Lord through recordings many will see it afterwards and hear of it afterwards

Lord would you accomplish all that's in your heart Lord we think of that verse in Acts 13 and as many as were appointed to eternal life believe

Lord we thank you you've got many that are appointed to eternal life who will hear the gospel perhaps even for the very first time in a mosque

Lord we pray father for the for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on on those that will hear we pray for the sound system to work we pray that there'll be no technical difficulties we pray father for the outworking of your purposes not simply for today but beyond weeks and months even years from now that you will use this time to cause many to come into the kingdom of God all

God do what is in your heart to do we believe you set this up you've opened the way how majestic is it how much how wonderful is it that your gospel is being proclaimed in walls that have never heard that gospel with hearts that have probably never heard the true gospel

Oh God accomplish all it's in your heart and we pray for this in Jesus name and all who agree with that press it a man a man praise the

Lord I'm excited about it I'm sure you are too let's go back to our text in the book of Romans where we've just encountered the righteousness of God being revealed in the gospel as Paul wrote about it in chapter 1 verse 17 and that was a key verse for Martin Luther in fact the key verse of his lifetime he would later say in fact

I think I've got something on my I brought with me regarding the moment of awakening for Luther in fact in the last thousand years what came to be known as the

Tower experience of Luther might be the most significant historical event in the

Western world of the last thousand years yep more remarkable than man walking on the moon this was it this was the big one all the ramifications which ensued because of this breathtaking there's the philosophy philosophical realm where people were allowed to think for the first time for themselves speak for themselves understand the gospel the ramifications are terrific and historic here are

Luther's own words regarding that Tower experience and he describes what happened he was actually studying

Romans chapter 1 verse 17 and reading the insights of a gentleman by the name of Augustine on this particular verse it was a fairly obscure article he was reading it was written centuries before Luther was an

Augustinian monk and had access to much of what Augustine had written he was reading and he these are his words

I greatly longed to understand

Paul's epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression the righteousness of God because I took it to mean that righteousness whereby

God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust my situation was that although an impeccable monk

I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience and I had no confident confidence that my merit would assuage him therefore

I did not love a just angry God but rather hated and murmured against him yet I clung to the dear

Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant night and day

I pondered until I saw the connection between the righteousness of God and the statement that the just shall live by faith then

I grasped that the righteousness of God is that righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy

God justifies us through faith thereupon

I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into paradise the whole of scripture took on a new meaning and whereas before the righteousness of God had filled me with hate now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in greater love this passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven

Luther's own words first 24 of Romans 3 were justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus almost seems like a redundancy if you're speaking of grace then it is a gift grace and works cannot be mixed together and it still be grace

Romans 11 6 says it makes it very very clear grace is g -r -a -c -e it's not cheap in any way it costs

God everything g -r -a -c -e one man said it this way it's

God's riches at Christ's expense g -r -a -c -e cost him everything cost him his son the grace is given as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus how are we justified by grace plus something no grace as a gift grace plus works grace plus human merit not grace as a gift because of Christ and his person and his work the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom

God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith propitiation is a big word but if we once grasp what it means we'll be joyful in our hearts propitiation means wrath has been removed by means of a sacrifice

Jesus propitiated the Father's wrath why because Christ was punished in our place and God's wrath and anger was satisfied because it his judgment was meted out on Christ the

Bible speaks of three transfers now I hope you get this there are three transfers first listed in the

Bible three countings three reckonings the biblical word is imputation a transfer of Adam's sin to the entire human race we could read about that in chapter 5 verse 12 therefore just a sin came into the world through one man and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned how because Adam was our legal representative and the best man possible perfect man really hadn't committed any offenses and he was there in the garden representing all who would come after him and in Adam the

Bible says all die in Christ all are made alive from excuse me first Corinthians 15 22 goes on to talk about sin was in the world before the law was given but sin is not counted where there is no law says in verse 16 the free gift is not like the result of that one man sin for the judgment following one trans trespass brought condemnation but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification if because of one man's trespass that's

Adams death reign through that one man much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life to the one man

Jesus Christ therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men how to transfer imputation sins of Adam affecting everyone on planet earth who would come after him as one trespass led to condemnation for all men so one act of righteousness looking of Christ and his work his life his death for us leads to justification and life for all men who are the all men all who are in Christ for us by the one man's disobedience that's

Adams the many were made sinners that's imputation so by the one man's obedience that's

Christ the many will be made righteous now the law came in to increase the trespass but where sin increased grace abounded all the more so the first transfer was the sin of Adam to the whole human race the second transfer was the sins of God's people to Christ on the cross on the cross

Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree first Peter 224

Isaiah 53 tells us our sins were laid on him the iniquity of us all he bore there on the cross that was the second transfer the third was the righteous life of Christ transferred imputed to everyone who believes in Christ our sins transferred to Christ on the cross our sins past present and future if you recognize that all of our sins were future at the moment

Christ died in the early decades of the first century every one of our sins was future and so all of our sins past present and future were laid on Christ he takes the punishment for our sins as our substitute he committed no sin but on the cross

God treated Christ as if he lived my life and God's wrath and anger was poured out on his son he

Christ being the substitute the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world he did it there on the cross he laid his life down for the sheep he gave himself for the church he did it he did it powerfully and people say well

I'm not sure I believe in imputation if there is no imputation there is no redemption in the

Old Testament imputation occurred whereby the family had the father would lay his hands on the lamb representing the sins of both himself and his family and rather than himself and his family being slain the lamb was slain in the place of the family and the imputation of sin to the lamb is is a picture that is filled in the in the

Old Testament we see it almost everywhere there was blood on almost every page of the Old Testament as sacrifices were ongoing ongoing ongoing sacrifices for sin and there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood the scripture says the life of the flesh is in the blood and blood is talking about a life laid down not just a pinprick on the finger or on the the lamb's torso it was a life laid down the blood was a sacrifice of life and Jesus on the cross laid down his life for us he was punished in our place and if the imputation was not real hear this the cross was a scandal absolute scandal

God punishing the son the son the something he had not done if there was not a real imputation taking place it was a scandal that Jesus be punished as he was innocent he was righteous absolutely righteous the perfect lamb but he was punished how could that be just the only way it can be just is that God imputed counted to Christ the sins of God's people and he did it was real that's why it's not a legal fiction it was real sin that Jesus atone for and it's real righteousness that is transferred to the account of all those who believe that's why it's not fictional it's a legal declaration on the basis of what has been done in time

God has meted out on Christ the punishment for our sins and has transferred to the believer the righteous life of Christ is righteousness he is our righteousness first Corinthians 1 verse 30 so propitiation took place

God put Jesus forward as a propitiation by his blood by his laying his life down his very life blood to be received by faith there's not just one verse in the

Bible it talks about justification by faith alone it's not just one verse in Romans 3 we haven't finished the chapter yet and it's everywhere this was to show

God's righteousness again Paul's theme righteousness do we see righteousness expressed at the cross because in his divine forbearance he passed over former sins what does he mean by that well when

David sinned and when others in the Old Testament sinned God did not slay David but knowing that Christ would come and take

David sins upon himself and be punished in his place God passed over former sins didn't deal with it then and there because he knew a thousand years from the time of David Christ would bear the punishment for David's sins and everyone else in the

Old Testament isn't it wonderful the message of the gospel is the same in the Old and the New Testament they look forward to the one to come who would redeem them we look back to the one who has come who has redeemed us it was to show his righteousness how many times has he said this how many times has he written this it was to show his righteousness at the present time so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who really works for it no who has faith plus something no justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus period full stop that's it just and justify

God remains just and justify it's not only a slight impediment it's morally wrong for a judge to declare someone guiltless who is guilty but you know because of Christ and the real sacrifice on the cross that he endured that he gave for us

God says I can remain just and justify people who have faith in my son then what becomes of our boasting it's excluded it's not merely kept to a minimum it's totally removed it's excluded we cannot boast because we didn't cause redemption nor were we the trigger point in redemption as other scriptures make clear even the faith we put in Christ is

God's gift to us Philippians 129 Ephesians 2 8 and 9 2nd

Peter 1 verse 1 Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith we don't even take credit for that by what kind of law by a law of works no but by the law of faith for verse 28 we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law there it is well

I don't see the word alone in the passage you don't need to when all it says is we're justified by faith apart from the things that we do apart from observing the law apart from works that's what justification by faith alone means we're justified in the sight of God by faith alone apart from what we do where's that there's 28 we hold therefore we maintain one version says that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law there it is or is

God the God of the Jews only is he not the God of the Gentiles also yes of Gentiles also since God is one he will justify the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcised through faith do we then overthrow the law by this faith by no means on the contrary we uphold the law what's the same here is what we're teaching against the law no the very law speaks of righteousness by faith by faith alone and he's going to prove it by quoting the big guns in the

Old Testament exhibit a Abraham exhibit be David you can't get bigger than these guys in the

Old Testament Abraham and David and says that's how they were marked as citizens in the kingdom of God and what is true for them is true for us we're not bringing anything new that's the message of Romans 4 now he's saying

I'm not bringing a new message the very law itself spoke to tell us we're under sin we're guilty therefore look to God believe his promises just the same way as Abraham did

Abraham believed the promises of God and God counted it to him as righteousness

Genesis 15 6 what then shall we say was gained by Abraham our forefather according to the flesh for if Abraham was justified by works if works played a part in his justification he has something to boast about but not before God for what does the scripture say

Abraham believed God he believed the promise of God and God counted righteousness to him

God imputed God reckoned righteousness to him while he was still a sinner if you read the accounts of Genesis Abraham was not this perfect saint he did things that were very questionable he lied about his sister he had a child that was not the promised child because he did something

God did not prescribe he was not perfect but while he was still a sinner righteousness was counted and reckoned and imputed to him by faith alone and that's

Paul's argument in Romans chapter 4 now to the one who works his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due we all understand that illustration if you work for an employer and he pays you you don't consider that a gift you've worked for it and verse 5 is the contrast and to the one who does not work

I remember reading Dr. James White's book the God who justifies he points out that in the original text the phrase in verse 4 is repeated word for word in verse 5 with one word included in verse 5 that's not in verse 4 in verse 4 it says to the working one in verse 5 to the not working one interesting and to the one who does not work okay how are we going to be saved how are we going to be justified don't work for it stop working stop all attempts at self -justification to the one who does not work but trusts or believes him believes in something ethereal that God's out there that he's somewhere in the universe no believe something specific you specifically believe him

God who justifies the ungodly believe something specific what is that the gospel believes him trusts him who justifies the ungodly how do we qualify for salvation you've got to be ungodly why because that's the people whom he justifies the reason being there aren't any godly for him to justify well

I thought Jesus said I didn't come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance absolutely and everyone is a sinner and we need to admit the fact that we're sinners to qualify for salvation

Jesus saves sinners he doesn't save righteous people first of all there are none but to get the benefits of a savior we have to admit we need him and we need him desperately he justifies the ungodly here's where Luther got his

Latin phrase that he came up with simul justus et peccator don't be bamboozled by those words they're very very thrilling once we get hold of them simul is where we get the

English word simultaneous simul justus the word we can hear in that is just or righteous et which means and and peccator which means sinner simul justus et peccator means at the same time just and sinner that seems like a contradiction but we're not talking in contradictions because we're not talking in the same sense at the same time simultaneously in and of ourselves we're sinners yet by believing in Christ God declares us just in his sight

God does not wait until we are inherently righteous and godly but at the moment we as ungodly sinners call upon the name of the

Lord at that moment while still a sinner God declares us just in the sight of God his faith is counted as righteousness let me read verse five again to the one who does not work but trust him who justifies the ungodly his faith is counted as righteousness this is not because our faith is meritorious in any way but faith is the means by which we lay hold of the savior because of our faith we're counted where's imputation in the bible here's another verse that speaks of it counted as righteousness just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom

God counts imputes righteousness apart from works how does he count it then by faith you see when we sin if God counts that sin to our account we can't be saved why because we're classed as sinners and sinners don't enter the kingdom of God only the righteous do just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom

God counts righteousness apart from works there's imputation of righteousness apart from works quoting the old testament 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 here's the wonder of wonders our sin is not counted against us because it was counted accounted to Christ on the cross for everyone who believes in him

God says I'll not treat you John as if you lived your life I'll treat my son as if he lived your life

I'll punish him in your place he'll be the substitute and by the way everything that's in his life will now become yours

I'll treat you and I'll declare you just in my sight because of my son completely all absolutely of grace works play no part in our justification

Ephesians 2 8 and 9 tells it so well for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not as a result of works so that no one should boast works play a part in our sanctification the one who's been made righteous in Christ has a new heart and a new desire to do the things of God but works play no role whatsoever in our justification before God is this blessing then only for the circumcised for the

Jews or also for the uncircumcised is it for the Gentiles too absolutely we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness there's imputation again how then was it counted or imputed to him can you believe there's people out there who don't believe in imputation you can't read

Romans without coming across this word counting reckoning it's everywhere how then was it counted to him was it before or after he'd been circumcised this is important was

God's declaration of Abraham in time did that occur before Abraham had done a work of justification of saying yes

I'll I'll do what I need to do with my body to show that I'm now a member of the covenant did

God wait for him to be circumcised before he declared him right in the sight of God it was not after but before he was circumcised wow he received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised before he'd done any works he was declared right in the sight of God because he believed

God the purpose was to make him the who believe without doing a blessed thing without being circumcised so that righteousness would be counted to them as well praise the

Lord we must stop there because we're out of time for today but I trust your heart has been enlarged this is a doctrine that is so important we bear we bear the responsibility of understanding it and declaring it let me finish with Romans 5 1 therefore since we have been justified by faith it's a past tense past tense event for the child of God we have peace with God through our

Lord Jesus Christ let me just say this peace is not a temporary ceasefire oh peace is broken out in the

Middle East what does that mean they've agreed not to fire at each other for the next six hours that's not how it is with your with God if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ you have been justified you have been you've been to the court and God has announced to the court to heaven and hell and earth this one is justified

I'm at peace with him through the Lord Jesus Christ my name is

John Samson it's been a delight to bring you this teaching I hope it's been a blessing to you

I hope to carry it on in the next program do please be praying for Dr. White out in Durban South Africa right now he's in the debate