Sermon25-26 Rom4 Guide

Romans 4:2-8,16-25 theme verse Romans 4:5

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this twentieth Sunday of 2025, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at what the faith is, yet this week, we would like to look at the justification by faith together.

1)    First, in Romans chapter 1-3, Paul says that God has engraved His law in the conscience of all the human beings, and that in His creations, He has showed His eternal power and divinity clearly seen so that they are without excuse. However, although they knew the existence of God, they did not glorify Him or give thanks to Him, instead, exchanged His glory for images made of mortal human or birds, beasts or crawling animals, and committed idolatry and sexual immorality and all kinds of evil, thereby provoking God. And since even the Jews who received the law from God also broke the law, thereby provoking God's wrath too so that both Jews and Greeks are under sin. Therefore, God has revealed His righteousness apart from the law, through which human beings can be justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, so that all human beings have to respond with faith to receive the grace of Christ's atonement.

2)    And then in the following chapter 4 of today’s text, Paul gives an example of justification by faith of Abraham that even though Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah was barren so that they could not bear children, yet when God gave him a promise about his offspring, Abraham believed in God and was confident that God could fulfill His promise. Therefore, God counted his faith as his righteousness. As such, he says that blessed are those whose lawlessness was forgiven, and whose sins were covered, and whose sins were not counted, because Jesus was delivered over for sins and raised up again for justification. By the way, in verse 25 of today’s text, tow verbs of “delivered over” and “raised up” are both written in the passive, so that they are divine passive verbs so that we can know that God the Father did these. Therefore, we know that both happened because of God and these two events are inseparable and through these actions, we can have a right relationship with God after our sins are forgiven.

3)    In order words, Jesus’ death and the resurrection of Christ are inseparably connected so that we can know that his death provides the basis for innocence, and his resurrection proves the redemptive reality of his death. I mean, Christ's death was necessary for the satisfaction of God's justice, and His resurrection was necessary to prove that this satisfaction was accomplished, that is, that his victory over sin was complete. To elaborated it, Christ's death pays my debt, and his resurrection is the proof that justification has been accomplished.

4)    Here, to justify which is in Hebrew ‘צָדַק(ṣā·ḏǎq)’ and in Greek ‘δικαιόω (dikaioō)’ is a judicial sentence, not meaning to make just or righteous morally, yet to mean that by imputing to a person the righteousness of another, that is, to account him righteous, though he is inwardly unrighteous. Therefore, “Justification is a judicial act of God, in which He declares, on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner” (Louis Berkhof) so that even though it does not change his inner life, it affect his state and it involves the forgiveness of sins, and restoration to divine favor. And those who are justified have “peace with God,” “assurance of salvation,” (Rom. 5:1–10), and an “inheritance among them that are sanctified” (Acts 26:18).  Therefore, justification is instantaneous and complete and did not depend for its completion on some further satisfaction for sin. In other words, justification removes the guilt of sin and restores the sinner to all the filial rights involved in his state as a child of God, including an eternal inheritance, while sanctification removes the pollution of sin and renews the sinner ever-increasingly in conformity with the image of God. And while the meritorious cause of both lies in the merits of Christ, there is a difference in the efficient cause, I mean, speaking economically, God the Father declares the sinner righteous, and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies him.

5)    As such, regarding the justification of Sinners, Belgic confession article #23 confesses that “We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare those people blessed to whom God grants righteousness apart from works. And the same apostle says that we are "justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” And therefore, we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him. That is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror of God's approach, without doing what our first parents, Adam and Eve, did, who trembled as they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. In fact, if we had to appear before God relying no matter how little on ourselves or some other creature, then, alas, we would be swallowed up. Therefore, eve1yone must say with David: ‘[Lord,] do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.’”

6)    Yet, we receive this justification as the result of all the benefits which Christ earned for us through His passive and active obedience during His whole life, namely: the whole of salvation (Mt 1:21; Lk 2:11; Jn 3:17; 12:47), and more specifically the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7); the removal of our sins (Jn 1:29; 1 Jn 3:5); the cleansing or deliverance of a bad conscience (Heb 10:22); justification (Rom 4:25); righteousness (1 Cor 1:30); sonship (Gal 3:26; 4:5–6; Eph 1:5); confident access to God (Eph 2:18; 3:12); God’s laying aside his wrath in virtue of Christ’s sacrifice, that is, the sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10; Heb 2:17); the disposition in God that replaced it, the new reconciled—no longer hostile but favorable—disposition of peace toward the world (Rom 5:10f; 2 Cor 5:18–20); the disposition of people vis-à-vis God (Rom 5:1); further, the gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn 15:26; Acts 2; Gal 4:6); the second birth and the power to become children of God (Jn 1:12–13); sanctification (1 Cor 1:30); participation in Christ’s death (Rom 6:3f); the dying to sin (Rom 6:6f; Gal 2:20); the being crucified to the world (Gal 6:14); the cleansing (Eph 5:26; 1 Jn 1:7, 9) and the washing away of sins (1 Cor 6:11; Rev 1:5; 7:14) by being sprinkled with the blood of Christ (Heb 9:22; 12:24; 1 Pt 1:2); walking in the Spirit and in the newness of life (Rom 6:4); participation in the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Rom 6:5; Eph 2:6; Phil 3:20); the imitation of Christ (Mt 10:38; 1 Pt 2:21f); increased freedom from the curse of the law (Rom 6:14; 7:1–6; Gal 3:13; Col 2:14); the fulfillment of the old and the inauguration of a new covenant (Mk 14:24; Heb 7:22; 9:15; 12:24); redemption from the power of Satan (Lk 11:22; Jn 14:30; Col 2:15; 1 Jn 3:8; Col 1:13); victory over the world (Jn 16:33; 1 Jn 4:4, 5:4); deliverance from death and from the fear of death (Rom 5:12f; 1 Cor 15:55f; Heb 2:15); escape from judgment (Heb 10:27–28); and, finally, the resurrection of the last day (Jn 11:25; 1 Cor 15:21); ascension (Eph 2:6); glorification (Jn 17:24); the heavenly inheritance (Jn 14:2; 1 Pt 1:4); eternal life already beginning here with the inception of faith (Jn 3:15, 36) and one day fully manifesting itself in glory (Mk 10:30; Rom 6:22); the new heaven and new earth (2 Pt 3:13; Rev 21:1, 5); and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21; 1 Cor 15:24–28).

7)    Yet the only way we could participate in these amazing merits of Christ is through personal communion with Christ, which can be defined as an intimate, vital, and spiritual union between Christ and His people, in virtue of which He is the source of their life and strength, of their blessing and salvation. Regarding this mystical union with Christ, while the Lutherans treat the doctrine of the mystical union anthropologically, and therefore conceive of it as established by faith, yet our Reformed theology, on the other hands, deals with the union of believers with Christ theologically, and emphasizes, as Calvin said, that in the council of peace, Christ voluntarily took upon Himself to be the Head and Surety of the elect, destined to constitute the new humanity, and as such to establish their righteousness before God by paying the penalty for their sin and by rendering perfect obedience to the law and thus securing their title to everlasting life. And in that eternal covenant, the sin of His people was imputed to Christ, and His righteousness was imputed to them. This imputation of the righteousness of Christ to His people in the counsel of redemption is sometimes represented as a justification from eternity. It is certainly the eternal basis of our justification by faith and is the ground on which we receive all spiritual blessings and the gift of life eternal. And then the faith, which is the gift of God and the treasure hidden in Christ, enables us to appropriate on our part what is given unto us in Christ, and to enter ever-increasingly into conscious enjoyment of the blessed union with Christ, which is the source of all our spiritual riches.

8)    As such we can have confidence in this union with Christ to enjoy all the benefits which Jesus earned for us. That’s why Rom 8:32-35 said that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Therefore, I pray that this year, we all may know how firm the grace of God’s salvation in the Covenant of Redemption from eternity to live the life of righteousness as His children according to the grace of God’s justification.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that all the grace of salvation, i.e., regeneration, faith, conversion, justification, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification was earned by Christ’s obedience, passive and active, during whole his life. So, meditating on the grace of Christ in the salvation, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also we can know that all these benefits can be ours through the union with Christ. So after reviewing the mystery of this union with Christ, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.Romans 4:2-8,16-25 theme verse Romans 4:5

The praise and honor and glory be to our heavenly Father who seeks true worshipers who worship Him with the Spirit and truth.

In this twentieth Sunday of 2025, I pray that His grace of the application of all the benefits which Jesus earned for our salvation and also the glorious ministry of the proclamation of His kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit may be full in our life. Last week, we looked at what the faith is, yet this week, we would like to look at the justification by faith together.

1)    First, in Romans chapter 1-3, Paul says that God has engraved His law in the conscience of all the human beings, and that in His creations, He has showed His eternal power and divinity clearly seen so that they are without excuse. However, although they knew the existence of God, they did not glorify Him or give thanks to Him, instead, exchanged His glory for images made of mortal human or birds, beasts or crawling animals, and committed idolatry and sexual immorality and all kinds of evil, thereby provoking God. And since even the Jews who received the law from God also broke the law, thereby provoking God's wrath too so that both Jews and Greeks are under sin. Therefore, God has revealed His righteousness apart from the law, through which human beings can be justified freely by His grace through the redemption in Christ Jesus, so that all human beings have to respond with faith to receive the grace of Christ's atonement.

2)    And then in the following chapter 4 of today’s text, Paul gives an example of justification by faith of Abraham that even though Abraham was a hundred years old, and Sarah was barren so that they could not bear children, yet when God gave him a promise about his offspring, Abraham believed in God and was confident that God could fulfill His promise. Therefore, God counted his faith as his righteousness. As such, he says that blessed are those whose lawlessness was forgiven, and whose sins were covered, and whose sins were not counted, because Jesus was delivered over for sins and raised up again for justification. By the way, in verse 25 of today’s text, tow verbs of “delivered over” and “raised up” are both written in the passive, so that they are divine passive verbs so that we can know that God the Father did these. Therefore, we know that both happened because of God and these two events are inseparable and through these actions, we can have a right relationship with God after our sins are forgiven.

3)    In order words, Jesus’ death and the resurrection of Christ are inseparably connected so that we can know that his death provides the basis for innocence, and his resurrection proves the redemptive reality of his death. I mean, Christ's death was necessary for the satisfaction of God's justice, and His resurrection was necessary to prove that this satisfaction was accomplished, that is, that his victory over sin was complete. To elaborated it, Christ's death pays my debt, and his resurrection is the proof that justification has been accomplished.

4)    Here, to justify which is in Hebrew ‘צָדַק(ṣā·ḏǎq)’ and in Greek ‘δικαιόω (dikaioō)’ is a judicial sentence, not meaning to make just or righteous morally, yet to mean that by imputing to a person the righteousness of another, that is, to account him righteous, though he is inwardly unrighteous. Therefore, “Justification is a judicial act of God, in which He declares, on the basis of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, that all the claims of the law are satisfied with respect to the sinner” (Louis Berkhof) so that even though it does not change his inner life, it affect his state and it involves the forgiveness of sins, and restoration to divine favor. And those who are justified have “peace with God,” “assurance of salvation,” (Rom. 5:1–10), and an “inheritance among them that are sanctified” (Acts 26:18).  Therefore, justification is instantaneous and complete and did not depend for its completion on some further satisfaction for sin. In other words, justification removes the guilt of sin and restores the sinner to all the filial rights involved in his state as a child of God, including an eternal inheritance, while sanctification removes the pollution of sin and renews the sinner ever-increasingly in conformity with the image of God. And while the meritorious cause of both lies in the merits of Christ, there is a difference in the efficient cause, I mean, speaking economically, God the Father declares the sinner righteous, and God the Holy Spirit sanctifies him.

5)    As such, regarding the justification of Sinners, Belgic confession article #23 confesses that “We believe that our blessedness lies in the forgiveness of our sins because of Jesus Christ, and that in it our righteousness before God is contained, as David and Paul teach us when they declare those people blessed to whom God grants righteousness apart from works. And the same apostle says that we are "justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” And therefore, we cling to this foundation, which is firm forever, giving all glory to God, humbling ourselves, and recognizing ourselves as we are; not claiming a thing for ourselves or our merits and leaning and resting on the sole obedience of Christ crucified, which is ours when we believe in him. That is enough to cover all our sins and to make us confident, freeing the conscience from the fear, dread, and terror of God's approach, without doing what our first parents, Adam and Eve, did, who trembled as they tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. In fact, if we had to appear before God relying no matter how little on ourselves or some other creature, then, alas, we would be swallowed up. Therefore, eve1yone must say with David: ‘[Lord,] do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.’”

6)    Yet, we receive this justification as the result of all the benefits which Christ earned for us through His passive and active obedience during His whole life, namely: the whole of salvation (Mt 1:21; Lk 2:11; Jn 3:17; 12:47), and more specifically the forgiveness of sins (Mt 26:28; Eph 1:7); the removal of our sins (Jn 1:29; 1 Jn 3:5); the cleansing or deliverance of a bad conscience (Heb 10:22); justification (Rom 4:25); righteousness (1 Cor 1:30); sonship (Gal 3:26; 4:5–6; Eph 1:5); confident access to God (Eph 2:18; 3:12); God’s laying aside his wrath in virtue of Christ’s sacrifice, that is, the sacrifice of atonement (Rom 3:25; 1 Jn 2:2; 4:10; Heb 2:17); the disposition in God that replaced it, the new reconciled—no longer hostile but favorable—disposition of peace toward the world (Rom 5:10f; 2 Cor 5:18–20); the disposition of people vis-à-vis God (Rom 5:1); further, the gift of the Holy Spirit (Jn 15:26; Acts 2; Gal 4:6); the second birth and the power to become children of God (Jn 1:12–13); sanctification (1 Cor 1:30); participation in Christ’s death (Rom 6:3f); the dying to sin (Rom 6:6f; Gal 2:20); the being crucified to the world (Gal 6:14); the cleansing (Eph 5:26; 1 Jn 1:7, 9) and the washing away of sins (1 Cor 6:11; Rev 1:5; 7:14) by being sprinkled with the blood of Christ (Heb 9:22; 12:24; 1 Pt 1:2); walking in the Spirit and in the newness of life (Rom 6:4); participation in the resurrection and ascension of Christ (Rom 6:5; Eph 2:6; Phil 3:20); the imitation of Christ (Mt 10:38; 1 Pt 2:21f); increased freedom from the curse of the law (Rom 6:14; 7:1–6; Gal 3:13; Col 2:14); the fulfillment of the old and the inauguration of a new covenant (Mk 14:24; Heb 7:22; 9:15; 12:24); redemption from the power of Satan (Lk 11:22; Jn 14:30; Col 2:15; 1 Jn 3:8; Col 1:13); victory over the world (Jn 16:33; 1 Jn 4:4, 5:4); deliverance from death and from the fear of death (Rom 5:12f; 1 Cor 15:55f; Heb 2:15); escape from judgment (Heb 10:27–28); and, finally, the resurrection of the last day (Jn 11:25; 1 Cor 15:21); ascension (Eph 2:6); glorification (Jn 17:24); the heavenly inheritance (Jn 14:2; 1 Pt 1:4); eternal life already beginning here with the inception of faith (Jn 3:15, 36) and one day fully manifesting itself in glory (Mk 10:30; Rom 6:22); the new heaven and new earth (2 Pt 3:13; Rev 21:1, 5); and the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21; 1 Cor 15:24–28).

7)    Yet the only way we could participate in these amazing merits of Christ is through personal communion with Christ, which can be defined as an intimate, vital, and spiritual union between Christ and His people, in virtue of which He is the source of their life and strength, of their blessing and salvation. Regarding this mystical union with Christ, while the Lutherans treat the doctrine of the mystical union anthropologically, and therefore conceive of it as established by faith, yet our Reformed theology, on the other hands, deals with the union of believers with Christ theologically, and emphasizes, as Calvin said, that in the council of peace, Christ voluntarily took upon Himself to be the Head and Surety of the elect, destined to constitute the new humanity, and as such to establish their righteousness before God by paying the penalty for their sin and by rendering perfect obedience to the law and thus securing their title to everlasting life. And in that eternal covenant, the sin of His people was imputed to Christ, and His righteousness was imputed to them. This imputation of the righteousness of Christ to His people in the counsel of redemption is sometimes represented as a justification from eternity. It is certainly the eternal basis of our justification by faith and is the ground on which we receive all spiritual blessings and the gift of life eternal. And then the faith, which is the gift of God and the treasure hidden in Christ, enables us to appropriate on our part what is given unto us in Christ, and to enter ever-increasingly into conscious enjoyment of the blessed union with Christ, which is the source of all our spiritual riches.

8)    As such we can have confidence in this union with Christ to enjoy all the benefits which Jesus earned for us. That’s why Rom 8:32-35 said that “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?” Therefore, I pray that this year, we all may know how firm the grace of God’s salvation in the Covenant of Redemption from eternity to live the life of righteousness as His children according to the grace of God’s justification.

Key Questions as Small Group Activity

Q1 Through today’s text, we became to know that all the grace of salvation, i.e., regeneration, faith, conversion, justification, sanctification, perseverance, and glorification was earned by Christ’s obedience, passive and active, during whole his life. So, meditating on the grace of Christ in the salvation, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Q2 And also we can know that all these benefits can be ours through the union with Christ. So after reviewing the mystery of this union with Christ, I hope we could share our thought and experience with our team members together to learn from each other.

Love you. Thank you. God bless you.

Prayer Note

Dear ( God’s attribute which you found Today ) God!

Thanks for ( something you received through the sermon or  even during the week )

Praise, gratitude and glory be to You, Lord!

Today, I realized my sin (pains) that ( the sin God reminded through the sermon ),

please forgive (or heal) me and help me not to repeat ( the sins you recognized   ).

I learned that ( something you learned through the sermon                                    )

Please help me to live in that (  learned way of life                                                )

I pray in ( Jesus’ attribute you find ) Jesus’ name. Amen.