“For what does the Scripture say? “ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,” (Romans 4:3-5 NASB)
There is an old adage that says that most people get money the old fashion way – ‘They Earn It’.
There is even an older adage on how people get money which says – ‘They Inherit It’.
Sometimes people think salvation is like just like the way they receive money – but it is not.
Salvation does not come by earning it.
Salvation does not come by inheriting it – it only comes as a gift from God.
Let me repeat that – salvation only comes as a gift from God.
This is exactly what the New Testament tells us when it says:
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)
It is not that you can earned it – it is not that you can inherit it – it is given by God to those who believe.
But did you know there is an Old Testament equivalent to this verse (Eph. 2:8-9)? It is found in the book of Genesis:
“Then he (Abraham) believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6 NASB)
Abraham put his faith and trust in the Lord and the result was – God reckoned him as righteousness.
Is this verse important – yes! It is vital! It is so important that it is quoted three times in the New Testament.
Even so Abraham BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Galatians 3:6 NASB)
The Scripture was fulfilled which says, "AND ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS," and he was called the friend of God. (James 2:23 NASB)
For what does the Scripture say? "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Romans 4:3 NASB)
What did Abraham believe? He believed that God would do what He said He would do. In Genesis 15 Abraham had no children, but God said, “Abraham you have no children – I’ll give you children. I will make you a great nation – I will watch over you and protect you.”
And, "ABRAHAM BELIEVED GOD, AND IT WAS CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS."
Folks here is a simple fact – Abraham trusted in God – Abraham relied on God – Abraham believed in God – Abraham put his hope in God – and their relationship with one another changed forever. At that point it became a turning major point for Abraham.
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
But what has that got to do with you and me? The answer is simple – in the same way that Abraham put his faith and trust in God – God wants you to put your faith and trust in Him. If you do you will have a major turning point in your life. God is waiting for you to trust Him. God is waiting for you to believe in Him. God is waiting for you to put your hope in Him. That what life is about isn’t it? Do you trust God or don’t you?
You know – humans are strange creatures. Most people think they have to earn salvation – on the other hand we like to get a bargain. Anybody here like to get a really “good deal.” Any here like to save money? Yea – me too. For the past few years Black Friday has been one of the savings days of my life. I have gone out shopping any have saved hundreds of money. The only problem is – is that I have had to spend a lot of money in the process. Just the other day I went to a sale because I got a “real bargain” offer thru an email. The deal was this: Buy 2 get one FREE. Now these were items that are not necessities of life. Now I could go through my entire life and not have them and I would be just fine. I don’t NEED – but I WANT it. I could stay home and I could REALLY save some money. I could stay home and not spend a dime. So you know what I did? I went to the sale and spent money. Did I get some items “Free”? Yes, but it cost me money in the process. Folks here is a fact: people will spend hours in line get a trinket that is worth a dime. That is human nature and I do it too.
Here is another fact about human nature – we have been taught some very strange things even since we were children.
As I was preparing this sermon I got to thinking about what I was taught as a child. Have you ever thought about that? What were you taught as a child?
Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water:
Jack fell down and broke his crown – and Jill came tumbling after.
What is that nursery rhyme teaching me? What does that mean? First of all it teaches us that Jack and Jill are not very smart – doesn’t water flow downhill? Couldn’t they have just waited for the water to come to them? But instead they climb up the hill and get hurt. OK maybe there is a well on the top of the hill and they have to draw water from the well…
But what about:
Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top – when the wind blows – the cradle will rock.
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall – down will come baby – cradle and all.
What does that mean? What does that teach us? Who in their right mind would put a baby – in a cradle in the top of a tree? But – people do stupid stuff sometimes. Is there anybody here ever done something stupid that could hurt you?
Or what about:
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.
Charles Swindoll says this little nursery rhyme was originally written about people – broken people; people who fell off the wall and found themselves broken and smashed. And all the King’s horses and all the King’s men could not put them back together again. But you know what? God can.
Each one of these nursery rhymes talk about people getting hurt. Here is a fact. We live in a world where we get broken physically. We live in a world where we do dumb stuff that sometimes it hurts us. We live in a world where we get smashed to pieces and sometimes we take other with us. And there are times when no person in the world can put us back together. But God says:
"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NASB)
In the Old Testament it says:
"I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick…” (Ezekiel 34:16 NASB)
Do you believe that? Do you really believe God is that big?
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
Last week in Sunday School – Cathy and I were sitting at a table with Dennis and he shared a bit of wisdom with us. He said, “We are all in the same boat.” Boy – isn’t that true. As human beings – we are all in the same boat. We are all fallen creatures before God. We all have our problems – we all have our quirks.
The Bible says,
“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NASB)
We are all in the same boat.
But here is a fact. It does not matter where you find yourself in life today. It does not matter where you have been or what you have done in life. It does not matter what mistakes that you have made in the past. It does not matter if you have failed over and over and over again or even if you never tried at all. Right now… at this moment you have an opportunity to have a Turning Point in your life. Think about this for a second. Do not be quick to dismiss this message or to tune me out. You have the chance today to make a life changing decision that you will remember for the rest of your days.
At a moment in time – at a moment in history Abraham made a decision that changed his whole life:
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
His life and the entire world was changed forever.
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
(At this point I will share my salvation testimony.)
Let’s move on to verse 4 – but as we do I want to talk about income for a minute – because that is what Paul talks about in this verse.
Did you know that there are at least four types of income?
1. There are wages (that which we earn)
2. There is interest (that which you get off of money you already have in the bank)
3. There is inheritance (that which is passed down from one generation to another)
4. There is gift (that which is given to you)
Now how do I know this – because the IRS taxes these type of income.
But let’s look a little deeper at our passage. Look at verse 4 with me:
“Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.” (Romans 4:4 NASB)
What kind of income is this? These are wages. I work for you – you then owe me money – you pay me. It’s that simple. There is no “favor” there – it’s not that you are giving me something special. It is not that you are giving me anything extra – you are giving me what you owe me. I work – you pay – because that is what is what we agreed on. This is pretty straight forward. I’ve done the job – you pay me for it.
But look at verse 5:
But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,” (Romans 4:5 NASB)
What kind of income is this? It is a gift. I am given favor – I am given a different status – I have been credited with righteousness. It is not because I am righteousness – I only have faith. I believe that God can save the ungodly – but because of my faith – God credits me with righteousness. God has given me a gift – which is placed to my account – that gift is that I am being credited with righteousness. The righteousness I don’t have. The righteousness that I cannot earn. The only way I can be considered righteous is that God credits me with righteousness – it is a gift. I did not earn it. I did not work for it. I do not deserve it – but God gave it to me anyway.
What does my righteousness look like? Here is what Isaiah says:
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6 KJV)
Is it any wonder that we need a gift from God in order to be saved?
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB)
Folks for a long time I believed that once I accepted Christ as my savior that I was somehow getting better. That somehow I was becoming more holy. That somehow I was becoming more righteous. That somehow I was becoming more Godly. I don’t know that I believe that now. For I know that I am still a sinner save by grace. That there are things in my life that are still not pleasing to God. That there are things in my life that are still messed up. That I am still a sinner and that I still need Him as a Savior.
John Newton once said: Down through life I have forgotten a lot of things. But these two things I remember. The first is that I am a great sinner. The second is that I have a great savior.
I can confess with him – I am a great sinner – but I have a great savior.
Folks as we have been going through this study some of you are using different English translations – I know that. In verse five some translations will say credited, some will say counted, some say reckoned, others will say imputed, considered, accounted, and regarded. If I was asked, “Which word is correct?” – I would say, “All of them.” If you believe that God is God – that He has the power to save the ungodly.
“…his faith is credited as righteousness”
So when God looks at me what does He see? He sees righteousness. Why, because I am righteous? No! But because He has credited, imputed, considered, and regarded righteousness in my account. God sees me in a wholly different way then I see myself. God has a different vision of me than I do of myself.
Do any of you watch American Pickers? I thought some of you might. It is a show about some guys who go around the country looking for “rusting treasure”. They will go to places with piles of junk and they will dig through piles and piles to find the buried “treasure”. Now if you’re watching the show – the junk that they find looks just like junk. It looks like stuff you would haul to the dump or pay someone to haul to the dump for you. And they will pay hundreds dollars for this junk.
But do you know what they have that most of us don’t have. They have a vision the importance of the junk. They have a vision of what the junk may become. A rusty old car in a junk yard may look like what it is…junk. But in the eyes of a mechanic he sees a classic automobile that will turn heads once he has the opportunity to restore, reshape and rebuild it.
What does God see when God looks at you? When God looked at Abraham – He saw righteousness. Why because Abraham was righteous? No! Because –
“Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
What does God see when He looks at you?
