In this episode, we explore the profound truth of the gospel which teaches that we, as sinners who are inherently ungodly, are counted as righteous through faith in Jesus Christ. This transformative message from Romans 4 highlights that faith, as a divine gift, is not about perfection but about recognizing Jesus as the object of our faith. We delve into common Christian struggles of understanding this faith, overcoming doubts, and ensuring that trust is rooted in Jesus, not merely in the act of believing itself.
So the good news of the gospel then is that we who are sinners and who are ungodly are counted as if we were righteous as we believe in Jesus. That is the amazing news that we are given in Romans 4, verse 5 in particular, but to him who does not work but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. That faith is a gift from God, and as he gives it to us, he counts it as our righteousness because it comes from him. It doesn’t come from anything of our humanity. It couldn’t be righteous if it came from our humanity, and it couldn’t be our humanity if God accounts it to us. He counts it as if it were ours because he originated it and he gave it. How beautiful is this when you think of the struggle you go through to be a Christian, to walk in faith with him, that you are being counted as if you were righteous, even when you’re ungodly. But you say, Colin, yes, but it says, but to him who does not trust in his works of the law, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, I don’t know whether I believe in him enough. And so you fall trap for this delusion that it is faith that counts you as righteous. No, it is not. It is God who counts you as righteous as you believe. But you say, yes, but is my faith good enough? Look, Whom do we trust in? We trust in Jesus Christ. We put our faith in him who is counted to us as righteousness. Now, you might ask yourself, but is my faith good enough? And what’s the answer to that? No, it isn’t. Is it sincere enough? No, it isn’t. Is it earnest enough? No, it isn’t. Is it surrendered enough? No, it isn’t. It doesn’t have to be because God will accept faith even if it’s like a grain of mustard seed. We move the mountain of our sin and our judgment by faith in Jesus Christ. Of course, it is Jesus Christ and the judgment of the Father that removes that mountain of sin by faith. So you don’t have to ask yourself, is my faith good enough? What you have to ask yourself is, is Jesus good enough in whom I have faith? The danger that Christians face is trusting in their faith instead of trusting in the one in whom they have faith, which is Jesus. You know, through the years, I’ve struggled with this so often. You go through doubts or depression or sin, and you wonder whether you have enough faith and why don’t you have enough faith to overcome and this and that. But then I’m reminded by the Holy Spirit. Who are you trusting in, Colin? Are you trusting in Jesus or trying to trust in your faith in Jesus? The object of our faith is Jesus. Our faith has an object. Our trust has an object. It is Jesus. Don’t listen to those people who in popular media say, well, my faith got me through. No, your faith didn’t get you through. Jesus got you through in whom you had faith. Don’t listen to those who say, I don’t know what I’d do without my faith. No, let yourself say, I don’t know what I’d do without Jesus in whom I have faith. Never trust in the vehicle, but rather in the object of our faith, which is Jesus. Now, Paul, in order to demonstrate what he has said, to validate it, brings up a quotation from the Old Testament. And it’s very, very interesting. He says, Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness, apart from works, and then he quotes this quote, Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. Now this is really quite remarkable. Paul is validating his statement that God justifies the ungodly, imputes righteousness to them, by quoting a psalm which demonstrates to us exactly what the dynamics of justification and imputing are. Let’s look at it again. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven. So when God justifies, declares innocent the ungodly, he is forgiving their sins, their lawless deeds. And when God justifies the ungodly and imputes righteousness to them, he is covering their sins. That’s what it says in verse 7. And when God justifies the ungodly, God is not… imputing their sin to them. Let’s read the verse again then. Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord shall not impute sin. So when God justifies us, treats us as if we are innocent, he is forgiving us. And when he justifies us, he is covering our sins. When he declares us, treats us as if we were innocent by justification, he is not charging our sins against us. This is just pure wonder and beauty. You know, when you get forgiven, very often you say, well, I can forgive my… I know God forgives me, but I’m not sure I can forgive myself. Well, look, if you cannot forgive yourself, then you’re not believing that God can forgive you. God’s authority is absolute. When God forgives you, you have every freedom to forgive yourself. When God imputes you with righteousness, you can believe that you are counted as righteous. When God does not charge your sin against you, you can believe that God covers it. Now, another way of looking at this is to say this. Forgiveness then is more than forgiveness. It is justification. Well, what do we mean by that? Forgiveness is passing over your sin. Justification is declaring that no, well, let’s put it another way. Forgiveness is passing over your judgment. Forgiveness is passing over your judgment. But justification is declaring that no judgment is warranted. Now, wait a minute, you say, but I can’t believe that, Colin. I know that I’m worthy of judgment. I know that I have sinned. It’s a real sin and I’m ashamed of it. Yes, I know. But faith says that because of Jesus who took my judgment upon himself, then no judgment of me is warranted. Boy, what a thing to believe. You can say that. You can believe that. No judgment is warranted. You don’t say that with arrogance. You don’t say that with pride. You say it with the humility of faith that believes in this astonishing truth that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, become the Son of Man, God himself become man, has taken your judgment upon himself. Now you have to learn how to fight with that, you see. Fight in your mind with that. Your mind says you are worthy of judgment. Your mind says you failed yet again and God has given up on you. Your mind says, what’s wrong with me? I can never get overcome. I cannot do this thing right. And your faith comes in and says, by the authority of Jesus Christ, by the authority of God Almighty, I declare that no judgment upon me is warranted because Jesus took that judgment on my behalf. I am forgiven, my sin is covered, and that forgiveness means that I am justified and my judgment upon me has taken place, has been handed over to Jesus Christ. You see how you fight with this then, when you’re in the throes of an addiction, a struggle with drugs or alcohol. You see how you fight with it, when you’ve just had a drink and you vowed you would never have another drink. You don’t get all discouraged and overwhelmed. You say, Lord God, though I have sinned, I thank you that my sin is covered because… Jesus has, because I have been forgiven, and that forgiveness is justification. Not only is my sin passed over, Lord God, my judgment is passed over, but the gospel declares that no judgment is warranted because you took my judgment, dear God. Thank you so much. And so you bounce back You see, this faith in Christ as my atoning sacrifice, Christ as my judgment, is an amazing thing. It enables you to bounce back with faith. You are recalling Isaiah 53, surely he has borne our griefs, he has carried our sins and griefs, and carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed, and the Lord has laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Nothing is more clear than that. It means that not only does Jesus sympathize with our sins by taking them upon himself, he takes the judgment of our sins by taking them upon himself. For the transgressions of my people he was stricken. Our God was stricken for our transgressions. This is fundamental to your true faith. This is what gives you a healthy mind. This is what enables you to bounce back. I use the term sometimes bounce-back ability. If there is anything that gives your mind bounce-back ability, it is not an antidepressant, it is health. not Valium or whatever you may be taking. It is faith that exercises itself in Jesus Christ, affirming what God has done in him. Now, as you do this exercise, as you express it to God, maybe sometimes three or four times a day, maybe urgently and frequently in your stress until you calm down a little bit, you find your mind floating. You are gaining strength. You are gaining the courage to go on. You are gaining the bounce-back ability, the ability to bounce back, the resilience that we need in this world that is constantly hammering us. Jesus is your atonement. Jesus is your righteousness. Jesus died for your sins. Colin Cook here. Thank you for listening. Would you consider a donation to the broadcast? This is a broadcast that is listener-supported. It’s now in its 28th year, I think it is, and all because of God’s grace and your donations that keep the broadcast going. It costs $200 a week to keep the broadcast going five times a week, or $850 to $900 for a month’s broadcast. Please help, will you? If you would like to send a donation, you can send it to Faith Quest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much. See you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
