This Blessedness

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