Hope For The Ungodly Series

Intro

Follow with me as we read Romans 4:1-3:

“What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”i

In those verses, Paul quoted Genesis 15:6, demonstrating that Abraham was justified by faith, not by works. When Abraham entrusted himself to God and his promises, the righteousness of Christ was imputed to him. He was declared righteous before God’s court of justice. We processed that extensively during the last few messages.

A LOGICAL ARGUMENT FOR JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH (VV. 4-5)

Now in Romans 4:4-5, Paul sets forth a logical statement from ordinary life to further support his insistence on justification by faith. He writes: “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.”

No one would deny Paul’s statement in verse 4. If a person does his job and gets his paycheck for doing that job, the employer is simply paying a legitimate debt. That employer is not demonstrating generosity. He is not giving the employee something that has not been earned. He is simply paying a debt. The “wages,” Paul says, “are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.” The word translated gift is charis, translated grace in the NKJV.

Grace is the alternative to payment for works. This alternative is stated in verse 5: “However, to the one who does not work [or has not earned the payment] but trusts [believes] God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited [logizomai] as righteousness.” Mounce’s Reverse Interlinear says, “but entrusts himself to the one who justifies the ungodly.”ii Have you entrusted yourself to the God who justifies the ungodly? Are you trusting God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ or are you laboring to earn your salvation.?

Your justification is either by works or by grace. Romans 11:6 tells us it must be one or the other: “And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work” (NKJV).

Paul has already declared justification by grace in Romans 3:24: “and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” The New Testament makes it very clear that our justification is by grace alone. Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.”

The amazing thing about God’s grace is that God “justifies the ungodly.” The message of most religions is that God justifies the godly: Become godly, then God will declare you righteous. But it cannot work that way. If it worked that way, no one would be saved because no one can make himself godly.iii That requires a divine work of grace.

Salvation by grace reveals something about God that was not previously known. In his acts of creation, God’s majesty and greatness are exhibited.iv The magnitude of the galaxies, the vastness of the universe, the billions of stars reveal the omnipotence of God. The order and beauty throughout creation reveal aspects of his wisdom. His holiness is evident in his creation of the angels and his righteousness judgment of those angels that rebelled. There is much known about God by his creation. But there is something about his nature that is not revealed in all that.

Only in the redemption of fallen man is his grace revealed. Only there do we see the depths of his mercy and love. Only when he sent his son to Calvary do we see the extent God is willing to go to rescue the helpless. But the objects of his grace are not just helpless. They are irreverent; they are defiant; they are rebellious. He is not just the God who justifies the helpless. He is not just the God who justifies the needy. His love and mercy go beyond even that. He is the God who justifies the ungodly. If he did not justify the ungodly, you and I would never be justified.

Throughout eternity, God will be glorified for this amazing aspect of his nature. Ephesians 2: 6-7 says, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” God’s way of justification reveals something about who he is that is not known in any other way.