Thursday, December 27, 2018

Down From His Glory

Dr. Ronnie Wolfe – December 23, 2018

    Before the dawn of time, before space, before Lucifer, before holy angels, before the Spirit moved upon the face of the deep, before . . . the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7), before  He . . . compassed the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end (Job 26:10), before the first cloud passed across the sky, before the wind ever blew across the meadow, before the first sunrise or sunset, before the first day and the first night, before darkness, before light, before Adam and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and Moses, before the kings and prophets of Israel, before there were any nations of people placed in their bounds, before philosophy and science and logic and even earthly wisdom, there was God.
    God sat alone in his spiritual environment, for he is a spirit (John 4:24); but, there stood with him on an equal plane and a design, both coeval an coequal, the Holy Spirit and our Savior, Jesus, the coming Messiah, who, from before the world ever began, had glory with God. John 17:5 says,  And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. The only thing that glorified God in timeless eternity past was his Son, Jesus; and it is his Son, Jesus, through and to which his glory belongs and is given ultimately.
    These three alone, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, inhabited eternity with no communion or fellowship with a physical world. Because of his perfection, it is difficult to believe that God could be lonely; but God created a physical world with plants, animals, and people to bring himself praise and honor, and glory, which he richly deserves. Even nature itself brings glory to God says Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. – Psalms 145:10  All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
    Then in a moment determined in the mind of God he brought physical things into being. Moses wrote in his book of law, beginning at the beginning, God told him to write in Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Then John, the apostle, stated in different words the same mantra in John 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2  The same was in the beginning with God.  3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.  From his glory in heaven Jesus spoke all things into existence. Genesis said that “In the beginning God created.” John says, “In the beginning . . . all things were made by him.” Without him nothing was made that was made. Jesus was in his glory before the foundation of the world.  Then Jesus came “Down From His Glory” to reveal God to the world, to let men know something about their origin, their dependence on a holy God, and their purpose in living.

I.  DOWN FROM HIS GLORY PROLEPTICALY

    Proleptic means to speak of something in the future as if it were in the present. Jesus came proleptically in shadows and types under the Mosaic Law. The law proclaimed Jesus in a figure through the ceremonial law: the sacrifices given by Moses, the offerings given, the tabernacle in the wilderness, the lamb, the bullock, the Shekinah Glory on the mercy seat, and on and on.
    This proleptic coming of Jesus into the physical world was seeing through a glass darkly. People could not see Jesus with their naked eye. They could not touch or handle him. They could not experience his voice as he taught people through his parables and sermons. Under Moses he could be seen only through types and shadows – Hebrews 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. So Jesus’ coming down in shadows and types could not take away our sins nor make the comers perfect.
    Jesus came down from his glory in heaven, showing the people of Israel who God is and witnessed of the coming of a Messiah, portrayed through many of the things that these “comers” saw, touched, and tasted, of the word of God, but only typically and in a shadowy figure.
    So Jesus came down from his glory proleptically.

II.  DOWN FROM HIS GLORY PROHETICALLY

    During this time when Jesus was coming down from his glory typically, prophets were sent to Israel to show forth, not only the chastisement of God for Israel’s sins, not only for God’s blessings to them if they obey his laws, but also to predict the coming of a Messiah, one who would be the anointed One, one who could take away their sins forever. Remember that John said in  John 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
    Isaiah, the prophet, spoke of Jesus’ virgin birth – Isaiah  9:6  For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
     Jeremiah prophesies of the coming of the Branch of Righteousness: Jeremiah 33:14 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah.      15 In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.  16 In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness.   17 For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel.
    Ezekiel saw a vision of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. (Ezekiel 1:28). This is none other than Jesus, which in the New Testament is explained in Hebrews 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, . . .
    Daniel’s prophecy tells of Nebuchadnezzar’s look into the fiery furnace, and what did he see but three men in the fire and  the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (Daniel 3:25). Daniel also speaks of the 70 weeks and at the certain point at which the Most Holy will be anointed. This is none other than Jesus Christ.
    We cannot leave the prophets unless we see that portion in Micah  5:2  But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.  This can be none other than Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Yet, through a dark glass the hearers saw the Messiah come down from his glory. He had not yet been seen by the naked eye nor touched with humans hands, nor had anyone ever received his touch of healing or comfort or his teachings of the great doctrines of God.
    These prophecies have all been proven to be true; and, in that day when Jesus came from heaven to be born of a virgin, the Bible says in John 1:11  He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  What a sad situation, to see the Messiah and not receive him!

III.  DOWN FROM HIS GLORY PERSONALLY

    The Bible tells us in Galatians 4:4  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, Jesus came in the fulness of time, the exact time that God had determined before the foundation of the world for him to come to earth bodily.
    Notice Hebrews 10:5  Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 
    God has shown himself in creation through the writing of Moses. He has shown himself through the Mosaic Law by sacrifices and offerings. He has shown himself to the world through the prophets of old, who prophesied of his coming to the earth as the one and only Messiah, the anointed One, the only mediator between God and men (1 Timothy 2:5).
    His body was prepared in the womb of a young virgin named Mary, who was engaged to a man named Joseph. The body was prepared by the Holy Spirit, who by a miracle of God caused Mary to be with child without an earthly father. When Joseph found that Mary was with child, he decided to put her away, because they were only espoused, or engaged, at the time; but an angel from God revealed to Joseph that Mary had not sinned but was blessed of God to carry this child and birth a boy whose name was to be called Jesus, because he would save his people from their sins. So then Mary and Joseph were married, as the angel instructed them (Matthew 1:20).
    So the baby grew in Mary’s womb for nine months and was born on that determined day as the king of the Jews. As the babe lay in a manger, out there in the field shepherds were watching their sheep. They saw the glory of the Lord around them, and an angel came, and in Luke 2:10 we read:   And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Later others came to visit Jesus and brought him gifts, and he grew in favor with God and man, and God was pleased with his Son on earth.
    This body that God had prepared for him had great limitations compared to the glory that he had with his Father before the foundation of the world. Jesus had to come Down From His Glory in order to be like unto men.  Paul says in Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: In Romans Paul tells us of the purpose for Jesus’ coming to the earth in a prepared body:  Romans 8:3  For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: He came to condemn sin in the flesh, and that is exactly what he did.
    Jesus was not sent against his own will, because his will was also the will of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. There need be no compromise and no contradiction. They were all three in agreement as to what was required for redemption, and all three were willing to do their part in bringing redemption to its full end.
    God did not send Jesus to earth out of disrespect for him, for we all know that he humbled himself, or emptied himself, of his eternal glory to come to the earth for our benefit. It was for God’s love for us that Jesus was willing to come. John 3:16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
    Jesus shows no reluctance to humiliate himself to become like unto sinful man. He was willing with his own divine will to be made sin for us, says 2 Corinthians 5:21 . . . that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
    Only a divine mind can comprehend what Jesus suffered as he went into the Garden of Gethsemane to take our sins upon himself and to bear these sins upon the tree (the cross on which he so cruelly was hung and tortured to death). 1 Peter 2:24 says,  Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.  This is why God prepared him a body, so that in his own body he may take my sins and carry them upon the cross (the tree) so that I could have eternal life through the righteousness of Christ’s own life and death. What a wonderful Savior!
    His body, being prepared by God, protected by God, and presented to God is on the tree prepared for death, for it is appointed unto men once to die . . . (Hebrews 9:27). May I remind you that Jesus died only once, for it was this one death that redeemed my soul and made me ready for Heaven by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah of God. After his death, Jesus was laid in a tomb that was borrowed from a rich man, borrowed because Jesus needed it only for a little while, clean, because Jesus’ body did not see corruption.
    What does it mean to be risen from the dead? Mark 9:9-10  And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.  10  And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.  This was the question coming from Jesus’ disciples. What does it mean to be risen from the dead? They would not know until that day when they were shocked to know this, as we read from  Matthew 28:6  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Jesus had already told, as stated in Mark 8:31  And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. Jesus’ body is now back in heaven from where it came. His glory has been given back to him, which was taken away for the brief time that he was here on earth to accomplish God’s will for his prepared body. His glory has been restored, and he sits now on the right hand of the Father as King of kings and Lord of lords.

IV.  DOWN FROM HIS GLORY PROSPECTIVELY

    What a unique but questionable day when in Acts 1:11 we read, . . . Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Jesus’ salvation brings the prospect of a better time, a better place, and a better being.
    The Bible says in Hebrews 10:37  For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. In Hebrews 9:28 we read,  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
    Jesus will come down from his glory to take us to be with him forever: John 14:2-3  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. To be with Jesus is what makes Heaven Heaven. Jesus called the thief on the cross to his Paradise when he said in Luke 23:43 . . .  Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. 
    In prospect, then, we see Jesus’ returning to take each of us who believe to be with him also.  1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:  17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
    So, Jesus came Down From His Glory (1) Proleptically, (2) Prophetically, (3) Personally, and (4) Prospectively. But he did come Down From His Glory. He did it in a body to redeem his people from their sins, and by the grace of God through faith in this Messiah, Jesus, the anointed One, you can have eternal life. All you must do is turn from your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Notice his story in summary: Philippians 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.  9  Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
    Do you see him in the manger? Do you see him in the law? Do you see him through the prophets? Do you see him in prospect, that he will return one day to receive us by being caught up into heaven? Do you see him by grace, through faith? Are you born again? Are you saved? He humiliated himself to take my place on the cross and suffer for my sins. Then God highly exalted him, lifted him up to heaven and placed him on God’s right hand to show that he is the Lord of all.
    He can be your Redeemer today. You can have eternal life today, if you will repent and believe on Jesus Christ as Savior. I pray God will work in your heart to bring you to repentance and faith. Acts 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Friday, August 17, 2018

Truth And THE Truth

Last evening in our Seniors Meeting Bro. Eric Johnson gave us a wonderful devotion about Pilate. He mentioned that Pilate said, "What is truth?" When the devotion was over, I made a statement that Pilate was not asking "What is THE truth," but "What is truth?

Pilate was asking a philosophical question and was being pragmatic (trying to get everything to work out without his being hurt in any way, yet the end would justify the means). Plato wrote about Truth, and that Truth he said to be transcendent, not reachable--no one can ever really know the full truth.

Jesus is not just Truth; he is THE truth. The Truth was standing in the very presence of Pilate, but his carnal mind could not comprehend it; so he pragmatically endeavored in his eloquence to display some kind of truth that would satisfy everyone.

Thus, God used this confused man to bring about his Divine will in the life of his Son, Jesus. Jesus was placed under the authority of the Jews that they may crucify him, and this crucifixion satisfied God's judgment against sin so that every believer may have eternal life and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Abraham's Imputed Righteousness

Preaching Points From Romans #6
Dr. Ronnie Wolfe
Romans 4:18-22

I.  HE BELIEVED IN HOPE, 18

There was no hope for Abraham or his wife, Sarah. They were both too old to bring forth children. He was to become the father of many nations, and yet he had no children of his own. God had said, "So shall thy seed be."

Against the fact the all hope seemed vain, Abraham believed God. He believed in that hope that he thought did not exist. He saw that which is invisible. He pursued thoughts of grandeur that were to him (in the flesh) unreasonable and impossible.

Abraham believed accord to that which God had spoken and simply because he had spoken. We can learn much from this: that we must believe what God has said (in his word) simply because God has said it with no need for mundane proof of some kind that can deliver what he has promised.

II.  HE BOWED TO FAITH, 19

Abraham considered not his body to be dead, although by all earthly reason it was dead to the production of offspring. His faith, then, was against all human reason and must be completely divine, prompted by God, led by God, induced by God, and brought into the human realm by supernatural means, which God did for Abraham.

Abraham was 100 years of age, and his body should be dead to reproduction; but Abraham believed God, not his own surmising. Not only so, but he had to also believe Sarah's womb to be alive. This deepened the need for Abraham's strong faith in God. Jesus said in Mark 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

III.  HE BENT TOWARD FAITH, 20-21

In this situation unbelief would be unsurprising and doubt would be expected; but Abraham "staggered not" at the promise of God. His faith was firmly fixed on God, and his heart was one that had been touched by the divine grace of God Himself.

Abraham was "strong in faith" and even gave glory to God. He rejoiced in his faith, being affected by God's goodness in his promise, which left no room for doubt that God would do what he said he would do.

Abraham was "fully persuaded" in what God was about to perform. He understood the concept that Paul wrote about in Ephesians 3:20  Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

III. HE WAS BLESSED WITH IMPUTATION, 22

Abraham could not conjure righteousness in his own mind, his heart, or his own will. He was completely dependent upon God to give him righteousness. All of his earthly effort would contribute nothing to righteousness. The only righteousness that had any merit was the righteousness that God had to give, and that is Jesus Christ's righteousness in his perfection.

God worked all of these things in the life of Abraham by faith that he might be credited with pure and perfect righteousness before God. There is no merit to procure this righteousness, and there is no sin that can destroy it. This is the very righteousness that Abraham needed. It is also the very righteousness that produced a faithful life in Abraham to be the "father of all them that believe" (Rom. 4:11); the "father of many nations" (Rom. 4:17); and the "father of us all" (Rom. 4:16).

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Grace #1 -- Grace Is Divine

GRACE #1 – Grace Is Divine -- No one knows grace inherently. Grace must be thrust upon a person with compassion, tenderness, mercy, and love that only God possesses. Grace, then, cannot be procured or produced by the mind or hand of man. Man receives grace only at the hand and from the mind of God and not man’s own ingenuity and understanding. Everyone stands outside of grace; God must bring it to him. It is divine and the property of only God and not of man or any other creature. Yes, there is a subordinate grace that man executes at his will, but that grace is meager compared to that divine grace which saves a soul. Therefore, we are “saved by grace through faith,” (Ephesians 2:8). That is the only way of salvation.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

There Is A Was

-Ronnie Wolfe | 3-1-2018

I.  IS

Genesis 1:1  In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In this first verse of the Bible there is no mention of an IS or a WAS. We must simply assume that there IS a God.  Paul the Apostle, however, tells us that we must know that God IS – Acts 17:24  God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he IS  Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Not only should we read and notice that God IS, but we should believe that he IS. Hebrews 11:6  But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he IS, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Many in the world do not believe that God IS. They train their minds (or someone else trains their minds) to reject the being of God to their misery and destruction.

II.  WAS

John 1:1-2  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2  The same was in the beginning with God.

The word translated WAS here is a timeless word. It is not simply the past tense of a verb; it is a word describing the WORD as a timeless being. “In the beginning was the Word” means that at the time of creation Jesus (the WORD) existed. He WAS because of his timeless existence.

“The Word WAS with God” indicates that he exists as a separate person but not as separated from the essence of God but is the same with God and as God. He WAS with God all the time of God’s existence. Verse two reiterates the fact that “the same” (the Word) was with God in the beginning (the beginning of universal creation).

In verse one again, we notice at the end of the verse “the Word WAS God.” This is a claim made by John that the Word (Jesus) was God. Not only was he with God; he WAS God. This word WAS, remember, is timeless. Just as God is timeless and exists above time and creation, so does Jesus exist and live above time and creation.

He “WAS God” does not mean that he “used to be God,” as in the past and now is no longer God but that he WAS in a timeless sense. He IS God; He WAS God; and he will continue to be God, for it is his essence by which he IS God.

John 8:58  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. The verb AM here also implies a timeless existence in Jesus. Then one more layer of this musing is this:  Hebrews 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.


Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Image Of The Cross

By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe – 2-23-2018

Listening to a message one Sunday morn,
My heart was sad, my mind forlorn.
As the message went on, I saw in my mind
A man who was merciful, tender, and kind.

I saw a crude cross on a lonely hill
And a man stretched out, solemn and still.
I stood in its shadow so far away,
But I knew in my heart that I could not stay.

So far from the cross that was meant for me
But given to a man to set me free,
I saw a man of infamous fame.
I could see his face and read his name.

It said he was a king of the wandering Jew.
I wondered if he could be my king, too.
As the preacher preached on, I came to the side
Of the man on the cross; I could not hide.

Then as He stared in my watery eyes,
I knelt in sorrow and stared at the skies.
And as if he were speaking an audible voice,
And as if for some reason I had no choice,

I knew his love, experienced his grace,
And I looked again at his glorious face.
Though stained with blood, as the preacher went on,
He looked so precious as God’s own Son.

As the preacher preached on, I saw him arise,
For only by this could his kingdom survive.
He lived, he died, he arose from the grave.
It was his love and his best that he gave

I turned from my sins to hate every one.
He melted my heart; I trusted God’s Son.
The sermon now ended, I surrendered my soul
To the man on the cross who just made me whole.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

A Jesus Put-Down

By Ronnie W. Wolfe – Sept. 19, 2014

I put down Jesus deep into my heart so he can comfort me.
I put down Jesus in my mind so that I can renew it.
I put down Jesus in my lap when I read his word.
I put down Jesus in my problems so he can deal with them.
I put down Jesus in church, that he might lead in his way.
I put down Jesus in the grave when I think of the Gospel

But I lift up Jesus in my song.
I lift up Jesus in my study.
I lift up Jesus in my preaching and teaching.
I lift up Jesus as I tell others about him.
I lift up Jesus when I believe him.
I lift up Jesus when I read of his resurrection.

I put him down in my heart and lift him up in my song.
I put him down in my mind and lift him up in my study.
I put him down in my lap as I read and lift him up in my preaching.
I put him down in my problems and lift him up by my witness.
I put him down in church to lead and lift him up in believing his way is best.
I put him down in the grave that I might lift him up at his resurrection.
He puts me down to lift me up!

What will you do with Jesus?

Abraham Our Father

Preaching Points From Romans #5
Dr. Ronnie Wolfe
Romans 4:16-18

I. OUR FATHER SYMBOLICALLY (4:16) “Father of us all”

Abraham was not our father naturally as though we were begotten through his linage. The Jews in the New Testament put their trust in their physical linage to Abraham, but Jesus rebuked them for that (See Matthew 3:9). They thought they had a priority position with God because they were Abraham’s children.

We are children of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ. So says Galathans 3:7 "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham". Abraham, then, is our faithful father, a man of faith, and a father to all who believe in Christ.

Abraham believed God (Christ), and it was accounted to him for righteousness – Genesis 15:6 "And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." See Galatians 3:6; James 2:23.

So, we are Abraham’s seed (children) and heirs of God – Galatians 3:29 "And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

II. OUR FATHER SPECIALLY (4:18) “Father of many nations”

Abraham could be noted as the head of the Hebrew nation (the Jews), although the nation was not brought together as a nation until years later. He stood seminally as their head through his son, Isaac. God gave promise to Abraham that his seed would be blessed through Isaac, whom God chose for Abraham’s blessed linage.

But the intimation is given here that Abraham as a father of faith would not be father only to the Jewish nation but to many nations. Even in Abraham’s day God already had in his mind to bring faith to Gentiles, which he did in Old Testament times but especially in New Testament times when Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, turned mainly to the Gentiles and away from the Jews due to their rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Abraham, then, is our father as well as to Jews. Abraham is the father of the faithful as written in Galatians 3:8-9 "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen [Gentiles] through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."

Abraham is father specially to all who believe in Jesus as Savior, but he is our father typically and metaphorically. God is our Father in reality. Thus, we pray “Our Father which art in Heaven . . .”
 
 

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Righteousness Without Works

Preaching Points From Romans #4
By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

Romans 4:6 – “... God imputeth righteousness without works.”


I. The Source Of Righteousness

The first word in the clause above is “God.” We learn from this that God is the author of righteousness; he is the source. Only God has true righteousness. God knows that people on earth need righteousness, but the word of God teaches us that “There is none righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10). It teaches us that “. . . they that are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:8). In order to be righteous and to please God, we must obtain righteousness, but this righteousness must be perfect righteousness. Only God has this righteousness
Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.”

II. The Securing Of Righteousness

Our text verse now continues with “God imputeth . . . .” This means that the way that God gives us righteousness is by imputation. The word “imputation” means “to credit for.” One commentator says that the Greek word means “to take inventory.” When God takes inventory on a lost person, he sees no righteousness at all, because none of us has any righteousness. But God imputes righteousness to believers in Christ, thus giving full inventory of the righteousness required by God for salvation and for an eternal inheritance.

Notice especially . . .
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

III. The Style Of Righteousness

God imputes (credits to believers) righteousness “without works.” Any righteousness that we have is imputed by grace through faith, so we must understand that it is imputed without works. Our righteousness is not sufficient for our salvation, so God must “impute” righteousness to us.
Our works (our righteousness) is of no value to God, so God must impute it to us. This is done “without works.” God requires nothing in return for imputed righteousness–no works. Our works cannot be mixed with grace, says Romans 11, else grace is no more grace.

Notice: Romans 4:5 “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.”

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Glorying In Works

Preaching Points From Romans #3
Dr. Ronnie Wolfe – Romans 4:1-5

I.  ABRAHAM’S FORTITUDE, 4:1-2

We all know that Abraham was a faithful man, a man of fearless fortitude to do what God called him to do. He followed God when called from Ur to go to an unknown place. He wandered through the land that God promised to him expecting God to produce a great blessing of a land for God’s people. He was willing to sacrifice his son, Isaac, his only son, to God. He also did many other wonderful and marvelous things.

In our modern day, this would be sufficient for anyone to prepare himself for Heaven and the blessing of God and eternal assurance of life with God. Abraham could have gloried in his flesh for all the things he did even as Paul hypothetically gloried in his flesh.

Philippians 3:4-6 "Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: 5 Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; 6 Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless."

But Abraham and Paul could glory only in the flesh but not before God (verse 2). All of man’s righteousnesses are but dung to God, and we should consider them dung before God, as did Paul in Philippians 3:8 “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,”

II.  ABRAHAM’S FAITH, 4:3

Romans 4:3 “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.”

He did what? He believed! All the fortitude, attitude, and gratitude were worthless to Abraham in the presence of God. This is true faith, not a head faith or a cultural faith but a true, surrendering, dependent faith upon God, his Son, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

This faith is given by grace according to Romans 4:16 “Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,”

Galatians 3:9 “So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.” Yes, Abraham was blessed of God, and all who believe in Jesus Christ by grace are blessed with him.

Remember: Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

III.  ABRAHAM’S FAILURE, 4:4-5

Abraham failed to measure up to God’s demands in his works, but God’s demands were met by God himself in grace through faith. What an awesome and wonderful God who will not only render all of our works as dung, but he will also bring his people to the Gospel to hear God’s word and believe.

Acts 20:32 “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.”

Abraham did not, however, fail to believe. Many think that “faith only” is too cheap, too easy, too mundane, etc., but nothing could be further from the truth. Faith is powerful enough to bring true and complete righteousness to every believer in Jesus Christ, turning from sin and self and turning to God in Christ through the working of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 9:30 "What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith."

We have all failed to meet God’s standard of righteousness, for our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6); but faith is substance and evidence (Heb. 11:1). Grace is the divine jewel that makes this pearl of truth of great price (See Matthew 13:46).

"Have you failed in your plan of your storm-tossed life?
Please your hand in the nail-scarred hand;
Are you weary and worn from its toil and strife?
Please your hand in the nail-scarred hand;"

These lyrics direct our hearts to faith in Jesus Christ. Even so, may God’s grace be active today to bring you to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and may you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ that you might be saved.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Law, Grace, and Faith

PREACHING POINTS FROM ROMANS #2
Romans 3 -- Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

I.  Condemnation By The Law

Romans 3:20  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 7:7  What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Galatians 3:10  For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.

The Mosaic Law can only condemn; it cannot save (redeem). The law has no pretense toward salvation, but its whole duty is to condemn those who cannot keep the entirety of the law.

James 2:10  For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.

II.  Consequence Of Grace

Only God is truly gracious. Grace comes only from God without any ingenuity or effort from man. Man knows nothing about true grace. He must receive it from God before he can have any comprehension at all about it.

Grace is God’s extension of mercy to us by his act of atonement in Jesus Christ. Grace brings redemption, that is, the payment for our sins through the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus, on the cross suffering and dying for our sins.  We have been purchased with a price–Jesus’ precious blood. God did that by grace. He extended to us that of which we are not worthy.

Grace is extended to us only through faith.

Romans 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:


III. Complement Of Faith

We are all condemned (Romans 3:23; John 3:18).

Jesus came to save his people from their sins by grace.

The only way in God’s plan that grace may and can be influential in our lives is through faith. Notice again:

Romans 3:24  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

Romans 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

We are not complete by grace until that grace has gone through the channel of faith. Faith is the channel through which God comes to a sinner and justifies him before God.

Condemnation is overcome by grace through faith. Redemption and justification have come to us to complement the work of God in us and make us to be accepted in the beloved. So, then, God is both just and justifier. He is just and justifier to those who believe in Jesus.

God is just in his sovereignty.
God is justifier in his mercy.

Romans 3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.

Let us all be sure in our theology that grace does no damage to faith and faith does no damage to grace, for they work together to justify those who believe by grace, and they are both from God.


Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Gospel of God Previously Promised

PREACHING  POINTS  FROM  ROMANS #1

The Gospel of God Previously Promised
By Dr. Ronnie Wolfe - Romans 1:1-4

Rom 1:1-2  Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,   2  (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

I.  THE POSSESSION OF THE GOSPEL

Three times in the New Testament Paul called the Gospel “my gospel” (Rom. 2:16; 16;25; and 2 Tim. 2:8).  However, we know that it is not his in the sense that he originated it or even updated it or introduced it newly in his generation but was preached before him and was revealed in the Scriptures (Old Testament) though through a glass darkly, though very apparent to the first-century Jews and to all the readers of the Scriptures in Paul’s day. So, Paul could not own the gospel.

The gospel was Paul’s in the sense that he was entrusted with it to be its courier and its clarion sound as a worldwide missionary of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and of the doctrines of the kingdom of God. A dispensation of the gospel was committed to him (1 Cor. 9:17) to hold true to it, to dispense it clearly and boldly and to entrust it to others through teaching and ordination of some to take onto themselves the same profession as Paul’s as ambassadors of Christ.

II.  THE PROMISE OF THE PROPHETS

The gospel was not some new doctrine as some of the Jews thought. Paul had not invented a new way into the kingdom of God. He had not rearranged an old doctrine with new ideas. Paul actually preached the same gospel that was preached by the Old Testament prophets only with new and exciting revelations of the actual fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies.

Gal. 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was well known by many of the Old Testament saints, especially the prophets, and was promised to New Testament believers and preachers.

III.  THE PORTRAIT OF CHRIST

The Seed Of  David

The holy Scriptures (Old Testament)  also witnessed of this same gospel concerning Jesus Christ, who was made of the seed of David, an Old Testament saint and king. Old Testament saints could see Jesus Christ prophetically as they understood, according to this scripture, that the Messiah would be the seed of David (See Acts 13:22-23; Isaiah 11:1; Micah 5:2).

The Son of God

Yes, the Old Testament scriptures do declare that the Messiah is the Son of God. It is done in three ways: (1) with power, the power of the creation of the world and the power to do great miracles in delivering Israel out of Egypt and bringing them into the land of promise. (2) the spirit of holiness, which is evidenced in his bringing spiritual understand to saints, prophets, and kings and opening understanding to people like Daniel and others. And (3) by the resurrection from the dead. The Old Testament alludes many times to the resurrection from the dead, including especially the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Isaiah 53:10-11; Psalm 16:10).

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Profit And Loss

Dr. Ronnie Wolfe

The Purpose Of God

It is the purpose of God in the lives of humans that each one enjoy the fruit of his hands, his work, his aspirations, his careers, etc. That is creation’s blessing. Each product of our own works is to be enjoyed with God’s blessings. Ecclesiastes 2:24 “There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour. This also I saw, that it was from the hand of God.”

No Spiritual Profit

But there is no spiritual profit in all the aspirations and careers of this world. God will never accept any earthly profit as satisfaction for man’s depravity, his lack of spirituality, his love of the world and not of God. No sins, of which we are all guilty, are expelled by this world’s profit, for we read in Mark 8:36 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”

Spiritual Profit

Every person who has spiritual profit has turned from the profit of the world and depends upon the profit that only God has and can give by his grace. 1 John 2:15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” Our spiritual profit is not from man to God but from God to man. God in his mercy has sent his Son, Jesus, to pay the price for our profit (grace). Job 35:7 “If thou be righteous, what givest thou him? or what receiveth he of thine hand?”

Jesus is righteous, and he imputes that righteousness to every believer in who he is and what he has done for all who come to him by grace through faith, and that is the only profit that we need for salvation. Galatians 3:26 “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

Friday, January 5, 2018

Do Something


The new year is here, and many things need to be done in our lives to draw us closer to the Lord and to prompt us to spiritual service for Christ Jesus.

Now that we are the children of God, have been chosen and redeemed by Jesus Christ, and are his servants and soldiers, it is incumbent upon us to do something.  

It is all well and good to be saved and to believe the doctrines of the Bible, but it is not enough to believe and be at ease in Zion; we all need to be busy about the Father's businessThere are many things that we can do to enhance our lives spiritually.  

Many are babes still because of the lack of biblical study and meditation. This should be a daily effort. God's word is necessary for our spiritual growth. We should present our bodies as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12:1-3), not being conformed to the world but transformed by the renewing of our minds. We should listen to God's word and be obedient to it, since it is God's truth for us as believers.  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, then you are a believer in his word, the Bible.  

Then we need to refrain ourselves from worldly activity such as using our tongues for evil and our lips in a vile way (1 Peter 3:10). We should refrain from petty habits: smoking, drinking, cursing, drugs, anger, selfishness, arrogance, etc., not thinking of ourselves more highly than we should but rather have the mind of Christ, thinking of others, not simply on our own things (Philippians 2:4-5). 

We are not holy except as God has declared us to be so, but we should represent holiness in our lives as the high priest in Israel wore a gold plate on his forehead with the words HOLINESS TO THE LORD, even though he was not really holy. He was representing holiness and knew that he should live in holiness. The Bible says "Be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God" and "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (Lev. 20:7; 1 Peter 1:16).  

Do Something!