Lecture 3. Romans 4:19-25, 519And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: 20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; 21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. 22And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. 23Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:19‑25)
5But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. (Romans 4:5)
IT is any desire to-night to speak a little of the wonderful consequences of the gospel that we were looking at on previous evenings—the results that flow to the believer and that it is the privilege of all believers to enjoy. God has anticipated every need of the soul―past, present, and future. There is nothing that has escaped His notice in His care for His people. We have peace as to all the past; we are brought into such nearness to God that we are in His present and constant favor; and we rejoice in the hope of coming glory.
Now it is a blessed thing to see that all these things are true for every child of God.
Let us look for a moment at the close of the fourth chapter. The love of God we have seen is the source of all blessing for the soul. There is not a single blessing for time or throughout eternity but proceeds from the heart of God as its source, and all is based upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as securing a righteous foundation for it all. If the heart of God is the source, and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which all these blessings rest, they can only he obtained by faith, and that is the great principle that is established here in this fourth chapter. We are brought into these blessings on the ground of faith, not on that of law.
Now this is what the Jew could not understand. It seemed to open the door too wide If the blessing is on the ground of faith, the Gentile is admitted to it as well as the Jew, and if it comes in that way alone, the Jew had to humble himself to take it on the same ground as the poor heathen. But this principle was illustrated in the case of Abraham. The Jews boasted of Abraham, and the apostle shows clearly that he obtained everything on the ground of faith and not of works of law. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It was not a question so much of what he believed but the fact that he believed God. Now what God had promised to Abraham seemed on human grounds to be impossible. But Abraham did not stagger at God’s promise through unbelief; he gave God credit for being able to perform all that He promised. He believed God. God took him out and asked him to count the stars if he could, and then God said, “So shall thy seed be.” God had not yet done it but He said, “I will do it.” Abraham did not consider circumstances, he did not reason about it, he simply believed God. God said, “I will do it,” and Abraham said, “Amen.”
Now we are told here that this was not written for his sake alone. God had us in view in giving us the history of Abraham. He established, therefore, in the case of Abraham a principle which is applicable to every single one of us. The only ground upon which we can stand before God is the same upon which Abraham stood. Abraham stood on the ground of faith, and you and I must stand on the very same. But notice the difference: God said to Abraham, “I am going to do a certain thing;” but God has done what He has promised in our case. The faith of the believer now rests on two things that God has already done. The last verse of the fourth chapter tells us what they are. Christ “was delivered for our offenses,” in other words, “Christ died for our sins;” and we know that if Christ was delivered for our offenses, we have been delivered from them. If the Lord Jesus Christ has had my sins laid upon Him, as He has― “The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” ―if my sins have passed upon Him they have passed from me. He was delivered for my offenses, and consequently I have been delivered from them. But not only this, “He was raised again for our justification;” now the faith of the Christian rests on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has come into the very place where death was, for Christ was there in death for us, and God comes into the midst of that scene where Christ lay in death and raises Him from the dead in token of His perfect acceptance of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. He has been raised again by the glory of the Father. It was God who raised Him from the dead; having glorified God about our sins, God has raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in heavenly glory. Well, the moment we believe that, the next verse goes on to say―and this is a definite conclusion according to the reasoning of the Spirit of God― “Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1)). The Lord Jesus Christ was raised for our justification. Therefore the believer stands before God on this ground now―that he is justified before God. Not merely forgiven, though surely he is forgiven; we have learned the love that has forgiven us, that has pardoned us; but the ground of peace with God is the fact that God has cleared me righteously from all my sins so that I stand before Him perfectly cleared and eternally justified. God Himself cannot bring a single charge against a believer when He has already justified him from all things. Now that removes all fear from the heart and settles every question for the conscience.
When the conscience is first awakened and God begins to work in the soul, what troubles us is our life of sin and guilt. We may go on for years without being troubled at all, but when the conscience gets awakened and God begins to work, all our past comes before us. Of course we have forgotten a great deal, but when we recollect that God does not forget anything, the trouble of conscience gets worse and worse. But what is the great truth that, as a believer, I start with? This, that being justified before God and God Himself being the One who has justified me, I stand now at perfect peace before Him. We have peace with God. We do not hope to have it, we have it now. We stand before God justified from all things and clear of every charge of guilt. We have peace with God about it all. Let me ask you, dear friends, Have you peace with God? It is not that I have a hope of my sins being forgiven some I have peace with God now.
True, it goes on to say, “through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Then comes the question, How does God look upon me from day to day? If I look at Adam in the garden of Eden, I find man driven out of God’s presence; happier, possibly, outside the garden than inside it, because inside he was full of fear, he knew that he was not fit to be in God’s presence. But look at the answer God has given us in the gospel to all that sin has brought in. If man was driven out of God’s presence by his sin, we are brought into His presence by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. “We have access by faith into this grace,” that means, the favor of God. This is our abiding-place. We learn this, dear friends, that not only has God loved us in the past―He loved us so much that He gave up the Lord Jesus Christ into death for us―but we learn that we are always standing before Him in full and perfect favor. So we are told, in a different connection, that God loves us as He loves His Son (John 17:2323I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:23)). How little our hearts appreciate this love! If we are believers at all, we know that all our blessings come to us through the love of God, but how much do we realize that we are the objects of the same love wherewith He has loved His own beloved Son? We are at perfect peace as regards all our sins, we are brought near to God so that we can enjoy His presence day by day; “access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” But what about the future? “We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” The Christian is perfectly happy while he is here. He may have troubles, but they need not hinder his happiness. We do not know what a day may bring forth, we do not know what trials may arise in our pathway, but we know one thing—we are going on to the glory of God.
We, believers, are going on to the glory of God and we rejoice in hope of it. That word “hope” does not mean that we are in any uncertainty. Somebody, to whom I was trying to explain that heaven was not a matter of hope, once said to me, “Oh, but what does it mean when it speaks of the hope of the glory of God? Is not that an uncertainty?” It is the very fact that it is such a certainty, that every step I take is only taking me nearer to it, and notwithstanding all that may come in between, I am so certain of being there, that I can rejoice in it. If I think of the past, I am at peace with God; as to the present, I can rejoice in His favor, a favor which is better than life; and for the future, there is nothing before me but the glory of God, when I shall be like Christ and with Him forever.
N.B.―It has been pointed out to us that the article which came out in our May and June issues entitled “What is our Position as Christians? And what ought to be our Prayer in relation to the Holy Ghost?” was not by J. G. B., but by A. C. O.