It is essential in argument to have common ground where the debate can be carried on. The apostle could count on the agreement of his Jewish readers with his reference to the Scriptures as the court of final appeal. And whilst some modern hearers reject the claims of the Bible, the majority receive it as an inspired authority, so that the preacher's business generally is to prove his case therefrom, and to press home its statements showing what is the appropriate action they involve. Having mentioned Abraham as an instance of justification by faith, the apostle proceeded to summon David as a witness to the same truth in the thirty-second psalm.

I. GOD'S MERCIFUL TREATMENT OF PENITENT SINNERS.

1. Three expressions are employed in the verses cited, respecting sin. It is said to be forgiven, like a debt remitted, the score against us being erased. It is covered, as the mercy-seat hid the Law from view, or as a stone flung into the depths of the sea is buried in its waters, or as a mantle of fleecy snow conceals the defilements of a landscape. Likewise it is act reckoned against the delinquents, as if God turned a deaf ear and unseeing eye when complaint is lodged against him concerning the transgressions of the culprits. He smooths the wax tablets so that none can read the bill of indictment.

2. These expressions signify a complete pardon. The king may not care much for the presence of the pardoned rebel at his court, but the father is joyful at the return of the prodigal son. No intermediate state of indifference is possible in God's attitude towards his creatures; when he forgives, there is full reconciliation. No look, no tone, hints at past unworthiness!

3. These expressions teach plainly gratuitous justification. No mention is made of human merit. Man's repentance cannot obliterate or atone for the past; forgiveness means a wrong condoned, not undone, Man is a slave, who cannot purchase his freedom; he has thrown himself into bondage, and his only hope lies in free manumission.

II. THE HAPPINESS OF THE FORGIVEN.

1. The penalties of sin are averted. This does not mean that all the consequences of past wrong-doing are prevented from following, but that the wrath of God rests no longer upon the sinner. The future sentence against evil is withheld, and the burden of guilt is thus removed.

2. Justification brings with it admission into a state of Divine favour. Acquittal includes more than a negative result, that of no condemnation; there is likewise a positive entrance into the kingdom of heaven, with all its sacred privileges and relationships. Filial love takes the place of the spirit of fear.

3. The blissful consciousness of a right condition. Instead of slurring over sin, trying vainly to forget it, the fact has been faced, the truth admitted, and the touch of God has rolled the load for ever from the conscience. The Scriptures assume the possibility of knowing ourselves forgiven. Faith opens the inner hearing to rejoice in the assurance, "Go in peace." The devout Israelite had the ceremonies of the temple to symbolize God's plan of mercy as well as the declarations of inspired teachers. The Christian has words of Christ to rest upon, as also the apostolic commentaries upon the sacrifice and mission of Christ. "I'm in a new world," said one who realized his altered position God-wards. Peaceful in mind during life, serene in the prospect of death, with God as his Portion through eternity, surely this is happiness worthy of the eulogy of the psalmist. - S.R.A.

It has been represented as —

I. A LEGAL FICTION. We protest against this if the expression be meant anything unreal or untrue.

1. We make this statement with a limitation because there are some "legal fictions" which are very far from being unreal. It is "a legal fiction" to say that "the king can do no wrong"; for unquestionably in his private and personal capacity he may even be guilty of crime; but in his public and official capacity, as the head of the State, he is held in the law of this country to be irresponsible, and the errors or crimes of the government are imputed to his constitutional advisers, who are regarded, by reason of their official position, as alone answerable for them. It is a "legal fiction" to say that "the king never dies"; for as an individual he cannot escape the doom of the meanest of his subjects; but royalty survives the person of the monarch. It is a "legal fiction" to say that the Commons of England are assembled in Parliament; for they are there only in the persons of their representatives; and yet the whole nation is bound by their acts, and subject to be governed, taxed, fined, and imprisoned, or even put to death, according to their laws. It is a "legal fiction," and a far from seemly one, to speak of the omnipotence of Parliament; yet that irreverent expression contains the important truth that the supreme power, which must exist in every form of government, and from whose judgment there is no appeal, is vested in the legislative and executive authorities of the State. Is constitutional government, therefore, "a legal fiction," in the sense of being unreal or unconnected with grave responsibilities? Or was adoption, according to the Romish Jurisprudence, which regarded one as the son of another in law who was not his son by birth, a "legal fiction," or a privilege of no real worth when it constituted a new relation between those who were not related before, and conveyed a legal right of inheritance? Or is the rule that the wife is one in law with her husband an unreal thing, when it invests him with serious liabilities? These examples should dispel the prejudice which is excited against imputation when it is described as a "legal fiction," since although "legal fictions" they express important truths.

2. Suppose that it were justly described as a "legal fiction" it might still represent an important truth, under the scheme of God's moral government.(1) If He has promulgated His law in a covenant form, as a law for the race at large, and imposed it on the first Adam as their representative, then that constitution must be productive of results in which they as well as he will be found to participate; and yet these consequences, so far from being mere "legal fictions," are assuredly very solemn realities: the curse on the ground, the doom of death, the loss of God's image, the forfeiture of His favour, and all the evils which have followed in the train of sin, — all these are brought upon us under the operation of that law, and every one of them is real.(2) In like manner if God has promulgated a scheme of redeeming mercy, and this, too, in a covenant form, through the second Adam as the representative of His people, imposing upon Him the fulfilment of its conditions, and securing to them the benefits of His work on their behalf, then this constitution must be productive of results, in which they as well as He will be found to participate; and yet these results, so far from being "legal fictions," are substantial blessings of the highest and most permanent kind: pardon, the restoration of God's favour, renewal in His image, adoption, eternal life. Hence it is vain to talk of "legal fictions" whether under law or gospel; for while condemnation on the one hand and justification on the other are strictly forensic acts, and must necessarily have some relation to the justice of God, and while the representative character both of the first and second Adam, and the consequent imputation of their guilt and righteousness to those whom they represented, can only be ascribed to the sovereign will of God, yet the results are real and not fictitious.

II. A THEORY invented by man to account for these results. A similar prejudice exists against all the peculiar revelations of Scripture, as if they were matters of speculative interest, rather than of practical importance. Yet nothing is more remarkable in the doctrines of Christianity than this, that every one of them is simply the statement of a fact, and that they all relate either to substantive beings — God, angels, and men, or to real events, past, present, or future. What is the doctrine of God but the revelation of His existence, and of the perfections which belong to Him as the Creator and Governor of the world? What is the doctrine of the Trinity but the statement of a fact respecting the existence of distinct hypostases in His one undivided Godhead. What is the doctrine of the Incarnation but the statement of a fact respecting the union of the Divine and human natures in the Person of our Lord? And in like manner, what is the doctrine of Imputation, whether of sin or righteousness, but the statement of a fact respecting the relation in which we stand to the first or second Adam, and the consequences which result to us from the disobedience of the one, and the obedience of the other? No doubt, when these facts are revealed, and become the subjects of human thought, they may occasion speculation, and speculation may give birth to wild theories, when unrestrained by faith; but let the facts be believed on the testimony of the Revealer, let them be duly realised in their full Scriptural meaning, and in their application to our own souls — and we may safely discard every human theory, and adhere only to the truth as it has been taught by God.

(R. Buchanan, D. D.)

There is a legal process in which a person pleads before the court in what is called in forma pauperis, that is, he pleads as a poor man, he pleads his poverty; and there are certain privileges allowed to those who thus plead in forma pauperis which are not accorded to the wealthiest persons in the land. This is the only successful way in which to plead with God: we must come as paupers, having nothing of our own; giving up every pretence of right or claim of deserving. We must cry, "Lord, I am lost! I am lost! I am lost! but Thou hast lived and Thou hast died; Thy life, Thy sufferings, Thy griefs, Thy groans, Thy death, all these were for those who needed such a sin-atoning sacrifice, and on that sacrifice by blood I rest; I cast myself, lost and ruined, upon the work which Jesus Christ has done for me!"

(C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. ITS NATURE.

1. A non-imputation of the offence.

2. A covering of its guilt.

3. A remission of its punishment.

II. THE ACT.

1. Divine.

2. Just.

3. Through faith in Christ.

III. ITS BLESSEDNESS.

(J. Lyth, D. D.)

Sin —

I. FORGIVEN, as a debt we are unable to pay.

II. COVERED, as an object not to be looked upon by a holy God (Habakkuk 1:13).

III. NOT IMPUTED, as a crime deserving eternal death (Romans 6:23).

(T. Robinson, D. D.)

True happiness consists not in beauty, honour, riches (the world's trinity), but in the forgiveness of sin. The Hebrew word signifies to carry out of sight (Jeremiah 50:20). This blessing is the foundation for all other mercies.

I. IT IS AN ACT OF GOD'S FREE GRACE. The Greek word deciphers the original of pardon: it ariseth not from anything inherent in us, but is the pure result of free grace (Isaiah 43:25). When a creditor forgives a debtor, he does it freely. Paul cries out (1 Timothy 1:13), "I obtained mercy" (Gr., "I was be-mercied"). He who is pardoned is all bestowed with mercy. When God pardons a sinner, He does not pay a debt, but gives a legacy.

II. IT IS A REMISSION OF GUILT AND PENALTY. Guilt cries for justice, but in remission God indulges the sinner. He seems to say, Though thou hast fallen into the hands of justice and deservest to die, yet I will absolve thee, and whatever is charged upon thee shall be discharged.

III. IT IS THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. Free grace is the impulsive cause; Christ's blood is the meritorious (Hebrews 9:22). Justice would be revenged either on the sinner or on the surety. Every pardon is the price of blood.

IV. IT MUST BE PRECEDED BY REPENTANCE. Therefore both are linked together (Luke 24:47). Not that repentance merits forgiveness: Christ's blood must wash our tears; but repentance is a qualification though not a cause. He who is humbled for sin will the more value pardoning mercy.

V. GOD HAVING FORGIVEN SIN WILL CALL IT NO MORE INTO REMEMBRANCE (Jeremiah 31:34). The Lord will make an act of indemnity. He will not upbraid us with former unkindnesses, or sue us with a cancelled bond (Micah 7:19). Sin shall not be cast into the sea as a cork which riseth up again, but as lead which sinks to the bottom.

(T. Watson.)

There is no true felicity but what is enjoyed, and felicity cannot be enjoyed unless it is felt; and it cannot be felt unless a man know himself to be in possession of it; and a man cannot know himself to be in possession of it if he doubt whether he has it or not; and therefore this doubting of the remission of sins is contrary to true felicity, and is nothing else but a torment of the conscience. For a man cannot doubt whether his sins are pardoned or not, but the thought of his sin will strike a great fear in him; but the assurance of his pardon will fill him with joy unspeakable.

(W. Perkin.)

Sometimes men complain of the doctrine of a regenerated life as if it were a requisition; it is not — it is a refuge. Oh, what would not a criminal who, at thirty-five years of age, found himself stung with disgrace, and overwhelmed with odium, give if, in the policy of human society, there should be any method by which he could begin back again, as if he had not begun at all, and with all his accumulated experience build his character anew! But in the economy of God in Christianity there is such a thing as a man at fifty and sixty years of age — hoary-headed in transgression, deeply defiled, struck through and through with the fast colours of depravity — having a chance to become a true child again. God sets a partition wall between him and past transgressions, and says, "I will remember them no more forever."

(H. W. Beecher.)

It is a blessed thing for a man to have all his sins forgiven, and thus to be rescued from the curse of a broken law, and the apprehension of future wrath — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing for an apostate, alienated creature to be reconciled to the great Creator, and, in the spirit of adoption, to look up to Him as his Father, to whose favour he has been graciously restored, and from whom he shall be estranged no more — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing to be delivered from the tyranny of unholy passions, and from the dominion of an ungodly world, and to come into the glorious liberty of the moral nature, wherewith Christ makes His people free — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing to look abroad upon the face of nature, and after gazing with a delighted eye on the beauties that adorn the earth, and on the magnificence that covers the heavens, to rejoice in them as the works of Him who has called you back to the walk, and the privileges of His children, and to say with the glow of filial affection, "My Father made them all" — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing, amidst the trials, and difficulties, and distresses with which humanity has to struggle in this weary world, to be upheld by Divine power, to be guided by infinite wisdom, to be cheered by heavenly consolations, and to gather righteousness and joy even from the scene of tribulation in which you dwell — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing to be able to contemplate death, without being subject to the bondage of fear, to anticipate the grave as a resting place from sin and sorrow, to lie down in its peaceful bosom, with a prospect of a resurrection to life and immortality — and that blessedness is yours. It is a blessed thing, when one looks forward to the judgment and to eternity which await us all, to realise in Him who is to pronounce our doom the Saviour to whom we have committed the keeping of our souls, and in whose blood we are already washed from our sins, and to cherish the hope founded on His own faithful promise, that the portion assigned us is everlasting life — and that blessedness is yours. And, if in this state of darkness and imperfection, where our views are too often clouded, and our faith too often grows feeble, and the heart too often forgets the Rock on which it has placed its confidence for eternity — if, in these circumstances, it is a blessed thing to have access to those ordinances which have been appointed for refreshing our decayed spirits, for casting a clearer light upon the path of our pilgrimage, for bringing us nearer to the fountain of grace and comfort, and for reviving and strengthening "the things that are ready to die" — that blessedness also is yours.

(A. Thomson, D. D.)

There is a covering of sin which proves a curse (Proverbs 28:13), which consists in not confessing it, or denying it — Gehazi's covering, which was by a lie; and by justifying ourselves in it. All these are evil coverings, and he that thus covereth his sin shall not prosper. But there is a blessed covering of sin, when God hides it out of sight by forgiving it.

(R. Alleine.)

Because —

I. THERE IS NO VACUUM IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD. As Dean Alford says, "There is no negative state of innocence — none intermediate between acceptance for righteousness and rejection for sin."

II. THE NEGATIVE PROCESS OF REMISSION OF SIN AND THE POSITIVE PROCESS OF IMPUTATION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS ARE REALLY ONE, and only capable of being separated in thought. To say that the bucket has been let down into the well when not dry is the same as to say that the bucket is full of water.

III. BOTH OF THESE PROCESSES PRESUPPOSE EACH OTHER, like the rising of one scale presupposes the falling of the other, and vice versa. Righteousness could not be imputed unless sin be forgiven; while sin could only be forgiven in view of the righteousness provided and imputed.

(C. Neil, M. A.)

Pardon of sin is the general wish of gospel hearers; and it is also the general hope of all, live as they may. But bare wishes and hopes effect nothing; they do not prevail over sinners in general to seek for pardon in God's appointed way; and yet they are generally blessed who are pardoned.

I. THE MAN WHO IS PARDONED IS BLESSED —

1. With respect to God in the person of the Father, as the moral Governor, and as the God of salvation. God has forgiven all his sins — past, present, and to come.

2. He is blessed by God, in the person of the Son, with perfect Christian liberty and freedom from all the demands of law and justice.

3. He is blessed by God the Holy Ghost, who effects that work in him by which he receives Christ, and the pardon of sin with Him; and the Spirit makes his body a temple to dwell in.

4. He is blessed with perfect deliverance from all danger by Satan, that cruel and bitter enemy who has destroyed so many.

5. He is blessed with perfect deliverance from the danger of sin, which has been the ruin of all who have perished, and will be the ruin of all who shall perish.

6. He is blessed with deliverance from the second death.

7. He is graciously blessed with grace in the heart. This is the leaven which will not cease. Every grace now takes root in the soul; and the believer learns to exercise each in its proper place.

8. Now he can lay hold of the promises in Christ as his own; and, while he can act every spiritual grace in measure and degree, he lives by faith in the Lord Jesus, and has an interest in "the great and precious promises, by which he is made partaker of the Divine nature," and is blessed with the enjoyment of all the promises, which "all in Christ are yea, and in Him amen, unto the glory of God by us."

9. He is blessed with the law of God "written in his heart," and has a right to enjoy all the blessings of the covenant which is "ordered in all things and sure." He is daily conforming more and more to the Divine image, and is daily more and more "made meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light."

II. THE MEANS BY WHICH THIS BLESSEDNESS IS OBTAINED ON OUR PART IS FAITH.

1. To ascertain this principle we must consider the doctrine of regeneration, by which we understand a saving change effected in the believer by the gracious influences and operations of the Holy Spirit, for Christ's sake.

2. When this saving change is effected, the believer is considered in Scripture as "a new creature" — a "new man" — "created in Christ Jesus unto good works"; and the confidence and reliance of this new man upon the Lord Jesus Christ is called faith.

(James Kidd, D. D.)

Mr. Lyford, a Puritan divine, a few days previous to his death, being desired by his friends to give them some account of his hopes, replied, "I will let you know how it is with me, and on what ground I stand. Here is the great punishment of sin on the one hand; and here am I, a poor sinful creature, on the other; but this is my comfort, the covenant of grace, established upon so many sure promises, hath satisfied all. The act of oblivion passed in heaven is, 'I will forgive their iniquities, and their sins will I remember no more, saith the Lord.' This is the blessed privilege of all within the covenant, of whom I am one...I know my interest in Christ...Therefore my sins, being laid on Him, shall never be charged on me."

David, Paul, Romans, SarahRomeAccount, Blessed, Charge, Count, Happy, Impute, Reckon, Recorded, Sin1. Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness;
10. before he was circumcised.
13. By faith only he and his seed received the promise.
16. Abraham is the father of all who believe.
24. Our faith also shall be credited to us as righteousness.

Romans 4:1-8

     8157   righteousness, as faith

Romans 4:1-11

     5274   credit

Romans 4:1-16

     8022   faith, basis of salvation

Romans 4:1-22

     6678   justification, Christ's work

Romans 4:1-24

     6674   imputation

Romans 4:1-25

     5078   Abraham, significance

Romans 4:3-8

     1125   God, righteousness

Romans 4:3-13

     6511   salvation

Romans 4:7-8

     5146   covering

September 24. "He Calleth Things that are not as Though they Were" (Rom. Iv. 17).
"He calleth things that are not as though they were" (Rom. iv. 17). The Word of God creates what it commands. When Christ says to any of us "Now are ye clean through the word which I have spoken unto you," We are clean. When He says "no condemnation" there is none, though there has been a lifetime of sin before. And when He says, "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds," then the weak are strong. This is the part of faith, to take God at His Word, and then expect Him to make it real. …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

October 17. "Abraham Believed God" (Rom. Iv. 3).
"Abraham believed God" (Rom. iv. 3). Abraham's faith reposed on God Himself. He knew the God he was dealing with. It was a personal confidence in one whom he could utterly trust. The real secret of Abraham's whole life was that he was the friend of God, and knew God to be his great, good and faithful Friend, and, taking Him at His word, he had stepped out from all that he knew and loved, and gone forth upon an unknown pathway with none but God. Beloved, are we trusting not only in the word of God, …
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Waiting Faith Rewarded and Strengthened by New Revelations
'And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before Me, and be thou perfect. And I will make My covenant between Me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Free Grace
To The Reader: Nothing but the strongest conviction, not only that what is here advanced is "the truth as it is in Jesus," but also that I am indispensably obliged to declare this truth to all the world, could have induced me openly to oppose the sentiments of those whom I esteem for their work's sake: At whose feet may I be found in the day of the Lord Jesus! Should any believe it his duty to reply hereto, I have only one request to make, -- Let whatsoever you do, be done inherently, in love, and …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Justification by Faith
"To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Romans 4:5. 1. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and Judge of all, is a question of no common importance to every child of man. It contains the foundation of all our hope, inasmuch as while we are at enmity with God, there can be no true peace, no solid joy, either in time or in eternity. What peace can there be, while our own heart condemns us; and much more, He that …
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Hooker -- the Activity of Faith; Or, Abraham's Imitators
Thomas Hooker, graduate and fellow of Cambridge, England, and practically founder of Connecticut, was born in 1586. He was dedicated to the ministry, and began his activities in 1620 by taking a small parish in Surrey. He did not, however, attract much notice for his powerful advocacy of reformed doctrine, until 1629, when he was cited to appear before Laud, the Bishop of London, whose threats induced him to leave England for Holland, whence he sailed with John Cotton, in 1633, for New England, and …
Various—The World's Great Sermons, Vol. 2

Of Self-Surrender
Of Self-Surrender We should now begin to abandon and give up our whole existence unto God, from the strong and positive conviction, that the occurrence of every moment is agreeable to His immediate will and permission, and just such as our state requires. This conviction will make us resigned in all things; and accept of all that happens, not as from the creature, but as from God Himself. But I conjure you, my dearly beloved, who sincerely wish to give up yourselves to God, that after you have made …
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

Abandonment to God --Its Fruit and Its Irrevocability --In what it Consists --God Exhorts us to It.
It is here that true abandonment and consecration to God should commence, by our being deeply convinced that all which happens to us moment by moment is the will of God, and therefore all that is necessary to us. This conviction will render us contented with everything, and will make us see the commonest events in God, and not in the creature. I beg of you, whoever you may be, who are desirous of giving yourselves to God, not to take yourselves back when once you are given to Him, and to remember …
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

God's Way of Peace
GOD'S WAY OF PEACE A BOOK FOR THE ANXIOUS BY: HORATIUS BONAR, D.D. "To him that worketh not, but believeth." Rom. iv.5 PRESBYTERIAN PUBLICATION COMMITTEE 1334 CHESTNUT STREET PHILADELPHIA, PA. This volume is stereotyped and perpetuated by a donation from the late Mrs. E. K. Smith, of St. Louis, Missouri as a tribute of respect and affection to the memory of her mother, Mrs. Matthew Kerr. …
Horatius Bangs, D.D.—God's Way of Peace

Moreover He Fulfilled the Promise Made to Abraham, which God had Promised Him...
Moreover He fulfilled the promise made to Abraham, which God had promised him, to make his seed as the stars of heaven. For this Christ did, who was born of the Virgin who was of Abraham's seed, and constituted those who have faith in Him lights in the world , [149] and by the same faith with Abraham justified the Gentiles. For Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. (cf. Rom. iv. 3) In like manner we also are justified by faith in God: for the just shall live by faith. …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Its Nature
Justification, strictly speaking, consists in God's imputing to His elect the righteousness of Christ, that alone being the meritorious cause or formal ground on which He pronounces them righteous: the righteousness of Christ is that to which God has respect when He pardons and accepts the sinner. By the nature of justification we have reference to the constituent elements of the same, which are enjoyed by the believer. These are, the non-imputation of guilt or the remission of sins, and second, …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Its Instrument
"Being justified freely by His grace" (Rom. 3:24); "being now justified by His blood" (Rom. 5:9); "being now justified by faith" (Rom. 5:1). A full exposition of the doctrine of justification requires that each of these propositions should be interpreted in their Scriptural sense, and that they be combined together in their true relations as to form one harmonious whole. Unless these three propositions be carefully distinguished there is sure to be confusion; unless all the three are steadily borne …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Its Basis
In our last chapter we contemplated the problem which is presented in the justifying or pronouncing righteous one who is a flagrant violater of the Law of God. Some may have been surprised at the introduction of such a term as "problem": as there are many in the ranks of the ungodly who feel that the world owes them a living, so there are not a few Pharisees in Christendom who suppose it is due them that at death their Creator should take them to Heaven. But different far is it with one who has been …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Faith the Sole Saving Act.
JOHN vi. 28, 29.--"Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent." In asking their question, the Jews intended to inquire of Christ what particular things they must do, before all others, in order to please God. The "works of God," as they denominate them, were not any and every duty, but those more special and important acts, by which the creature might secure …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

"But if the Spirit of Him that Raised up Jesus from the Dead Dwell in You, He that Raised up Christ from the Dead, Shall Also
Rom. viii. 11.--"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead, shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." As there is a twofold death,--the death of the soul, and the death of the body--so there is a double resurrection, the resurrection of the soul from the power of sin, and the resurrection of the body from the grave. As the first death is that which is spiritual, then that which is bodily, so …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Now this Election the Apostle Demonstrating to Be...
17. Now this election the Apostle demonstrating to be, not of merits going before in good works, but election of grace, saith thus: "And in this time a remnant by election of grace is saved. But if by grace, then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace." [2672] This is election of grace; that is, election in which through the grace of God men are elected: this, I say, is election of grace which goes before all good merits of men. For if it be to any good merits that it is given, …
St. Augustine—On Patience

Justification.
Christ is represented in the gospel as sustaining to men three classes of relations. 1. Those which are purely governmental. 2. Those which are purely spiritual. 3. Those which unite both these. We shall at present consider him as Christ our justification. I shall show,-- I. What gospel justification is not. There is scarcely any question in theology that has been encumbered with more injurious and technical mysticism than that of justification. Justification is the pronouncing of one just. It may …
Charles Grandison Finney—Systematic Theology

In Process of Tithe, that is to Say, in the Tenth Generation after the Flood...
In process of tithe, that is to say, in the tenth generation after the Flood, Abraham appeared, [120] seeking for the God who by the blessing of his ancestor was due and proper to him. [121] And when, urged by the eagerness of his spirit, he went all about the world, searching where God is, and failed to find out; God took pity on him who alone was silently seeking Him; and He appeared unto Abraham, making Himself known by the Word, as by a beam of light. For He spake with him from heaven, and said …
Irenæus—The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching

Our Status.
"And he believed in the Lord: and he counted it to him for righteousness." --Gen. xv. 6. The right touches a man's status. So long as the law has not proven him guilty, has not convicted and sentenced him, his legal status is that of a free and law-abiding citizen. But as soon as his guilt is proven in court and the jury has convicted him, he passes from that into the status of the bound and law-breaking citizen. The same applies to our relation to God. Our status before God is that either of the …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Its Objects
We have now reached a point in our discussion of this mighty theme where it is timely for us to ask the question, Who are the ones that God justifies? The answer to that question will necessarily vary according to the mental position we occupy. From the standpoint of God's eternal decrees the reply must be, God's elect: Romans 8:33. From the standpoint of the effects produced by quickening operations of the Holy Spirit the reply must be, those who believe: Acts 13:39. But from the standpoint of what …
Arthur W. Pink—The Doctrine of Justification

Introductory Note to the Epistle of Barnabas
[a.d. 100.] The writer of this Epistle is supposed to have been an Alexandrian Jew of the times of Trajan and Hadrian. He was a layman; but possibly he bore the name of "Barnabas," and so has been confounded with his holy and apostolic name-sire. It is more probable that the Epistle, being anonymous, was attributed to St. Barnabas, by those who supposed that apostle to be the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and who discovered similarities in the plan and purpose of the two works. It is with …
Barnabas—The Epistle of Barnabas

The Doctrine
OF THE LAW AND GRACE UNFOLDED; OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING THE LAW AND GRACE; THE NATURE OF THE ONE, AND THE NATURE OF THE OTHER; SHOWING WHAT THEY ARE, AS THEY ARE THE TWO COVENANTS; AND LIKEWISE, WHO THEY BE, AND WHAT THEIR CONDITIONS ARE, THAT BE UNDER EITHER OF THESE TWO COVENANTS: Wherein, for the better understanding of the reader, there are several questions answered touching the law and grace, very easy to be read, and as easy to be understood, by those that are the sons of wisdom, the children …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Justification by Faith --Illustrated by Abram's Righteousness
Referring to the chapter before us for a preface to our subject, note that after Abram's calling his faith proved to be of the most practical kind. Being called to separate himself from his kindred and from his country, he did not therefore become a recluse, a man of ascetic habits, or a sentimentalist, unfit for the battles of ordinary life--no; but in the noblest style of true manliness he showed himself able to endure the household trouble and the public trial which awaited him. Lot's herdsmen …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 14: 1868

"Who Walk not after the Flesh, but after the Spirit. "
Rom. viii. 1.--"Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Christ is made to us of God both righteousness and sanctification; and therefore, those who are in Christ do not only escape condemnation, but they walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh. These two are the sum of the gospel. There is not a greater argument to holy walking than this,--there is no condemnation for you, neither is there a greater evidence of a soul having escaped condemnation, than walking according …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

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