Imputed Righteousness IS the Gospel!

Preached October 26, 2008, Grace Family Church of Americus

For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1:17, ESV)

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Snippets from the sermon transcript:

We live in a day where there is much disparity between the understanding of salvation taught by the modern church and that which is clearly taught in the Scripture. It is a condition that sets the stage for reformation. It was the same situation in which a German monk named Martin Luther found himself in the year 1519. As Luther taught and studied the Scriptures, he saw an ever-widening gap between the teachings of the contemporary church of his day (Roman Catholic) and the teaching of the Scriptures. Two years earlier (October 31, 1517 – Reformation Day), Luther had nailed the famous "95 Theses" to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg. This was the beginning of a lifetime of discoveries by Luther, and soon thereafter, by many thousands of others, of that which the modern church had, in fact, stolen from the people, by teaching things as theological truth that were not confirmed by the Scripture. The 95 Theses were primarily refuting the abuses of the Pope and the sale of "Indulgences", but as Luther began to free his mind of the teachings of men, and focus his learning of theology solely on the Scriptures, he was used by God to bring about what we now know, and celebrate with joy on Oct. 31, as the Protestant Reformation. May God raise up many more such men today, who will forsake the teachings of men, and faithfully and forcefully preach those truths about God and His Christ, as revealed in Scripture alone, which can bring about such a Reformation in our day!

What was it that so stunned Luther to motivate him to stand against the most powerful force in the world of his day? It was the verse upon which we rest this Lord's Day….Romans 1:17…..in fact, it was one word we find here…..For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (KJV)

From Luther's "Tower Experience":

"I meditated night and day on those words until at last, by the mercy of God, I paid attention to their context: "The justice of God is revealed in it, as it is written: 'The just person lives by faith.'" I began to understand that in this verse the justice of God is that by which the just person lives by a gift of God, that is by faith. I began to understand that this verse means that the justice of God is revealed through the Gospel, but it is a passive justice, i.e. that by which the merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written: "The just person lives by faith." All at once I felt that I had been born again and entered into paradise itself through open gates. Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light. I ran through the Scriptures from memory and found that other terms had analogous meanings, e.g., the work of God, that is, what God works in us; the power of God, by which he makes us powerful; the wisdom of God, by which he makes us wise; the strength of God, the salvation of God, the glory of God.

"I exalted this sweetest word of mine, "the justice of God," with as much love as before I had hated it with hate. This phrase of Paul was for me the very gate of paradise."

So here we find a dilemma…..we need righteousness in order to be justified by God, but there is absolutely nothing we can do to attain it. Every possible avenue is blocked by Scripture. At every place where a man can poke his head around the corner or rush through a door to try to snatch the righteousness of God for himself, there at the East of Eden, stands great cherubim to guard the entrance with flaming swords in every direction (Gen. 3). Justifying righteousness is completely out of reach….therefore it must be of God, whereby God Himself reveals the righteousness required to satisfy the justice of this almighty God who is angry at the wicked every day. And this righteousness is revealed through the Gospel….for Christ is our righteousness. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:(1 Corinthians 1:30, KJV)

 

Therefore, if the righteousness is clearly not our own….it must be what I've heard Al Mohler refer to as an "alien righteousness"….a righteousness that has been transplanted to dwell in a place that is not it's natural home. We call this the righteousness that is imputed
to us…..granted to us on behalf of the merits of another. It is from faith to faith. From the faithfulness of God to men. Beginning and ending with faith. Faith and nothing between. Ever-increasing faith. The Faithful God grants unto men the capacity to believe….from faith for faith.

 

• Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin."(Romans 4:4-8, NKJV)
  
• Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.(Romans 4:9, NKJV)
  
• For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith.(Romans 4:13, ESV)
  
• Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.(2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NKJV)