Imputation, Chapter Two
The
foundation scripture for our study is what Paul had to say in Rom. 4:20-25 when he said about
Abraham,
"He (Abraham) staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in
faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded
that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it (his
faith) was imputed to him for righteousness.
Now it was not written for his sake alone,
that it was imputed to him; But
for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up
Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and
was raised again for our justification."
The point that I want to emphasize over and over is
the fact that we are righteous because we believe God who raised Jesus Christ
our Lord up from the dead. We are not righteous because of something we have
done in the way of works. In no way am I doing away with works. Works is a
natural expression of what we believe because we will express what we believe
but it is what we believe that justifies us in God's sight. Faith is an expression of what we believe.
Paul said in Rom. 10:6-13, (NIV)
"Brothers, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For
I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not
based on knowledge. Since
they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish
their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the
end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who
believes. Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by
the law: "The man who does these things will live by them." But the
righteousness that is by faith says: "The word is near you; it is in your mouth
and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: That if you confess with your
mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and
are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As
the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to
shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile"the same Lord
is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, "Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved."
The Law emphasized an outward expression of rules
and regulations but did nothing to change who we really are on the inside. Then
Jesus came along and He said in Matt. 12:34-37,
"O generation of vipers, how
can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good
treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil
treasure brings forth evil things. But I say unto you, That
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the
day of judgment. For by your words you shall be
justified, and by your words you shall be condemned."
Jesus came along and made us aware of who we really
are. Until He came along we had no idea that we are spiritual beings. Jesus
went to the heart of who we are by dealing with the real hidden man of the
heart. He said many times, "It is written but I say unto you!" For
example in Matt. 5:27-28,
" You have heard that it was
said by them of old time, Thou shall not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to
lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart."
Paul said in Rom. 4:4-8,
"Now 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 (Imputed) 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. (Psalm 32:1) Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin.
This is so hard for the carnal mind to accept because the carnal
mind can understand Law. With Law the carnal mind can do something that will
build it's pride in what it has accomplished and will attempt to establish it's
own righteousness by what it has done. The end result is that we think that God
owes us something because of what we have done. Jesus talked about this in Matt.
7:21-23,
"Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall
enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which
is in heaven. Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we
not prophesied in your name and in your name have cast out devils and in your
name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity."
This is a very hard saying of Jesus because the carnal mind wants
to be accepted by what it has been able to do for Jesus. There are two words
here Jesus used that holds the key to understanding what He meant by this
proclamation. The first word is the Greek word interpreted as 'knew'. This word
means to have an intimate relationship with someone such as a husband knowing
his wife in the marriage act. Jesus was saying here that these people did not
have a personal relationship with Him and were doing their own thing.
The other word we want to look at is the word interpreted as
'iniquity'. This word comes from a Greek word 'anomia' which means illegality, that
is, violation of law or (generally) wickedness:"iniquity,
X transgress (-ion of) the law, unrighteousness.
If we seek to be justified by our own works we are
denying the righteousness that comes from just believing God. The Lord made it
so simple that the carnal mind wants to add to what Jesus has done by requiring
us to live by some Law or guideline that Jesus gave us. This puts us under
bondage and takes away our freedom. Paul said in Gal. 5:1-6,
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ has made
us free, and be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if you
are circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For
I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law;
you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
avails any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love."
If you are depending upon what you have been able to do for Jesus
and how well you have been able to obey His commandments, you have fallen from
grace and put yourself into bondage. There is no freedom in this because you
know that you often fail to live up to the standards that the Law requires. As
a result of this you have a sin consciousness and are constantly asking God to
forgive you because you are unable to live up to what you think are His
requirements.
Grace is given to us by the Lord if we believe that because He is
righteous we also are righteous, not because of what we have done, but because
of what He has done. We rest not in our ability to be righteous but in His
ability to be righteous. This is so simple and simply asks that we
trust God. We are just asked to put our trust in what He has done and rest
there.
Does this mean that I can do whatever I please and God will forgive me? I will answer this question next Chapter.