Those Who Received
Heavenly Blessing by Faith
< Romans 4:1-8 >
"What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according
to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something
to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture
say? 'Abraham believed in God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.'
Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as
debt. But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, just as David
also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness
apart from works. 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord
shall not impute sin.'"
Blessed are those whose sins
have been blotted out
I give thanks to the Lord for having
saved many souls these days. The Bible talks about blessed people
in Romans chapter 4, so I would like to talk about those who have
been blessed.
"Just as David also describes
the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart
from works. 'Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the Lord
shall not impute sin'" (Romans 4:6-8). The Bible talks
about those people who have been blessed before God. Truly blessed
are those whose sins are blotted out before God and to whom the
Lord will not impute sin.
Before we go deeper into the Scriptures,
let's examine our present state as it is. The Bible talks about
the blessed people who have received the remission of their sins.
Let's then think about whether we also deserve to be blessed or
not.
There is not a single person in this
world who doesn't sin. Mankind commits as much sin as a thick cloud
just as it is written in Isaiah 44:22. Nobody is able to avoid God's
judgment without the grace of Jesus Christ.
We were delivered from our sins and
from God's judgment by Jesus' baptism and blood on the Cross, through
which the Lord gave us the remission of sins. Furthermore, we are
now able to live because of the sacrifice Jesus Christ offered.
Could there possibly be one who never commits sin in this world
throughout his/her whole life? Whether one is a person who has received
the remission of sin or not, one sins throughout his/her life. Since
we continually commit sins without even realizing it, we are destined
to receive judgment due to the sins.
I believe in the fact that a person
who possesses even the slightest amount of sin will go to hell.
Why? Because the Bible says that the wages of sin is death (Romans
6:23). The wages of sin, whatever it may be, should be paid and
the sins are forgiven only after one has paid the price. Sin only
brings judgment.
We live amidst all sorts of sin, both
grave and small, such as sins due to ignorance, sins committed with
knowledge, and sins caused by infirmities. Strictly speaking, we
cannot help but to admit our sins before God, even if we have good
excuses to give Him. Do you agree with this concept? It is not right
for us to refuse admitting our sins even though all our sins have
been forgiven. Everyone must admit the things that should be admitted.
Only the righteous can praise
the Lord
The righteous, whose sins and iniquities
have already been forgiven and covered, are sinless and give thanks
to God. We cannot but thank God every hour and minute, whenever
we come forth before Him, for the Lord took away all our sins, even
though our sins are as much as a thick cloud. We give thanks to
the Lord who took away all our sins by being baptized by John the
Baptist at the Jordan River, and received the judgment on the Cross
in our place.
If the Lord had neither taken all
our sins onto Him through His baptism nor had been crucified and
died to pay the wages of sin, could we impudently call Him the Father?
How could we praise the Lord? How could we praise the name of God
and give thanks to His gift of salvation and glorify Him? All these
are due to the gift of God's grace.
We, as the saints, can praise the
Lord and give thanks to him at this time because our sins have already
been blotted out. Through Christ's sacrifice and the fact that the
Lord took away all our sins, including the sins as small as a whit,
we can praise the Lord.
Though we have been forgiven for our
sins, we cannot become perfect by our deeds while living on this
earth. All of us are weak, but we, as the righteous, praise the
Lord who paid the wages of all the sins of sinners with His grace.
Are you in the darkness? No matter what kinds of darkness may exist,
if we acknowledge even the smallest bit of sin before God, if we
confess that we have sinned before God, and if we believe in the
Lord who took away all these sins, the truth of the Lord will allow
us to praise and give thanks to Him. We become the saints who cannot
help praising Jesus Christ because of His grace and forgiveness
of sins. Moreover, we become the worshipers to God after receiving
the grace of the remission of sin in our hearts.
If we are made righteous
without works, it is the gift of God
"What then shall we say that
Abraham our father has found according to the flesh? For if Abraham
was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God. For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed in
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' Now to him
who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. But to
him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is accounted for righteousness" (Romans 4:1-5).
Human sin is expiated only after its
wages are paid. Are you sure that your conscience is cleansed? Regardless
of what kinds of sins they may be, our consciences can be cleansed
only after the wages of sin are paid. We, sinners, had no other
choice but to die, but the Lord died for our sins. Therefore, sinners
were made to be righteous by being saved.
In Romans chapter 4, Paul said that
sinners were saved by Jesus Christ, who took all the sins of the
world onto Him at the Jordan River and was crucified to be judged
for their sins, using Abraham, the ancestor of faith who believed
in God's word, as an example. The Bible says that Abraham became
righteous because he believed in God. He was not saved by his own
deeds, but by the faith in God's word. Therefore, God accounted
him to be righteous. Abraham obtained salvation by believing in
God's words and became the father of all those who believe. He became
righteous by believing in the covenant of God.
What is the salvation from sin and
the grace of God that were bestowed on us sinners? Let's think about
this to make the point clear. "Now to him who works, the
wages are not counted as grace but as debt" (Romans 4:4).
This verse talks about the salvation of God, which saved us from
all sins. It talks about the remission of sins. "Now to
him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt."
If a man receives wages for his work, will he regard his wages as
grace or as a debt? Paul the Apostle explains salvation, using Abraham
as an example. It is natural for a man who worked to receive the
wages for his work in return. However, if we are made to be as righteous
as the saints, even if we didn't lead perfect lives, it is through
God's gift, not through our own efforts.
"Now to him who works, the
wages are not counted as grace but as debt" (Romans 4:4).
The salvation through the forgiveness of sins is due to the Lord's
baptism and bloodshed of sacrifice. Salvation was made possible
through grace and the gift of the remission of sins. Mankind cannot
restrain from sinning, so they are forced to admit that they have
sinned. They cannot wash away their sins, no matter what doctrines
they may believe, or however hard they may pray for their sins.
The only way for sinners to wash away
their sins is to believe in the salvation that says the Lord took
the sins of the world onto Him by being baptized by John the Baptist
at the Jordan River, and was crucified to receive the vicarious
judgment for the sins. Sinners don't have the qualifications to
pay for their own sins with any kind of sacrifice made on their
own. All that sinners are able to do is to believe in the salvation
through the forgiveness of sins. The only thing they can rely on
is God's grace.
By receiving baptism at the Jordan
River, Jesus took away all our sins in the most suitable way, and
by sacrificing Himself on the Cross, sinners were saved from all
their sins. This includes the small sins we commit due to our weaknesses
under Satan's deceptions and the sins as big as a high mountain.
Therefore, sinners received salvation by the faith in the baptism
and the blood of Jesus Christ. Through God's free gift of salvation,
we who were sinners are now righteous.
The remission of sin is given
only by grace and gift
Paul the Apostle talks about how a
sinner is saved from all his/her sins. "Now to him who works,
the wages are not accounted as grace but as debt." He explains
the grace of salvation by comparing it to the labors in this world.
If a sinner, after having worked before God, says that he/she obtained
salvation from his/her sins, it is not out of God's gift but out
of his/her works instead. The remission of sins is given only by
grace and as a gift. None of our deeds are included in the grace
of God. Was the salvation from sin that we received God's gift to
us, or not? Yes, it was. We had no other choice but to perish because
of our sins. However, Jesus Christ, our Savior, took all our sins
onto Him by getting baptized by John the Baptist at Jordan River.
We were saved from our sins by believing
in the fact that Jesus Christ paid the wages of death and died for
us. He sanctified us by taking away all our sins through His baptism
and saved us from all our sins by bearing the sins to the crucifixion.
All these are out of the grace of Jesus' salvation. Our being delivered
was made possible through God's grace. It's a gift. It's free of
charge. Sinners were saved by God's love toward sinners. Jesus took
away all our sins through His baptism and saved sinners from all
the sins in the world and from all the judgments of God by being
crucified.
"But to him who does not work,
but believes in Jesus Christ who justifies the ungodly, his faith
is accounted for righteousness" (Romans 4:5). Before, we
talked about the person who works. The phrase, "But to him
who does not work" refers to those who don't perform any
virtuous deeds for the purpose of becoming righteous. Paul continues
with the rest of the verse by saying, "but believes in Jesus
Christ who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."
He uses the ungodly as an example
to explain God's righteousness. What does it mean to be ungodly?
An 'ungodly' person is one who doesn't stand in awe of God and just
leads a loose life until his/her last breath, which is the exact
opposite of being godly. This word indicates one who sins before
God until the day he/she dies. It is true that people are born full
of sin. Furthermore, it was the true nature of humans to be destined
to receive God's judgment due to their sins.
However, it is written, "But
to him who does not work, but believes in Jesus Christ who justifies
the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." Here,
the phrase "But to him who does not work" means
"although he is not godly." Are we godly before God? -No,
we are not.-
The Lord says to us, the ungodly,
"You are without sin and you are righteous." The Lord
took away the wages of all our sins and paid for them. Do you believe
that Jesus has already paid the wages of sins absolutely? To the
believer, his/her faith is accounted for righteousness. "You
are right. You really believe in it. You are my righteous people.
You have no sin because I blotted them out when I was baptized by
John the Baptist and by being judged for all your sins on the Cross!"
God took away all the ungodly sins
of this world by Jesus' baptism, although all of mankind is ungodly.
God sent His Only begotten Son and took away the sins by His baptism
and He was crucified in place of the ungodly. God fulfilled both
the laws that said that the wages of sin is death and the law of
God's love at the same time. He saved all sinners from their sins.
God says, "Yes, you are sinless.
My Son saved you. You have been saved," to those who believe
that Jesus took away all the sins of this world at the Jordan River
through His righteous act on behalf of sinners. Therefore, they
are made righteous even if they haven't been godly. God says that
they are His sinless people, although they are ungodly when He sees
their faith in the salvation of the Lord. Blessed is the person
to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
God asks us if we are godly. "But
to him who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness." Do
we do good deeds? We can't do good but are only apt to sin. Nevertheless
God Himself saved us with the gift of salvation. We believe in the
salvation of the Lord, namely, the baptism and blood of Jesus!
We must live by the faith
in the salvation of the Lord
We come to praise the Lord and give
thanks for His gift of love and grace of salvation from sins, knowing
how willingly He paid all the wages of the sins of us, the ungodly.
We cannot thank Him enough for His paying the wages of our sins
through His baptism and the Cross, when we admit we are ungodly
before God. However, we can't give thanks for God's grace if we
think we are godly.
To the person who believes in Jesus
Christ, who justifies the ungodly, his/her faith is accounted for
righteousness. Those who believe in the redemption and judgment
of Jesus, which makes them righteous, receive the gifts of God.
Nobody is godly before God because they make many mistakes while
trying to live godly.
The fact that humans cannot help sinning
proves their ungodliness. Therefore, I live by the faith in God's
salvation, although I am ungodly. To live by faith does not mean
to live as one pleases. There is a certain way to live by faith
for one who has become righteous by faith.
Every single day, the gospel of the
salvation of Jesus is needed by the born again saints. Why? Because
their deeds are not godly on the earth and they cannot help but
to sin all their lives. Everybody should hear the good news that
says Jesus took away all the sins of the world through His baptism.
The righteous must hear and recall the gospel every single day.
Then, their spirits can live and be repeatedly strengthened like
a spring. "But to him who does not work, but believes in
Jesus Christ who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for
righteousness." For whom is this message? This message
is designed for all the people in this world, including you and
me.
The Bible tells us in detail how Abraham
was made righteous. To the person who works, God' salvation isn't
appreciated and he/she will reject it instead. Such a person doesn't
give thanks for the gospel. First of all, what verse 4 describes
is a person who works, that is, tries to do virtuous deeds, to enter
the Kingdom of Heaven. This kind of a person never gives thanks
for Jesus' sacrifice. Why not? Because he/she works and does many
virtuous deeds while offering the prayers of repentance to be forgiven
of his/ser daily sins, and thus he/she think his/her own exploits
have worked somehow in receiving the forgiveness of hi/her sins,
he/she is not thankful for His absolute grace, which is this gospel.
Therefore, the person cannot truly receive the gift of God's salvation.
The Bible says, "But to him
who does not work, but believes in Jesus Christ who justifies the
ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness (Romans 4:5)."
This means that the Lord perfectly saved those who were ungodly
and whose sins could not be forgiven by their own deeds. It also
shows us that God's grace is revealed to the righteous, who were
saved by receiving the remission of sins.
But the person who works
doesn't consider His grace as grace
Romans 4:5 is applicable to one who
acknowledges God and believes in His words, just as Abraham did.
We believe in the Lord who saved the ungodly. There are two kinds
of people among Christians: those who still work to be forgiven
for their sins and those who have been delivered absolutely from
their sins. As it is written in verses 4 and 5, "He who
works" and "does not consider the wages as grace,"
rejects the grace of the remission of sins because he comes to God
with works after believing in Jesus.
People cannot but remain sinners because
they offer their deeds to God. The Doctrine of Justification is
a Christian doctrine that states that a believer can and should
be incrementally sanctified little by little until the day he/she
dies, and thus it leads believers to reject the gift of the remission
of sins and to fight against God. The Bible doesn't say that a person
becomes righteous incrementally. Those who try to be sanctified
incrementally by praying for the forgiveness of sins, by doing good,
and by cleansing his/her dirtiness are the ones who work. These
are the people who deserve to go to hell as Satan's servants. They
cannot be accounted for righteousness because they reject the grace
of the Lord.
None of us is godly. However, so many
people are heading for and believing in the wrong direction at this
moment. They believe that their actual sins are forgiven when they
repent daily, knowing that Jesus washed away all their past sins.
They do this because they think they are a bit godly. They show
off their goodness and cleanliness before Jesus. In the end, they
come short of the remission of sins, the gift of God.
Who is blessed?
The saints who are delivered from
all their sins became righteous by having faith in Jesus. The answer
to the question of what kind of person can become righteous is this:
A person who knows his/her infirmities well and is not able to offer
repentance prayers for his/her sins is apt to become righteous by
faith among many others. Only those who aren't good at doing good
deeds, making prayers, performing godliness, and who are poor in
spirit will receive the gift of the remission of sins from Jesus.
They will be made righteous. These people have not done good things
before God.
The only thing they have done is to
frankly admit their sins, saying, "I have sinned. I am a sinner
who has no other choice but to go to hell when I die." Then
Jesus Christ gives him/her the gift of complete salvation He had
accomplished. Believing in the fact that the Lord was baptized by
John the Baptist in the Jordan River to take away all their sins
and was crucified, truly enables sinners to be saved from all the
sins in their hearts. They were clothed with the blessing of becoming
God's children. It is God's gift for sinners to be saved from all
their sins before Him. I give thanks to the Lord, Jesus Christ,
for having been delivered from being perished.
In verse 6, Paul the Apostle describes
the man blessed by God "apart from works." He clarifies
the following three parts concerning "to work." First,
"He who works," then "He does not work"
and lastly "without works." The Bible says, "Just
as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes
righteousness apart from works, blessed are those whose lawless
deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man
to whom the Lord shall not impute sin" (Romans 4:6-8).
"To have been imputed by the Lord" does not mean that
God accounts a person as sinless, even though he/she is with sin,
but He truly meant that the person actually has no sin.
God tells us about the blessedness
of mankind. People who have been forgiven for all their sins are
happy, aren't they? Nobody is happier than us. Nobody is happier
than a person who has received the remission of sins. It means that
whoever has sin, even as small as a whit, will be judged by God,
and can never be happy at all. However, the righteous are happy
because they have the remission of sins. God says, "Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin" (Romans 4:8).
"Whose sins are covered"
means that the Lord blotted out the sins of all mankind. David also
said, "Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven."
Blessed are those whose sins are forgiven, although they sin everyday
in this world. The righteous, who have received the remission of
sins, have been saved from their lifelong sins through Jesus Christ.
The righteous are truly happy.
Blessed are those whose sins
are covered
Secondly, what kind of person is happy?
"Blessed are those whose sins are covered." We
always sin, but what it means to get one's sins covered is that
Jesus took away all our sins by His baptism and crucifixion. Then
will God the Father judge us? Have all the sins of sinners been
covered? We will not be judged because Jesus took away all our sins,
shed His blood on the Cross and died for us because we are in Him.
Blessed are those whose sins are covered.
Death, which is the wages of sin, doesn't fall on us because Jesus
took away all our sins by the baptism. Hallelujah! We are happy.
Do we have sin? No. Those who neither know Jesus Christ, who came
by water and blood, nor know that all the sins of the world were
passed onto Him when He received baptism in the Jordan River, will
always have sin even if they believe in Jesus fervently.
However, those who know about the
truth of salvation and believe in it possess no sin. Blessed are
those whose sins are covered. Blessed are they who have passed over
all their sins to Jesus Christ at the time He was baptized by John
the Baptist. Who is really happy in this world? Blessed are they
who have the Savior for themselves, in spite of their weaknesses.
Blessed are those who believe in Jesus, the Savior, who took away
all their sins, including the smallest of sins, and who was crucified
to be judged in their place.
Blessed is the person to
whom the Lord will not impute sin
Blessed are those who believe in the
truth of salvation and have the good Shepherd within themselves.
Thirdly, David said, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord
will not impute sin" (Romans 4:8).
We who possess the remission of sins
are righteous, even though we are weak. Our flesh is still weak
even if we are righteous by faith. Did the Lord take away all our
sins through His baptism? Does the Lord regard us as the ones to
be judged? No. The Lord doesn't admit that we should be judged,
although we are insufficient and weak. Why doesn't the Lord impute
sin to us? Because He already paid the wages of sin and was judged
for us. The Lord neither remembers the sins of the person who is
made righteous by faith nor accounts the person to be judged.
Blessed is the person who is made
righteous by faith. Blessed is the person who is born again of water
and the Spirit (John 3:5). We usually seek after worldly things
and lose His blessing, forgetting the fact that God saved and blessed
us. We will be against God when we lose His grace. We must bear
the grace of God in our minds. The salvation of God exists within
believers.
The Holy Spirit of God dwells within
those whose sins have been blotted out. Only the righteous will
not be judged by God. Blessed are those who are not judged by God
in this world and in the Kingdom of Heaven. Why? Because they are
accounted to be righteous by God, received His love and became His
children.
We are blessed by faith
Blessed are those who became the righteous
by faith. Are the born again the blessed before God? -Yes.- Paul
the Apostle said, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing,
in everything give thanks" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) because
he was blessed by faith as a descendant of Abraham, the father of
faith. We are the descendants of Abraham too. Abraham was saved
by having faith in God's word, just as we do. God spoke to Abraham,
"Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly
great reward" (Genesis 15:1).
But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what
will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house
is Eliezer of Damascus?" Then Abram said, "Look, You have
given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!"
And the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall
not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall
be your heir." Then He brought him outside and said, "Look
now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number
them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants
be." "I believe it, Lord." Thus, Abraham believed
in the words of God.
Can you believe in God's word like
Abraham in this world? Doesn't it seem impossible for humans to
do so? Abraham's wife was too old to bring forth a son. However,
Abraham believed in God's word at a time where there was little
hope. Therefore, Abraham was accounted to be righteous before God.
Jesus blotted out all our sins. Jesus
took all our sins onto Him by His baptism and was judged for us
with His blood. We became the descendants of Abraham by receiving
the remission of sins and God's salvation because we were so ungodly,
while others did not believe. The Bible says, "The foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than
men" (1 Corinthians 1:25). God turns those who believe
in the gospel of God into His children through their faiths in the
baptism of Jesus (the water) and His Cross (the blood). This may
seem to be foolish to mankind, but the salvation of God and His
wisdom of the remission of sins are as such. It may also seem foolish
from a human point of view, but God saved sinners from all their
sins with His free gift.
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Jesus called one out of ten thousand
people from the four corners of the world and blessed them and saved
them and received praise through them. Were we blessed or not? -Yes,
we were.- Don't forget it was not because of your works. We are
blessed because we believed in the blessings God gave us, and because
He gave us faith through His words. God made us His children by
coming by water, blood and the Spirit (1 John 5:4-8), and because
He gave us His love.
We are blessed even if we live with
many weaknesses on the earth. I really give thanks to the Lord.
He gave us those precious blessings, didn't impute sin, forgave
all our iniquities and covered us, even when we, the ungodly, were
not able to work for our sanctification. We have been blessed with
salvation only through faith.
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