The Faith of Abraham

Imputation—the examples of Abraham and David--1


1. Introductory Thoughts—The Doctrine of Imputation is one of the most important doctrines in the Bible, and it is one little known by many Christians.

a. God is a lawful Being; His very nature is to be Holy, perfect, orderly, lawful. He has a sense of justice, which is sometimes echoed in humanity, but never perfectly.
b. Justification by Faith alone, is a legal act, a declaration by God that the sinner is righteous, and this act of God’s is external to our being, but takes place in our record in heaven.
c. There is a record in heaven of all the sins of all who have ever lived. Our lives are recorded in detail, and every sin, every injustice, every abuse, every misdeed ever done by anyone is going to be adjudicated in God’s court of justice.

(1) For those who come to faith in Christ and are justified by Grace through faith, every sin on our account is dealt with by the blood of Christ.
(2) For those who do not come to faith in Christ, they will answer personally for their sins—Rev 20:12-13
(3) Whoever you are, your record in heaven exists, and at this time it is either stamped “paid in full by the blood of Christ, account closed…” or it remains open and is a silent testimony to the sin that will lead to your eternal damnation.
(4) Believers in Christ need to understand that if they have truly come to faith in Him, the account is closed, the record is sealed, the debts are paid in full, and they are free.
(5) Unbelievers need to understand that they stand liable for every sin they have ever committed, for every wrong thought, word, or deed they have ever done, and they are in danger of permanent loss of all they possess, including their own souls.

d. Paul teaches us the vital doctrine of imputation by the example of Abraham, with a quote or two from David.
2. What is the example of Abraham?
a. Some facts about Abraham—
(6) He is mentioned by name 286 times in the Bible, 54 by his older name, Abram, and 232 by the covenant name God gave him, Abraham
(7) He is mentioned 70 times in the New Testament
(8) Abraham was a pagan unbeliever, from Ur, one of the first great cities of civilization, part of the early Babylonian or Chaldaic Empire.
(9) Abraham was called by God—that is, he was spiritually awakened by the LORD Himself, and he followed the call of God into the wilderness.
(10) Consider the enormity of this!
(a) Travel in those days
(b) Communication in those days
(c) Leaving the comforts of a city for the middle of nowhere
(d) Leaving your land and people for a hostile environment
(e) Going to an uncertain destination

b. While Abraham was a man of great spiritual gifts who served the Lord mightily, he was a weak man who sinned great sins—

(1) Lying about Sarah, twice.
(2) Ishmael—a sin that Abraham’s descendants still have to live with.

c. Abraham is a man honored by two great ethnic heritages, Arab and Jew, and celebrated in the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Bahai religions

d. The concepts most often associated with Abraham are “faith” and “promise.” God made promises to Abraham, and Abraham believed God.

e. Abraham lives today— Mat 22:32 "'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.""

f. In heaven, Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Christ come—Jn 8:56-58 ""Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

3. Abraham’s Example—Rom 4:1-2 Paul was a Jew, and Abraham was his father in flesh, but as discussed in Galatians, also in Spirit.

a. Paul says, “What did Abraham discover about faith, about grace, about salvation?

b. Abraham was NOT legally justified before God by works. If he had been justified before God by his own works, then Abraham would have room to boast and glory in his own abilities. This is one of the key points—we really have to understand this in relation to Grace: God will not share His glory with anyone. Isa 42:8

c. I must ask a few questions—
(11) Are you saved today—do YOU know Christ as your personal Savior?
(12) Who saved you?
(13) Who gets 100% of the credit, glory, and praise for your salvation?

d. This is the only Gospel, the Gospel of Free Grace
(1) Salvation is a gift, salvation is of the Lord and not of man, God reaps all the credit and glory for our salvation, and of us having no place from which to boast.
(2) If anything I do, anything I contribute, any work or merit, or state, or condition generated by me from me, if any or that is considered part of my salvation, I have room to boast.

e. The Stark Truth—4:3
(1) What does the Bible say? This is the ONLY real question.
(2) The specific Scripture that Paul speaks of is the Old Testament (the New Testament was in the process of being written at this time)—Gen 15:6

f. The Counter example—quid pro quo—Romans 4:4 Simple and plain words—if we contribute, then salvation is owed to us in some measure—that is NOT grace.
4. The Grace Way of Salvation (the only way)—Rom 4:5.
a. You cannot be saved by grace plus works; you have to recognize your absolute inability and your total helplessness—Lk 18:10-14
b. “… to him who does not work…”—You must give up your pride, give up your sufficiency, and look to Christ only! You must acknowledge that “salvation is of the Lord.”
c. “…but believes…”Faith is required—saving faith, not intellectual faith, not intellectual agreement in principle, but putting all of your trust in Christ, and relying on Him alone.

(14) Faith is a gift of God, it is not self-generated by the sinner. The ability to see, to hear, to believe, these are all gifts of God. Eph 2:8-9
(15) Faith in Whom? “…but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly…”. You must put your faith in the right Jesus—because there are false ones out there.
(16) The Jesus you must put your faith in is the one who justifies the ungodly, the Jesus who awakens the dead sinner through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit and brings new life through the preaching of the Gospel. Gal 1:6-7, 2 Cor 11:4
d. Other “gospels.”
(1) The “gospel” of works is another gospel.
(2) The “gospel” of grace mixed with works is another gospel.
(3) The Jesus preached by those who preach that “gospel” is another Jesus!
(4) You must believe in “…Him who justifies the ungodly..”,
(a) not in Him who helps semi-godly people get there;
(b) not in Him who awakens a spark of divinity in an otherwise dead person;
(c) not to one who appeals to the will of a somewhat ungodly person.
(5) You must believe in the One who justifies the UNGODLY—Rom 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;

e. Imputation—“…his faith is accounted for righteousness," If you put your faith in Christ alone, your faith in Him puts to your account His righteousness, and you are accounted debt-free, Holy, with a bank account of all the righteous deeds Christ ever did in the flesh.

5. Applications

a. Believers in Christ need to understand that if they have truly come to faith in Him, the account is closed, the record is sealed, the debts are paid in full, and they are free.
b. Guilt is gone, you are free, free, free!
c. You may serve Christ to the limits of your abilities, you are a free man or woman, the Devil, the world, and your past have no claim on you, you are free!
d. Unbelievers need to understand that they stand liable for every sin they have ever committed, for every wrong thought, word, or deed they have ever done, and they are in danger of permanent loss of all they possess, including their own souls.