Lord’s Day 23; Romans 3 & 4

RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST BEFORE GOD BY FAITH

I. Only Righteous

A. The profit of believing what God has revealed in His Word is that I am “righteous before God.”

1. It is to know that God judges me to be righteous; it is not what I think of me, nor what other people think of me.

2. This is that the Supreme Judge declares them to be righteous (4:3,5; Gal. 3:6).

B. It is that work of God’s grace whereby He imputes to the sinner, guilty and condemned but elect in Christ, the perfect

righteousness of God in Christ, acquits him of all guilt on the ground of Christ’s merits, and gives him the right to eternal life.

II. God’s declaration is “only of mere grace.” on the basis of what God did for us in Christ.

A. That sinners can be declared righteous by God is only because of His undeserved love.

B. We constantly want to be accepted by God based on our works (what we are and what we do) but always fail.

C.But the basis God uses to judge us is His gracious provision of Jesus and His perfect righteousness.

D.It is all grace and only grace, definitely no works of man.

III. This righteousness is appropriated only by faith – God’s gift enabling sinners to believe what God declares in His Word.

A. Sinners frequently struggle with assurance of salvation because my conscience accuses me of my sins and my sinfulness.

B. We can receive and apply this truth to ourselves in no “other way than by faith only” (3:26,28; 4:11,16,20-22).

C.The experience of faith.

IV. What is the result of being righteous by faith alone through grace alone in Christ alone?

A. Faith sees myself as still sinning, but also sees what God has most graciously declared me righteous in Christ. Faith has

me see myself the way God sees me: righteous in Christ.

B. What a tremendous benefit to receive the gift of righteousness in Christ!!

C.This results in a peace (Rom. 5:1) which passes all human understanding (Phil. 4:7).