Last time we saw that the Law of God revealed that we were sinners. The Apostle Paul says in Romans 7 that he would not have known he was a coveter if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
The Ten Commandments serve to show us that we are guilty before God.
I. You shall have no other gods before me. Guilty
II. You shall not make for yourself any graven image. Guilty
III. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. Guilty
IV. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Guilty
V. Honor your father and thy mother. Guilty
VI. You shall not kill. Guilty
VII. You shall not commit adultery. Guilty
VIII. You shall not steal. Guilty
IX. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Guilty
X. You shall not covet. Guilty
Every time we set out to obey the commandments we find ourselves failing at it. Paul lets us know that he had the same problem:
Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
Rom 7:19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
Rom 7:20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
So the Law just proves over and over again that we are nothing but unrighteous sinners who are deserving of the wrath of God.
But our study last time gave us some good news. Though we can not make it into heaven on our own because we are unrighteous, there is a righteousness that has been revealed.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
Rom 3:22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
How is the righteousness of God revealed? How can we obtain it? The righteousness of God “is revealed through faith in Christ—to all and on all who believe.”
You and I can do nothing to obtain a righteousness that qualifies us to get into heaven.
You and I can do nothing to obtain “right standing” with God.
The “righteousness of God” had to be given to us. It had to be “imputed” to us. The Doctrine of Imputation is taught in the fourth chapter of the book of Romans.
Rom 4:13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect,
Rom 4:15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
We have already learned that the Law reveals our sin and brings the wrath of God upon us. There is no way Abraham could have been justified or “declared righteous” by keeping the Law. Paul says it had to be through the righteousness that comes by way of faith.
Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
Paul goes on to tell how Abraham was told by God that even though he was a very old man, he would father a nation.
Rom 4:20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
Rom 4:21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
Again Paul states for the record that it had to be of faith. Notice the words used by Paul: faith, believed, hope, convinced…Abraham trusted God and the result of his faith is shown in Romans 4:22:
Rom 4:22 And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness." (NKJV)
Rom 4:22 Therefore also IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (NASB)
Rom 4:22 This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." (NIV)
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. (KJV)
Here we have what is called “The Doctrine of Imputation.” The word impute means to reckon, count. It means to charge one responsible for the acts of his representative. It speaks of counting what one person has to another person, whether it is good or bad.
In the Scriptures we find imputation occurring in three distinct ways:
1.) Adam’s sin is imputed to the entire human race.
a.) Romans 5:12 – Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned;
b.) Romans 5:14 – Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam‘s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
We were not in the Garden of Eden, we did not personally eat the fruit, but we are still responsible for the sin of Adam because he is our federal head.
Joshua 7 tells us that while Achan confessed he alone took the Babylonian garment, the two hundred shekels of silver, and the wedge of gold, all of his family were stoned until they died, then they were burned with fire.
Achan’s family, his children, his cattle, and his possessions had nothing whatsoever to do with his disobeying the clear command of God. All the family of Achan and all his possessions were destroyed because their federal head had sinned.
2.) The sins of believers are imputed to Christ.
Isaiah 53:1-12.
Verse 4 – Christ has borne our griefs and sorrows, not His own
Verse 5 – Christ was wounded for our transgressions, and our iniquities, not His own
Verse 5 – Christ was chastised for our peace, not for His peace.
Verse 5 – Christ was beaten and we are healed.
Verse 6 – We have all gone astray, but God has laid on Christ all our iniquities.
b.) There are some who would say that it is not fair that we should suffer from Adam’s sin. If you follow their logic you would have to conclude also that it is not fair that we should benefit from Christ’s righteousness.
If we cannot sin in another (Adam) then we cannot be redeemed by another (Christ).
If you reject the truth that Adam’s headship resulted in his sin being passed down through humanity to you, then you also should reject the truth that Christ’s redemption can be passed on to you.
The doctrine of imputation is that we are sinners through the federal headship of Adam and we have salvation through the federal headship of Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God.
3.) The righteousness of Christ is imputed to all believers.
Abraham trusted God and the result of his faith is shown in Romans 4:22:
Rom 4:22 And therefore "it was accounted/imputed/credited to him for righteousness." (NKJV)
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him,
Rom 4:24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
Rom 4:25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
This brings us to where we are in both the Romans chapter three passage and the Romans chapter four passage.
Rom 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
Rom 3:22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference;
Any attempt to keep the Law would produce death. The Law only showed that we were unrighteous. God had to do something for us. He produced a righteousness that can be obtained by placing faith in His Son Jesus. When you trust in Jesus, God’s righteousness will be imputed to, or credited to you.
This is like being bankrupt and the bank is calling the mortgage on your home. One day you checked the balance in your bank account and expecting to find a negative amount you find a gazillion dollars. Someone put their money in your account.
This is what God has done in Christ! He has credited our account with His righteousness.
We were bankrupt—having a negative balance—broke, miserable and spiritually dead and He gave us His righteousness!
He didn’t do it because we were “all that.”
He didn’t do it because we were lovable and worthy—
He didn’t do it because we had something to offer Him as collateral or security.
On the contrary, we had nothing to offer, we were bankrupt, poor, miserable, good for nothing, self-serving, self-seeking, murderers, adulterers, haters, backbiters. This is not my assessment—it is God’s assessment of us:
For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. (Titus 3)
This is precisely what Paul is saying in Romans chapter three:
Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Paul is saying here that not only have all sinned, but our attempts to come up with a righteousness of our own have not produced a righteousness that meets with God’s standards.
In order to understand this, we have to go back to the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command and ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they realized that something about themselves had changed.
Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
It was at this juncture that they were no longer innocent—they were no longer sinless. Figuratively speaking, their eyes were opened—they now knew they were sinners.
They made an attempt to cover their unrighteousness by sewing fig leaves together and making themselves coverings and man continues to this day attempting to create his own righteousness in an attempt to cover his sin.
It was Charles Haddon Spurgeon who said "Man is basically a silkworm. A spinner and a weaver... trying to clothe himself ... but the silkworm's activity spins him a shroud."
Mankind continues to this day to cover himself with “fig leaves.” Some of these are:
Philosophy – This is the branch of knowledge or academic study devoted to the systematic examination of basic concepts such as truth, existence, reality, causality, and freedom. A person can be consumed with this kind of pursuit of knowledge—“I know there is something wrong with me and the world in which I live…so I am going to find the answer and save the world.”
Philanthropy - A desire to improve the material, social, and spiritual welfare of humanity, especially through charitable activities. “I will right the wrongs with my money and my gifts and my service…I will make restitution for all the wrong I and others have done…”
Asceticism – A life of strictness and self-denial. “I will beat my body and control it then I will find favor with the divine.”
Religion – One’s personal system of beliefs and practices relating to the divine. “I know God is there and I will find Him my own way…” Many times this leads to a creation of god in man’s image.
Ethics – A code of morality or a system of moral principles governing the appropriate conduct for an individual or group. “All people need to do is just treat each other right…what the world needs now is love sweet love…”
All these and any other systems that man devises in order to gain the approval of God—is nothing more than the "fig leaf" approach.
Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, but those fig leaves pictured works, their merit and their righteousness—it was their way of fixing a problem—like a toddler trying to fix an expensive vase with school glue.
It is interesting that the only thing that our Lord Jesus Christ ever cursed when He was on the earth was a fig tree. The fig tree promised fruit but gave none and in the same way, our works promise acceptance with God but cannot produce.
There is only one remedy for sin. There is only one way to obtain the righteousness of God. God has to give it to you. The Bible says in Genesis 3:21, “The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.”
Can you imagine the shock that Adam and Eve experienced when they saw two dead animals, probably lambs, lying dead before their eyes? God more than likely killed an animal for each of them and made from their skins garments to clothe Adam and Eve.
They were guilty and deserved death, but God chose an animal to die as their substitute.
This act of God pointed to another Substitute who in time would give Himself as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
This brings us back to our text in Romans chapter 3:
Rom 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Just as Adam and Eve were “justified” or “declared righteous” by the gracious act of God on their behalf, God declares us righteous freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Adam and Eve deserved death but God killed an innocent animal to satisfy His justice that someone should die for their sin.
Doesn’t the Apostle Peter say this in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God…”?
Innocent blood had to be shed in order to satisfy God’s just demand for judgment on sin and that is exactly why Jesus went to the Cross:
Rom 3:24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
Rom 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness…
In verse 25, Paul uses an interesting term: propitiation.
Rom 3:25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness…
This would take the average Jewish reader back to the Old Testament system of sacrifice.
The Greek word here rendered “propitiation” is the same one translated “Mercy-seat” in Hebrews 9:5.
Heb 9:5 “and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat…”
Romans 3, then, declares that in the Gospel, God presents Christ having been foreshadowed by the Mercy seat of the Old Testament.
In order to understand what this means we need to do a brief study on the Mercy seat of the Old Testament.
The Mercy-seat was a solid sheet or slab of pure gold. While it was a separate and distinct object in itself, it formed the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, being placed “above upon the Ark.” The Mercy-seat differed from the Ark in that it was not constructed with wood. There was only one other piece of furniture in the Tabernacle made solely of gold, it was the candlestick, which was smaller in size and weight; therefore the Mercy-seat, according to its intrinsic worth, was the most valuable of all the holy vessels. This makes sense as one considers the preciousness of the One in which the Mercy-seat typified.
The Mercy-seat derived its name from the blood of propitiation which was sprinkled on it. It was the same length and width as the Ark, being two and a half by one cubit and a half (45” x 27”).
At both ends of the Mercy-seat was a cherub. These angelic figures were not connected to the lid by screws or weld beads but were beaten out of the same one piece of gold of which the Mercy-seat was formed. These symbolic figures had their wings outstretched, thus overshadowing the Mercy-seat, with their faces looking down upon it.
Back in our text of Romans 3:24-25, Paul says that we are “being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood…”
Again, the Greek word here rendered "propitiation" is the identical one translated "Mercy-seat" in Hebrews 9:5. Romans 3, then, declares that in the Gospel, God presents Christ as the Mercy-seat of the Old Testament sacrifice.
The verb "to propitiate" means to appease, to placate or to make satisfaction. When we read in Romans 3:25 that Christ is now set forth as a propitiation, this means that through the Gospel, God now bears testimony to His blessed Son as the One by whom He was propitiated; the One by whom His holy wrath against the sins of His people was appeased or satisfied; the One by whom the righteous demands of His law were satisfied.
In Christ, God’s wrath against sinners has been quieted. Christ has become God's rest. Now God can extend the fullness of His grace to sinners because of the propitiation made by Jesus on the cross.
The great propitiation which Christ made, was foreshadowed in the ritual of Israel's annual Day of Atonement. This is described for us in Leviticus 16.
In verse 14: "And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the Mercy-seat eastward, and before the Mercy-seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times."
Blood was obtained through the death of an animal which was a type of propitiation (As with Adam & Eve). The blood spoke of judgment already visited upon the innocent substitute.
The blood sprinkled on the Mercy-seat announced that God had accepted the sacrifice offered to Him. The blood sprinkled in front of the Mercy-seat secured a place to stand in the presence of Holy God.
In the Tabernacle there was a table, but no chair for Aaron or any of the priests to sit on, because their work was never finished. They constantly needed to offer up sacrifices year after year for their own sins and the sins of the people.
But there was one seat, the Mercy-seat, reserved for God Himself, who sat there between the cherubim.
This Mercy-seat, resting upon the Ark, foreshadowed the grand truth that God would find His rest in that perfect work which His incarnate Son should perform. The Mercy-seat, then, was God's throne here on earth.
Exodus 25:21-22 says, "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.”
Now let’s discuss the cherub and their role.
The first time the "cherubim" are mentioned in Scripture is in Genesis 3:24, where we find them guarding the way to the tree of life. The "flaming sword," suggests that they are associated with the administration of God's judicial authority.
In Revelation 4:6-8 (compare Ezekiel 1:5-10) we find them related to the throne of God.
Revelation 5:11-14 indicates that the cherubim are the highest among the angelic order of creatures.
In the Psalms and in Ezekiel the cherubim come before us in connection with judicial acts, with Divine judgment, and this gives a striking significance to their place here on the Mercy-seat.
There were two cherubim, one on each end of the Mercy-seat, with wings outstretched over it as if they were protecting God's throne.
On the Mercy-seat the two cherubim stood facing each other, attracted by a common object, heads bowed as in adoration. The Law of God requires that accusations cannot be accepted unless the accuser has two or three witnesses. The number of cherubim here speaks of a competent witness.
In past messages we have learned that there is more than one hint in Scripture that the redemption of the Church is an object lesson unto the angels.
1 Corinthians 4:9 declares that the suffering apostles were "made a spectacle unto angels." This means that angels were watching, as it were, theater-style, the sufferings of the apostles.
Ephesians 3:10 tells us that "the manifold wisdom of God is now being made known by (through) the Church unto the principalities and powers in the heavenlies."
1 Peter 1:11, 12 tells us that the sufferings of Christ and His glories which were to follow are "things which the angels desire to look into."
We can then assume by their track record that the figures of the two cherubim, with their bowed heads over the Mercy-seat, show the interest of the angelic hierarchies in the unfolding of God's redemptive purpose.
Now in what direction are these cherubim looking? Down! Down into the Ark!
Hebrews 9:4-5 says the Ark of the Covenant contains three items.
“…the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.”
* The Golden Pot of Manna – Exo 16:33-34 “And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
* Aaron’s Rod that Budded - Num 17:10 And the LORD said to Moses, "Bring Aaron's rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die."
* The Tablets of the Covenant - Deu 10:2 'And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.'
What is significant about the items that were stored in the Ark of the Covenant?
* The Golden Pot of Manna – When the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage, God fed them in the wilderness by raining manna from heaven. In Exodus 16:27-28, God told the people to trust Him and not go out on the Sabbath to collect the manna but some disobeyed and went out anyway. The pot of manna in the Ark represented the people’s rejection of God’s provision.
* Aaron’s Rod that Budded – In Numbers 16, the people murmured and complained against Moses and Aaron’s leadership. God told Moses and Aaron to move away from the congregation of the people so He could strike them down.
As God began to strike them down with a plague, Moses told Aaron to quickly take a censor from the altar with some fire and run to the congregation and make atonement for them. As Aaron stood between the dead and the living, the plague subsided.
In Numbers 17 God tells Moses to “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father's house, all their leaders according to their fathers' houses; twelve rods.” He instructs Moses to put the rods in the tabernacle.
The next day Moses went into the tabernacle and found that Aaron’s rod had sprouted and produced blossoms and ripe almonds. This was God’s way of showing Israel that Aaron and Moses were God’s appointed leaders. So Aaron’s rod that budded was put into the Ark of the Covenant as a reminder of the people’s rebellion against God’s leadership.
* The Tablets of the Covenant – Most of us know that when Moses delayed from coming down from the mountain where he was meeting with God who was giving Moses His commands on tablets of stone, the people had constructed for themselves a golden calf to worship as their God.
Exodus 32:19 says, “So it was, as soon as he came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing. So Moses' anger became hot, and he cast the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.”
Later in Deut. 10, God told Moses to cut out two new tablets of stone. God then rewrote His Law on the new tablets and instructed Moses to put them in the Ark of the Covenant. The tablets of stone represented man’s rejection of God’s Law.
Now the Bible says the cherubim were looking down upon the Ark of the Covenant. What was in the Ark? What did they see?
Did they see sin? Did they see reminders of the people’s rejection of God’s provision and His leadership? Did they see the Law with its harsh reminder that they could never live up to God’s standard of righteousness?
No! They saw the Mercy-seat!
Again let me remind you of the words of Scripture in Paul’s letter to Titus:
“For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us…”
The cherubim looked down and saw the mercy seat. But before you get too excited, the mercy seat is just a plate of gold if it is not covered with the blood!
There is no mercy for sinful man unless there is the blood that represents that the living has been killed to provide for atonement.
The Mercy-seat completely hid from the view of the cherubim the tables of stone, the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod which were kept in the Ark.
As the cherubim stood there with their faces downward, they saw not the Law which condemned those who transgressed it; instead, they gazed on that which spoke of the glory of God - Deity (gold) magnified by sacrifice (blood).
Blood stood between the Law and God. Blood stood between the Law and the cherubim, God’s executors!
When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane and the soldiers took Him captive. Peter took His sword out to fight and Jesus told him to put it away saying, “Don’t you know that I can now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Mat 26:53)
The cherubim were set in a battle array ready to bring swift judgment to a world of sinners when Jesus went to the Cross but blood stood between them and us and instead Jesus said, “Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing!”
If there was an Ark with no Mercy-seat, the Law would then be uncovered: there would be nothing to hush its thunderings (remember Sinai?), nothing to arrest the execution of its righteous sentence.
The law expresses God's righteousness, and demands the death of its violator. The Bible says, "Cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them" ( Galatians 3:10).
Such is the inevitable judgment pronounced on all sinners by the unalterable, irreversible sentence of the law.
The only man who could stand before God on the basis of having kept that law was the Man Christ Jesus. He could have been justified by it, enthroned upon it, and from it have pronounced sentence of just doom on all of Adam's guilty race. But He did not do so.
No, instead of coming to earth as the Executioner of the law, He subjected His holy body to its righteous sword.
The same heart which held the law unbroken ( Psalm 40:8) received the penalty which was due us who had broken it.
Since the wrath of God was poured out upon Him, the law can no longer touch those who have fled to Him for refuge.
This is what Paul speaks of in Romans chapter 3 as he writes of Jesus:
“whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
