WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Bible, please, and turn with me to Romans chapter 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:09.019 4. Beginning with chapter 1 verse 18, the apostle 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:12.939 argues that all men are sinners. He does that 00:00:12.939 --> 00:00:15.060 quite effectively and concludes that all have 00:00:15.060 --> 00:00:19.320 sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now 00:00:19.320 --> 00:00:21.660 in the last part of chapter 3, beginning with 00:00:21.660 --> 00:00:25.539 verse 21 and end of chapter 4, he deals with 00:00:25.539 --> 00:00:33.439 how sinners can be saved. The salvation is described 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:39.619 here by the phrase justification by faith. It 00:00:39.619 --> 00:00:42.280 might be good for us to define once again what 00:00:42.280 --> 00:00:46.859 justification is. Someone has said that justification, 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:50.460 or to be justified, means just as if I'd never 00:00:50.460 --> 00:00:54.340 sinned. That's okay for where it goes, but it 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:56.460 doesn't quite go far enough because, you see, 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:58.359 that brings me back to the point of innocence. 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:01.600 But justification does something more than that. 00:01:02.479 --> 00:01:06.640 Justification is the judicial act of God whereby 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:11.200 he declares righteous in his sight the one who 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:14.959 puts his faith in Christ. So it's not just being 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:18.219 innocent or being as though I've never sinned, 00:01:18.219 --> 00:01:21.480 but it means to be righteous. in the sight of 00:01:21.480 --> 00:01:26.859 God. That's what a justified person is. And justification 00:01:26.859 --> 00:01:29.840 comes by faith. We have emphasized that now for 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.859 a couple of weeks as we have concluded chapter 00:01:31.859 --> 00:01:36.019 3 in our teaching. I'd like to call out this 00:01:36.019 --> 00:01:40.000 morning faith righteousness as opposed to works 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.959 righteousness. Because it is a righteousness 00:01:42.959 --> 00:01:46.180 that comes to us as a gift from God by faith. 00:01:46.560 --> 00:01:50.909 Therefore it is faith righteousness. Faith righteousness 00:01:50.909 --> 00:01:57.129 is not a Paul created doctrine, nor is it even 00:01:57.129 --> 00:02:00.670 new with the New Testament. As a matter of fact, 00:02:00.989 --> 00:02:03.010 people were saved throughout the Old Testament 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:06.310 on the same basis as you and I are saved by faith 00:02:06.310 --> 00:02:10.469 through God's grace. They may have believed a 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:14.310 different promise or some other aspect of God's 00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:17.389 revelation than we've been given, but Nonetheless, 00:02:17.509 --> 00:02:20.490 it was their faith in that promise or revelation 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:24.849 that saved them. This is true of Abraham, who 00:02:24.849 --> 00:02:29.050 is the example before us today. The story is 00:02:29.050 --> 00:02:32.729 told of the experience of Dr. Harry Ironside, 00:02:33.689 --> 00:02:37.210 who was for 18 years the pastor of Moody Church 00:02:37.210 --> 00:02:39.509 in Chicago. He's been with the Lord now over 00:02:39.509 --> 00:02:43.750 30 years. Dr. Ironside was on vacation one summer 00:02:43.750 --> 00:02:48.009 and visited a church and went to Sunday school. 00:02:49.229 --> 00:02:50.909 How would you like to be the Sunday school teacher 00:02:50.909 --> 00:02:53.050 where Dr. Ironside or someone like that would 00:02:53.050 --> 00:02:55.870 come and sit and do your teaching? Well, the 00:02:55.870 --> 00:02:59.550 teacher didn't know who he was. And in the course 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:01.849 of the lesson, the teacher asked the question, 00:03:02.289 --> 00:03:05.110 how were people saved in Old Testament times? 00:03:06.590 --> 00:03:08.830 And after a little pause, one of the students 00:03:08.830 --> 00:03:10.990 lifted his hand, one of the men in the class, 00:03:11.009 --> 00:03:14.919 and he said, by keeping the law. And the teacher 00:03:14.919 --> 00:03:17.780 said, that's right. But another hand went up 00:03:17.780 --> 00:03:21.039 and it was Dr. Ironside's hand. He said, you 00:03:21.039 --> 00:03:23.479 know, my Bible says that by the deeds of the 00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:27.580 law shall no flesh be justified. Well, the teacher 00:03:27.580 --> 00:03:29.800 was a little embarrassed by that and so he said, 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:35.620 well, does somebody else have an idea? And the 00:03:35.620 --> 00:03:38.000 student, another student lifted his hand and 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.099 this one said, well, they were saved by bringing 00:03:40.099 --> 00:03:43.430 sacrifices to God. Yes, that's right," said the 00:03:43.430 --> 00:03:45.490 teacher, and he tried to go on with the lesson, 00:03:45.550 --> 00:03:47.849 but there was another hand that went up, and 00:03:47.849 --> 00:03:50.409 it was Dr. Ironside's hand again, and he said, 00:03:50.870 --> 00:03:54.330 my Bible says that the blood of bulls and goats 00:03:54.330 --> 00:03:58.169 cannot take away sin. Well, the teacher, who 00:03:58.169 --> 00:04:01.210 was unprepared, was frustrated by this time and 00:04:01.210 --> 00:04:02.889 finally realized that there was someone there 00:04:02.889 --> 00:04:04.770 who knew more than he did, and so finally he 00:04:04.770 --> 00:04:07.569 said, well, then you tell us how people were 00:04:07.569 --> 00:04:10.750 saved in the Old Testament. And so Dr. Ironside 00:04:10.750 --> 00:04:12.909 wanted to explain that people were saved in the 00:04:12.909 --> 00:04:15.270 Old Testament just like they're saved today by 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:20.089 faith, by faith. Abraham illustrates that to 00:04:20.089 --> 00:04:22.910 us, folks. You have to remember that the apostle 00:04:22.910 --> 00:04:25.350 is writing here, particularly with the Jews in 00:04:25.350 --> 00:04:30.069 mind. And so he brings Abraham before them. And 00:04:30.069 --> 00:04:34.810 one could not bring a more important and revered 00:04:34.810 --> 00:04:39.259 figure before a Jew for consideration. Let's 00:04:39.259 --> 00:04:43.199 read what he says. What then shall we say that 00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:45.680 Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:50.220 has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, 00:04:50.259 --> 00:04:53.199 he has something to boast about, but not before 00:04:53.199 --> 00:04:58.199 God. For what does the scripture say? And Abraham 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:02.639 believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 00:05:03.060 --> 00:05:08.329 Genesis 15 .6 Now to the one who works, his wage 00:05:08.329 --> 00:05:11.329 is not reckoned as a favor, but as what is due. 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:14.870 But to the one who does not work, but believes 00:05:14.870 --> 00:05:18.490 in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is 00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:22.389 reckoned as righteousness. Just as David also 00:05:22.389 --> 00:05:24.990 speaks of the blessing upon the man to whom God 00:05:24.990 --> 00:05:29.370 reckons righteousness apart from works. And in 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:33.209 Psalm 32 he quotes these words. Blessed are those 00:05:33.209 --> 00:05:35.970 whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose 00:05:35.970 --> 00:05:39.170 sins have been covered. Blessed is the man whose 00:05:39.170 --> 00:05:44.209 sin the Lord will not take into account. Is this 00:05:44.209 --> 00:05:47.230 blessing then upon the circumcised or upon the 00:05:47.230 --> 00:05:50.930 uncircumcised also? That is, upon the Jew or 00:05:50.930 --> 00:05:55.269 upon the Gentile also. For we say faith was reckoned 00:05:55.269 --> 00:05:57.910 to Abraham as righteousness. How then was it 00:05:57.910 --> 00:06:01.310 reckoned? While he was circumcised or uncircumcised? 00:06:02.170 --> 00:06:06.149 not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 00:06:06.290 --> 00:06:09.490 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal 00:06:09.490 --> 00:06:12.870 of the righteousness of the faith which he had 00:06:12.870 --> 00:06:16.250 while uncircumcised, that he might be the father 00:06:16.250 --> 00:06:19.069 of all who believe without being circumcised, 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:21.850 that righteousness might be reckoned to them, 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:25.050 and the father of circumcision to those who not 00:06:25.050 --> 00:06:27.550 only are of the circumcision, but who also follow 00:06:27.550 --> 00:06:30.589 in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham, 00:06:30.670 --> 00:06:35.170 while he which he had while uncircumcised. For 00:06:35.170 --> 00:06:37.889 the promise to Abraham or to his descendants 00:06:37.889 --> 00:06:41.189 that he would be heir of the world was not through 00:06:41.189 --> 00:06:44.410 the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:49.189 For those who are the law are heirs. Faith is 00:06:49.189 --> 00:06:52.910 made void, and the promise is nullified. For 00:06:52.910 --> 00:06:55.689 the law brings about wrath, but where there is 00:06:55.689 --> 00:06:58.839 no law, neither is there violation. It doesn't 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:01.540 say there's no sin, but it says there's no violation, 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:03.680 there's no transgression, where there's no law. 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:07.480 He says, for this reason it is by faith that 00:07:07.480 --> 00:07:11.120 it might be in accordance with grace, in order 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:14.040 that the promise may be certain to all the descendants, 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:17.660 not only to those who have the law, but also 00:07:17.660 --> 00:07:20.060 to those who have the faith of Abraham, who is 00:07:20.060 --> 00:07:22.740 the father of us all, as it's written, a father 00:07:22.740 --> 00:07:26.370 of many nations, have I made you. in the sight 00:07:26.370 --> 00:07:29.649 of him whom he believed, even God, who gives 00:07:29.649 --> 00:07:33.670 life to the dead and calls into being that which 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:38.970 does not exist. The Apostle brings Abraham to 00:07:38.970 --> 00:07:42.149 our attention in this chapter to illustrate that 00:07:42.149 --> 00:07:45.589 justification is by faith. In the text that we 00:07:45.589 --> 00:07:47.730 read this morning, he is going to explain to 00:07:47.730 --> 00:07:53.750 us what did not justify Abraham. Then next week 00:07:53.750 --> 00:07:57.990 we'll see what did justify Abraham. What did 00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:00.730 not justify Abraham? Well, the answer is three 00:08:00.730 --> 00:08:07.329 -fold. Works, circumcision, and the law. Abraham 00:08:07.329 --> 00:08:10.470 was justified apart from all three of these. 00:08:11.589 --> 00:08:14.089 The apostle explains that very logically. Verses 00:08:14.089 --> 00:08:16.529 1 through 8, he talks about the fact that Abraham 00:08:16.529 --> 00:08:21.699 was justified apart from works. The teaching 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:25.300 of Judaism in Paul's day was that justification 00:08:25.300 --> 00:08:31.519 came by works. In the Expositors Bible Commentary, 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:35.100 Everett Harrison has a helpful paragraph. He 00:08:35.100 --> 00:08:37.799 says, To show that Abraham's close relation to 00:08:37.799 --> 00:08:40.840 God was not based on works, a simple appeal to 00:08:40.840 --> 00:08:44.120 scripture is sufficient. That appeal was the 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.840 more necessary because Judaism, even before Paul's 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:53.769 day, was laying great store by Abraham's piety 00:08:53.769 --> 00:08:58.269 and was grounding it in his obedience. And then 00:08:58.269 --> 00:09:00.909 he quotes from the book of 1 Maccabees, which 00:09:00.909 --> 00:09:03.809 was written, as many of you know, in that intertestamental 00:09:03.809 --> 00:09:07.470 period before the New Testament time. And this 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:09.909 is what the statement says from 1 Maccabees. 00:09:10.490 --> 00:09:13.570 Was not Abraham found faithful in temptation, 00:09:13.710 --> 00:09:15.649 and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness? 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:19.200 You see, that was the feeling, that was the teaching 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:23.000 of the rabbis in that day, that Abraham was found 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.620 faithful. He passed the test. He did not yield 00:09:26.620 --> 00:09:30.259 in temptation and therefore his works caused 00:09:30.259 --> 00:09:34.539 him to be justified in the sight of God. And 00:09:34.539 --> 00:09:36.679 so it is significant that the apostle passes 00:09:36.679 --> 00:09:39.139 over all of that information, which he knew, 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:43.080 because he was a trained rabbi. His teacher was 00:09:43.080 --> 00:09:45.820 one of the most brilliant gifted men of that 00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:49.840 day, Gamaliel. He knew what the Jewish rabbis 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:52.120 taught. He passed over all of that and he goes 00:09:52.120 --> 00:09:54.840 all the way back to Genesis chapter 15 to show 00:09:54.840 --> 00:09:59.940 that in fact Abraham was not saved by his faithfulness. 00:10:00.379 --> 00:10:05.259 Rather he was justified by his faith. Justified 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:08.970 by faith. The apostle points out that if, in 00:10:08.970 --> 00:10:12.129 fact, he had been justified by his works, there 00:10:12.129 --> 00:10:15.409 would be two results. In verse 2 he says that 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:19.429 there would be room for boasting. Abraham, or 00:10:19.429 --> 00:10:23.210 for that matter any of us who would do good enough 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:25.490 to get to heaven, could boast about what we had 00:10:25.490 --> 00:10:28.490 done. And last week we saw that God will have 00:10:28.490 --> 00:10:34.320 no flesh, what? Glory in his presence. Therefore, 00:10:34.360 --> 00:10:37.240 he removes any basis for boasting on our part 00:10:37.240 --> 00:10:40.940 by removing works as the means of salvation. 00:10:41.740 --> 00:10:45.220 The second result, if a person could be justified 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:49.460 by works, is found in verse 4. Salvation would 00:10:49.460 --> 00:10:53.820 come to us on God's part as an obligation. God 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:57.659 would be obliged to give us salvation and it 00:10:57.659 --> 00:11:01.299 would no more at all be a grace or be a favor. 00:11:01.740 --> 00:11:04.500 God would be simply giving us what is our dessert, 00:11:04.600 --> 00:11:07.960 what is our due. And God will not save any man 00:11:07.960 --> 00:11:11.799 on that basis. And so he points out that Abraham 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:15.019 was not saved by works, but rather he was saved 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:18.500 by faith. And so that we can understand the context 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:21.019 of this promise that Abraham believed, take your 00:11:21.019 --> 00:11:23.919 Bible, Go back to the first book, the book of 00:11:23.919 --> 00:11:32.779 Genesis, and look in chapter 15. In verse 1 of 00:11:32.779 --> 00:11:37.179 the chapter, we see these words. After these 00:11:37.179 --> 00:11:41.120 things, the word of the Lord came to Abram. This 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:44.899 is before his name change. The word of the Lord 00:11:44.899 --> 00:11:48.139 came to Abram in a vision saying, Do not fear 00:11:48.139 --> 00:11:52.840 Abram, I am a shield to you. Your reward shall 00:11:52.840 --> 00:11:57.240 be very great. And Abraham said, O Lord God, 00:11:58.039 --> 00:12:01.779 what wilt thou give me, since I am childless? 00:12:02.480 --> 00:12:06.139 And the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus. 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:09.759 Abraham said, since thou hast given me no offspring, 00:12:10.659 --> 00:12:14.460 one born in my house is my heir. What he is really 00:12:14.460 --> 00:12:17.159 saying there in verses 2 and 3 is that because 00:12:17.159 --> 00:12:21.269 he was childless, According to the law of that 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:24.830 day, he had already arranged with his Eleazar 00:12:24.830 --> 00:12:28.169 of Damascus to be his heir and to care for all 00:12:28.169 --> 00:12:31.750 of his things when he died. That was so that 00:12:31.750 --> 00:12:34.309 there could be a distribution of the goods of 00:12:34.309 --> 00:12:39.210 the deceased. Eleazar wasn't, in essence, the 00:12:39.210 --> 00:12:45.169 administrator of the estate of Abram. And he's 00:12:45.169 --> 00:12:47.789 an old man at this time, some 86 years of age. 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:50.549 And so he's got everything all arranged. And 00:12:50.549 --> 00:12:54.850 God says, I've got a great promise for you. Great 00:12:54.850 --> 00:12:56.990 things are going to happen, Abraham. And Abraham 00:12:56.990 --> 00:13:00.970 said, wait a minute, Lord. I'm 86 years of age. 00:13:01.610 --> 00:13:03.929 I don't have any children. How can you say great 00:13:03.929 --> 00:13:07.149 things are going to happen? Well, then the word 00:13:07.149 --> 00:13:11.009 of the Lord came to him. This man will not be 00:13:11.009 --> 00:13:14.960 your heir. But one who shall come forth from 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:20.559 your own body, he shall be your heir." What a 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.259 tremendous promise that was, and what a miracle 00:13:23.259 --> 00:13:27.100 it would take, because Abraham was beyond child 00:13:27.100 --> 00:13:32.200 -bearing years, as was his wife Sarai. But God 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:34.320 says from your own body there is going to come 00:13:34.320 --> 00:13:38.039 a son. And then God took him by the hand and 00:13:38.039 --> 00:13:40.120 took him outside the tent and said, Now Abraham 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:43.669 walked toward the heavens. And count the stars 00:13:43.669 --> 00:13:46.889 if you're able to count them. And he said to 00:13:46.889 --> 00:13:50.870 him, so shall your descendants be. And so God 00:13:50.870 --> 00:13:52.730 not only said, Abraham, you're going to have 00:13:52.730 --> 00:13:56.549 an heir, but you're going to have as many descendants 00:13:56.549 --> 00:14:01.889 as there are stars up in the heavens. That was 00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:05.669 God's promise, his revelation to Abraham. And 00:14:05.669 --> 00:14:10.500 then he says, then he believed in the Lord. And 00:14:10.500 --> 00:14:14.279 he, God, reckoned it to Abram as righteousness. 00:14:15.139 --> 00:14:18.139 So you see, that was the promise that Abram believed. 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:21.360 Abram didn't call upon the name of the Lord Jesus 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:25.480 Christ to be saved. This is 2 ,000 years before 00:14:25.480 --> 00:14:30.460 Jesus Christ was born. Abram believed the promise 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:33.700 that God gave to him. The specific revelation 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:37.240 that he would have a son and that his descendants 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:40.669 would be like the stars of the heavens. Now, 00:14:41.090 --> 00:14:43.309 Abraham did look through a telescope, as it were, 00:14:43.490 --> 00:14:45.889 down through the centuries, and he saw the day 00:14:45.889 --> 00:14:49.690 of the Christ, and he rejoiced in it. But at 00:14:49.690 --> 00:14:52.610 this point, he simply is believing what God told 00:14:52.610 --> 00:14:56.730 him. God honored that faith and counted it to 00:14:56.730 --> 00:15:02.149 him for righteousness. There was nothing in Abram 00:15:02.149 --> 00:15:05.149 himself that caused God to say, boy, there's 00:15:05.149 --> 00:15:08.720 a nice guy. He needs a white hat. He's doing 00:15:08.720 --> 00:15:13.460 okay. I'm going to give him salvation. He wasn't 00:15:13.460 --> 00:15:18.259 a good old boy. Abraham was called by God out 00:15:18.259 --> 00:15:23.840 of idolatry. He was an idol worshiper just as 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:26.840 his forefathers, according to Joshua 24 verses 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:30.679 2 and 3. So there was nothing in Abraham that 00:15:30.679 --> 00:15:32.620 caused God to say, there's somebody special, 00:15:32.639 --> 00:15:36.200 I'm going to save him. God in his sovereign grace 00:15:36.200 --> 00:15:37.980 simply looked down and there was Abraham and 00:15:37.980 --> 00:15:40.720 God chose him and called him out. Abraham responded 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:44.840 by faith. And when God gave him the promise, 00:15:45.820 --> 00:15:48.740 Abraham believed in the Lord in a saving sense 00:15:48.740 --> 00:15:52.679 and God saved him at that moment. Or as it puts 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.580 it here, he counted it to him for righteousness. 00:15:57.019 --> 00:15:59.200 Actually when it says that Abraham believed God 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:03.580 here in Genesis 6, excuse me, 15 verse 6, It 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:06.960 literally means, in the Hebrew, Abraham amen'd 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:11.240 God. I know amen is lost in our vocabulary today. 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:15.580 We hardly ever use it as sad. But Abraham was 00:16:15.580 --> 00:16:18.600 not afraid to say amen in church. There was just 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:21.419 a small crowd, him and God. But when God gave 00:16:21.419 --> 00:16:24.620 him the promise, he shouted, amen! He believed 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:28.460 it. He said, that's mine. I claim it for myself. 00:16:28.559 --> 00:16:32.919 I agree with that. And God said, your faith is 00:16:32.919 --> 00:16:35.820 counted as righteousness. And I'll go back to 00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:38.740 Romans chapter four. That's where the apostle 00:16:38.740 --> 00:16:45.220 gets this quotation in verse three. Abraham believed 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.059 God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 00:16:48.299 --> 00:16:51.940 And you notice the word reckoned. Eleven times 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.700 in this chapter this same Greek word is used, 00:16:54.740 --> 00:16:58.559 but in the English translations it's run across 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.919 variously as reckoned or imputed or counted. 00:17:03.120 --> 00:17:05.099 But it all means the same thing. It's a word 00:17:05.099 --> 00:17:08.599 that goes back to the accounting world. Some 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:11.940 of you here are accountants. So you can identify 00:17:11.940 --> 00:17:14.359 very readily with this word. It simply means 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:19.619 to credit to an account. You go down to the bank 00:17:19.619 --> 00:17:22.619 with your paycheck. You endorse the check, fill 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:24.859 out the deposit slip, you hand it to the girl, 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:27.579 She takes it, she punches the numbers in the 00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:31.259 computer and what is she doing? She is imputing 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:34.740 that amount of money to your account. She is 00:17:34.740 --> 00:17:38.920 reckoning it to you. She is crediting it to you 00:17:38.920 --> 00:17:42.279 personally. And so what it really is saying here 00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:44.960 is that God looked at the account of righteousness, 00:17:45.380 --> 00:17:49.819 in Abraham's case, and it was bankrupt. There 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:54.079 was nothing there that God could look at to give 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:58.839 Abraham credit. He was absolutely without credit. 00:17:58.880 --> 00:18:03.859 He was bankrupt. It was empty. So God gave Abram 00:18:03.859 --> 00:18:07.180 a promise. Abram believed it, and God said, now 00:18:07.180 --> 00:18:09.900 I'm going to give that account righteousness, 00:18:10.059 --> 00:18:13.140 and he put into his account perfect righteousness 00:18:13.140 --> 00:18:18.809 in his sight. That's what the word means. Thus, 00:18:19.230 --> 00:18:22.230 God put to Abram's account, placed on deposit 00:18:22.230 --> 00:18:26.170 for him, or credited to him, righteousness. That's 00:18:26.170 --> 00:18:29.089 what it means. You see, that's what happens when 00:18:29.089 --> 00:18:32.450 every person trusts God's promise and calls upon 00:18:32.450 --> 00:18:35.990 Christ for salvation today. At that instant, 00:18:36.190 --> 00:18:40.349 the bankrupt account is filled up with perfect 00:18:40.349 --> 00:18:42.930 righteousness. God reckons the righteousness 00:18:42.930 --> 00:18:50.529 of Christ to the believer. There are some people 00:18:50.529 --> 00:18:54.430 who think that they are beyond that point. I've 00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:57.309 talked to people who've said, you know, that's 00:18:57.309 --> 00:19:00.750 great for good people, but I'm a sinner. I've 00:19:00.750 --> 00:19:03.930 done terrible things. And when they say that, 00:19:03.950 --> 00:19:07.410 they've missed the whole point. God doesn't justify 00:19:07.410 --> 00:19:10.529 the good people. Now that's what religion teaches. 00:19:10.630 --> 00:19:12.849 That's what liberal theology likes to promote. 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:15.619 that if you're good enough, God will justify 00:19:15.619 --> 00:19:18.259 you. He'll pass you by, say, okay, slap you on 00:19:18.259 --> 00:19:21.220 the back, let you come on in. But that's foreign 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:24.839 to the word of God. In fact, according to verse 00:19:24.839 --> 00:19:28.680 five, who is it that God justifies? Is it the 00:19:28.680 --> 00:19:35.099 good? What's the word? The ungodly. In other 00:19:35.099 --> 00:19:36.960 words, friend, if you feel today that you're 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.599 unworthy of salvation, that you have no righteousness, 00:19:40.119 --> 00:19:43.200 You are a prime candidate for God's salvation. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:47.059 If you recognize that you are ungodly or without 00:19:47.059 --> 00:19:52.759 God, God can justify you. It's possible to be 00:19:52.759 --> 00:19:54.960 too good to be saved, but it's not possible to 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:59.980 be too bad to be saved. I don't care how deeply 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:02.519 you may feel that you've failed and you've sinned 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:05.220 and you're exed out before God, I'm going to 00:20:05.220 --> 00:20:09.230 tell you you're not. God justifies the ungodly 00:20:09.230 --> 00:20:12.250 and he may do that because you see Jesus Christ 00:20:12.250 --> 00:20:15.529 has paid for your sins in full at the cross. 00:20:16.630 --> 00:20:19.430 All of the demands of the law upon the sinner, 00:20:19.829 --> 00:20:22.970 Jesus took in himself. He paid the price in full 00:20:22.970 --> 00:20:26.730 and he said as he died, it is finished. Literally 00:20:26.730 --> 00:20:31.809 the price is paid. So that now a person who will 00:20:31.809 --> 00:20:35.390 may trust the Lord Jesus Christ and all of his 00:20:35.390 --> 00:20:38.490 sin is imputed to Christ, Christ's righteousness 00:20:38.490 --> 00:20:42.069 is given to him, and he's saved. And that's how 00:20:42.069 --> 00:20:46.470 God receives us. Have you trusted Jesus Christ 00:20:46.470 --> 00:20:50.490 that way? That's what happened to Abraham. He 00:20:50.490 --> 00:20:54.190 hadn't read Romans 4 yet, but that's what happened 00:20:54.190 --> 00:20:56.710 to Abraham. He just didn't know all of this at 00:20:56.710 --> 00:21:00.450 that point. Now this doctrine that we're talking 00:21:00.450 --> 00:21:04.759 about is affirmed by David. That's interesting. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:07.400 David writes in a different dispensation, a different 00:21:07.400 --> 00:21:13.480 age. He writes under the law. David wrote as 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:17.099 a Christian, as a believer. Not as a Christian, 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:22.779 as a believer. And he undergirds what the Apostles 00:21:22.779 --> 00:21:25.779 have been saying in Psalm 32. Blessed are those 00:21:25.779 --> 00:21:29.170 whose lawless deeds have been forgiven. and whose 00:21:29.170 --> 00:21:32.029 sins have been covered, blessed is the man whose 00:21:32.029 --> 00:21:34.970 sin the Lord will not take into account." Now, 00:21:35.089 --> 00:21:37.730 he doesn't use the word righteousness or justify, 00:21:38.289 --> 00:21:41.589 but he does use that word take into account or 00:21:41.589 --> 00:21:45.049 reckon here, and that's why Paul uses this quotation. 00:21:46.369 --> 00:21:48.430 David is saying the same thing. Now the interesting 00:21:48.430 --> 00:21:51.410 thing is that David is saying this in Psalm 32 00:21:51.410 --> 00:21:54.769 after he sinned as a Christian. You know, there 00:21:54.769 --> 00:21:59.539 are those poor Christians who live the Christian 00:21:59.539 --> 00:22:02.660 life, they live throughout their lives under 00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:05.619 the fear of losing their salvation, for fear 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:08.279 that they're going to do something wrong and 00:22:08.279 --> 00:22:11.700 lose out in the end. I pity them. As a matter 00:22:11.700 --> 00:22:14.400 of fact, Dr. Harry Ironside, whom I quoted earlier, 00:22:14.460 --> 00:22:16.640 was of that persuasion earlier in his years, 00:22:17.099 --> 00:22:18.660 and God got him straightened out, and he wrote 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:20.900 a book about it. I think it's been republished 00:22:20.900 --> 00:22:24.700 recently, in fact, as he came to understand that 00:22:24.700 --> 00:22:28.059 justification by faith as an eternal proposition. 00:22:29.559 --> 00:22:34.400 It takes place once and forever. You see, David 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:37.500 says essentially the same thing that Paul is 00:22:37.500 --> 00:22:40.599 saying, but he said it after a terrible sin as 00:22:40.599 --> 00:22:43.839 a believer. So the implication is that his terrible 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:48.960 sin of adultery with Bathsheba, that terrible 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.960 sin did not interrupt his justification. Even 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:54.920 though he had grievously sinned, even though 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.500 God was greatly displeased, he was still a child 00:22:58.500 --> 00:23:02.720 of God. And he says, blessed is the man who sinned, 00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:05.140 the Lord will not hold against him. Essentially 00:23:05.140 --> 00:23:07.960 is what he's saying. Do you understand that once 00:23:07.960 --> 00:23:10.220 you are saved, there is no sin that you can ever 00:23:10.220 --> 00:23:12.859 commit that God will ever hold against you? Do 00:23:12.859 --> 00:23:16.420 you understand that? According to Colossians 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:19.099 chapter 2, all of your sins have been forgiven 00:23:19.099 --> 00:23:24.369 in Jesus Christ, past, present, and future. Blessed 00:23:24.369 --> 00:23:28.410 truth, wonderful doctrine, justification by faith. 00:23:28.650 --> 00:23:31.289 We are not justified by works and we can't lose 00:23:31.289 --> 00:23:35.250 our salvation by works. We are justified by faith 00:23:35.250 --> 00:23:40.210 through grace and we are saved by grace. It's 00:23:40.210 --> 00:23:42.329 either all of works or it's all of grace, one 00:23:42.329 --> 00:23:45.630 or the other. We can't mix the two. And the blessed 00:23:45.630 --> 00:23:49.170 truth of the word is that we are justified by 00:23:49.170 --> 00:23:54.250 faith and it's of God's grace. Secondly, we notice, 00:23:54.329 --> 00:23:57.789 verses 9 through 12, that Abraham was justified 00:23:57.789 --> 00:24:00.509 apart from circumcision. That's difficult for 00:24:00.509 --> 00:24:03.890 us to understand the import of that. Because 00:24:03.890 --> 00:24:07.390 today circumcision is a matter of hygiene, according 00:24:07.390 --> 00:24:11.490 to most of the medical profession. I started 00:24:11.490 --> 00:24:13.710 to say perfection, that's what some doctors would 00:24:13.710 --> 00:24:19.269 like me to say, but it's profession. And in that 00:24:19.269 --> 00:24:23.970 day, it was something far deeper. God may have 00:24:23.970 --> 00:24:27.170 given it secondarily for hygiene among his people, 00:24:27.769 --> 00:24:32.289 but he gave it primarily as a sign of the covenant 00:24:32.289 --> 00:24:36.250 that he established with them. That's what circumcision 00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:40.269 was all about. Now the Jews boasted in it. To 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:43.269 them, circumcision was just about everything. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:46.720 Now they had a right to boast at first because 00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:48.640 it was the symbol that they belonged to God, 00:24:48.700 --> 00:24:51.380 they had trusted the Lord, they were following 00:24:51.380 --> 00:24:54.980 him, and this was a physical sign of it. But 00:24:54.980 --> 00:24:58.960 as the centuries transpired, the emphasis was 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.059 put less and less upon the faith and more and 00:25:01.059 --> 00:25:04.680 more upon the ritual. Until in the day when Paul 00:25:04.680 --> 00:25:06.480 was writing these words, the Jews had forgotten 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:10.059 about personal faith in the Lord, and their whole 00:25:10.059 --> 00:25:12.700 emphasis was upon the ritual of circumcision. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:16.259 On the eighth day of a boy's life he was circumcised. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:19.839 And to them that brought him into the covenant 00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:24.079 relationship with God. No emphasis on personal 00:25:24.079 --> 00:25:27.279 faith. It was just a ritual, a rite that they 00:25:27.279 --> 00:25:31.339 went through. Now the Jews boasted so much in 00:25:31.339 --> 00:25:33.200 this that they looked upon everybody else who 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:35.740 was uncircumcised as being unworthy of being 00:25:35.740 --> 00:25:39.470 related to God. And so the apostle writes to 00:25:39.470 --> 00:25:41.769 these Jewish Christians who still had some of 00:25:41.769 --> 00:25:43.589 this thinking, and he says, I want to ask you 00:25:43.589 --> 00:25:47.789 something. When Abraham was justified, was he 00:25:47.789 --> 00:25:52.910 circumcised or uncircumcised? And horror of horrors 00:25:52.910 --> 00:25:57.609 to the Jews. He was justified 14 years before 00:25:57.609 --> 00:26:00.569 he was circumcised. In other words, he was still 00:26:00.569 --> 00:26:06.859 a Gentile when he was justified by faith. Now 00:26:06.859 --> 00:26:09.720 you may not understand or appreciate the impact 00:26:09.720 --> 00:26:14.539 of that, but a Jew would. That was a tremendous 00:26:14.539 --> 00:26:18.559 blow to his pride, to his boasting, to understand 00:26:18.559 --> 00:26:22.140 that Abraham had been justified before he was 00:26:22.140 --> 00:26:26.980 circumcised. Now why was it that God ordered 00:26:26.980 --> 00:26:30.579 it that way? It was so that Abraham could be 00:26:30.579 --> 00:26:34.970 the father of the faith, quote unquote, to both 00:26:34.970 --> 00:26:40.329 Jews and Gentiles, to all who believe. So that 00:26:40.329 --> 00:26:43.230 today, whether one is a Jew of the circumcision 00:26:43.230 --> 00:26:47.769 or a Gentile of the so -called uncircumcision, 00:26:48.410 --> 00:26:51.670 one is related to God and is a part of Abraham's 00:26:51.670 --> 00:26:55.130 descendants by faith. His family is the family 00:26:55.130 --> 00:26:58.769 of faith. I'd like to make an application here 00:26:58.769 --> 00:27:01.750 because there is a parallel today to what circumcision 00:27:01.750 --> 00:27:06.380 was to the Jews. It's baptism. There's baptism. 00:27:06.859 --> 00:27:10.019 Now, the parallel is not entirely wrong. You 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:13.119 see, circumcision was to the Jews an outward 00:27:13.119 --> 00:27:17.940 sign of their inward faith in God. Isn't that 00:27:17.940 --> 00:27:22.619 what baptism is? Yes, it is. Baptism is an outward 00:27:22.619 --> 00:27:24.779 evidence of the fact that one has trusted the 00:27:24.779 --> 00:27:28.410 Lord Jesus Christ. Circumcision did not add to 00:27:28.410 --> 00:27:31.869 the Jews' salvation. Baptism does not add to 00:27:31.869 --> 00:27:34.910 the Christians' salvation. We're justified by 00:27:34.910 --> 00:27:39.569 faith. But baptism is right. It is ordered for 00:27:39.569 --> 00:27:42.130 us just as circumcision was ordered for the Jews 00:27:42.130 --> 00:27:45.190 under the law. The Lord commands that those of 00:27:45.190 --> 00:27:48.410 us who trust Christ then follow him by baptism. 00:27:49.750 --> 00:27:52.740 Now I'll take it a point further. I believe that 00:27:52.740 --> 00:27:55.339 this is at least part of the origin of infant 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:59.339 baptism. The parallel was drawn too closely. 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:03.240 So the people figured, well, if there's a parallel 00:28:03.240 --> 00:28:05.920 here then and Jewish boys were circumcised the 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.279 eighth day according to the law, then we should 00:28:08.279 --> 00:28:11.059 have our babies sprinkled as infants to bring 00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:14.740 them into the covenant. I see nothing wrong with 00:28:14.740 --> 00:28:18.799 presenting a baby in dedication to God, but infant 00:28:18.799 --> 00:28:23.470 baptism finds no place in the scripture. Now 00:28:23.470 --> 00:28:27.289 I would like right now to quote for you every 00:28:27.289 --> 00:28:31.829 scripture that teaches them from baptism. I want 00:28:31.829 --> 00:28:33.849 you to get a pencil and paper handy. I want you 00:28:33.849 --> 00:28:35.950 to write down the references because I'm going 00:28:35.950 --> 00:28:37.950 to give you each one of them right now. Are you 00:28:37.950 --> 00:28:43.309 ready? How'd you like that? Did you get them 00:28:43.309 --> 00:28:47.430 all? Did you write them down? Got the point? 00:28:48.210 --> 00:28:51.009 It's not found in the scriptures. It's not there 00:28:51.009 --> 00:28:55.650 at all. So while there is a parallel with circumcision, 00:28:56.150 --> 00:28:59.170 we must not draw that parallel too closely. Circumcision 00:28:59.170 --> 00:29:02.150 was the sign that one was related to God through 00:29:02.150 --> 00:29:05.069 the covenant of the law. Baptism is a sign that 00:29:05.069 --> 00:29:08.450 one is related by personal faith to God through 00:29:08.450 --> 00:29:13.210 the new covenant based upon Christ's shed blood. 00:29:14.170 --> 00:29:16.569 Baptism is important, but it doesn't make one 00:29:16.569 --> 00:29:20.900 saved. If today you're trusting in baptism or 00:29:20.900 --> 00:29:23.660 some other ritual to get you to heaven, dear 00:29:23.660 --> 00:29:27.059 friend, may I warn you that that trust of yours, 00:29:27.160 --> 00:29:29.720 however sincere it may be, is wrongly placed. 00:29:31.000 --> 00:29:32.980 God doesn't take anybody to heaven because he's 00:29:32.980 --> 00:29:37.559 been baptized. Now, I was baptized as an infant. 00:29:39.380 --> 00:29:42.640 I was sprinkled as an infant, to be more correct, 00:29:43.559 --> 00:29:46.799 and it did something for me. It got my forehead 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:51.630 wet. But that's all it did. And I don't mean 00:29:51.630 --> 00:29:54.390 to make light of something that is very meaningful 00:29:54.390 --> 00:29:56.250 to some people, but I would like to say this. 00:29:56.569 --> 00:30:00.049 It is not meaningful to God. It means nothing 00:30:00.049 --> 00:30:05.470 to God. What does? Personal faith in Jesus Christ. 00:30:07.029 --> 00:30:09.089 Now there's something else I want to say. And 00:30:09.089 --> 00:30:11.809 that is that there is still today a circumcision. 00:30:13.420 --> 00:30:16.279 It is an inward circumcision. The apostle says 00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:18.779 in Colossians chapter 2 that it is a circumcision 00:30:18.779 --> 00:30:22.359 without hands. In other words, it's not a physical 00:30:22.359 --> 00:30:25.839 circumcision. He calls it the cutting away of 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:30.380 the old man from us. When you and I were saved, 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:33.720 the moment we trusted Christ, the Holy Spirit 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:37.440 did a circumcision in our hearts and he cut away 00:30:37.440 --> 00:30:41.859 from us the old man. And that's why he goes on 00:30:41.859 --> 00:30:44.619 to say, Now you're to put away the deeds of that 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:49.099 old man. You're no longer that old man. So don't 00:30:49.099 --> 00:30:55.740 lie. Don't get angry. Don't be involved in adultery, 00:30:56.900 --> 00:31:00.059 in immorality, in impurity. Because those are 00:31:00.059 --> 00:31:03.579 a part of the old man and he was cut away from 00:31:03.579 --> 00:31:07.180 you when you were saved. Rather, he says, walk 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:11.599 as the new man. And add to yourself humility 00:31:11.599 --> 00:31:16.180 and love and so on. Colossians chapter 3. That's 00:31:16.180 --> 00:31:18.819 what that's all about. So today there is a circumcision. 00:31:19.000 --> 00:31:20.880 It's inside, it's inward, it happens the moment 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:24.859 we're saved. But we are not justified by our 00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:27.599 works. Whether it be physical circumcision or 00:31:27.599 --> 00:31:32.519 baptism, these things do not justify one. Finally, 00:31:33.079 --> 00:31:36.079 and briefly, Abraham was not justified either 00:31:36.079 --> 00:31:40.019 by the law. But that's very easy to understand 00:31:40.019 --> 00:31:43.779 if you simply know the chronology of the Old 00:31:43.779 --> 00:31:48.339 Testament. Abraham lived about 600 years before 00:31:48.339 --> 00:31:52.460 the law was even given. So there's no way he 00:31:52.460 --> 00:31:56.119 could have been justified by the law. In fact, 00:31:56.160 --> 00:31:58.920 you will find three times in verses 13 through 00:31:58.920 --> 00:32:02.839 17 the word promise. And that's why we call the 00:32:02.839 --> 00:32:05.640 period of time from Abraham up until Moses the 00:32:05.640 --> 00:32:09.410 age of promise. God dealt with his people on 00:32:09.410 --> 00:32:12.950 the basis of his promise to Abraham, which was 00:32:12.950 --> 00:32:16.490 carried on to Isaac and to Jacob and to his descendants. 00:32:17.509 --> 00:32:19.849 And then beginning with the Jews as they came 00:32:19.849 --> 00:32:22.289 out of Egypt to Mount Sinai, God dealt with them 00:32:22.289 --> 00:32:25.910 on the basis of the law. But that period of time 00:32:25.910 --> 00:32:28.470 between Abraham and up to Mount Sinai is usually 00:32:28.470 --> 00:32:32.069 called the age of promise. You see, promise is 00:32:32.069 --> 00:32:34.990 something that comes by grace. It's not deserved. 00:32:35.369 --> 00:32:39.079 It's by favor. And that's how God dealt with 00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:42.380 Abraham. And that's how God deals with us too. 00:32:42.980 --> 00:32:45.240 God doesn't save us on the basis of the good 00:32:45.240 --> 00:32:49.119 things we do or our obedience to the Ten Commandments. 00:32:49.700 --> 00:32:53.680 He saves us because we believe his promise. Now 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:56.259 again, the apostle emphasizes the fact that God 00:32:56.259 --> 00:32:59.720 justifies the ungodly. Not because they keep 00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:02.859 the law, but because they trust his promise. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:06.099 And all of us today who have made that decision 00:33:06.099 --> 00:33:09.920 to trust Jesus Christ are part of Abraham's descendants. 00:33:10.119 --> 00:33:12.200 And you notice that he says in verse 17, and 00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:17.200 here he quotes from Genesis 17 verse 5, he says, 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:21.859 a father of many nations have I made you to Abraham. 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:25.400 Now that's true in a physical sense, isn't it? 00:33:26.440 --> 00:33:29.680 Today not only the Jews are descendants of Abraham, 00:33:29.779 --> 00:33:34.980 but who else? The Arabs. They are descendants 00:33:34.980 --> 00:33:39.440 of Abraham through Ishmael, his son by Hagar, 00:33:39.960 --> 00:33:43.900 the bondmaid to his wife Sarah. So he has many 00:33:43.900 --> 00:33:47.559 nations in the world today and his kids are still 00:33:47.559 --> 00:33:50.380 squabbling, aren't they? Some of us know what 00:33:50.380 --> 00:33:53.630 that's like in raising kids. So it's true physically, 00:33:53.769 --> 00:33:55.750 but you see it's true spiritually too that he 00:33:55.750 --> 00:33:58.910 is the father of many nations. Because for many 00:33:58.910 --> 00:34:01.230 nations of the world there are those who trust 00:34:01.230 --> 00:34:04.269 the Lord Jesus Christ and who are part of the 00:34:04.269 --> 00:34:07.470 family of God. So that in that spiritual sense 00:34:07.470 --> 00:34:10.869 he is the father of many nations as well. You 00:34:10.869 --> 00:34:13.949 see it's faith that counts with God. Not works, 00:34:14.909 --> 00:34:19.050 not ritual, not keeping the law, but it's faith. 00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:22.980 and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't 00:34:22.980 --> 00:34:25.840 look for self -righteousness, he looks for faith 00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:29.179 -righteousness. Righteousness that comes by faith 00:34:29.179 --> 00:34:33.000 in Jesus Christ. Is that the righteousness you 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:37.059 have today? Is that how you're intending to get 00:34:37.059 --> 00:34:42.059 to heaven? By faith in Christ? Or are you still 00:34:42.059 --> 00:34:46.429 planning to get there some other way? If that 00:34:46.429 --> 00:34:49.789 be the case, then before God, I must tell you 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:52.809 to be a faithful servant of His, that if you're 00:34:52.809 --> 00:34:54.429 trying to get there another way, you'll never 00:34:54.429 --> 00:34:58.570 make it. There are many ways that seem right 00:34:58.570 --> 00:35:00.650 unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways 00:35:00.650 --> 00:35:04.010 of death, according to Proverbs. The only way 00:35:04.010 --> 00:35:07.550 to get to heaven is God's way, by His provision 00:35:07.550 --> 00:35:12.130 and His Son. If you've not trusted Christ, I 00:35:12.130 --> 00:35:15.179 hope you will before you leave here. And then 00:35:15.179 --> 00:35:17.539 in closing to those of us who have done that, 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:21.360 who are Christians, you know God has performed 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:25.480 a marvelous operation in us, an inward circumcision. 00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:30.320 Does your life witness to that? Does your lifestyle 00:35:30.320 --> 00:35:33.179 reflect the fact that God has cut away the old 00:35:33.179 --> 00:35:36.619 man from you? Or are you still putting on the 00:35:36.619 --> 00:35:39.860 deeds of the old man and living like a sinner? 00:35:41.239 --> 00:35:43.300 Now we never get to the point in this world, 00:35:43.300 --> 00:35:46.500 we believe, of sinless perfection, but we ought 00:35:46.500 --> 00:35:50.039 to be growing more and more in holiness. There 00:35:50.039 --> 00:35:52.119 ought to be more and more purity in our lives, 00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:54.820 more and more love, more and more humility, more 00:35:54.820 --> 00:35:59.019 and more Christ -likeness. Is that where you 00:35:59.019 --> 00:36:02.360 are today in your Christian walk? I'm not saying 00:36:02.360 --> 00:36:04.639 are you perfect, I'm saying are you growing to 00:36:04.639 --> 00:36:08.079 be like Jesus Christ? Or are you slipping back 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:11.860 the other direction? If so, then today may I 00:36:11.860 --> 00:36:14.820 exhort you as a brother in Christ to put off 00:36:14.820 --> 00:36:18.699 the old man with his deeds and to put on the 00:36:18.699 --> 00:36:22.719 new man which is created in Christ Jesus after 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:26.460 righteousness and true holiness. Let's pray.