What the Bible Really Says About God's Righteousness — Romans 3

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, once again, we're ready to roll, and I guess this is our program number three, so one more, and those of you here this afternoon will be able to go home. Again we'd like to welcome our television audience, and we keep getting new letters every day, and so we know that our audience is expanding. We trust that you're praying that the Lord will just continue to open hearts. And then again, for the last several weeks, we've been sort of emphasizing the fact that all these past lessons are available on either video cassette tapes or on the cassette tapes that have been transcribed now into print. Larry Poole has just, he must have worked day and night, and he's just about caught up with us now, and next week I think we'll have number 19, right, honey? And then it won't be long until we'll have number 20, and then he's pretty well caught up with us. But anyway, every one of the videotapes are transcribed word-by-word into the little booklet form, and folks are really enjoying them, otherwise I probably wouldn't even recommend you buy one. But they are, they're being used, and the Lord is blessing them. So if you like something that you can just carry along in a car or sit out on the patio, then the little book is just the ticket. You write to us, and we put them out with not making anything on them. It's not a financial gimmick. We're just doing it as a service. Now again, we want to spend as much time as we can in the Book, because after all, that's why we're here, and we're going to go right back again to Romans chapter 3. Now we're not going to rush through Romans, where this is one of the basic books of Scripture for us today. I don't know why it's ignored like it is, except it must be a satanic conspiracy of some sort, because here is where we have to begin in an understanding of God's tremendous plan of salvation. The Old Testament, yes, they had salvation. It's hard to put your thumb on it, but we know they were. We know that Abraham's in glory. We know that David and Moses and all the rest of them are. But they were under a whole different set of circumstances, spiritual as well as physical, than we are. But for us as Gentiles, those of us who have not been steeped in the Mosaic system, the Apostle Paul is the man we have to listen to. Maybe I should have you turn. Somebody just said, you won't do it anyway, when I told them to turn to chapter 3. Let's hold your hand in chapter 3 and turn with me a minute to Romans 11, because some of these things we read it, and yet we don't read it. We see it, and yet we don't see it. And here in Romans 11, verse 13, is just a small, insignificant verse, but based on what I just said, it means everything. Where the Apostle Paul now, by inspiration, says, For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles. Now I've been stressing that for five years on this program, that Peter and the eleven were the apostles of Israel, and Galatians 2 makes that so plain that they understood it. They shook hands, and Peter and the eleven said, we'll go to the Jew, you go to the Gentile. And so here is where you have that divergence now, not only of personalities, but of doctrine. And here come these tremendous Pauline doctrines that have never been revealed before. Well, sure enough, I'm going to go on one more, Ephesians chapter 3, and then we're still going to come back to Romans 3. But Ephesians 3, because I want you to see, why am I saying the things I'm saying? Ephesians 3, verse 1, and every time I look at this verse, I have to think of an individual who was sitting at our kitchen table one evening, highly educated, he's got more than one degree behind his name, and I was telling him what this series of verses was saying, and he said, never heard of such a thing, I won't read it. So he read verse 1, 2, 3, he looked up and he says, I don't know what you're driving at. Well, you didn't read it. Read it again. So he read it the second time. He said, I don't get what you're driving at. Read it again. So he read it the third time. And I don't remember if it was the third or fourth time, but along about that, he finally got his eyes open, I never saw that before, and here the man had been a Sunday School teacher for years, never saw it. And you see, that's the way so many people are with the Word. Oh, they think they read it, they think they know it, but they don't. All right, now let's read Ephesians 3, verse 1, carefully, for this cause, in other words, everything that's been written in the first two chapters, wherein he writes in Ephesians 2, 9 and 10, for by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves. And then the other two verses that we saw in our last program, oh, that the Gentiles were without Christ, without hope, alien strangers to the commonwealth of Israel, but now in Christ Jesus, because of His shed blood, now we're under a whole different set of circumstances. All right, now then he says, for this cause, because of this tremendous gospel of grace, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for whom? Gentiles! See? Now that should tell you something. He was commissioned strictly for the needs of the Gentiles. Now, verse 2, if he says, you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you, now this is what I was trying to get the dear gentleman to see that I was talking about a moment ago, that everything we have concerning our doctrine today had to come through this apostle. And here it is, read it again, if you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given, and I'm going to put in the preposition, that won't violate Scripture, which is given to me to you. Now you see how plain that is? And all people don't want to see that. They don't want to give Paul the credit. They want to think, well, it's just an extension of what Peter preached. No, it isn't. This is a whole new revelation. Look what he says in the next verse, verse 3. How that by revelation, what does the word revelation mean? An unveiling. Something that's been kept under wraps is suddenly unveiled, and that's exactly where he's at. And so he says, how that by revelation he made, that is the Lord, made known unto me, the apostle, the mystery, the secret, as I wrote before in a few words, whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mysteries, or the secrets of Christ. Now look at verse 5, which in other ages, or generations, was not made known, don't miss that word not, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed by the prophets and spirits. And there it is, verse 6, that the Gentiles, see, that the Gentiles should come in under God's grace. And then you come down to verse 9. Oh, it can't be made any plainer. How can people close their eyes to it? But they do. But look what it says, "...to make all see what is the fellowship of this mystery, or this secret, which from the beginning of the world," that is from Adam, "...has been," past tense, hid, H-I-D, hid, veiled, covered up, "...in God." The same God who created everything through Jesus Christ. Now do you see what that's saying? That tells us that there was a time when no one knew these things. They hadn't been revealed yet. And that's why Paul comes back by inspiration all the time and says, but I got it by revelation. It was now time. In fact, he uses the explanation in Corinthians, "...I am like one born before the due time." What do you mean? He wasn't like an abort. He came too early. According to the whole nation of Israel, Israel is still blind to these great things that Paul experienced. Their day is coming. But that's what he meant when he says, I am like one born before the due time, that he received all these revelations, and the rest of Israel was blinded. But we're not blind tonight. Don't have to be. All right, now let's come back to Romans chapter 3. And so this great Apostle of Gendom, as part of his revelations of this doctrine of grace, is telling us that the law could do nothing but condemn. It could do nothing but point the finger and say, guilty. And then as we saw in the last part of our last program, that the righteousness of God, which is appropriated by faith, and upon all them that believe, for there is what? No difference. Well, no difference between what and what? Between Jew and Gentile. You see, the Jew has to come on the same level playing ground that we do. He can't come in on covenant ground. He can't come up before God today and say, now wait a minute, God, I'm a Jew. God says, that's not the way I see you. I see you as no different than a Gentile. A white person can't come and say, well now God, I'm coming to you as a white person. No, no. There is no difference between white and black, yellow and brown, rich and poor. We all come in, I think I used the term several programs ago. We all end up on that level playing ground, and we are all alike. We're all sons of Adam. Sons of Adam. And the only way that we can appropriate everything that God accomplished on the cross is by one of my two imperatives, I put it on the board a moment ago, I couldn't remember where I put it. Without faith, it is impossible to please God. Now the reason I put it up there is because we're going to go from Romans 23 back to Genesis and deal with Adam in just a second, but before you do, look at the second imperative. Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission. Now you see, both of these knock out the good works people. The good works people don't know what faith is. They don't know what it is to take God at His word. They say, well, I'm doing it on my own. I think I'll make it. The other thing the good works people do is absolutely shun the blood. People don't like that. But see, that was the whole purpose of the cross. He had to shed His blood. It had to be a death where that was evident. Otherwise, you see, the Jews could have gone ahead and killed Him their normal way of capital punishment by stoning. But see, that wouldn't have fulfilled the shedding of blood that we have on that crucifixion. So here are the two imperatives. I don't care who you are. I don't care what religious background. I don't care what denomination you're from, and I know I've got a bunch of them here. But the two imperatives are, without faith it's impossible to please Him, and without the shedding of blood there is no remission. Now keep those two in mind as we look at verse 22. By the faith of Jesus Christ unto all, and upon all them that believe, for there is no difference. All right, let's go back and see how that worked with Adam. Genesis chapter 3. One of the best ways to understand certain tenets of Scripture is to go back to the place of first mention. And here it is. This is the first time now we're going to have a man who is going to be faced with both of these imperatives. He has to first and foremost know that he approaches God by faith. Secondly there's going to have to be a blood sacrifice, and we're going to find it right here. Genesis chapter 3, let's come back to verse 20, and Adam called his wife's name Eve. Now you want to remember, for the first episodes that took place in the garden, Adam was alone. Eve was inside. People don't like that concept, but that's what the Scripture teaches. Eve was in Adam. And after Adam had named all the animals, remember I pointed that out when we were teaching Genesis, Adam was lonely, and God knew he was, and He said, well I've got to give Adam a help meat because everything else has one, and so He brought Eve out of Adam and presented her to him as the woman. But she wasn't called Eve, she was called woman, in other words, out of man. But now we come to the place sometime later, we don't know how long, now we come to the place where Adam calls the woman Eve, and Eve by interpretation or in definition means the mother of all living. Now think for a minute, boy you've got to put all this together, I know it gets complicated. Back there before they ate of the tree, what did God tell them? The day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Well they ate. Now you don't have offspring from someone that dies. But see Adam has still got that bell ringing in his mind. Now God told us that after we ate of that tree, we're going to die. So evidently Eve is headed for her death, and He didn't know how soon. But, but remember now, faith by definition is what? Taking God at His Word, evidently. Now this is one of the places I have to suppose, but evidently God had told Adam that in spite of their awful dilemma, He and His little wife Eve are going to be the propagators of a whole human race. They're all going to have their beginning in Eve as the mother, and Adam as the father. Because you see, when you come down now to verse 20, after having the curse explained to him, and how awful the situation is going to get, Adam comes back and calls his wife the mother of all living. Well I thought he thought she was going to die. Well you see, God must have told him, you're going to have children. Now if God told Adam he was going to have children, and He responds by calling her the mother of all living, what was that? Faith. Faith. He took God at His Word. Against all the improbable odds, Adam says she's going to be the mother of a human race. And that's all the faith that Adam needed to fulfill this first command. Now let's move into the next verse. The second imperative was without the shedding of blood. But now in Genesis chapter 3, verse 21, what happens? An animal or animals are killed. So again, what's implied? Their blood was shed. Blood. A blood sacrifice. But just like the sacrifices at the temple, they weren't just killed and thrown in the trash heap. Those animals were kept for food, and what have you. That was the whole idea of bringing it to the priests. It was their livelihood. Alright, so here we have now then, the faith of Adam, when he called his wife's name Eve, he's fulfilled that requirement. He can believe what God says. The second requirement, God provides the sacrificial animals. And again, remember it's God who evidently provided them. Now let's look at the text. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God made coats of skins. Now what did He do with the coats of skins? Covered their nakedness, their physical need. But alright, now finish the verse. After He had fulfilled their physical need of giving them clothing for their nakedness, the last three words are the most important. And He clothed them. It wasn't referring to the skins. That was done with the fact that He had made coats. But the clothing of them is not their physical clothing, it's what? Spiritual. Spiritual. You still got Romans 3? You still back there in verse 24 or 22? It was God's righteousness that was imputed unto everyone that what? Believed. An imputed righteousness. It was an imputed covering. Now jump right back to Genesis. So because Adam had the ability to believe what God said, the blood has now been shed from the sacrificial animals. He not only covers their physical body, but He clothes them with a spiritual garment that now hid old Adam, and he now has the imputed righteousness of the righteousness of God. Alright, now you get a better picture of that if you go on to Genesis, Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. And the Scripture says it far better than I could ever say it. Beautiful. And they all three mean the same thing. That when He clothed Adam, when He clothed Isaiah, and when He clothes a believer in Romans 3, it's all the same thing. The imputed righteousness of God. Now look at it. Isaiah 61, verse 10. Isaiah 61, verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, the prophet writes. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for, here's the reason, not because He had multitudes of sheep, not because He had all kinds of wealth, not because He had it better than His countrymen. Why is He filled with joy? For He hath clothed me with the garments of what? Salvation. You see, that's the whole purpose of God giving us this book, is to bring us to that point of salvation. Every human being has to reach that point if they're going to escape God's wrath. And God is going to do everything He can to keep every person from falling under that condemnation. And He's done it, and He's made it so available. You know, I've had people ask in the classes more than once, well, how can God, who's a God of love and mercy, how can He possibly consign people someday to that awful lake of fire? Listen, it'll be easy. I mean that. It's going to be easy, because He's done everything that could possibly be done to keep them from it. And He's given us the Word. He's given us men who are willing to preach it and teach it so that we can understand that all we have to do is believe, and that doesn't take anything. Who was it that just gave me a quote from old J. Vernon McGee just during break time? You told me. What did he say about believing? It's the only thing, it's the only thing that man can do without working? Huh? If that's true, I agree. Oh, I couldn't say it any better, because, see, there's no energy involved in believing. It's just simply an accepting of what God has said. No questions asked. But old people don't want to do that. They just are, whether they're afraid or what, I don't know, but they do not want to believe what God has said. But when we do, like Isaiah, then immediately, because these are now fulfilled, what happens? He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe of what? Righteousness. Righteousness. Now, you see, that's the full opposite of what we saw in Romans 3. Our throats like open sepulchers, mouths full of cursing, hearts full of envy and deceit. The opposite of that is the righteousness of God. Oh, what a difference. And yet, what people try to do is put on their own veneer instead of God's covering. And their own veneer they're going to work out for a whole lifetime. And I can remember my dear old mom, when I was a kid, said, You know, it can take a lifetime to build a reputation. It takes five minutes to destroy it. Isn't that true? Absolutely. And that's what so many people try to do. And then all of a sudden their old Adam gets the best of them, and you read it every day, some successful wealthy businessman finally gets caught in a trap of sin, cheating, and he ends up in federal prison, life destroyed. What's happened? Well, his old Adam finally got the best of him. He couldn't control him, see? But oh, when you're covered with the righteousness of God, those things don't happen. Not that a believer can't sin. Don't misunderstand me. We can. But it's a whole different ballgame. All right, the garments of salvation. He's covered me with a robe of righteousness. Reading Isaiah verse 10, As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Oh, that's how a believer looks in God's sight. That's how we look in His sight when we let Him cover us. But you see, when we try to veneer ourselves, when we try to fix ourselves up, all He sees again is that open sepulcher. And that's enough. Okay, back to Romans 3. Back to Romans 3. So this great covering of the garments of salvation is imputed. Now that's a word that Paul will use throughout this whole book of Romans. It's a bookkeeping term. It means to put to the account. And so God's righteousness is imputed to us. It is covering us tonight. Because we have believed what He has done on our behalf. Now, the question I know often comes up, Well, Les, I believe, but it just doesn't seem to work that way. I still have the same old problems, and I'm still defeated. Well, then I think there's something wrong in the believing end of it. Because if I understand Scripture correctly, when we truly and honestly believe that Christ accomplished everything that needed to be done on my behalf, He moves right in and gives you and I the power to live that life pleasing in His sight. Oh, we're going to fall. We're going to trip. But you see, God is just like that patient young mother. They never give up. They just pick us up and says, You're forgiven, you're cleansed, now move on. Now, I'm talking about people who are genuinely concerned about dealing with God on His premises. I'm not talking about a flash in the pan, walking down an aisle, joining a church or something like that. For a genuine believer to do those things, that's well and good. But to just simply do that to fulfill a ritualistic demand, forget it. But for the true believer, this book promises that God moves in and He gives us all the power we need to live and walk pleasing in His sight and to be, what shall I say, notice that the people around us will notice that we're different. It all takes place by the power of God. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported, and your gift is appreciated. Thank you.