1. Abraham (verses 1-3)
2. Illustration (verses 4-5)
3. David (verses 6-8)

Last week I began my message by telling you that I majored in Physics in college. And I put some famous formulas on the overhead, that distilled some of the most basic laws of the universe into the simplest of terms. And I tied this to "the law of faith" that is mentioned in Romans 3:27. That is, that our salvation comes by faith alone. And I argued that the law of faith is as fundamental to our salvation as is the law of gravity in the universe. You may as well float upwards than be saved by anything else other than faith.

Now in college, as I studied Physics, one thing was always on my mind. We were always in search for understating how the universe works. In other words, the universe didn't change when we came up with a formula to describe it. Rather, the world behaves in a certain way. And our quest is to understand the way that the world works. And, discovering a formula was merely an expression of our understanding of the universe that God created.

So, when Isaac Newton (who lived in the 1600's) was knocked on a head with an apple and came up with his laws of motion, it's not like the universe changed in that day. Rather, it was that he had a breakthrough in understanding how it is that the universe actually works.

See, the laws of motion were at work since the dawn of creation. They were at work in the days of Abraham and David and Jesus. It's simply that we (as a human race) didn't fully understand how motion worked. But with Newton our understanding of how motion works came into greater focus. And similarly, when it comes to the law of faith that we looked at last week, it's a principle that has been at work since the days of Adam. But only with the advent on the New Testament did this law come into focus.

Today, as we look at the law of faith, we will see that it was true during the days of Abraham and it was true during the days of David. In other words, "the law of faith" is nothing new! And that's what Paul labors to show in Romans, chapter 4.

Our focus this morning is in the book of Romans, chapter 4. We will be looking specifically at verses 1-8. Let's read the text.

Romans 4:1-8
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

"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."

Now, the first thing that I hope that you noticed is my reading of these verses is the mention of two Old Testament saints: Abraham and David. Abraham is mentioned in verses 1, 2, and 3. David is mentioned in verse 6. And Paul's argument here in these verses is that Abraham was saved by "the law of faith." And David was saved by "the law of faith" as well.

In other words, there is nothing new about the way of salvation. We are saved in the same way that Abraham and David were saved: by faith alone.

Now, the terminology in these verses is a bit different. Paul doesn't use the phrase, "the law of faith." Instead, he uses the term, "counted righteous." Depending on your translation, it may read "credited righteous" (NASB, NIV). Or, your translation may say, "accounted righteous" (NKJV). Though the phraseology is different, the meaning is the same. God grants us righteousness through faith alone. That's exactly what the law of faith is getting at.

This phrase, "Counted Righteous" is repeated three times in verses 1-8. It appears in verse 3.

Romans 4:3
For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted [or credited or accounted] to him as righteousness."

It appears in verse 5.

Romans 4:5
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted [or credited or accounted] as righteousness,

It appears in verse 6.

Romans 4:6
just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts [or credits or accounts] righteousness apart from works:

Appropriately, the title of my message this morning is, "Counted Righteous." These three repetitions of this phrase will form the base of my three points this morning.

Now, before we actually go into our first point, let's talk about what it means to be "counted righteous." The word is an accounting word. Now, I don't know much about accounting. Remember, I studied Physics in college, not accounting. But, I do know enough to make sense of this word.

In accounting, you have credits and you have debits. Credits are those things that increase your account. Debits are those things that reduce your account. Credits are things like income or gifts or equity. Debits are the opposite. They are like payments or debts or liability.

And when it comes to our salvation--by faith--God credits our account with righteousness. In other words, God gives us a righteousness that we neither earned nor deserved. It's by his grace, through the merits of Jesus Christ. That's what we mean by "counted righteous."

This credit of righteousness can be seen in our first point, which occurs in verses 1-3. It's this:

1. Abraham (verses 1-3)

Abraham is mentioned by name in verses 1, 2, and 3 (and four other times in this chapter). And we are going to see his name come up again and again and again in chapter 4, as Paul bangs home the point that justification by faith alone is nothing new. This is exactly what Abraham experienced.

Again, let's read verses 1-3.

Romans 4:1
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

Now, Paul begins in verses 1 and 2, by pointing out that Abraham's favor with the Lord wasn't based upon his works. All you need to do is reflect upon the life of Abraham.

By God's grace Abraham was called from the land of Uz. He came from an idol-worshiping family (Joshua 24:2). Not from a God-fearing family. When it came to his life, he wasn't particularly righteous. On two separate occasions (Genesis 12, 20), we see him lying. We see him more interested in himself than in the purity of his wife. In chapter 16, he pursues the desires of his flesh.

And when it came to his relationship with the LORD, he wasn't made righteous because of his works. Rather, as verse 3 points out, ...

Romans 4:3
... Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

And when your faith is counted to you as righteousness, you have nothing to boast about. We saw that last week when we looked at the law of faith, which excluded boasting.

Romans 3:27
Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.

And in the same way (in chapter 4 and verse 2), Abraham has nothing to boast about. That's the reality of verse 3, ...

Romans 4:3
... Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."

This is a quote from Genesis 15, verse 6. It would do us well to turn back there. I simply want to read the story from Genesis 15 and comment lightly as we work through the text.

Genesis 15:1-3 [brackets mine]
After these things [that is, after Abraham's valiant rescue of Lot, his nephew; and after Abraham was blessed by Melchizedek] the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great." But Abram said, "O LORD God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir."

God had promised to Abraham that his descendants would be "a great nation." And yet, Abraham hadn't see that come to pass. In fact, Sarah was barren. And Sarah was old. Abraham had no hope. And when it came to his inheritance, he had no child to give it to. His heir would be a household servant, a man named Eliezer, who came from Damascus to serve Abraham.

And so, when God said to Abraham, "Fear not" (verse 1), Abraham was not amused. He was not believing in the promise of God. But God reiterates his promise to Abraham in verses 4 and 5.

Genesis 15:4-5
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: "This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir." And he brought him outside and said, "Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."

What a wild promise! Here was a man who was childless, with a wife past child-bearing years, and God promises to him a large family that would multiply and multiply and multiply and extend for generations to come. And here is what is wilder yet: Abraham believes that promise! This is verse 6!

Genesis 15:6
And he [Abraham] believed the LORD,

Here was Abraham, taking God at his word! And believing and trusting that God would accomplish it all. And then we see God's response in verse 6.

Genesis 15:6
And he [Abraham] believed the LORD, and he [the LORD] counted it to him as righteousness.

That is, God saw the faith of Abraham. And in turn, God credited Abraham's account with righteousness. So that when God looked down upon Abraham, he saw a righteous man!

And that, dear friends, is the gospel. As we believe in Jesus Christ--that he died as a propitiation for our sins--God credits our account with righteousness. In other words, he sees us as righteous people, not because we are so righteous within ourselves. But because God considers our faith to be righteousness.

Now, it's not that our faith needs to be perfect. Abraham's faith wasn't perfect when the LORD came to him at the beginning of chapter 15. And Abraham's faith would continue to waver in chapter 16, when he goes into Hagar to conceive a son (Gen. 16:4), essentially committing adultery. So, it's not that our faith needs to be perfect, but our faith does need to be genuine.

As you read through the story of Abraham, you see the genuineness of his faith as he is willing to sacrifice his son at the word of the LORD(Genesis 22). But we will look at this at the end of chapter 4 in two weeks. But enough to say this, is your faith genuine? I'm not asking you if your faith is strong or perfect. I'm asking if your faith is genuine.

Do you really believe that Jesus died for your sins? Do you really trust in God receiving your faith and crediting it to your account as righteousness? That's what God did with Abraham. That's what God does today with all who believe in Jesus.

Well, let's move on. Back in Romans 4, verses 1-3, we see Abraham (verses 1-3). In verses 4-5, we see an ...

2. Illustration (verses 4-5)

The illustration comes from the work force. It comes in the relationship that an employee has with an employer.

Romans 4:4-5
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

We know what this is about. You apply for a job. You get the job. You show up. You do your work. And your employer gives you your wages.

Now, when your employer pays you, he doesn't give you a check wrapped with a nice little bow on it, like it's a gift. Because it isn't a gift. You earned it. You deserve it. It is yours. Your employer is simply making good on the deal you agreed to. You agreed to work for him. He agreed to give you money in exchange. That's the point of verse 4.

Romans 4:4
Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

In other words, when the you are paid, you don't bow in thankfulness to your employer, thanking him for his display of kindness and protesting that you don't really deserve the money. No! You do deserve the money! That's the point of employment! It's money in exchange for work!

Now, with that in mind, Paul illustrates how the law of faith works. This is exactly opposite of the way that we earn our wages. Verse 5, ...

Romans 4:5
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

Here is one who doesn't work. He doesn't show up on the job. He doesn't spend any time at work. He simply trusts in the employer. He believes that the employer will reward him, not for his work, but for his faith.

Picture a teenager, who has entered into agreement with a home-owner to mow the lawn. And he is supposed to mow it. But, he doesn't mow it. Rather, he believes in the kindness of the owner of the home. And the owner of the home comes out, and mows the lawn for him. And then gives the money to the trusting teenager, as if the teenager had mowed the lawn!

And that, dear friends, is the gospel. We haven't worked. We haven't labored. Jesus worked. Jesus labored. And we receive the reward of righteous standing before the Lord, simply because we believe in him.

Romans 4:5
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

This is a very difficult for us to understand. We live in a world where everything it is all about getting what you deserve! We work. We get what we deserve!

This, by the way, is every other world religion. Every religion is performance based to one degree or another. Whether you get to heaven because your good outweighs your bad; or you get to Nirvana because you were good in this life; or the rain comes because you danced to the rain gods; or you conceive because you sacrificed at the alter of the fertility god; or you gain God's favor because you give to the church.

But the gospel is different! It says that God looks at our faith and counts it as righteousness! Let verse 5 sink into your skulls!

Romans 4:5
And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,

It's difficult to believe in our day. It was no different in Jesus' day.

Do you remember the parable that Jesus told of the laborers in the vineyard? (Matthew 20:1-16). Jesus said this:

Matthew 20:1-16
"For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.' And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house,
saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' So the last will be first, and the first last."

Why the revolt? Because the workers didn't understand grace! They begrudged the generosity of the owner of the vineyard. And a similar mindset can keep us from the gospel! When we think that it's all about earning our merits before God.

It's not. It's about believing in Christ, and trusting that God will look upon our faith and count it to be righteousness in his sight! That's the point of the illustration (in verses 4 and 5). Let's move to my final point:

We have seen Abraham (verses 1-3); we have seen the Illustration (verses 4-5); and now, let's look at David.

3. David (verses 6-8)

Romans 4:6-8
just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

"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."

Again, we see Paul pulling back into the Old Testament to show that the law of faith is nothing new! Abraham experienced belief in God, which was counted to him as righteousness. And so also David.

Paul's emphasis with David is that God's counting your faith as righteousness brings great blessing. Did you notice the repetition of "blessing" in verses 7 and 8? Both verses begin with how blessed the man is whose deeds are forgiven (verse 7), whose sin is covered (verse 7), against whom God will not count his sin (verse 8).

These words come from Psalm 32. I want to finish my message this morning in Psalm 32. It's a great Psalm of confession. It's a great Psalm of forgiveness. It's a great Psalm to show the pains and trials of sin.

This is David's testimony of his experience with God's grace in forgiveness. It's a testimony of blessing. We don't know for sure, but these words probably came after David's affair with Bathsheba. They probably came after David's unwillingness to confess his sin for more than a year. They certainly came after David confessed his sin.

Now, these verses are not in chronological order, because David wants to put right out front the blessings of experiencing forgiven sin! His story begins with sin. His story begins with the anguish of unconfessed sin in verses 3 and 4.

Psalm 32:3-4
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

Never underestimate the physical effect that sin can have upon your body. David knew the pains of unconfessed sin. David knew the depression that came with unconfessed sin. David know how energy-less he was.

He describes it as being in the heat of the Sahara Desert, where you have no energy, where you would rather lie on the couch than go outside. Until finally, he came to his senses and confessed his sin. This comes in verse 5.

Psalm 32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah

How easy is confession? It's very easy, simply a few words coming from the mouth. "I was wrong. I sinned. Please forgive me." And yet, it's very hard. Pride will keep us from confession. Love of sin will keep us from confession. It's hard to admit that we sinned.

But when we do, in will come the blessing! We see this in verses 1 and 2.

Psalm 32:1-2
Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man
against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

Do you know of the blessing of forgiveness? Have you experienced the joy of knowing that your sins are wiped clean? That God will not count your iniquity against you? This, my friends, is the gospel. "If you confess your sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity" (1 John 1:9).

It's not your works that will save you. It's your faith, when you trust in the Lord, and he counts your faith as righteousness.

Psalm 32:6-11
Therefore let everyone who is godly
offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found;
surely in the rush of great waters,
they shall not reach him.
You are a hiding place for me;
you preserve me from trouble;
you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah
I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you with my eye upon you.
Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding,
which must be curbed with bit and bridle,
or it will not stay near you.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord.
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous,
and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

This sermon was delivered to Rock Valley Bible Church on February 12, 2017 by Steve Brandon.
For more information see www.rvbc.cc.

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