Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)
You
know, that useless rim looked so nice and clean after all of these years that it
was disappointing to learn that it just didn’t fit.
But when the lug nuts simply do not fit, there is not much use in the
spare wheel!
Isn’t this the way of the world?
First appearances indicate that everything is fine and kosher, then there
is suddenly a fatal flaw.
Just like the time when I saw an advertisement for kosher ham, I realized
the necessity for more than factual truth in advertising!
Yes, you can kosher slaughter a hog.
However, according to the strict dietary laws of the ancient Hebrews, you
probably are not going to sell very much of that meat to those people who still
respect the whole ceremonial system.
In
the same spirit, we must be very diligent in our understanding of the imputation
of Christ’s righteousness.
There are some holiness groups in our day and age who actually believe
that because of their saving experience, they have become wholly righteous!
Unfortunately, they are little better than the pig in the can with the
kosher label.
It just doesn’t work that way.
The imputed righteousness, given to us through justification in Christ,
is ours freely by faith.
Even though we aren’t and never can be a completely kosher pig in this
life, we are counted righteous because of Jesus Christ.
The
radically righteous crowd actually believe that they can no longer sin once they
are saved.
In their view, they have become more like Jesus Christ than even Saint
Paul, or any of the other New Testament writers.
Almost as ridiculous is the Armenian interpretation.
In this view of faith imputed for righteousness, many in our time believe
that their faith is regarded or counted as complete obedience to the law.
By this ordering, Charles Hodge notes that “Faith
is thus made not the instrument but the basis of justification.”
He goes on to give five detailed arguments why this cannot be.
To
make things as simple as possible, let me take a phrase from former presidents
Reagan and Bush when they were talking about taxes.
“If it
quacks like a duck, it’s a duck!”
Well, in the case of this doctrine of justification and imputation, “if
they oink like a pig and still wallow in the mud, they are a pig!”
In spite of the ever-popular image of the political parable Animal
Farm, no amount of purple oil, trimming and grooming can really make a pig a
human.
True, we may soon be transplanting pig parts into humans from hogs
especially bred for that purpose.
And by the turn of the century someone you know might actually have the
heart of a hog.
But that doesn’t make them a hog.
Neither does the imputation of Christ’s righteousness make us
righteous.
Verse
twenty-two of our passage today is the critical analysis.
“...
It was credited to him as righteousness.”
This
is how imputation actually works.
Paul’s argument, in verses thirteen through twenty-one, indicates that
the intricate legalities of the law do not have the power to save.
Instead, it is the covenant promise of God to Abraham and His children
which is empowered by the blood of Christ which calls us through the Spirit to
salvation.
And certainly, we ought to count ourselves part of this calling given to
Abraham.
Paul dwells on this point in the last three verses of our passage today.
It is by faith that Christ’s righteousness is credited to us, as well
as to Abraham.
The
reasoning for this calling in faith is explained in verse sixteen.
“The
promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all
Abraham’s offspring.”
Charles Hodge notes that “the
inheritance is by faith, so that it may be by grace.
And it is by grace, in order that it may be guaranteed.
If salvation is in any way dependent on the merit, the goodness, or the
stability of man, it can never be certain: no, it must be utterly unattainable.
Unless we are saved by grace, we cannot be saved at all.”
This is why it is so vitally important to have the correct understanding
of this doctrine of imputation.
Otherwise, we might end up like that wrong tire for the Model-T Ford --
in good condition perhaps, with all the correct outer appearances, but
unfortunately with the doctrinal lug nut holes in the wrong places.
Thus, we are called in our text to imitate the faithfulness of Abraham. We are called to believe in the scriptural promises of the Lord our God, and like Abraham to give God the glory. And how do we give God the glory in the context of this passage? Very simply, how can we give God the glory due His name? By being fully persuaded that what God promises in the Scriptures is true indeed, and that in counting on His grace alone, we may have life eternal in Jesus Christ. “Only trust Him,” the old hymn goes, “only trust Him now.” What we are unable to accomplish in the means of salvation, is transacted by His mercy through faith by the power of His Son Jesus Christ, as we see at the closing of this chapter. May that trust be ours, this day and all days.
Resources Used:
Places Preached:Hodge, Charles. Romans.
Christ Covenant REFORMED (Presbyterian Church in America) Post Office Box 13926 - Columbus, OH 43213-7926
Rom04c.htm 22 July 95
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