In Romans 4 Paul is not focusing on David as an example of justification by faith without works.
Ro 4:6-8 KJV: “Even as David also describeth THE BLESSEDNESS OF THE MAN, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, [7] Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.”
David did NOT understand how it came about; he did not understand the Gospel of Grace, but he did know something about the JOY of the FORGIVENESS OF SINS. That word, “blessedness” means “happy.”
In Romans 4:4-6 we have Paul quoting David from Psalm 32:1-2. Here we find David talking about the joy, the happiness of a man who has his sins forgiven. David did not know about the Cross nor the finished work of Christ, but in this verse he does know his sins are forgiven. He does not understand why, but he knows they are forgiven because Nathan told him (2Sam 12).
So David said in Psalms 32:1-2 as Paul quoted it in Romans.
Ps 32:1-2 KJV: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. [2] Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
If you go back to Psalms 32, you will see that David is not really saying everything Paul explains him to be saying. That is because Paul has NOW explained TO US things that David did NOT understand.
David lived under the law and under the law they had a “short account system.” When you sinned under that system, you had to immediately go and get forgiveness by confessing your sin and bring the proper sacrifice [ i.e. works = doing something ]. They had to keep “short accounts” with God. They had to maintain a constant, daily fellowship with God through their many sin offerings because they had no conscious knowledge of total forgiveness for their sins. Christ hadn’t yet come and died on the Cross at that point in time. In TIME PAST their “short account system” kept them in fellowship with God and that is what David was dealing with in Psalms 32 – the daily maintenance of the covenant relationship he had with God UNDER THE LAW.
Paul uses that in Romans 4 to describe the issue of TOTAL FORGIVENESS. Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. [Iniquity] (Romans 4:7-8) God will not write the sin down to your account. In David’s case it was a particular sin, but Paul is using this to describe the BLESSEDNESS of people who understand the Gospel of Grace; people who understand that God imputes righteousness to us WITHOUT WORKS. He tells us that David talked about the JOY, the thrill, of NOT having God impute sin to your account.
To impute something is to WRITE IT DOWN, TO CHARGE IT TO YOUR ACCOUNT. Paul said God will NOT write your sin down. When God imputes righteousness to your account the Lord will not impute sin – look at verse six:
Ro 4:6 KJV: “Even as David also DESCRIBETH the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,”
And,
Ro 4:7 KJV: “…Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”
And,
Ro 4:8 KJV: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN.”
Imputing righteousness in the passage is EQUAL TO not imputing sin. When God imputes righteousness to your account, he not only ERASES ALL YOUR SINS but he also writes RIGHTEOUSNESS to your account. When God writes “Righteouss” across your account, then there is NO WAY to come along and WRITE DOWN sin. God is not up in heaven writing down every sin you commit. The short account system is over with. That was worked under the law principle, but we walk and work under grace where we have absolute, TOTAL FORGIVENESS which means that God forgave the past, the present and the future sins with equal effectiveness. And we know about it. David did NOT know about it.
It is important that you understand that THE ISSUE OF TOTAL FORGIVENESS IS A BASIC TRUTH OF GRACE.
You are NOT properly oriented to the GRACE of God and to the Gospel of the grace of God UNTIL YOU UNDERSTAND this issue of absolute, total forgiveness, and the fact that we DO NOT work under a “short account system” as they did under the law.
I realize a lot of people don’t believe that, but it is because they work under the principle of the LAW. You have to be properly oriented to grace in order to function effectively and expediently as a believer. Paul is dealing in Romans 4 with grace.
Q: What is GRACE?
A: It is all that God is free to do for us because of Calvary.
Imputing righteousness is EQUAL TO not imputing sin. If all I am imputing is “rightness” then I can’t come alone and impute “wrongness.”
The two principles of Grace and Law and how they work, you need to grasp. They oppose one another. They are two DIFFERENT systems.
Ro 6:14 KJV: “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but UNDER GRACE.”
Why does the verse say that sin shall not have dominion over you? “For ye are not under the law, but under grace.” Because you will never have victory over the dominion of sin until you are properly oriented to the assets you have under grace. Those two principles of law and grace are opposites.
The law principle is what we call, the “If then,” principle. It means: IF you do this, then I will do that. IF this happens then that will happen. The LAW SAYS, “if you perform this, you will get a blessing; if you don’t do that you get a curse.” The LAW is a performance system.
On the other hand, GRACE SAYS, “Here,” and hands you the blessing. Grace is all that God is free to do for you through the Cross. Grace gives you a blessing freely. Turn to Galatians 5 where we will SEE WHY this is important to understand.
Paul writes…
Ga 5:16, 18 KJV: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye SHALL NOT fulfil the lust of the flesh. [18] But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.”
If you walk in the Spirit, if you are led of the Spirit, you are NOT OPERATING UNDER THE LAW. The old sin nature works on the basis of the law. It’s your old sin nature that tries to work on the basis of reactionary legalism. It’s your old sin nature that tries to work on the basis of developing a lifestyle that seeks to RESIST God’s efforts to show you that you ARE a sinner and to manifest his love and his grace to you through Christ and Christ alone. The old sin nature works on the basis of performing, working, DOING for acceptance.
If you WALK IN THE FLESH, you are going to work under the LAW principle.
If you WALK IN THE SPIRIT you walk under the GRACE principle.
Walking and being led by the Spirit DOES NOT have anything to do with the Spirit of God taking control of you and leading you by the hand. Being led by the Spirit and walking by the Spirit means that you walk IN LINE WITH WHAT GOD SAYS HE IS DOING TODAY. When you are filled with and walk under the principles of grace, THEN you are “walking in the Spirit.” If you walk under the principles of the law – the “if, then” principle – THEN you are “walking in the flesh.”
The law is a performance/fear syndrome which means IF you perform THEN you get the blessing; IF you don’t perform, you get a curse. That system uses fear as motivation and the result of that is a GUILT COMPLEX when you fail to perform.
Look at this verse from TIME PAST …
Ex 19:5 KJV: “Now therefore, IF ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, THEN ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:”
Notice the IF and THEN principle. The issue in this passage is KEEPING THE LAW. The law says, perform and I’ll bless you. They said they would do all that the Lord tells them. They found out they could not perform. Notice in the next passage that the motivation is fear.
Ex 20:19-20 KJV: “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die. [20] And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his FEAR may be before your faces, THAT YE SIN NOT.”
In TIME PAST, under the LAW, fear of punishment was to motivate them to perform and get the blessing. Fear of what would happen to them IF they did NOT perform was to be their motivation to perform. If you did not do what was required to get the blessing, you would get the curse. Fear of the curse was designed for motivation in TIME PAST (Read Deuteronomy 4:10; 6:24; 10:12).
When we fear punishment there is an EMOTIONAL REACTION. In other words, punishment creates an emotion and that is FEAR – shame and hostility. When a man, operating under the law, violates the commandment he expects to be punished by God. He begins to have feelings of shame and rejection, reproach and low self-esteem. He feels worthless because he failed to measure up through PERFORMANCE. If he becomes physically sick with an illness he thinks God has punished him with bad health. Personal tragedies bring out feelings of failure and fear of punishment. Fear of rejection – the silent treatment from God. They may have been told they are temporarily out of fellowship with God. That kind of teaching, that doctrine is LEGALISM. It is the “short account system” of the law and is what brings out shame, and it’s what brings us into BONDAGE (Study the book of Galatians).
Legalism produces psychological guilt which is a subjective feelings of fear, shame and rejection. Those are SINFUL EMOTIONS that are authored by THE OLD SIN NATURE and do NOT promote spiritual growth nor holy living. They promote bondage!!!
We call this return to bondage REVERSIONISM. Reversionism is the condition of a believer that is negative toward Paul’s grace doctrine and as a result has stopped growing spiritually. It is failure to follow God’s plan of executing the Christian Way of Life. The reversionist is a believer in perpetual carnality, begging for God forgiveness, and completely out of step with grace principles, thus controlled by their old sin nature.
The reversionist is said to be “an enemy of God,” “an enemy of the Cross,” “a child of the devil,” double-minded” and “unstable in all his ways.” He does not abide in Christ’s heavenly teachings given only to apostle Paul. Instead, this believer deludes himself, this believer lacks faith, this believer faints in his mind, this believer is a prisoner to sin, this believer has fallen short of the grace of God, because their MIND is in bondage to the LAW, which results in them being tortured emotionally. This miserable mental state makes it very difficult and often times impossible for a believer to FOCUS on a full-time ministry.
When you put yourself under that performance system of the law, (performing to get a blessing), that WILL produce a FALSE GUILT, a guilt complex that makes you fearful and worthless, and you will not be motivated.
Under the Mosaic Law there was a “short account system” set up to take care of that guilt. They had to confess their sin and offer the prescribed sacrifice and God forgave them. In Psalm 51:5-8 that guilt feeling was compared to the breaking of bones. And in Psalm 51:9, 14 it is described as “bloodguiltiness.” Talk about shame and rejection! Talk about misery! That guy had it. That is what the law is designed to do. It produces that kind of guilt; the subjective inner feelings of fear, shame and rejection. Their “short account system” was designed to take care of THAT. In TIME PAST IT WAS the way to get the victory over it. They had a way to have their sin problem taken care of. It took care of that psychological guilt created by the law principle. They confessed their sins, acknowledged them before God, and brought the appropriate sacrifice and God said they were THEN FORGIVEN. David said it was blessedness and joy to come out of that black hole and be established on the Rock.
BUT NOW, today, under the GRACE PRINCIPLE there is no “short account system” because there is no law principle. God is doing something entirely different TODAY.
What is the grace principle? What does Paul say in Romans 3:24?
Ro 3:24 KJV: “Being JUSTIFIED FREELY by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:”
Grace has given it to you FREELY. In Chapter 5 Paul talks about the GIFT of grace, the GIFT of righteousness. The Grace principle is FREELY handing you the blessing. Now what is the blessing in this context? Chapter 4:7 and 8 …
Ro 4:7-8 KJV: “Saying, Blessed are they whose INIQUITIES ARE FORGIVEN, and whose SINS ARE COVERED. [8] Blessed is the man to whom the Lord WILL NOT IMPUTE SIN.”
THAT is Grace – not performance; not the law and fear program – it is a free gift for us to abide in and continue with for our furtherance and joy of faith.
The motivation is LOVE.
Eph 1:3 KJV: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who HATH BLESSED US WITH ALL SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS in heavenly places IN Christ:”
ALL spiritual blessings IN Christ Jesus. We have an absolute, perfect standing IN Christ.
Col 2:10 KJV: “And ye are COMPLETE IN HIM, which is the head of all principality and power:”
In Christ we have a perfect position by God’s grace.
Now … what about your WALK, your daily life?
Ro 5:1-2 KJV: “Therefore being justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ: [2] By whom also WE HAVE ACCESS by faith into this GRACE wherein WE STAND, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
It is BY FAITH we have access into GRACE. In our lives day in and day out we are to RECOGNIZE the merits of the finished work of Christ – to REALIZE what that means. We are then BY FAITH to appropriate those things because they BELONG TO US. We are to SEE ALL that Christ has done through Calvary. We are to REALIZE that all Christ DID there “is mine.”
How do you find out about all these things God has done for you? You discover them in the word of God. Romans through Philemon tells you all that he has done for you in Christ. You read it and study it, then, by faith, you say, “that’s mine! It’s mine because I AM IN CHRIST JESUS!”
Paul says in Ephesians 6:10, “be strong IN THE LORD.” He is not saying to let the Lord strengthen you. He is saying to BE STRONG in the position you ALREADY HAVE IN CHRIST. Take your stand where God put you – IN CHRIST.
If something comes along and tries to make you feel rejection and punishment, you say: Lord, I have been made the righteousness of God in HIM. Ephesians 1:6 – I’ve been made “accepted in the beloved.” In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; (Ephesians 1:7) Do you see the grace principle there – that everything is GIVEN to you IN Christ?
The MOTIVATION of the grace principle is LOVE. It is GRATITUDE. God GAVE IT ALL to us. The motivation for service is our gratitude to God. Do you remember what Romans 12:1-2 says?
Ro 12:1-2 KJV: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. [2] And be not conformed to this world: but BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
Here’s another great passage!
Tit 3:7-8 KJV: “That being justified BY HIS GRACE, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. [8] This is a faithful saying, and these things I will THAT THOU AFFIRM CONSTANTLY, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.”
Paul said, Titus, teach these things about God’s GRACE; explain to them and exhort them about God’s GRACE all the time. Why? “that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.” THAT IS GRACE MOTIVATION. To maintain our motivation for good works as a believer, we MUST constantly REMIND ourselves and the brethren GRACE principles.
2Co 5:14a KJV: “ For the love of Christ constraineth us;”
Paul doesn’t say, “MY love for Christ makes me serve him.” It is Christ – HIS love for me. When I see all that Christ has done FOR ME at Calvary and see the marvelous, manifold riches of HIS GRACE, it is what causes my heart to RESPOND in gratitude. Grace motivation is the motivation of love, of gratitude.
What do we do when we sin? Instead of producing a false or psychological guilt, grace produces real guilt. What does that mean?
Sometimes people get the idea that the issue of total forgiveness means that sin doesn’t matter. But, God did not save you just so you could go live any way you want to live. You were living THAT WAY BEFORE God saved you. He could have left you in the condition of a lost, hell-bound sinner. But, God saved you by his GRACE – not by your works. Now, that doesn’t mean that works and your life don’t matter. God set you free SO YOU COULD THEN SERVE HIM. You could not do that before you were saved.
Ga 5:13 KJV: “For, brethren, ye have been CALLED UNTO LIBERTY; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”
LOVE is the motivation of grace – not the fear motivation of the performance system of the law, but “by love” – by grace motivation – “serve one another.” The only way to serve God EFFECTIVELY TODAY is on the basis of his grace, motivated by your GRATITUDE.
Total forgiveness does not mean that your sins do not have an effect. Sin does a lot of thing in your life. Sin interferes with your best personal adjustment. It interferes with your ability to function properly as a member of the body of Christ and it will cause you to be unhappy personally. You will lose your joy. It damages the lives of other people, especially those that are closest to you. It messes up your testimony and your effectiveness as an ambassador for Christ is weakened. Other people will look at you and think/say, “If that is a Christian count me out.” That is why personal holiness is so important rather than self-indulgence. Sin will cause you to lose heavenly rewards that you could have received at the judgment seat of Christ. The ultimate natural consequences of sin in our lives is physical death. You can hasten your physical death by constant intemperance in sin because it tears down and the natural consequences of sin come into play. So sin DOES have an effect.
However, when we sin as believers LIVING UNDER GRACE, the Holy Spirit seeks to bring us, not under a system of condemnation, but to bring us under a system of discipline. God, the Holy Spirit uses his word to bring us to discipline regarding what we are doing so that we will think soberly about what we are doing. God knowing that if we ever THINK SOBERLY about WHO WE ARE IN CHRIST, we will once again be motivated to act like it. He knows that IF we can be brought back to SOUND reasoning and thinking—sound doctrine—recovering ourselves from the snare of the devil, we will realize WHO WE REALLY ARE IN CHRIST. We aren’t that old dead sinner in Adam, but a LIVE SAINT in Christ. Those assets can motivate us to SERVE him.
And, we keep GRACE DOCTRINE IN MEMORY by reading and studying God’s words to us, while avoiding those who teach things that are contrary to grace doctrine and principles.
2Ti 2:15-16 KJV: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. [16] But SHUN profane and vain BABBLINGS: for they WILL INCREASE unto more ungodliness.”
1Th 2:12-13 KJV: “That ye would WALK WORTHY of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. [13] For this cause also THANK WE GOD WITHOUT CEASING, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, YE RECEIVED IT not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, THE WORD OF GOD, WHICH EFFECTUALLY WORKETH ALSO IN YOU THAT BELIEVE.”
~Grace School of the Bible, Romans 103 class
GSB Website: http://goo.gl/jPLbcq
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