Featured It was counted for Righteousness !

What is the it which was imputed to Abraham ?cont



So what it is, it is that Faith merely discerns that which God hath imputed of Christ Righteousness 2 Cor 5:21

21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Faith embraces this imputed Righteousness of God that is revealed to Faith from Faith by the Gospel Rom 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

The Righteousness of God is not offered or made available to faith, but it is revealed ! The word revealed is the greek word apokalyptō:


to uncover, lay open what has been veiled or covered up

a) disclose, make bare

2) to make known, make manifest, disclose what before was unknown

It the Gospel, makes known or discovers to Faith that Righteousness of God that has been charged to your account because Christ was made sin for you as an Individual and because of that you have been made the Righteousness of God in Him. The disclosing of it is not the cause of it !

 

That righteousness might be imputed unto them also



Rom 4:11

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also

The whole seed Elect believes in time because Righteousness has been imputed to them also !

All down through the end of the age ! And so wherever the Righteousness of God has been imputed [2 Cor 5:21], the Spirit of God shall be given to effect Faith that it will be realized, even down to the end of the age. Now understand, the Righteousness has always been Imputed, just as their sins had always been imputed to Christ, but not the Grace of the Spirit that reveals it to them in their Lifetime according to God's Time and Purpose for them !

 

Imputation of Righteousness !



Rom 4:6

6 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,

The Blessed man whom God imputeth righteousness without works ! The word works here is the greek word ergon and means:


business, employment, that which any one is occupied

a) that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking

2) any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind

3) an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasised in opp. to that which is less than work

Basically all this means without any conditions whatsoever !

This Imputing of Righteousness is for Christ's Sake, and it must as an effect, make those Righteous for whom it has been imputed. The Imputation of it is operative and conveying because it is Almighty God doing the reckoning and it is the end result of being made Righteous before God, by Christ's Obedience alone, nothing of them required, no obedience of their own Rom 5:19

19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Not the Obedience of the One + our obedience of Faith as in Rom 16:26


But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:

This obedience of faith is the same as that Paul speaks of in Rom 10:3

3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.

This obedience of Faith is not a condition for the Imputation of Righteousness of Rom 4:6, because if it was, then it would contradict the very Truth that Paul is making, which is that God imputeth it without Works ! However that Imputeth Righteousness is the guide the Holy Spirit goes by to make one experientially Righteous by New Birth !

 

For God Justifieth the Ungodly !



Rom 4:5

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

This scripture is pretty plain, the sense of which tells us that God Justifies or is Justifying those who are in a state of the Ungodly. The word ungodly is the greek word Asebes and means:

destitute of reverential awe towards God, condemning God, impious

So in light of this, if we are Justified before God at all, it was before our believing, for scripture never calls a Believer Ungodly, so we would be Justified before we believe or are called believers as here Acts 5:14

And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women )

1 Tim 4:12

Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.


Yes, for as Reconciliation, we were reconciled to God , while yet being enemies or unbelievers, by the Death or Blood of God's Son Rom 5:10

10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

So we were Justified Justified before God by the Death of God's Son, while being enemies or unbelievers, for how could we be one without the other ; that is Reconciled to God, before His Law and Justice, and yet not Justified before God"s Law and Justice by the same Death or Blood of Christ , while being enemies ?

For God doeth both Justifieth and Reconciles the Ungodly by the Blood of Christ, only false brethren deny this Truth !

 

No Conditions Requited for Justification !



That there are no conditions on man's part required for Justification before God, and that it is totally of Grace apart from any work of ours, is seen most clearly in Paul's statement here Rom 4:4-5

4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

There are Two points here Paul makes intelligible to show that Justification before God is freely by Grace with no conditions, for first he states " But to him that worketh not "

That means nothing man say's ,does, or thinks, is taken into account in the matter of Justification before God ! Notice " he that worketh not " the word for worketh here is ergazomai the middle voice of ergon which means:

business, employment, that which any one is occupied

a) that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking

2) any product whatever, any thing accomplished or performed by hand, art, industry, or mind

3) an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasised in opp. to that which is less than work

The word work is defined therefore as any act, deed, or thing done, performed by the mind:

Such as believing, accepting or what have you, all of such must be excluded by Paul's statement " he that worketh not " ! If there is no working in Justification before God, then any conditions on man's part is forbidden ,plain and simple !

 

No Conditions Required for Justification ! Pt 2



The word work is defined therefore as any act, deed, or thing done, performed by the mind:

Such as believing, accepting or what have you, all of such must be excluded by Paul's statement " he that worketh not " ! If there is no working in Justification before God, then any conditions on man's part is forbidden ,plain and simple !

And Next, " But believeth on Him that Justifieth the ungodly", then it is quite clear that Justification is past over unto a person while he or she is being ungodly ! In the greek it is He that is Justifying the Ungodly, with the definite article in front of ungodly depicting that they are in a state experientially of ungodliness when being declared Righteous ! That said, believing cannot be the condition, for believing is godliness and proceeds from sanctification of the Spirit, and also believing pleases God, but Paul's point here of Justification is that it is past upon a person while being in a state of ungodliness, in fact it is the same as when Paul stated that we [believers] were reconciled to God by the Death of Christ, WHILE being enemies or ungodly, or in wicked works Rom 5:10, for reconciliation with God legally and Justification before God legally, premised on the merits of Christ Death alone, they are one and the same, for you cannot be one without the other !

Those who deny this, are but denying the Gospel of Grace, and they are a false teacher under God's Judgment !

 

No Conditions Required for Justification ! Pt 3



If we believe and trust to faith being an condition to our Justification before God, then we trust to our act, for faith or believing or trusting and the like is our act or our performance of mind and heart, WE DO IT ! So it is our work, there is no way around it, our believing act is our work, See definition of work ergon:

business, employment, that which any one is occupied

a) that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking

2) any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind

3) an act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasised in opp. to that which is less than work

ergon is also translated doing as here Rom 2:7

To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:

Now, is not believing on Christ a well doing ? The rich young ruler asked this Matt 19:16

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

So if Justification before God depends on our believing act, on our doing well, then that contradicts Paul's clear Point here Rom 4:5

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 

No Conditions Required for Justification ! Pt 4



You see, Paul is teaching that an Justified ungodly man, is the one who believes, for it was not his faith or act of believing that did justify him before God, but it was Christ, His Blood, that actually Justified him Rom 5:9

9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

So it is, he that believeth on Him that Justifieth the ungodly, and not He that believeth on Him that Justifieth the believer Rom 4:5

5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

Rom 8:33

Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

Again, it is not the act of believing that Justifies before God, which false teachers have twisted the word of God to say ! It is a Him that Justifies, the act of God in Christ, not the act of man in his believing or faith !

 

No Conditions Required for Justification ! Pt 5



God Justifies a man before he believes, in fact, that is why he must believe ! If this be not the case, then how is one even Justified by faith in the first place ? For faith is the substance of the things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [naturally] such as things as Justification before God is ! So if, the unseen Justified state before God did not already exist before we believed it, then it was nothing for faith to embrace as being a substance of evidence of ! Nothing was revealed that already existed to be revealed. A Person believes either a truth or a lie. The Truth is that all for whom Christ died, have been justified or made Righteous because He bore their sins Isa 53:11

11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

or Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

And it is this accounted righteousness as a result of Christ bearing their iniquities that is revealed or made known in the Gospel to faith as Per Rom 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

17 For therein is the [Justifying] righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Now either there was a Justifying Righteousness that existed before God because of Christ's blood before believing, or it was not ! If it was not, then a person cannot believe that which was not, and if he be not already Justified or Righteous, that he can believe it when revealed, then he believed a lie, but if he be already Justified or Righteous before he comes to believe, then he or she believes what is already True, which was his unseen Justification and Righteousness in Christ, revealed to Faith from Faith ! Then cometh to past " But believeth on Him that Justifieth the Ungodly" He then believes he is Justified, that what had been revealed to his Faith, and again, not that he must believe to get Justified before God, but because he already was before he believed, and its now being revealed or made known to him ! Big difference !

 

Why Believe ?



Why Believe ? What is the purpose ? It is for the evidence and or manifestation of that Justification of life, the bringing to view that Righteousness which we have in Christ alone, it is the showing that He is our Righteousness and Justification alone, and so our believing is merely a formal declaration openly of our Justification, all who believe have been given the Right to become openly the Sons or Children of God Jn 1:12-13

12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Yes, their receiving and believing on His name was evidence of having been born of God !