This Blessedness
Romans 4:9
“Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also?
For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.”
If it be
asked what blessedness the Apostle has in view by the expression “this
blessedness” the answer is found in the verse from which the expression is
taken; “For we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness.” The
Blessedness is more definitively stated in previous verses; where it is written
“Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But
to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his
faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works,
saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered. Blessed is the man to whom
the Lord will not impute sin.” (Romans 4:4-8).
The
scripture is sun beam clear; that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and
that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8, 9) The love
and grace of God toward the spiritual seed of Abraham is one of the moving causes
of the everlasting covenant. (Malachi 1:2; Jeremiah 31:3) The everlasting covenant
of grace springs from the goodness of God, that which is in God in himself and
not drawn forth from God by any thing that is in man; but wholly from God as He
is in Himself. Moses had said to the Lord “I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
And he said, (God said) I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I
will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious, and will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” (Exodus
33:18, 19) The grace of God is Sovereign Grace, or it is His Grace who is the
Sovereign of the universe; God is under no constraint to be of a gracious
disposition toward any of His fallen creatures, who have sinned against Him.
God’s Mercy is Sovereign Mercy, that is, the mercy that God willingly exhibits
toward His fallen creatures as the Sovereign God. God owes neither Mercy nor
Grace to any of His creatures, for in the fall, the creature forfeited his
position of favor in the sight of God; and has turned to be an enemy to his
God, (Colossians 1:21).
Man, having fallen into a state of
sin, resists the rule of God; and stands in open rebellion against his God.
When God came to man in the person our Lord Jesus Christ; this is the reception
He received. “But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying,
We will not have this man to reign
over us.”(Luke 19:14) “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and
the world knew him not. (that is, in love received him as a benevolent creator)
He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1: 10, 11) “Thus
saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, and
his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhoreth,..”
(Isaiah 49:7) “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted
with grief: and we hid as it were our
faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” (Isaiah 53:3) The
natural heart of man is utterly turned against the Lord; therefore the doctrine
of God’s free and sovereign grace in Jesus Christ is despised. Men by nature
have a desire to determine their own destiny, to walk in their own way, and
therefore hate the doctrine of election of grace; and men hate the fact that
God has predestinated the elect to salvation in Jesus Christ. But does man’s
hatred of God and His way of grace hinder the purpose of God, or, does mans
rebellion turn aside the free grace of God, and make the word of God of no
effect? Nay, God forbid! For “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:”
(Romans 5:20) “And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto
you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the
Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are they that wait for him.” (Isaiah 30:18)
In spite of all that man has wickedly done our God has said “I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and
will not remember thy sins.” (Isaiah 43:25 see also verses 22-25)
“Therefore it is of faith, that it might
be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to
that only which is of the law, (the Jew) but to that also which of the faith of
Abraham; who is he father of us all,” (Romans 4:16)
“Therefore
it is of faith” the promise of eternal life is to the believer; for our
Lord Jesus Christ said “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life.” (John 6:47; 5:24; I John 5:1) Faith is by revelation of
God, as our Lord Jesus told Peter “Blessed art thou Simon Barjona; for flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17) The Father had revealed
to the heart of Simon Peter that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of God; and
upon Simon Peter’s confession of faith our Lord acknowledged the work of the
Father in the heart of Peter by saying Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: etc. Saving
Faith in the heart, is the work of God; and it is not of man’s choice, nor is
it of man’s decision; but it is the work of God. God puts in the heart of man
faith which was not there before, for He says “I will put my laws in their
mind, and write them in their hearts: (Hebrews 8:10). It is true that God gives
His gifts by means; and the mean that God is pleased to use in giving saving
faith is the preaching of the gospel. (Romans 10:13-17) God causes His elect to
pass under the preaching of the gospel and works in their heart to believe His
record of His Son, which is eternal life. (I John 5:11) To this truth agree the
words of the Savior “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me
hath everlasting life.” (John 6:47). “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) Reader, give diligent regard to the word of God; the
gift of God is not an offer, it is a free grace gift given in the Sovereign Power
of God; and it is life eternal, manifest in believing the record that God gave
of His Son.
“That
it might be by grace” God in grace provides all that is required for the
salvation of the objects of grace. The free grace of God seeks nothing from man
in the way of merit, not a wise choice, not a willingness to believe, not an
ability to believe, no cooperation on the part of man, for what God requires in
the way of duty, God freely gives by His grace; God puts all that is necessary
in the heart of His people; so that God provides all that is required of man as
a free grace gift. For first of all, grace is defined as unmerited favor, that
is, God has favor to His elect with no reason in the elect which calls forth
His favor. Our Lord has said “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them
freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.” (Hosea 14:4) And again it is
written “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus:” (Romans 3:24) God loves His elect freely; that is, without a
cause in the elect; and God justifies the elect freely, again it is without a
meritorious cause in the elect. In the case of His justification, the procuring
cause is the accomplished redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in whom the elect
were chosen before the foundation of the world and with whom they stood in
union from everlasting. And it is precisely because of this covenant union that
the children of the covenant are partakers of the blessedness of the finished
redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Must the children of the covenant be
willing to come to Jesus Christ for all the fullness of salvation? Yes, and
therefore He saith “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power,”
(Psalm 110:3). It is the Power of God the Holy Ghost effectually working in the
heart of the elect sinner that produces a willingness to seek the Lord, for,
“No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I
will raise him up at the last day. (John 6:44). Must the children of the
covenant believe that Jesus is the Christ? Yes, and therefore God reveals the
true identity of Jesus Christ to Peter, and in the same way, to all the
children of the covenant. Must the children of the covenant repent of their
dead religious works, and former idolatry? Yes, therefore God “gives them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;” (II Timothy 2:25; Acts 5:31).
“So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9:16)
Therefore the children of God are born, “not of blood, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:13)
“To
the end the promise might be sure to all
the seed” Reference is to the spiritual seed of Abraham. (Genesis 3:15; Hebrews
2:13, 16; Galatians 3:7, 16, 29; Titus 1:1, 2) The spiritual seed of Abraham is
Christ, (Galatians 3:16, 29) and all who are chosen in Christ as members of His
mystical body, the church; (I Corinthians 12:12, 13) these are united to Christ
in covenant union from eternity past. Faith is the manifestation of covenant
interest in Christ. It is the determination of God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
that all the spiritual seed shall receive the inheritance of grace, which is
eternal life in Christ Jesus. This determination is not based on anything as
foreseen in the creature, as faith, or repentance; but the determination is
established in the eternal purpose of God (Ephesians 3:11), and is secured in
the finished redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:6-9; Romans 3:24).
God saves His people according to His own purpose and grace which was given His
elect in Christ Jesus before the world began (II Timothy 1: 9). The promise is
sure to all the seed, because the seed (those who are chosen in Christ) was
given to Christ of the Father, and Christ Jesus has promised that “All that the
Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. (John 6:37)
This
Blessedness, into which Abraham entered through the grace of God in Christ
Jesus, is stated first as “the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth
righteousness without works,” (Romans 4:6) and secondly as; “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven,
and whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute
sin.” (Romans 4:7, 8). To have a proper apprehension of these blessed truths we
must consider, not what the children of the covenant are in them selves; but
what their inheritance of grace is in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus in His eternal
being was “set up from everlasting” (Proverbs 8:23) He was appointed to all the
offices for the church which He has from everlasting executed. In the beginning
or from everlasting Jesus Christ has represented and spoke for His spouse the
church because of the eternal covenant union which binds them as one, that is,
as Christ the Head, and the Church His body. (Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:22,
23; 5:30; John 14:20; 17:21-26; I Corinthians 12:12, 13, 27; 6:17)
Christ Jesus acted in the bond of
the covenant when in eternity past He spoke as Advocate, and Surety for His
spouse the church. (I John 2:1; Hebrews 7:22) In that eternal covenant union,
the Husband, Christ Jesus and His spouse, the church, were considered one;
therefore being one in the reckoning of God; the spouse did, in her Husband, all
that the Husband did in union with His spouse. And it can be said that all that
the Husband, Christ Jesus, did, the spouse also did in Christ. Therefore all
the church of God is crucified with Christ, (Galatians 2:20); and not only that
but also, quickened together with Christ, and hath been raised up together, and
made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 2:4-6) according
to the bond of the covenant, or the eternal union that exists between the Head
of the body and the body, 0r between the Husband and the spouse. And therefore
when Christ Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets, (Matthew 5:17, 18) the
church of God fulfilled the law and the prophets in Christ Jesus; for, the law
of God must be obeyed, and this the church of God did perfectly, in Christ. Not
only has the church of God perfectly obeyed the law and prophets in Christ
Jesus, but also, the Church has been put to death under the penalty of the law
of God in Christ. The Apostle Paul said “I am crucified with Christ” Galatians
2:20, and in that instance what applies to the Apostle also applies to the rest
of the body the church. The entire church of God was considered of God as put
to death in the body of Jesus Christ, because of covenant union with Christ,
they being one in the sight of God.
In this oneness, or union of Christ
Jesus and His church, the people of God are reckoned to be one with Jesus
Christ. In this union it is right in the sight of God that the sin of the
church should be laid on Jesus Christ who is the Head of the body the church;
for “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) and
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree:” (Galatians 3:13)
and “He hath made him to be sin for
us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
(II Corinthians 5:21) Therefore the sin of the church has been imputed to the
Head of the church our Lord Jesus Christ. Since the sin of the church has been
laid on Christ, the church has no chargeable sin. The church can not be charged
with sin that has already been charged to Jesus Christ, and for which Christ
Jesus and the church in Christ, has suffered death. Therefore because of the
finished redemption that is in Christ Jesus, that is, because Christ has paid
the sin debt of the church in full, God will not impute sin to His church.
Christ Jesus has put away the sin of His elect forever by the sacrifice of
himself, therefore “blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin”.
God cannot according to His own justice impute sin to the sinner and the
sinners surety which is Jesus Christ (Hebrews 7:22).
Not only is this so, that, God will
not impute sin to His church, but also; God does impute the righteousness of
Jesus Christ, which is the righteousness of God, (Romans 1:17; 3:25) to the
church of His elect. God robes the church of His elect in the perfect
righteousness of Jesus Christ “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul
shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of
salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom
decketh himself with ornaments, and
as a bride adorneth herself with
jewels. (Isaiah 61:10) Jesus Christ Himself is the justifying righteousness of
His church; for “this is the name
whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” (Jeremiah 23:6) The
church of Christ takes the name of her spouse and “this is the name whereby she shall be called, The Lord our
Righteousness. (Jeremiah 33:16) Jesus Christ is the total righteousness of the
church of God, the church contributes nothing to the finished work of righteousness
of Jesus Christ. The only acceptable clothing for the church of God is the
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is the righteousness of God, any
thing less is cast out. (Matthew 22:12, 13)
Christ alone is the justifying
righteousness of the church of God, for, “Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth.”(Romans 10:4) and it is written “But
we are all as an unclean thing, and
all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we do fade as a leaf; and our
iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6) The Apostle Paul
states this truth of himself and every other saint “I find then a law, that,
when I would do good evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.” (Romans 7:21-23) Therefore the church of God is crucified with
Christ, (Galatians 2:20) that being “..dead to the law by the body of Christ;”
(Romans 7:4) sin might not be imputed to the church, for “..God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them;..”
(II Corinthians 5:19).
The sin for which Christ Jesus
suffered, and died was the sin of His church. God charged the sin of His elect
to Jesus Christ because of the eternal union that exists between Christ and His
people. Christ Jesus had become surety of the New Testament, (Hebrews 7:22) and
as surety the sin of the church of God was “Laid on Him” (Isaiah 53:6) that is,
the sins of the church was imputed to Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ
acknowledged the righteous judgment of God in imputing the sin of His church to
Himself the Head of the church; and therefore calls the sin of His church “my
sins” (Psalm 69:5; 38:3). The sins Christ Jesus called “my sin” are His by
imputation, and not by commission, for, “in Him is no sin” (I John 3:5) and
“Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:” (I Peter 2:22) “this
man hath done nothing amiss” (Luke 23:41); “And he made his grave with the
wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence,
neither was any deceit in his mouth.”
(Isaiah 53:9) “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why
do ye not believe me?” (John 8:46)
“who knew no sin” (I Corinthians 5:21) “Thou hast loved
righteousness, and hated iniquity;” (Hebrews 1:9) “For we have not a high
priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15) “For such
an high priest became us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the
heavens;” (Hebrews 7:26) “But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot:” (I Peter 1:19). Sin charged to the Lord
Jesus Christ did not make Him a sinner, for in all He did in baring the sin of
the elect, and putting away the sin of the elect, He is remained the Holy One
of God, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8).
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of glory (I Corinthians 2:8) and the
King of glory (Psalms 24:7-10) whose name is “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty
God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of peace;” (Isaiah 9:6) and who is
“Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:23), this same
Lord Jesus Christ “His own self bare our sins ( that is, the sins of the church
of God) in his own body on the tree” (I Peter 2:24). Christ Jesus by Himself purged
our sins, and is set down on the right hand of the majesty on high, (Hebrews
1:3) where all power is given unto Him “in heaven and in earth” and He commands
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew
28: 19-20)
A.J. Ison
