Today on Truth Time.
So, Abraham's belief being counted as righteousness was about Abraham's righteousness being recognized by God, and not God's righteousness being imputed to him.
A benefit only we enjoy, those of us here under the dispensation of grace.
Those who advocate for eternal security all throughout scripture apparently have never workshopped this idea.
They chose to parrot the traditions of men.
But had they studied to show themselves approved, had they only taken the time to evaluate the what-ifs, they would have had to answer the question of, what would have happened if Abraham did not continue obeying God?
Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness, but his future hope in salvation was according to a faith that was validated through covenant.
Not apart from works, but justified by them.
This is Truth Time Radio.
Okay, here we go.
Let's dive into Romans chapter 4.
Romans chapter 4.
How many have heard it said that Abraham was saved the same way we're saved today?
And that he, he couldn't lose his salvation?
Today we're going to test that.
Last time in chapter 3 verse 30, we studied out the terms by faith and through faith and showed the differences in both terms relative to Paul's specific usage for the circumcision and uncircumcision.
Real quick, let's clear something up concerning verse 30.
Within the context that Paul speaks of here, he's still making the case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel in terms that his kinsmen in the flesh would understand.
And that's something to keep in mind.
Some, they'll tell you that the book of Acts is a transitional book and they'll do so as a way to escape answering hard questions.
Or if something seems to not make sense, they'll say, Well Luke, he didn't write anything to you.
But just because it records a transition from Peter and the eleven, from their kingdom gospel to Paul's gospel of the grace of God, doesn't disqualify the book of Acts from having doctrinal application for us.
Transition isn't irrelevant to doctrine.
On the contrary, it's essential that it's recognized.
If transition disqualifies application, then you may as well throw out the entire book of Romans because it's transitional.
So come on, it's, it's vital that we think through these things.
Everything isn't true just because someone you respect says so.
Paul literally spells it out for us in easy to understand one syllable words in chapter 1 when he says, From faith to faith.
And, when he transitions from being Romans 3:31, established, to being Romans 16:25, stablished.
Paul's taken his kinsmen in the flesh, Jews who were not part of the little flock kingdom, he takes them from their previous faith of God to the but now faith of Christ.
From law to grace.
From prophecy to mystery.
Romans is the ultimate transitional book.
Looking at Romans 3:30 will help us see the central message that Paul is conveying through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Starting with verse 29, Is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also.
Verse 30, Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith and uncircumcision through faith.
Notice he says, Seeing that it is one God who is, verse 29, God of both the Jews and the Gentiles.
One God.
Not a God for the Jews and another God for the Gentiles.
Paul demonstrates the same sentiment here.
1 Corinthians 12:6 is the same thing, And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God, which worketh all in all.
See, Paul is still convincing his kinsmen in the flesh, that the same God of their fathers had now opened the door to the Gentiles.
This is important to note, because it helps us understand the relevance to Abraham in chapter 4, keeping with the fact that Abraham's instructions for salvation were different than ours during the dispensation of grace.
Yet Paul references Abraham to make his case for Gentile salvation apart from Israel to those of Israel.
Not as a means of Gentile salvation, but as a means of Gentiles being accepted in the beloved.
For Paul, Abraham is used as an example of justification by faith.
But for James, he is used for an example of justification by works.
So which is it?
Faith or works?
We'll find out a little later on here.
Okay, chapter 4 verse 1, What shall we say then, that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found?
Verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by works, he'd have whereof to glory
but not before God.
The phrase, "What shall we say then," tells us that we must reference what was written immediately before verse 1 to see why the word, "then," is used.
So back up to Romans 3:31, Do we then make void the law through faith?
God forbid. Yea, we establish the law.
The last thing Paul said in chapter 3 is that the law is established through faith, not made void.
So this answers the question for those of Israel.
Does justification by faith only mean there is no need for works?
Paul's answer?
No.
Good works are established by faith.
Notice the language Paul uses in verse 1 and 2 of chapter 4, Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh.
Right here we should note Paul is speaking directly to those of his audience who were Jews.
Abraham was their father, their father as pertaining to the flesh.
So what did their father Abraham find according to the flesh?
That he could glory in his flesh if he were justified only by works.
Yet James does say he was justified by works.
How do we reconcile this?
James 2:24, You see then how that by works a man is justified and not by faith only.
We'll come back to the full scope of this, the full context of this passage here in James in another episode.
The contradiction here is already quite obvious just by comparing Romans 4:2 with James 2:24, especially when we know that there is no boasting in ourselves where our salvation is concerned because it is not of works that could be boasted of.
Verse 3 takes this thought a little further, For what saith the scripture, Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Abraham's faith in what God had promised credited righteousness to his account.
Some try to make this complex by claiming that because righteousness was counted to him, that means he was eternally saved and secured right then and there.
But that's simply not true.
Our first clue is this verse does not say that the righteousness of God was imputed to Abraham.
It doesn't say that.
Having God's righteousness imputed is a mystery only active during the dispensation of grace.
And it's why we as the church the body of Christ, the new creature, the one new man, are a completely different entity than the kingdom saints, as well as Abraham and those in Genesis before the law.
The imputation of God's righteousness to the believer is not something available outside of the dispensation of grace.
You need to get that.
Put that to memory if you want to stay ahead of the curve.
The only way for those saints to be counted righteous was through their own faith and obedience.
What does Deuteronomy 6:25 say? And it shall be our righteousness if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us.
This is not your mail, but it's good for our learning.
Hey, if the kingdom saints didn't keep the law, they couldn't be righteous.
Just believe the verse.
They had to observe to do all the commandments.
That's faith plus obedience.
Plain and simple.
But just because Deuteronomy 6:25 is written in the context of the law, now that does not mean that righteousness hasn't always required observing and doing.
Even before the law, we see how that Job was called upright, which is the same as calling him righteous.
Not only because he feared God, but also because he eschewed evil.
That is observing and doing.
That's faith plus obedience, just like those under the law in Deuteronomy 6.
Moreover, we see how that Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.
But a question to ask is, how?
How did he find grace?
Was he under the same grace and administration Paul taught?
To hear some, some of the wrong dividers tell it, he was.
This is the view of those who falsely teach that everyone in scripture is saved the same way.
When listening to ministers and their sermons, you need to pay attention.
You might notice how observation is often replaced with conjecture.
And make no mistake, when someone says everyone in scripture has always been saved the same way, conjecture is being applied.
You know, you've heard it.
They say everyone in the Old Testament was looking forward to the cross.
Next time you hear that, just file it away over there in the folder marked, "Rubbish."
Because that's a view that runs directly afoul to what Paul taught.
There's more than one gospel in the Bible, and it's why Paul commands us
to rightly divide the gospel of our salvation.
2 Timothy 2:15 and Ephesians 1:13.
Go put those together.
Put those two verses side by side and see what you come up with.
If there's only one gospel, then there's nothing to divide.
And Paul lied.
But there is more than one, and it's why everyone you read about in scripture has not been saved the same way.
Abraham could lose his salvation.
You cannot.
He wasn't sealed unto the day of redemption you are.
David wasn't sealed either.
And it's why he took out his reed pen and on papyrus he wrote, Cast me not from thy presence and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51:11 in your King James Bible.
David knew he could lose it.
But today's preachers and all their genius would correct David if he were here.
Saints, isn't it outstanding being able to put these things together like this?
Instead of just throwing it up against the wall and hoping it sticks.
So now, let's not lose sight here.
Let's keep tracking this.
Back to Noah.
Genesis chapter 6 verse 9, These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a just man and perfect in all his generations. And Noah walked with God.
If Noah was just, then he was counted righteous.
Why?
Because he walked with God, observing and doing, faith plus obedience.
This is not salvation by grace alone in Christ alone.
And no, Noah wasn't looking forward to the cross.
As we showed you in our Understanding Terminology series, justification is a declaration of righteousness.
And righteousness has always been obtained by faith plus obedience.
So this idea that Abraham obtained God's righteousness by faith, or that his righteousness could not be lost through disobedience is utterly false.
Romans 4:3 isn't talking about the righteousness of God being imputed to Abraham.
Paul is referring to Abraham's righteousness.
Just like Job, fearing God and eschewing evil was his righteousness.
And Noah's walking with God was his righteousness.
Just like if the Deuteronomy 6:25 children of Israel observed to do all that God had commanded them, they were told it would be their righteousness, not God's.
And we know it's not the imputation of God's righteousness because that is only available to us, believers during this but-now dispensation of God's grace.
I hope you're digesting this.
It'll change your entire perspective, and it'll help answer questions that before you couldn't answer.
In time past, they were counted righteous for observing and doing the instructions God gave them.
Faith first, that's right, but observing and doing had to follow.
There was no doing without faith.
Their faith is exactly what caused them to obey their instructions.
Following the rules apart from faith was a big no-no.
That would only incite glorying in the flesh like Paul said in Romans chapter 4 verse 2, For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God.
This was the problem the Pharisees and those scribes who sat in Moses' seat had.
Matthew 23, starting with verse 1, Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to
his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat, all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe that observe and do. But do not ye
after their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on man's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge
the borders of their garments, and love the uttermost rooms at feast, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Are you connecting these dots?
It was kingdom doctrine to have faith plus works, but they had works with no faith.
They did things to be seen and admired of men.
They gloried in their fleshly self-righteousness while hypocritically instructing others to do things they didn't do themselves.
These Scribes and Pharisees back here, they knew the law from beginning
to end.
Oh yeah.
That's why Jesus told his disciples, Hey, whatsoever they bid you observe and do.
Because it would be their righteousness to observe and do just like
Deuteronomy 6:25 said.
But this weak show of fake obedience by the Scribes and Pharisees back here did not come from faith.
It came from flesh.
So, Abraham's belief being counted as righteousness was about Abraham's
righteousness being recognized by God, and not God's righteousness being
imputed to him.
A benefit only we enjoy.
Those of us here under the dispensation of grace.
Those who advocate for eternal security all throughout scripture apparently have never workshopped this idea.
They chose to parrot the traditions of men.
But had they studied to show themselves approved, had they only taken the time to evaluate the what-ifs, they would have had to answer the question of, What would have happened if Abraham did not continue obeying God?
Think.
Would he have still been counted righteousness while in disobedience?
What if he stopped believing?
What if he said, "No," to circumcision?
Could he have lost his righteous standing?
Sure he could.
Because it was his own righteousness that was accounted for, not God's
righteousness being imputed to him.
Oh, this is getting good.
By now you should be settling in and starting to see that this business some teach of how everyone throughout the Bible was saved by the same gospel is a fairy tale.
Okay, here we are, we've made it to verse 4.
And a quick thanks to all of you who, who've expressed how much you're enjoying this verse-by-verse study here in Romans.
The response has been amazing and it is certainly a tremendous honor and joy that you selected us to take you through what could arguably be the most profound and prolific book in this Bible.
So, we're glad to be with you.
Verse 4, Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of
debt.
This verse indicates that the reward is earned if it is worked for.
When you put in the time for your employer, you clock in, you clock out,
your reward, a paycheck, is owed to you.
After you finish the work, until you get that check, your employer is in debt to you for that work you completed.
So, here Paul says if a person works for salvation, their reward, their salvation, is owed to them out of debt rather than grace.
He says the same thing in Romans 11:6 when he penned, If by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.
For salvation, grace and works are mutually exclusive.
They're disjointed.
Because we can never work hard enough to earn our justification.
That would make it meritorious and give us the right to glory in our flesh.
But as Paul told us in verse 27 of the last chapter, chapter 3, Boasting is excluded by the law of faith.
Abraham could not earn his salvation.
He was initially counted righteous because of his faith.
And his faith told him to do works in order to be justified.
But if he refused to observe and do, then he would lose his righteous
standing with God.
No question about it.
It's not debatable.
Grace and mercy has been extended by God throughout all dispensations.
But there is only one dispensation of grace.
Where you've been sealed until the day of redemption, regardless of what
you do or don't do after your initial salvation.
In verse 4, Paul said trying to earn salvation by works would mean God is in
debt to you, paying you for whatever your self-righteous works are worth. And that's not a good thing.
Philippians 3:9, And be found in him not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.
Oh, aren't you thankful?
Aren't you glad God isn't in debt to you to pay you what you're owed
concerning your salvation?
It's certain that the wages we earn won't get us anywhere near heaven, and is why for us to be obedient we're told not to work for salvation.
Our work could never measure up.
Next verse, verse 5, But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Some say the, "his faith," is Christ's faith, but Christ isn't in the immediate context.
Him that justifieth the ungodly is God the Father.
And the faith mentioned here belongs to him that worketh not.
That can't be Christ.
Christ did all the work necessary for our salvation, so there's no way he
could be the him that worketh not.
The one that does not work in this verse is the believer who exercises faith in God, God the Father, who justifies the ungodly.
The believer believes on God and therefore the believer's faith is counted for righteousness.
The context of the entire chapter is the fact that Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness.
So to claim that this is about Jesus having faith is to claim that Jesus needed to be counted righteous in the sight of God the Father.
And if you think Jesus needed to be counted righteous, then you cannot believe he was the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
You don't believe Jesus is God.
Only sinful man is in need of being counted righteous.
That's why the need to have faith applies to men, not God.
Abraham believed on him that justifieth the ungodly.
To believe on is different from believing in.
You cannot believe on someone without believing in them.
But you can believe in someone without believing on them.
When Abraham believed God, he didn't just believe in him, he believed on him.
He had believed in God since at least Genesis 12.
Abraham obeyed the instructions, but he didn't believe on God until chapter 15 where the context of that passage says Abram, not Abraham, finally
believed in the words that the Lord had been speaking to him since chapter
12.
Genesis 15:4. Watch, And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth of thine own
bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look
now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
By this time Abraham, still Abram, had left his homeland.
He journeyed to the land of Canaan, kept going south and building altars to God there along the way.
He arrived in Egypt.
He by this time had lied to Pharaoh about his wife being his sister, causing plagues upon Egypt.
He had became very rich in cattle, silver, and gold, went back to Canaan,
was told again by God of his promise to him in chapter 13, rescued Lot when he was kidnapped, and paid tithes to Melchizedek.
I mean, he was a busy man.
And think about it.
He had done all these things before scripture tells us that he was counted righteous.
It wasn't until God repeated his promise unto him the third time, that he believed it.
He didn't believe the future hope God was promising him until the word of the Lord came to him in Genesis 15:1.
Immediately after, he believed God.
Abram asked God how he would know that he would inherit the land, and God instructed him to make an offering.
And then God used that offering for the covenant God made with him concerning this promise.
Genesis 15:18, In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,
Unto thy seed have I given this land.
Abraham's faith was counted for his own righteousness, but his future hope and salvation was according to a faith that was validated through covenant, not apart from works, but justified by them.
Now get this, okay?
His future hope, his salvation, was according to a faith validated through covenant, not apart from works, but justified by them.
His righteousness could have been lost through disobedience, and that covenant could be broken, nullifying that promise.
And this, this is the reason why both Paul and James can make two different statements about the one same man concerning how he was justified.
So we ask again, was Abraham justified by faith or by works?
The answer?
Both.
And tune in next time to find out why.
Alright, if you're questioning your salvation, understand this, for Christ's sake, God stopped imputing your sins.
Christ died for them all, was buried, rose on day three.
So stop trying to achieve salvation by climbing the ladder rungs.
You'll never make it.
There's no ladder to climb.
There's no ladder to salvation.
Christ is salvation.
Trust him alone.
You trust him not self for making the full payment for your sins and defeating the grave on your behalf.
Do that, do that and rest in him for your eternal soul's salvation.
Grace and peace.
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