One of the more common questions that people ask, is how to receive the blessings of God. They are looking for something to do, some action to perform that will bring about miraculous change – almost like a magic spell. They are looking for some new bit of wisdom that will suddenly enlighten them to see a way to acquire what they are searching for. They often think that if only they could find this elusive bit of wisdom, all their questions would be answered and all doors would be opened to them… and so they keep going from this to that, from here to there, hoping to stumble across it somewhere.
Well, today, I am going to show you the hidden treasure. We are going to see it straight from scripture. And as we see this truth today, every door of blessing will be open to us. We have often heard it said that the best place to hide is right in the open, and this truth, this valuable gem and pearl of wisdom has been right in-front of us all along.
So let’s begin today with Romans 4:4-8:
“Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt.
But to him that works not, but believes on him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, to whom God imputes 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.”
Beginning with verses 4 and 5, what we see here is two different men, with two different scenarios. One works, but his reward is not of Grace it is of debt. To understand this you can think of your boss at your job. At the end of the work week, you receive a paycheck. That paycheck is not a gift from your boss to you, it is payment for services rendered – you have done work for your boss, and your boss pays you for your work. It is of debt.
The second man in verse 5, does not work, this man is different. This man, instead of trying to work to earn something, he simply believes on Him who justifies the ungodly; and who is this One who justifies the ungodly? Jesus! (This was spelled-out in Romans 3:21-26)
Take special notice that this verse specifically states that the second-man does not work. He is not trying to clean himself up so that God will accept him. He is not trying to get God to notice him or reward him for anything that he himself has done. What is the man doing? Believing. And not just believing, but believing something in-particular: That Jesus, justifies the ungodly.
Another detail to see here, is that this man is not just believing in Jesus, but he is believing on Jesus. The difference may seem small because it is a small change in our English grammar, but it is actually a profound change. To believe in Jesus, is to simply believe that He exists. Almost everyone who calls themselves Christian, believe that Jesus exists. However, to believe on Jesus is something else entirely. Believing on Jesus, means that He is the One supporting you, supplying you and uplifting you. You are resting on Him.
It is the ungodly that Christ justifies. And this detail runs counter to everything that we typically think about God and how He operates. We have this idea that in order to be justified, we must first become godly and then when He sees how godly we are, then He will justify us because we are so good. But no, This verse states plainly that Christ justifies the ungodly those who do not deserve it; those are the ones who Christ justifies. And this truth irritates those who see themselves as having some innate good within themselves. Those who think that they can conjure up the strength to do it, and do better or be better through self-effort.
Now there is another thing to notice about this second man. And it is at the end of the verse… his faith is accounted to him for righteousness.
This statement is not made about the first man and his works, only the second man. Of-course we know that no-one is justified (or made righteous) by their works or the Law (Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:16). It is in-fact faith in Christ alone that is counted for righteousness. Which the next verse 6 proceeds to make even more clear, as it begins to quote David, who even back in Old Covenant times, prophesied of Jesus justifying the ungodly by faith alone – and notice the detail: without works.
Verses 7 and 8 then proceed to quote David directly, and there are a couple of interesting details here as well. Notice, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
There are two distinct groups here. One is plural and one is not. The reason for this detail is to emphasize an important point. There are a lot of people who understand that after they come to Christ that their past sins are forgiven. However there are very few people who actually understand that the Lord is not imputing sins to them any longer. There are many believers who know that the sins they committed in the past before they came to Christ are all covered and washed clean in the blood of Christ, but those same people still react as though the sins they commit today are fresh stains that make them dirty all over again, and so they feel they must confess, re-repent or otherwise atone for these supposed “fresh sins”.
However, look at verse 8. Blessed is the man, and there are very few of them today, who realizes that the Lord is not imputing sin to him any longer. It’s a whole different mindset, a complete paradigm-shift, and absolute game-changer, when you realize that the Lord is not even imputing sin to you any longer. Christ has wiped your debt completely out and your record is now and forevermore completely clean.
So why does David write that both are blessed? Because in reality, both are blessed in Christ. It’s just that only a few people ever truly realize the truth, that the Lord is actually not imputing their sins to them. Only a few ever truly receive the truth of the blessing. Turn to Psalms 32: verses 1 and 2:
“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the LORD imputes not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
This is the writing of David that was being quoted in Romans 4:7 and 8. Notice that for the second group, whose sin are not imputed, that God puts His own name in there, YHVH in Hebrew (LORD in our English Bible). He does this because He wants us to know this truth, that He is not imputing sins to anyone who has accepted Christ; He wants us to experience the fullness of His blessings that Jesus paid for us to have.
Also notice the second half of verse 2: and in whose spirit there is no guile, (or deceit).
This is important because the first group is still being deceived. The ones who do not yet realize that their sins are not being imputed to them, are being deceived to believe that they can still be made dirty through their behavior. They still think they can lose blessings and be unworthy for certain things due to their performance of the moment. So they are deceived somewhat.
God wants you today, dear friend, to experience every freedom and blessing that He has paid to give you. Don’t spend another moment in bondage to something that you can be free from today right now. Receive the complete righteousness of Jesus Christ. Your past sins are done away with, and you are not having any sin imputed to you any more. This is the wisdom, the hidden treasure that can only be found in Jesus Christ.
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