Word of Salvation – Vol.  15 No.07 - February 1969

 

Righteous In Christ Through Faith

 

Sermon by Rev.  Frederick Channing on Psalm 32:1-5

SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 32

PSALTER HYMNAL (old): 331:1,2,4; 78:1,3,5; 189; 63:1,3; 339:2,4

 

During the time when the Roman Empire was a world empire, and the Roman system of law and order prevailed over the greater part of Europe and the Middle East, it is said to have been the practice that, when a man was brought before a judge in a Roman Court of Law and found innocent, he was presented with a white stone.

This white stone was meant as a symbol of the purity of that person's character.  In the matter of the crime of which he had been accused, he was declared to be spotlessly clean!  According to the Roman Law, such a person could walk forth from that Court of Law, without a single stain left upon his character.

How joyful would be such a person!  And how precious, that symbolic white stone.  The Law of the Roman Empire could no longer point an accusing finger at him, in the matter of the crime of which he had been accused.  He had been acquitted!  Declared to be RIGHT WITH THE LAW..!

This is the theme of the Bible, when it speaks to us about OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST!  Man is declared RIGHT WITH GOD, through Jesus Christ!  Man is declared RIGHT with the Law of God, through Jesus Christ!

This theme turned the whole Jewish religion upside down!  Our Lord Jesus Christ, when on earth, clearly taught that men are not righteous before God by law-keeping, nor by the performance of certain religious ceremonies, Our Lord clearly taught that men are not righteous before God because they subject themselves to live a straightjacket sort of life, BUT.... men are right before God BY FAITH!

This is the very reason why the Jewish leaders envied our Lord, and set about to destroy Him!  He was upsetting their carefully reasoned theology.  He was upsetting their carefully reasoned way to righteousness!

And it was for this very same reason that the leaders of the Jews persecuted the disciples and apostles of our Lord.  They said of the apostle Paul, "This man teaches men everywhere, that they should turn away from the temple, and the temple ceremonies."

Now this was not what the apostle Paul taught at all.  What he taught, was that the temple worship, and the ceremonies of the Jewish religion DID NOT SAVE!  These things did not make a man or woman RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GOD!

Writing to the Christians at Rome, Paul said, "We conclude that a man is JUSTIFIED by faith, WITHOUT the deeds of the law".  Only by faith in Jesus Christ, can men be righteous before God!  Paul, the inspired apostle of our Lord, not only spoke negatively against the false teachings of the leaders of the Jews, and pointed out their error, but also, he positively taught that EVERYONE WHO HAS FAITH in Jesus Christ IS RIGHTEOUS before God.

He tells us that this is HOW men and women, all down through the ages of time, have been accounted righteous before God... and there is NO OTHER WAY.  He said to the Romans in his epistle, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness!!!

Now when we hear this – how man can be declared RIGHT WITH GOD, by faith in Jesus Christ – this is something that should make any man or woman leap for joy!

When we consider the state of man by nature – the Bible says that man is "born in sin and shapen in iniquity" ... there is "none righteous; no, not one".... "all are gone out of the way... all are become filthy..." – THAT is enough to make men be filled with praise for God, when they hear the GOSPEL MESSAGE... the message of GOOD NEWS.  It is indeed a MESSAGE OF GOOD NEWS!  That men and women are RIGHTEOUS before God BY FAITH in Jesus Christ!

The Psalmist understood this, and this is why he commenced this 32nd Psalm with the word "blessed"... "blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile".

This word "BLESSED" doesn't actually mean just "happy".  Very often we find modern day Bible translations substituting the word "happy" for this word "blessed".

But that is not correct, The word "happy" actually means something that happens by chance.  It comes from an old English word... "hap" – which means ‘chance’!

But the Bible does not tell us that the things that the Psalmist is speaking of in this 32^nd Psalm, come about ‘BY CHANCE'.  Oh, NO!  The Bible testifies to the fact that all these things come about by an act of God's SOVEREIGN GRACE!

Perhaps we shall understand more clearly why this word "blessed" can't possibly mean "happy", if we look at some other places in the Bible where the word "blessed" is used.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His Sermon on the Mount, said, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you and say all manner of evil against you."

Are men and women HAPPY when this sort of thing happens?  Are you hilariously happy when people say evil things of you... you Christians?  Oh no!  Very often we are sad, aren't we?  Very often such evil words are a burden upon our hearts.  We can't laugh about such things, can we?

Our Lord Jesus also said, "Blessed are those that mourn".  Now if this word "blessed" meant "happy", this would be a contradiction.  Mourning people are NOT HAPPY... in the sense of being hilariously happy... and laughing.

Then also our Lord said to Simon Peter... "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona."  This was on the occasion when Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the Living God!  But Peter was not making a laughing matter of this confession.  This was a very serious matter!

Now this word that the Psalmist uses, "blessed"... it means "prosperous".  Now we can see what the Lord Jesus means, can't we?  People who are reviled for Christ's sake, and the Gospel's sake, are prosperous!  They are indeed, for such temporal light affliction is working for them an eternal weight of glory!

And people who sorrow and mourn over their sins... they are prosperous indeed!  How prosperous men and women are to see their sin... to be led by the Spirit of God to lament over their sin, while millions of men and women don't worry for a moment about sin – don’t lose a moment's sleep over their heinous sins!

And Simon Peter was indeed prosperous, wasn't he?  He had been given understanding to be able to make that confession of faith, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto you, but My Father who is in heaven,” said Jesus.

And the Psalmist says... "Prosperous is the man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."  Prosperous indeed is such a man!  Such a man has no need of anything else!  He has no need of anything more!  To have this gift from God is to have everything!

This was the experience of the woman of whom the hymn–writer wrote:

            In the heart of London City,
            Mid the dwellings of the poor,
            These bright golden words were uttered:
            "I have Christ!  What want I more?"!

            Spoken by a lonely woman,
            Dying on a garret floor,
            Having not one earthly comfort:
            "I have Christ!  What want I more?"

            Oh, her words will live forever,
            I repeat them o'er and o'er;
            God delights to hear me saying:
            "I have Christ!  What want I more?"

            Oh, my dear, my fellow sinners,
            High and low, and rich and poor,
            Can you say, with deep thanksgiving:
            "I have Christ!  What want I more?"

            Look away from earth's attractions,
            All its joys will soon be o'er;
            Trust Him now, and say with gladness:
            "I have Christ!  What want I more?"

This poor dying woman had nothing!  No bed!  Not one earthly comfort!  But she had Jesus Christ, and having Jesus Christ she had this blessing of forgiveness of sin, and iniquity covered.  She was prosperous!  What a profit was hers!

HOW DOES GOD GIVE RIGHTEOUSNESS?

Now we should understand the wonderful manner in which God gives such righteousness of which we have been speaking.  It is an IMPUTED righteousness.  Our text says: "Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord IMPUTETH not iniquity!"  But we ARE iniquitous beings!  The word iniquity means, the GUILT OF OUR SINS.  Who is there amongst us today who has no such stain of guilt upon his soul?  Who is there that could rise up in our assembly and say... "I am not guilty of sinning against God"?

But our text says that there ARE SOME MEN AND WOMEN to whom God does not impute their guilt,

This word "IMPUTE" means "charge".  Our text says that there are some people against whose account God does not enter their guilt, as a debit charge!  Instead, God IMPUTES, He charges to the account of these men and women, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ..  He charges to the account of these men and women, the perfect holiness of Jesus... He charges to the account of these people the perfection of Jesus Christ.

HOW CAN THIS BE DONE?  How can God declare sinners... HOLY?  How  can this be done by God, WHO IS HIMSELF HOLY?

Anyone who changes a debit into a credit, is either a fool or a cheat.  But God is not a fool!  And God is not a cheat!  Yet... God DOES change our debit of guilt into a credit of righteousness!  And He does this by the PERFECT SATISFACTION of Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus' righteousness, and Jesus' holiness, and Jesus' obedience that is charged to our account!  Our account is in the red!  It is drastically, and irreparably in the red!  Daily it is going deeper and deeper into the red!  Spiritually we are completely bankrupt,

WE will never be able to change our debit into a credit.  But God, in great mercy, and fathomless love, charges the limitless resources and credit of Jesus Christ to our account!

How prosperous indeed is the man... the woman... to whom the Lord does NOT charge iniquity, but charges the righteousness of CHRIST!  And Christ's righteousness consisted in His Holiness.  There was not one stain of sin on our Lord.  He could say, "Which of YOU convinceth ME of sin?”... and no one gave answer!  He is declared in the Scriptures to be, "Sinless, harmless, and undefiled, and separate from sinners".  The Scripture pictures Him as the one who "did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth".  Jesus Christ was perfectly HOLY.

Jesus' righteousness consisted in His perfect obedience to His Father's will.  He could say, "My meat is to do the will of My Father.

He could say, "Lo, I come (in the book, it is written of Me), to do Thy will, O God.”

He could say, "Father, I have COMPLETED the work which Thou gavest me to do"...  and, in the garden of Gethsemane, He knelt under the shadow of the Cross of Calvary and said, "Thy will be done... not mine!”  He rendered PERFECT and COMPLETE OBEDIENCE to God the Father.  And this perfect obedience is charged to OUR ACCOUNT.

OUR GUILT!

And what has happened to our guilt?  The Bible says, "The Lord hath laid on Him (the Lord Jesus Christ), the iniquity of us all."

Now this is what the Bible teaches us about the IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS of JESUS CHRIST.  This glorious Bible theme was not hidden from the saints of the Old Testament.  Even the disobedient prophet Jonah could say, "The Lord OUR righteousness".

NOT INFUSED RIGHTEOUSNESS!  but IMPUTED!

Now we should notice that the Bible does not teach that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is INFUSED.  The Bible teaches that we are DECLARED right with God... and declared right with the law of God,

And the Bible also teaches us that there is a difference between this DECLARED STATE and our ACTUAL CONDITION.

Perhaps you will understand this better if we use an illustration.

When a person applies to the Department of Internal Affairs for naturalisation, and is accepted, and becomes a citizen of New Zealand (Australia), this affects the STATE, the STANDING of that person.  He is then able to partake of the privileges of being a citizen of that country.  He can vote at government elections, He can claim the protection of that country.

But, very likely, that same person will still have a very strong accent in his speech.  Possibly he will still love many of the old traditions of his homeland.  Those things do not change overnight, do they?

And so it is when God, in His wondrous grace, declares us righteous in Christ... and imputes to us the righteousness of Christ!

We have wonderful privileges!  We have access to the Father.

A new and living way has been opened right up to the Throne of Grace.

Jesus has opened that way, by having the "veil" of His flesh torn for us on the Cross.

We may call God "OUR FATHER"...  We can say..

            "MY FATHER is rich in houses and lands,
            He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
            Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
            His coffers are full, He has riches untold.

            I once was an outcast stranger on earth,
            A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth!
            But I've been adopted, my name's written down...
            An heir to a mansion, a robe, and a crown!

            A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
            They're building a palace for me over there!
            Tho' exiled from home, yet still I may sing:
            All glory to God, I'm the child of a King!”

And beloved, we have protection!  Our God has said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.  He has said, "The gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church;" against my redeemed, my chosen people.

BUT, there is still with us the inclination to all evil.  Our talk is so often done with the tongue of the world.  And we still do love the traditions of the world, don't we?

These things do not change overnight.  Our standing before God is righteous, but our condition is still so often unrighteous.

BUT...WE HAVE BECOME PROSPEROUS!  We have RIGHTEOUSNESS IN CHRIST!  JESUS IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS!

If we look away from Jesus Christ as our righteousness, where can we look for a righteousness that will satisfy God?

If we look to ourselves, what do we see?  Only sin, grievous sin.  An inclination to evil.  Our conscience will accuse us.  But when we look to Jesus, then we see
  PERFECT OBEDIENCE...
  PERFECT HOLINESS...
            and God has charged these things to OUR ACCOUNT.

BY FAITH!

And we know and can enjoy this prosperity which is ours in Christ, BY FAITH!

There were days when the Psalmist refused to believe God's Word.  The Psalmist was silent, and made no confession of his sins.  Then it was that he felt the heavy hand of God upon Him.  God's hand will always be heavy on anyone who hides his sin, and refuses to confess it.  God's hand will press out in our conscience the burden of our sin.

But the day came for the psalmist, when he acknowledged his sin.  "I acknowledged my sin unto Thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid, I said, 'I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord;' and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

The psalmist BELIEVED WHAT GOD HAD PROMISED.  And the psalmist ACTED upon his belief of what God had promised.  And THEN he entered into the enjoyment of that PROSPERITY of transgression forgiven, sins covered, and iniquity not charged!

QUESTION!

Now the question is this: Have you entered into the enjoyment of that prosperity which believers have in Christ?

Have you received the white stone of acquittal from God, the Judge?

Have you been declared to be as if you have never committed any sin... even though you know that you sin daily?

Has your life been washed?  Purified by the blood of Jesus?  If the Law of God should point to any stain, can you point to the righteousness of Christ to cover your defenceless head?  If you can, you are prosperous!  And you can say...
            My Hope is built on nothing less
            Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;
            I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
            But wholly lean on Jesus' Name.
            On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
            All other ground is sinking sand.

And you can be glad in the Lord.  "Rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy all ye that have been declared upright in heart...!"

Yes, tell it forth!  Tell forth the love of Jesus, your righteousness!  Show forth His praise.  The praise of Him who loved you and washed you from your sins in His Own precious blood, and has made you king and priest unto God!

Amen.