Righteous Before God (HC 59-61)

Romans 3-4 “Righteous Before God”

We have now completed our survey of the Apostles’ Creed.

But before we move on to consideration of the sacraments,

the Heidelberg Catechism stops to ask a few questions about faith.

After all, the Creed says, “we believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,”

and while we have talked at length about what we believe,

we have not talked much about faith itself.

And so the catechism asks:

59. Q. But what does it help you now that you believe all this?
A. In Christ I am righteous before God and heir to life everlasting.

It is interesting that the catechism focuses on two aspects of our union with Christ –

justification and adoption.

If you believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord,

and in the Holy Spirit –

and if you believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints,

the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting –

then you are righteous before God and heir to life everlasting.

You are justified in Christ.

You are adopted in Christ.

But then the catechism asks:

60. Q. How are you righteous before God?
A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ. Although my conscience accuses me that I have grievously sinned against all God's commandments, have never kept any of them, and am still inclined to all evil, yet God, without any merit of my own, out of mere grace, imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ. He grants these to me as if I had never had nor committed any sin, and as if I myself had accomplished all the obedience which Christ has rendered for me, if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law…”

What is this “righteousness of God” that has now been revealed?

Romans is emphatically about the gospel–

the good news of what Jesus Christ has accomplished

for the salvation of both Jews and Gentiles.

In 1:17 Paul had said that the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel from faith to faith,

as it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

In Romans 1-2 Paul demonstrates that both Gentiles and Jews are under God’s wrath and curse,

as he summarizes the situation in chapter 3,

“None is righteous, no, not one;

no one understands;

no one seeks for God.”

“Both Jews and Greeks are under the power of sin.” (3:9)

Therefore, Paul concludes, “by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight,

since through the law comes knowledge of sin.” (3:20)

At the end of chapter 3 Paul explains what he means by this.

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law,

although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it–

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

God is now demonstrating his righteousness.

He is a righteous judge.

The problem is, how can a righteous judge justify sinners?

Only if his righteous judgment is satisfied.

And that is why God “put forward” Jesus “as a propitiation”--

as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

In 3:27-31 then, Paul says that boasting is excluded–not by a law of works,

but by the law of faith.

God is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles,

and he will justify both Jews and Gentiles in the same way–by faith.

Notice here that “by faith” and “by grace” are used almost as synonyms (3:24 and 3:28)

Grace is God’s act in Jesus Christ,

while faith is our response (though as Paul points out in Eph 2, it is also a gift)

The question, though, is whether Paul is overthrowing the law.

Is Paul overturning Moses?

Verse 31 – “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith?”

To that, Paul says mh genoito (may it never be).

On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Okay, Paul, prove it!

How can you say that we are righteous before God apart from the law?

That is what Romans 4 is all about.

Romans 4 is Paul’s attempt to demonstrate from the law itself

his point regarding justification by faith apart from the law!

That’s why he starts with Abraham.

Because Genesis is part of the Torah (the five books of Moses),

so for a Jewish audience, Genesis is part of the “law.”

Paul says that if Abraham was justified by works, then he has something to boast about–

but not before God.

Paul says that even if Abraham could have been justified by works,

that would not give him grounds for boasting before God.

Our passage today (verses 3-5) is designed to be the clinching evidence in that argument.

Why could Abraham not boast before God?

In Jewish tradition, Abraham was as perfect as they come.

He was the model of righteousness according to the law.

The rabbis admitted that Abraham did not have the Mosaic law written out for him,

but they argued that he kept it fully anyway!

(Because he was a righteous man)

How would you respond if someone said that Abraham was righteous according to the law?

Would you try to prove that he was a sinner?

Paul does not.

He does not try to say–hey, look, Abraham sinned too!

Rather, he points to Genesis 15:6 and says,

Abraham was not justified by works,

Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.

The Greek word here, logizomai, means to reckon to one’s account; impute,

or “to enter in the account book”

It is a legal term.

What did God reckon as righteousness in Abraham?

Not his works.

Not his law-keeping.

But his faith.

Psalm 106:31 uses this same phrase,

“And it was reckoned to him as righteousness,”

referring to Phineas and his zeal for the LORD in Numbers 25.

These are the two places in the OT that talk about reckoning something for righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 – which speaks of reckoning faith for righteousness;

Psalm 106:31 – which speaks of reckoning zeal for righteousness.

Why does Paul cite Genesis 15:6 and ignore Psalm 106:31?

Is this just an example of selective quotation?

Look at Paul’s argument.

Why does he choose Abraham?

Look at verses 9-12.

We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness.

How then was it counted to him?

Was it before or after he had been circumcised?

Before.

Why is that important?

The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe

without being circumcised,

so that righteousness would be counted to them as well.

It’s all very nice and good to say that God reckoned Phineas’s zeal for righteousness,

but that is no different than what Paul has said of believers in Romans 2:6ff.

God will render to each one according to his works.

But Paul’s point in Romans 3-4 is not the question of how does God judge his own people.

The question is not “how does God judge the righteous?”

The question, to use Paul’s language in 4:5, is “how can God justify the ungodly?”

Or to use the language of 3:26,

“that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

And since Paul has just finished making it emphatically clear

that both Jews and Gentiles are ungodly,

the solution for both Jews and Gentiles will be the same:

the faith of Abraham.

After all, Abraham believed God before he was circumcised.

Abraham believed God and his faith was reckoned to him for righteousness.

Paul’s point is to say that circumcision is all fine and good for Jews,

but it is not necessary for Gentiles.

That which distinguishes the Christian from the non-Christian

is faith in Jesus Christ.

Because if Abraham’s justification precedes his circumcision,

then circumcision cannot be made a prerequisite for justification!

What is circumcision?

He received the sign of circumcision

as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith

while he was still uncircumcised.

And so verses 4-5 practically explain themselves:

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.

And to the one who does not work, but trusts him who justifies the ungodly,

his faith is counted as righteousness

And this is demonstrated by the quotation from Psalm 32.

Here we have logizomai again–

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not reckon his sin.

Paul is saying that Judaism has always taught justification by faith.

What is new in the NT is not justification by faith.

What is new is that both Gentiles and Jews are now justified by faith.

[Deuteronomy 9:4-5 (not because of your own righteousness that God is giving you the land). Justification had never been by works.]

So Paul is demonstrating the importance of faith for justification

not only in the beginning of the Christian life,

but all through the Christian life.

After all, Paul continues to emphasize the importance of faith for Abraham’s justification

in much later episodes (Genesis 17-18–after he was circumcised, in verses 19-21).

Justification is a once for all declaration on God’s part.

But on our part, that once for all declaration continues to be applied over and over again.

That is what Paul says in verses 16 and following.

(read 16-21)

And in verse 22 we are told that is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.

Why?

Because he believed God’s promise even at the age of 100,

considering the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

WAIT!!

Isn’t that something that happened more than 15 years after Genesis 15?

But Paul says that Abraham’s faith in Genesis 17 is still relevant

for his justification in Genesis 15!

Why?

Because there is only one justification.

It’s not as though you are justified, and then you can forget about it!

The Westminster Confession talks about living in a state of justification.

Just as God declared Abraham righteous in Genesis 15, and Genesis 17, and Genesis 22,

so also he continues to declare you righteous,

because by faith you continue to walk before him.

And on the last day God will declare you righteous openly and publicly,

vindicating you before the watching world,

because you have trusted him who justifies the ungodly.

As Paul says in verses 23-25,

But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone,

but for ours also.

It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,

who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Or, as the Heidelberg Catechism puts it:

61. Q. Why do you say that you are righteous only by faith?
A. Not that I am acceptable to God on account of the worthiness of my faith, for only the satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ is my righteousness before God. I can receive this righteousness and make it my own by faith only.

Remember what Paul said in verse 25:

how Jesus “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised up for our justification.”

If you say that you are righteous before God because of your faith –

as though your faith made you worthy –

then you have missed the point of what Paul is saying.

It is because Jesus, the righteous one, has died and been raised from the dead for us,

that we are now righteous before God.

Why does this matter?

One thing I love about Paul is that he always answers this question!

In chapter 5, verse 1, he explains to us why this is important:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have peace with God!

In the face of all the trials that you will face,

you have peace with God.

You may not have peace with your family, your friends, your colleagues,

but since you have been justified by faith,

you have peace with God.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand,

and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

and endurance produces character,

and character produces hope,

and hope does not put us to shame,

because God’s love has been poured into our hearts

through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

This is the pattern of life for the one who has been justified by faith:

suffering, endurance, character, hope.

Suffering is what God is using to mold and shape your character –

at least, if you patiently learn endurance!

If suffering is not producing character in you,

if it is not making you look more like Jesus,

that is because you have not yet learned endurance.

And so let me ask you:

59. Q. But what does it help you now that you believe all this?
A. In Christ I am righteous before God and heir to life everlasting.