Righteous By Faith
I. The origin of
righteousness-Your righteousness originates with Jesus and his obedience, not
yours; your unrighteousness originated with Adam and his disobedience not yours
A.
It’s vitally important to understand the
condition in which every man starts
1. 9-Every person born into the world is born under the power and control
of sin and therefore is unrighteous, at fault and guilty before God
a.
10-No man starts off as righteous; no one is
born into this world righteous; if there was there’d be no need to be born
again-John 3:7
2. 11-18-This is the condition of the unrighteous man who is not born-again
a.
Whatever the unrighteous man isn’t the
righteous man is
B.
Romans 5:12-21-Discovering what makes you an
unrighteous sinner will be paramount understanding what makes you righteous-What
makes you an unrighteous sinner?
1. The problem is that sin, death, and unrighteousness were reigning
a.
13,14-Sin was in the world before the law was
here, but sin was not imputed against man where there was no law and yet that
didn’t stop death from reigning even in the lives of those who didn’t sin like
Adam sinned
b.
Death reigned even in those who endeavored
with all their heart to obey God
2. What Jesus did on the cross at Calvary was FAR greater than what Satan did in Adam at the Garden of Eden
a.
16-The guilt and unrighteousness and sin that
came as result of Adam’s disobedience cannot even be compared to the power of
what Jesus did and the freedom and right-standing that came as a result of what
he did
b.
Never approach your sin, guilt, and
condemnation like it’s greater than the blood for the two are not to be
compared; sin is not match for the blood
1) The blood of Jesus obliterated sin, stripped sin of it’s power; the
blood of Jesus not only removed sin, not only thwarted it’s effectiveness, but
it completely destroyed any evidence that sin ever existed
3. In these verses the focus is on what one person did effecting many
a.
15-Something came to many people b/c of one
man’s sin and now something much greater is coming to many more people because
of one man’s obedience
b.
18-What 1 man did lead to condemnation for
all, not what you did; in the same way what another man did lead to
right-standing with God, not what you did
c.
19-You were a sinner because of one man’s
disobedience not yours and you’re made righteous because of one man’s obedience
not because of your own
1) Because Adam sinned you were born under the power and control of it and
therefore you were an unrighteous sinner; you were a sinner before you sinned,
that’s why you sinned; you weren’t a sinner b/c you sinned
d.
You’re name was not mentioned in this
scripture b/c you’re sin doesn’t make you unrighteous, and likewise your obedience
doesn’t make you righteous
C.
All you had to do to be a sinner is be born
into the world; you don’t have to do anything wrong; and all you have to do to
be made the righteousness is of God is be born again; you don’t have to do
anything right-Psalm 51:5, Gal 3:22
1. If you believe your sin makes you a sinner, then your are forced to
believe your righteousness makes you righteous; However, if you believe Adam’s
sin made you a sinner, then you can believe Jesus righteousness makes you
righteous
2. Once you get born again, you are righteous, before you do anything
righteous; you’re not righteous b/c you do righteous, you do righteous b/c you
are righteous
II.
Romans 3:9-30-Right-standing with God is the result of our faith in
Jesus
A.
Romans 3:20-The purpose of the law was not to
make men righteous; ***doing good things was never the avenue in which a man
could be made righteous;*** The law was given to make
men aware and conscious of what sin was
1. Galatians 3:11,19-24-They’re trying to use the law as an avenue to be made righteous, but that’s
not why the law was given; it was given to keep these people from destroying
themselves through sin and to keep them on track until Jesus came
a.
21-The law has no ability to make man
righteous neither do good deeds
b.
Gal 3:6-Righteousness was to be credited to
them like it was to Abraham and the law was given to them to keep them safe
into Jesus came
1) There sin was not imputed against them, but it was only covered, there
was still a consciousness of it; it took Jesus’ blood to be presented holy
before God
c.
23,24-The law was the avenue by which they
would stay guarded and kept and protected in this life and the next until Jesus
came; even if they died, if while they lived, the endeavored to live by the
law, they were kept in that safe place
1) Even today the principle is the same; God didn’t give you this written
word so that you could do to be righteous; he gave you the word so you could be
protected in the Earth, but you’re righteous by faith
2) The principles of the word are not given so you can do them and be made
righteous; but rather they are given so you can live a righteous life
2. Romans 3:21-Now the
righteousness that was talked about in the law and the prophets is being
manifested apart from the law
B.
22-Right-standing with God comes through our
faith in Jesus Christ and it comes upon all of them who believe, not all of
them who do good works
1. 22,23-Anybody and everybody can be made righteous and is a candidate to
be made righteous because everybody was a born sinner; There’s no difference, all
have sinned because all have been born
a.
The revelation is that this is for everybody;
anybody can have this righteousness
2. 25-Jesus was a propitiation & we receive through faith in his blood,
not good works
a.
You get in on that through faith in his blood; Faith in the
cleansing power of the blood to remove your sin from the records from everybody
for all time
3. 26-He is the justifier of them which believe in Jesus
a.
27-Because you are made righteous by faith it
excludes boasting; you did nothing
b.
28-Good deeds have nothing to do with man
being made righteous
c.
30-The common denominator of being made
righteous is faith not good works; The common denominator in being unrighteous
is unbelief not bad works
4. 24-Being made righteous is a free act of grace received through faith
a.
If you’re justified freely that means you
didn’t work for it, do something to earn it
b.
Romans 4:1-9-There is no work to be done for
righteousness b/c it’s free
1) 3-5-If he worked for it, then it was owed, but he believed at it was
credited
III. If you’re good works can’t
make your righteous, bad works can’t make you unrighteous
A.
***If no work made me righteous, but rather
faith made be righteous then once I’m righteous no work can make unrighteous,
but only rejecting Jesus can***
1. Even when I’m doing wrong, I’m still right with God
2.
Your right standing with God is not hinging
and dependent on your good works, but rather on your faith; if you do something
wrong you don’t become unrighteous
3. Righteousness says you are right with God even when you have done wrong
4. It’s like a parent with a rebellious kid; you may not like what they are
doing, but you always accept them
a.
He loves
me and I’m right with Him because I’m his son/daughter-Luke 15:11
b.
It didn’t
matter what his son did, he was accepted by the Father
B.
As a believer when you sin, when you are
sinning, you’re not unrighteous again because it no longer has to do with what
you do or don’t do
1.
A tree does not try to be a tree. By nature, it is a tree. A man does not try to be a man. By nature, he is a man. Nothing can change what you are by
nature. Just as nothing can change
what we are by nature, sin cannot change our new nature when our nature has
been made the righteousness of God.
C.
As you exercise your right to forgiveness,
you maintain your right standing with God.
Sin doesn’t stop God from seeing you as righteous. Receiving simply
allows him to wipe the slate clean, thereby cleansing us from the effects of
sin.
1.
God may not like what I did, but I’m still
right with him and when I approach him he’ll tell me I need to repent of that,
but I’m still the righteousness of God
D.
I’m not righteous b/c I don’t commit sin, but
I’m righteous because of my faith in Jesus