Pastor’s Pen Pulpit Romans

Completed on the ms Westerdam, July 3 #27 in series

SALVATION IS BY FAITH AND NOT BY WORKS

Romans 4:1-25

OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH (4:1-8)

One of the most cherished of all fallacies is that man has within him some spark of goodness, which needs only to be coddled and fanned into flame. To refute this idea, Paul appeals to the case of Abraham, the most beloved of the patriarchs and one of the greatest of the Old Testament SAINTS, to show that no human being may be exalted in the matter of salvation. He also appeals to the most well known Jewish kings and one of the greatest SINNERS, to show that no human being need be excluded from salvation.

Let’s see what Abraham discovered. Abraham was the great Old Testament example of faith in the New Testament. We must remember one major fact. Abraham lived before the law was ever given. There’s no doubt about it - Abraham had good works. Time and space will not permit the examination of Abraham’s life. In fact he could boast in his good works before men. However, when he came before God, his good works didn’t count as far as his being made righteous before God, thus He couldn’t boast about his life. His works, as good as they might have been, were just so much human effort. They just didn’t measure up to God’s standard of righteousness. Furthermore, until man is saved (born again) he is spiritually dead to God. Therefore, all of the good works that men do in his unsaved condition as far as producing merit before a holy God, are spiritually dead works of a spiritually dead man. The Word of God is very clear in this area (Eph. 2:1-5). Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness. He believed what God said about his son, Isaac, leading to Messiah. Thus Abraham believed in the Messiah of Jehovah and was thus justified by faith. THUS IN TERMS OF GOOD WORKS ABRAHAM COULD NOT BE EXALTED BEFORE GOD!

We now turn to King David –a most beloved Old Testament saint. Note his testimony from Psalm 32:1,2. Blessed is the man whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD will not take into account. Note also that Paul goes from extremely good works in Abraham to extremely evil works in David.

What specifically was David’s sin? First David should have gone to war with his army, yet he remained behind. Secondly he lusted after another man’s wife. Thirdly he committed adultery with her. Fourth to cover his sin of adultery with Bathsheba, he sent Uriah, her husband, into the front of the battle. He then gave orders to withdraw his men from the battle, thus leaving Uriah alone in the forefront of battle to die. David thought he had covered his crime until God sent Nathan the prophet to expose David’s atrocities. In light of and the magnitude of God’s grace, David could say, “Blessed is the man whose sins the LORD will not take into account.” So as Abraham could not be EXALTED before God because of his good works, David could not be EXCLUDED from justification because of his sins. He understood that Messiah would come and ultimately remove all of his sins and provide for him a right standing before a holy God.

So, why was David called a man after God’s own heart? Even though David committed atrocious sins, down deep in his heart he confessed and repented and learned for those sins. He loved God with all his heart. Some of God’s most dedicated saints have committed some of the most atrocious sins. However, they have come back to God and repented and actually drawn closer to God through the ordeal of God’s chastening.

So can we, beloved. Until next time -