Paul, in Romans, carefully argues that Gentiles are unrighteous before God (1:18-32); Jews are, likewise, unrighteous before God (2:1-3:8); indeed, all are unrighteous before a holy God (3:9-20) In Romans 3 Paul shows, ‘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.’ (vv.21-22)
Father Abraham
Our model of this kind of faith, Paul writes, is Abraham (Ro.4:1-15) ‘Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.’ (v.3) Paul carefully explains that this righteousness is not our due, as though we had earned it but, as with Abraham, it is a gift because we simply trusted God. In Romans 3 27-31 we read this gift of righteousness is for both Jews and Gentiles.
Indeed, in Romans 4 we are assured that Abraham is the father of the faithful, both Jew and Gentile:
‘We say that faith is counted to Abraham as righteousness. Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. 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, and to make him the faith of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.’ (Ro.4:9-12; Heb.11:8-10))
Chapter 5 of Paul’s letter to believers in Rome begins, ‘Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’ (v.1) It is this justification by faith that many find unpalatable. Surely, they ask, you must do something, it can’t be that easy. Well, it isn’t easy, and their objections demonstrate as much.
It isn’t easy to lay aside our pride, to confess our total inadequacy, to die to self, to lay down our rebellious arms and submit to a holy God. Total surrender is certainly not easy, but it is the way to attain peace with God. Consider Abraham’s saving faith:
‘By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign and, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.’ (Heb.11:8-10)
The Tree Must be Made Good
‘If you will therefore be at peace with God, and love him, thou must turn to the promises of God, to the gospel, which is called of Paul...the ministrations of righteousness (2 Cor.3:9) and of the Spirit. For faith brings pardon and forgiveness freely purchased by Christ’s blood, and brings also the Spirit; the Spirit loosens the bonds of the devil, and sets us at liberty. For, ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,’ says Paul...that is to say, there the heart is free and hath power to love the will of God; and there the heart mourns that he cannot love enough. Now is the consent of the heart unto the law of God eternal life…’
Works are integral to the life of the faithful. Being justified and having peace with God by faith isn’t a licence to live as we please. We often hear people ask, ‘Does faith mean you can go out and commit murder and still go to heaven?’ What a strange notion! As Tyndale points out, if we would be at peace with God we must first turn to his promises and trust them. The consequences of such faith are:
Pardon and forgiveness freely purchased by Christ’s blood
The companionship of the Spirit to dwell within
A loosening of the bonds of the devil
Liberty and power to love the will of God
A Heartfelt consent to the law of God
Eternal life
‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognise them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognise them by their fruit.’ (Mt.7:15-20)
The fruit does not make the tree good or bad, rather it is the fruit that signifies a good tree or a bad tree. The tree must be good in the first place for the fruit to be good. In the same way, a man’s good works don’t make him good. The man must be good in the first place for his works to be good. The Bible tells us, ‘Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.’ (Prov.4:23) Jesus tells us, ‘What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart.’
A Sure Conclusion
Is your heart right before God? Do you know peace with God? If you would have peace with God, insists Tyndale, you must, like Abraham, look to the promises of God. I will let Tyndale have the last word:
‘This is therefore plain, and a sure conclusion, not to be doubted of, that there must be first in the heart of man, before he do any good work, a greater and a more precious thing than all the good works in the world, to reconcile him to God, to bring the love and favour of God to him, to make him love God again, to make him righteous and good in the sight of God, to do away with sin, to deliver him and loose him out of that captivity wherein he was conceived and born, in which he could neither love God nor the will of God…That precious thing which must be in the heart, ere a man can work any good work, is the word of God, which in the gospel preaches, offers, and brings to all that repent and believe, the favour of God in Christ. Whosoever hears the word and believes it, the same is thereby righteous; and thereby is given him the Spirit of God, which leads him to all that is the will of God...This Peter confirms in Acts fifteen, saying that God through faith purifies the hearts.’ (Acts 15:10)
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