Grace, Not Works — Don McClure

Abraham's Justification by Faith

Romans chapter 4 tonight verse 1. What should we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh has found. For if Abraham were justified by works he has whereof to glory but not before God.

For what says the scripture Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness not to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. But to him that works not but believes on him that justifies the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness.

Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputes righteousness without works 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.

Well as we look here again maybe just to back up just briefly to put this in context a little bit. Of course the Bible as you are obviously I'm surely aware is it's primarily a Jewish book. That is that all of its founding principles its truths they're rooted in the Jewish nation of which Abraham is the father of them is all the whole Hebrew world.

Old Jewish nation of course originates with Abraham who aptly therefore is called in the Bible the father of all of them that believe not only of Israel the Hebrew people but of all ultimately who believe he is the father.

And therefore he becomes the primary example of what it is to believe in God. And this is something all the more so when you're really specifically speaking to a Jew or to a Hebrew because to a Jew his race and his religion are essentially their synonymous with each other.

When you know God had taken Abraham and he separated Abraham unto himself he took him there under his own and he started with Abraham his entire plan of salvation as we know it today it is rooted in God's relationship with Abraham and is therefore there's no greater method I suppose in all the world to prove to prove any spiritual point than to be able to look at the life of Abraham.

How Abraham came about to become accepted by God through whom is the example which all others would ever follow it's all rooted in Abraham. And if you can prove something with Abraham you've proved it.

It's settled essentially. And it's something here in the primary topic of course of which we are looking at here so far in Hebrews is how does a person truly become saved. How does a person find themselves honestly totally declared acceptable and righteous before God.

In what manner does this salvation come. How does it occur to an individual. Now for three chapters so far up here till we get until chapter 4 where we are tonight Paul is systematically proven that everybody everybody absolutely everybody is lost in sin no matter who you are all are personally lost in sin.

And if you'll remember back where we left off in Romans 3 23 to back up a few verses just to recall Paul says for all of sin and fallen short of the glory of God that is there that the standard by which God looks at somebody he says the glory of God all have fallen short of that glory.

How they measure themselves any other way God says I measure men by glory. They were created in glory. They were created to live and experience glory. We'll be looking more at that in future chapters.

But essentially is saying there that once you've fallen short of that. And as we have seen in previous studies no amount of law keeping can help no amount of good energy or effort can help. There is absolutely nothing within man that can do anything that can alter his condition of being lost.

Man has no resource from which to work. It is going to require a complete total act of mercy of God. Essentially is what Paul has been leading us up to. That's why he tells us in chapter 3 verse 24 he says being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom we have set forth to be a propitiation through faith through his blood to declare his righteousness for the remissions of sin that are passed through the forbearance of God.

Here Paul says if some person is going to be saved though all of sin all of fallen short of the glory of God he said is going to be something. The only way it can happen is that there's a person can become justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

And then he wonderfully he says whom God has set to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed. He says when a person begins to put faith in the blood of Christ then God does this wonderful work.

And we looked at it briefly. And I just want to make another comment on it. The there were he says propitiation by faith that's a word again we don't use in our English at all really and it doesn't make a lot of sense to people.

But it is one of the most wonderful words I suppose in the Bible and one of the most wonderful I think for a person to understand because the word propitiation as you may recall in previous study it is mercy pure mercy that is just extended of God.

That's what it means there. Now most people who oftentimes even a lot of Christians they really think more of another word they don't understand. Many of us don't understand propitiation. We don't understand God's love and God's mercy is so powerful that the way that is his mercy is so pure that it completely totally rectifies everything.

That's what propitiation is. We many Christians even think of Jesus more in the in the sense of another word expiation and I suppose is the way a lot of Christians think. And the word expiation I think the only way I know how to define propitiation look at expiation a little an expiation.

Imagine yourself say you work for a company you're a factory worker or something and you know you've gone to work and they're kind of maybe cutting corners and they've got some substandard equipment that are there and the workplace isn't real safe and the equipment is isn't too good and they've given you a job and there's a certain danger to it.

But they told your boss told you to go do this and so you went and did it but somehow or another the you know the equipment failed and the safety equipment failed and you ended up being hurt severely and you are perhaps crippled to the degree you can't even work anymore.

Well at that point you know they get the attorneys together and go to court and they sit down put together all the information and then the court would award to you maybe millions of dollars say this is what this company owes to you because of what they did to you.

And then they write out the check and you get the millions of dollars perhaps and you'll be taken care of maybe for the rest of your life or something. But at the same time at that point the company is expiated itself it is now paid its responsible portion of what it did to you and it is now expiated.

The law looks and says you've done your job you wrote the check you paid him. You've expiated yourself. But at the same time you can be though you've been hit it's paid. You can still be very angry. You can be very bitter.

You can be very upset. The name of the company can just turn you in circles don't even speak that name around me. They ruined my life no matter what they gave me and no matter what they did no matter what the court say I'm hurt and I'm wounded in my life has been altered to the degree and I'm angry and I'm bitter.

You see that's it. But but you've been expiation has happened. But what propitiation is is propitiation is something that literally gets to a place to where you're absolutely reconciled to the company where something has happened now that there is no anger at all no bitterness there is no hurt there is no wound.

Everything that is that has happened is now been totally not just expiated but propitiated. There is a total act of mercy that's happened where you can now look at that company. You can love them you can embrace them you can relate to them you can be involved with them and you look forward to it.

That's propitiation. And wonderfully what Jesus Christ did on the cross for us is he did not just simply expiate our sins in the sense of all of the hurt or the anger or whatever it is all of our sins have ever done to God where God now says alright you've hurt me you grieve me you turn for me you blaspheme me you rebelled against me you you've hurt and wounded people.

You've killed people. You've adulterized your life. You've been a thief you've been a corrupt person. And it's hurt and wounded me terribly. But Jesus paid it and so therefore the check has been written and I'll no longer hold you accountable for your sins.

But a lot of people think you know I'll bet God is still mad at me. I'll bet God is still bitter at me. I'll bet God. And I wonder if God you know when he looks at me and he thinks of me is he wounded.

Is he somebody there that he did say my name around him he just would shake his head and just be so disappointed he would be so depressed. But the wonderful thing is that Jesus when he when he did when we put faith in his blood as the Bible says propitiations happen where God not only he says you are expiated you are forgiven.

I love you I care for you. My thoughts towards you are ever towards you. They're wonderful to you. They're hopeful for you. They'd be the plans I have for you the thrill I have of embracing you of looking forward to breaking down all the barriers that we could have between us.

I love you. That's propitiation. And when and this is what you know ultimately you know God offers to us it's an astounding thing when you think of it. You know I look in these last you know a few days in this week here to where the number of these fires around Southern California have been started intentionally arsonist and out of it have become a billions of dollars of just pure dollars you know to direct to rebuild houses and do all sorts of things.

But you when you look at what has happened to lives and families what has happened to memories what has happened to things of which you can't even begin to put a price on. And then you look at how many could you imagine how it would be if they if they catch the guy and when they catch them and I knew and how people would think about him.

If the guy came forward he says I did it. But then if he looked at people he says but I want you to know something. I'm really sorry and I promise you I'll never do it again. I wonder how many people would say oh well thank you.

I was hoping you'd say that you know or something. Or if the guy said I'm gonna make it up to you I'm gonna rebuild all of your houses I don't have any money but I'm gonna do it and I'm gonna I ever I'm gonna work really really really hard.

Or else we just say we don't believe you we're throwing you in jail. And then they give them a 25 sentence or whatever. And at the end of the 25 years he's expiated himself he's paid the price of whatever it may be of his crime against society according to the laws.

But how many people would still look at him all the way through his prison term. And he may be even be waiting on the gates when he gets let out. You know to look and say I am so angry at you I want to tear you from.

You may have paid it you may have with your crime against society but but the wonderful thing is is we have got tell you whatever it is that a human is done to another human. These things may have been terrible what has happened but I don't believe in all honesty that they touch what I've done against God.

When I look at the fires that my own heart is lit my own tongue is lit. When I look at the people that have been wounded and through my lifetime and the and the the heartache and the suffering in the grief in the confusion that my own life or my own behavior can bring day in and day out ways that sometimes I know or I don't know I just strike a match and throw it out the window and don't even look back to see who burned up with my behavior and to see what may have happened.

But God wonderfully not only does he look at me and say I forgive you and I love you but he looks forward to you. There's complete expiation and there is complete propitiation. That's how he is towards us.

Humanity's Fall and the Need for Grace

And this is what God this is in a sense what glory is man had this relationship with God where God fully loved him. There was no division there was no heartache there was no sin there was no corruption.

Man was gloriously fully totally in the image of God until he sinned. And all human effort can never revive that all human promise all human struggle all law keeping none of it will ever be sufficient.

And here Paul is wanting to tell us here in these verses how Abraham got right with God and it is something there that how it happened with him is that here he is declared in this text a righteous man but he wasn't saved as it tells us here by anything that he did by any ability that he had by any righteousness that he could produce by anything at all that was in him.

Abraham was saved the Bible said for one simple reason he chose to believe God. And here Paul explains to us that he was justified by no works of his own whatsoever as it says there in verse 3 Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Period. That is how it happened. Abraham did nothing to get saved but trust God his works didn't save him is is is incidentally when you look at Abraham and you realize when you think of this man in his works are really rather slow coming and often failing considerably.

When you look at him and you and you look at his life here when the Lord speaks to him and he calls him any you know there is I'm gonna take you in the follow me and I'm gonna bless you tremendously. Well you know the story well enough to know that Abraham no sooner started than his father.

Tara didn't seem to want to go farther and so he stops for 10 years. He starts off okay God I believe you I'm gonna trust you. I'm gonna go where you want to go. And then he stops in Iran for 10 years nowhere.

Wonder how many of us are like that there one point you know you made a commitment to Christ to follow him and you were gonna do good and you were gonna follow him. And you gave your heart and there were tears and you stood took a few steps out and then for next 10 years there were nothing absolutely nothing.

That's what happened with Abraham. He absolutely stalled for 10 years. Then after his father dies he finally does go on to Canaan but he no sooner gets to Canaan and the Bible tells us there's a famine in the land and rather than turning and trusting God and in waiting upon God on what he wants him to do Abraham takes it right into his own hand these side I'm gonna go down to Egypt.

God didn't tell him or suggest in any manner way shape or form go down to Egypt. He decided that all on his own. That's how I'm gonna solve my problems. And so here now he has started to kind of trust God but he no sooner gets into the land.

There's a famine the land. He goes down to Egypt and on the way down to Egypt you know the story he looks over at Sarah his wife and realized how pretty she is and realizes Pharaoh's might take a liking to her and therefore kill him so he can take her for a wife add her to his harem.

And so he turns to her and he makes proposition with his wife. He says just in case Pharaoh wants you let's say that you are my sister. I love the way he actually tells. He says you tell him this so that may be well for thee for my sake is what he literally says.

That's the good reasoning that only man can fully understand that rational thinking. But anyway he looks at her and he says really Sarah this will be great for you and me kind of. But but it's really you I'm thinking about honey honest.

And so here he goes down and he's a liar until of course you know the story when Pharaoh ends up being plagued by God so that he won't go in and take her for a wife and reveals to him that this was his sister.

And then he comes his wife not his sister. And he comes in rebukes Abraham why didn't you tell me. Well because I don't trust God yet. Basically what it came down to. But he kind of struggles you know goes back home says he's gonna trust God and believe God.

But then he would. Then when God tells him he's gonna have a son does he trust him. No he and Sarah start wondering how in the world can this be. We've been married now for so many years never had a child.

This is not gonna happen. But God's made a big promise and we've been blabbing it all over town. God's gonna give us children. We don't have any and so we got to help God out make him look good. So here let's go take Hagar one of the handmaidens that Pharaoh gave him that they never should have met never should have met Hagar in first place had he not trusted God.

Have you ever noticed how many of our sins are merely complications of previous sins that kind of plague us. And but here he next thing you know now there's Hagar and they say okay we'll go have a child with Hagar and say she's God's child that God gave us.

And so then he goes and after you know he has a child with Hagar. And then interestingly enough if you'll take a look at your Bible and Jen this is this happens in Genesis 16 and it ends there where Abraham is 86 years old and he has a child.

The very next verse in the Bible in Genesis 17 it says 17 one it says when Abraham was 99 years old the Lord had appeared in him and he says I'm the Almighty God. You should therefore walk before me and be perfect.

13 years go by now not a word between Abraham and God that's given to us in the Bible. No fellowship no communion no trust no growth in his life. Nothing. 13 years of silence. How amazing that a man who is the friend of God that there's not a word between him for 13 years.

And you look at these huge gaps in Abraham's life there to where you know he's struggling and you know and in believing God and yet at the same time then when God does come to him in Genesis 17 he then goes on tell him that I'm going to give you this child a promise and I'm going to work I'm going to do it all.

And even then if you may recall Abraham when God now tells him the wonderful miracle is going to do he says oh that Ishmael might live before thee. He says come on God I've already got a project going on here.

Just take Ishmael you can use him. You know you know. And of course God says no way he's the child of your unbelief the child of your lack of faith your lack of trust child of your own flesh. And here.

So then of course when Sarah hears about this she laughs. And then when she even laughs at the whole thing you know the Lord speaks to. What are you laughing about. She said I didn't lie said you did too.

You shouldn't get arguing with God. We can do that with each other. But he how many times has God tell us you know we're doing something we said did not. It's just straight out to him lie. But anyways but here are these two wonderful people that the the the the father and mother of our faith.

And when you look at them and you realize these are the ones that had become the very foundation and basis of salvation. And here is as you look at after God's continuous work within his life. And in fact then when even then they're even going to have the child after God has said and it's about time for Sarah to conceive.

Then again then he meets up with King Abimelech who also looks at Sarah who is now well into her 80s she must have been some whoever her beautician was somebody ought to find that formula. But anyway here you know King Abimelech sees and he wants her.

And Abraham lies again. Oh yeah she's my sister. You want to look to have it. We've been in this place before. You know when you look at this as God is looking here to deal and to teach them these things.

And yet I mean when the whole point of it is and then God rebukes him again corrects him again and gets him back on track. But the point of the whole thing is is that when you would look at a man like Abraham he was new really not all that great in kind of the do the righteous thing department when you would really look at his life and you would really look at his works or his effort or his ability to perform and to come through it was not something that was really stellar.

I think a lot of people have to look and say well he's no kind of blue 10 years here another 13 years here another lied a few times and little adulterous thing with Hagar and call it a son. And but when you really would look at what did the man do that makes him the father of all of those to believe.

The Bible says he believed God. He was a man that he struggled in being righteous on his own terribly. But he had faith it was. Sometimes he would ain't clear to him. Really maybe what God fully wanted but with all of his feelings even as Paul says you know that when we are faithless God is faithful in the wonderful thing is is here God looked in the whole thing is that God made a commitment in the covenant with Abraham.

And here Abraham responded. And and through all of this God not only looked at Abraham and loved him. He was never angry at him. He was never mad at him doesn't even appear he was truly disappointed in him.

He never sat there. Wait a minute you burned up this city you destroyed all the you lie day this fair you lie to that King. You did this. You didn't look at what you've done but he never did. God looked at him and he was truly a friend of God.

Grace Rather Than Debt

Wonderfully and amazingly. So and here essentially what verse 4 tells us it says now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned but of grace for me that him to work it is not reckoned a reward. The reward not reckoned of grace but of debt.

In other words if somebody works for something you get the reward not of grace but of debt. You have a job. You go to work. You punch in a date. You do what you're supposed to do. You get your job done.

You punch out at 5. You do a day in day out at the end of the week or month you get a paycheck. And it isn't something that is not of grace. That's of debt. You made an agreement with an employer. You did your job.

Now their job is to pay you. And here Paul he simply says there. He says to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt. If the employer sat there and gave your boss gave you the check and said here this is because I'm such a wonderful guy.

You look at him and say I don't think so because if you are a wonderful guy you'd give me a lot more than is how you may think because I worked hard and you owe it to me. But here the wonderful thing is is that Paul is wanting to say that here what God gives the reward that he gives it is not out of debt or obligation.

It is out of grace. It is simply there to where God looks. And he gives because he loves to give. And Abraham when he received his son and God gave him Isaac when he received the land when he received the inheritance when he received the descendants that came you know ultimately to him.

And none of that was because he was so good at following orders. None of that was because he punched in you know and stayed on the clock. No he didn't. He could be could space out for years at a time.

And then when he was supposedly purportedly on the job he could be down in another country line in a sense. And when you would when you would honestly stop and look at it he wasn't good at keeping the law.

He wasn't good at following orders in many ways but God. Therefore if he had then God would have had to give it to him out of debt. But the wonderful thing here is is that God looks at us. And when we put faith in him the tragic thing is oftentimes we start to put faith in him but it's with conditions.

I remember one time as a kid this before I was a Christian but I was in trouble. I knew enough about what a Christian ought to be and that God was around and real and could help people if you cried out to him somehow another I knew that much about him but I was in trouble and I cried out essentially to God and I promised God if he got me out of this I would follow him and I would serve him forever.

And he got me out of it. Well I didn't do my part. I can remember I when I think about God I think he's got to be so mad because I flat-out lied I got out of there and I'm so glad I got out of there and thanks for it.

But hey a man's got to do what his man's got to do God. I hope you understand I really honestly didn't calculate out the ability to change or the plan to change at all but I did want to get out into work in somehow or another.

We have this capacity to make promises to God and commitments to God that only bring back guilt to us because we can't keep them and we and we go on to you know to struggle and to kind of keep us away.

And therefore though we assume that God must be mad at us or even as a Christian oftentimes we think there that God because of what you have done for me I am going to really be good for you. We seem to think that way.

I remember after becoming a Christian and then after deciding I felt that God wanted me to serve him and went off to Bible school and Bible college over in England there I did something there with I really wanted to be serious about it and therefore I kind I made a promise to the Lord that I'm going to spend the first hour at least one hour every day alone with you and that was a commitment that was a promise and I was absolutely sure that if I did this God was going to be happier with me.

He was going to look at me every day and say look at you you're so wonderful. I'm just going to do extra stuff for you you know so I don't know what I thought and but I know that was part of the thinking I'm going to do this stuff and because I do this stuff God is going to do stuff for me and he's going to do better stuff for me that he does for the people that don't spend any time or 20 minutes or five minutes because I'm going to put in more time and I'm going to be harder and better about this whole thing.

And so there I was. I mean I'm going to get spiritual begin the more spiritual I get the more blessed I'm going to get and I'm going to do my part and then God's going to have to come up with his part somehow another and you know make the bargain work and so I get up every morning and I'd looked around and realized I was I was up and all most of the other students in school weren't around.

It was a small school about 120 students and all dorms around and and you kind of could tell if people were up and around and so I made sure I got up before anybody else was because the early bird gets the spiritual blessing you know sort of a thing to worm and so I'm there you're praying.

I got my little prayer list I got my devotional things I got my Bible and I'm going to do this in meantime as I'm doing all of this I'm kind of looking around thinking they're all sleeping you and me I'm going to have you're going to give it all to me aren't you you know or some sort of a thing.

And then one day I can remember being very upset because I found out that there was another student who got up earlier than me so I got I figured out what time he was getting up and I just got up earlier you know I'm not going to be beaten by you sort of a thing.

And this is honestly the rationale I didn't think of it quite clearly that way but as I look back and realize I am sure that if I do certain things if I do some works it is going to produce a promised blessing that is going to come.

The Futility of Earning God's Blessing

The struggle though that happened is when I'm doing all of this my life didn't seem to be all that better somehow or another it all this activity did not translate into something that I would look at and say it was worth it that I looked at it and says hey look what's happening between me and God or the blessings or the some way that I could evaluate to say this works.

And because of that I started getting depressed. But then I decided I'm not doing it right. I must not be spiritual enough and I'm starting to read missionary books missionary stories about these guys that got up and would pray.

You know I'd read about Charles Wesley one time said I've got so many things to do today I've got to get up an extra hour earlier to pray more. I needed an extra hour of prayer. I think oh man I got to make sure I got less to do today so I don't have to get that early.

But it's somehow or another you're working these things out. And then I decided I found I read about this this fella in China who had memorized the entire Bible. I thought that's what I'm gonna do. And by the time I got through about six verses of Genesis I decided this is tough stuff you know and they but I'd but I'd grab all I would work and I'd have memory verses and I'd have these missionary stories and I'd read you know this these great men of faith you know and in George Mueller and all of these astounding people who their great faith and I that's what I got to be.

And I got to get a little this Chinese guy in me and I got to get somebody and I China all of these things I got to do them because I want God's blessing in my life. But the only thing that happened the longer went on the more depressed I'd get.

I really would find myself totally frustrated it didn't work and through this whole thing. And then I'd be going to Bible College as well. I'd be listening to four or five hours a day of Bible Bible studies taking notes reading all this.

But the more I did it the more I got depressed. Getting up reading praying memorizing you know studying doing my homework listening to all this day in and day out. And as time went on I just got more and more and more depressed to finally one day I came to Jean my wife.

I said we're leaving. She said what do you mean we're leaving. I said we're leaving. I'm not through here. I didn't know how to tell her and I didn't even know for sure what it was it was going on but I just said I don't belong here.

And she said whoa what do you mean. So we're going home. Well we'd spent everything we had sold everything we had so that we could go and pay the tuition and get back and that's all we had. And she looked at me and probably appealing to knowing my flesh and feel I well spiritually I did not much to grab onto there but there's a lot of flesh.

But she looked at me and she said and what are you going to tell your family when you come home. Quitting said you got a point. I don't know I didn't say that but in particularly she said what do you.

What are you going to tell everybody when you quit. And she said let's take a week and think about it. Okay. But I don't see anything happening. Well I went through that week and it was most miserable week of all I did.

I lost all night. I didn't get up to pray I didn't read my Bible. I didn't do much anything. I'd go to class but didn't pay much attention because I'm just a okay I made a commitment and the day that I was going to go down to buy the ticket I woke up about two or three in the morning and I was so troubled.

I grabbed my Bible my notes are the best studies that I'd heard the most profound spiritual things. And I decided I went down and listened to tape of you know message that really touched me and blessed me and I listened to that thing again.

It did nothing. The notes did nothing. All of these everything I'm going through nothing nothing nothing. Finally it time gets up student bodies all getting up going to breakfast and I'm packing up on every I'm packing up my tapes and my books and putting everything in there because now it's over I'm leaving and I'll never forget as I'm there praying because I'd read about these wonderful godly people who heard audible voices.