If None Are Righteous, What about Noah?

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Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.

Noah’s Righteousness and the Problem of Universal Sin

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. One of the central teachings of Calvinism and I would say Biblical Christianity is that no man is righteous in and of himself.

Yet we know there are Bible verses that describe certain men of the Bible as righteous. How do we understand the distinction in these verses? How do we understand when the Bible says none are righteous, no not one, and yet it describes a man like Noah as being a righteous man?

Well today I'd like to share with you a portion of a sermon I recently preached on this very subject. I hope you find it encouraging. So let us look first at Noah's description. Verse 9 it says, These are the generations of Noah.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God, and Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now right away every Calvinist who reads this text has a little anxiety attack when he reads that Noah was a righteous man.

Because if there's one thing that we as Calvinists affirm, it is the Biblical teaching that there is none righteous, no not one, there is none who understands, and there is none who seeketh after God.

Right? And all we're doing there is quoting Romans chapter 3, but that's not the only passage that says that. Psalm 14, 3, You have all turned aside, together you have become corrupt, there is none good, not even one.

Mark chapter 10 and verse 18, the rich young ruler runs to Jesus and says what? Good teacher. And Jesus says to him, Why do you call me good? You know there is only one good, and that is God. So if the Bible affirms that none are righteous, if the Bible affirms that all have turned aside, that all have given way to sin, that all are corrupt, then how is it that we come to Genesis 6 and verse 9 and it begins by saying Noah was a righteous man?

Again, like I said, it causes Calvinists to have just a little twitch in the eye, a little discomfort, because sometimes we don't know what to do with these texts. But we should, because when the Bible says that none is righteous, it's saying the truth.

But it is also saying the truth from the perspective of in themselves. No one is righteous in themselves. No one is good in themselves. You are not righteous in and of yourself. You are not righteous in your own nature.

You have inherited a nature from Adam. And let me tell you this, you have a lot more in common with those whose every thought and intention of the heart was only evil continually than you do with Jesus.

Righteousness by Faith and Imputed Righteousness

So, if we're not righteous in and of ourselves, how is it that Noah is proclaimed to be righteous? Well the Bible doesn't make us have to guess. The Bible tells us the answer. No one is righteous based on his own goodness, but righteousness is declared by God upon the basis of faith.

I'll give you a few verses. The Bible says in Genesis 15, 6, Abraham believed God and he was counted to him as righteousness. We call that imputed righteousness. God making a declaration. Why did God declare Abraham righteous?

Because he believed God. It says he believed the Lord and it was accounted to him. It was imputed to him as righteousness. Habakkuk 2, 4 tells us the righteous shall live by faith. Romans 1, 17 says this, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.

As it is written, the just shall live by faith. Galatians 3, verse 11 says this, now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law. The righteous shall live by faith. So based upon all of that, how is anyone declared righteous?

By faith. And you say, well, the Bible doesn't say Noah had faith. Oh, nay, nay. If you go to Hebrews 11, in that great hall of faith passage, I want you to hear what it says. You can turn there if you want, but turn quick because I'm going to speak quick.

In Hebrews 11, verse 7, it says this, By faith Noah, being warned of the events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

You see, we don't have to interpret it. All we have to do is read it. How was he made righteous? By faith. What does the text tell us? He was righteous by faith. He was made heir of the righteousness that comes through faith.

So when we read, Noah was a righteous man, we could just as easily read, Noah was a man of faith. And by that was declared righteous. And one thing I want to remind you, we looked at this last week, is back in chapter 6, verse 8, it says Noah found grace in the eyes of God.

In fact, that's the first time the word grace is used, is in regard to Noah. The first time that the grace of God is mentioned, not the first time it's given, because grace is given to Adam and Eve in the garden, because God clothed them in their nakedness and that was an act of grace.

But this is the first time the word grace is used and it's used of Noah. And guess what? This is also the first time the word righteous is used. So how do we understand Noah's righteousness? It is by grace through faith.

How is Noah declared to be righteous the same way you are? He was declared to be righteous by grace alone, through faith alone. Now does his faith produce good works? Absolutely. Does his good works magnify themselves through the land and everyone see them?

Absolutely. But how is he ultimately saved? By grace, through faith. Noah is ultimately going to become the example of that throughout the rest of the Bible, because we're going to see everybody who was ever saved was saved by grace through faith.

Abraham was saved by grace through faith. Paul tells us this in Romans. He says if you want an explanation of how Abraham was saved, it wasn't because he was good, it was because he believed. Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him as righteousness.

Beloved, Noah is the example, Abraham is the example. You follow the covenants down and you see it is by grace through faith that God declares a man righteous. I hope you enjoyed that short sermon clip from Sovereign Grace Family Church.

Closing Information and Gospel Encouragement

Again, if you're interested in hearing more or you would like more information about SGFC, please go to our website at sgfcjax .org. That's Sovereign Grace Family Church of Jacksonville. And if you're in the Jacksonville area, please come visit us on an upcoming Lord's Day.

Thank you for listening today to Coffee with a Calvinist. I'm Keith Foskey and I have been your Calvinist. May God bless you.

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As you go about your day, remember this, Jesus Christ came to save sinners. All who come to Him in repentance and faith will find Him to be a perfect Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

May God be with you.