Can you earn righteousness through good works? See how Romans 4:1–8 explains that God justifies sinners through faith, not works, and credits righteousness to those who believe.
Introduction: Life Changing Words
Everywhere we turn in Paul’s letter to the Romans we find memorable lines. I want you to highlight, underline, write out, and work on memorizing Romans 4:5. When you’re struggling with your faith, when you’re mocked by the world, it’ll reassure your heart:
To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.
Illustration: I recall a time in college when I was in spiritual despair. I tried to do everything to embrace fully the “Pentecostal experience.” I wanted-needed-to speak in tongues, but I didn’t. I thought, “there must be something wrong with me; there must be too much sin in my life.” Romans 4:5 was a verse that lifted me out of despair and set my feet upon a rock. The Christian life wasn’t about my achieving or experiencing, but receiving the gospel. That changed my life!
Don’t miss what Paul says: God justifies the ungodly. This has to be one of the most shocking verses in all of Scripture. Think how it sounds to the world.
Illustration: A thief on a cross did absolutely nothing to earn salvation but did everything to forfeit it is, was assured he’d enter Christ’s kingdom just a few short moments before he died. How does the world react when a mass murderer like Jeffrey Dahmer confesses Christ before dying? How does that make you feel? “It’s an outrage! He can’t be saved? He deserves a heinous death.” Yes, he did, but God’s word of the gospel is stronger than our works. God justifies the ungodly.
Summary: where we’re at in Romans and where we’re going in this passage: Let’s recap where we’re at 3:20 told us, “By works of the law no human being will be justified in [God’s] sight.” Verse 21 transitions to how the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all believers: Jesus did all that’s is necessary; we simply receive it through faith in him. As verse 28 said, “one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”
Theme
Here’s Paul’s point: God counts righteousness to sinners who believe, not to workers who earn.
Transition: Here’s the question then: if Paul’s been saying sinners are justified by faith apart from works, can he prove it from the Old Testament Scriptures? He calls two witnesses to the stand—Abraham, Israel’s great patriarch, and David, Israel’s great king. Both testify that God grants righteousness to sinners who believe, not to workers who earn.
Not By Works (vv. 1–5)
Paul begins by taking the most revered man in Jewish memory: Abraham. What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? (v. 1) If anyone could’ve claimed a righteous standing before God by performance, surely father Abraham could. If Abraham was justified by works, Paul says, then he has something to boast about (v. 2). He could point to his obedience in leaving his home to follow the call of God, his offering his son Isaac, his multitudes of altars and sacrifices. In fact, the Jewish book known as Jubilees, said, “Abraham was perfect in all his dealings with the Lord and gained favor by his righteousness throughout his life (23:10). This is judging things according to the flesh—according to ethnic or outward forms of righteousness. But Paul slams the door: but not before God (v. 2).
Application: That’s the issue, isn’t it? You may be able to impress people. You may be able to build a reputation before men. You can certainly put together an online profile to look so polished. But the question isn’t whether you can boast before your neighbors. The question is whether you can boast before God.
Then Paul gives the reason why Abraham-and you-can’t: For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (v. 3). He quotes Genesis 15. Note what it doesn’t say: “Abraham obeyed, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” It doesn’t say Abraham worked enough and then God rewarded him; but Abraham believed God. As Jesus said, “Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day” (John 8:56).
Illustration: To make the contrast between works and faith unmistakable, Paul gives us an illustration from the world of business in verse 4: Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. In other words, if you work 40 hours in a week, and your employer agreed to pay you $10 an hour, he has an obligation to pay you $400. That’s not grace, that’s debt. Wages belong to the realm of obligation. Since you can’t do the works necessary to earn the payment of justification, this is exactly why it can’t be by works.
So, Paul switches from our realm of work to that of faith. To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (v. 5). If you could earn righteousness, then God would owe you. Salvation would be a paycheck. Grace wouldn’t be grace. Mercy wouldn’t be mercy. The cross wouldn’t be necessary. But you can’t earn it. Jesus earned it for you. Trusting him, God gives what Christ earned as if you did!
I’ve been saying that justification is being made acceptable to God. Illustration: Let me illustrate how. Children: imagine there’s a great king in his castle. He says anyone who wants to see him must come with new, spotless clothes made from the finest materials, and that you must give everything you have, including your own life, to him. If you don’t, you can’t see him. There you are, a pig herder. You smell. Your clothes are ripped and stained so bad that even when you clean them, they’re filthy. You have nothing to give to match the king’s glory. Then the king orders that his only son go to you, take off your filthy rags, clean you up, give you his own regal robe and clothing, and then the title deed to the kingdom. This is what God has done to make us acceptable to him. He forgives us and he gives everything Christ has done—what we call his “righteousness.”
Listen to question and answer 60 of our Heidelberg Catechism:
“How are you righteous before God? Only by true faith in Jesus Christ…without any merit of my own, out of sheer grace, God grants and credits to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner, and had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for me—if only I accept this gift with a believing heart.”
We all want to hand God a timecard: “Look at my church attendance. Look at my giving. Look at my morality. Look at how I compare with others.” But Paul says if justification worked like wages, then the whole thing would collapse into human boasting. Simply put: workers get wages; sinners need grace.
Transition: But that raises the great question: if we are not accepted by works, then how are we accepted? If wages cannot bring us to God, what can? Paul answers with one of the most shocking lines in the Bible.
But By Faith (v. 5)
To the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness (v. 5). You almost have to slow down and read that twice. Not the one who works harder. Not the one who improves himself. Not the one who gets his life mostly together. Not the one who has a better résumé than others. But the one who does not work but believes.
That why it so scandalous to us: God justifies the ungodly. Not the cleaned-up. Not the semi-worthy. Not the promising. The ungodly. The irreverent. The guilty. The morally ruined. The people who have nothing to present and no argument to make.
The gospel offends human pride. Every other religion says, “Bring something. Earn something. Prove something. Achieve something.” The gospel says, “Come empty-handed. Come guilty. Come needy. Come trusting Christ.”
Illustration: That’s why this verse saved me from despair in college. When my heart said, “Something must be wrong with me; I must not have enough; I need to do more,” the gospel said, “Your standing with God doesn’t rest on what you achieve for him, but on what Christ achieved for you.”
This isn’t some novelty Paul invented. He proves it from Abraham. Abraham wasn’t justified because he was impressive before God. Abraham believed and that faith was counted as righteousness. The patriarch himself entered by faith.
Stated simply: Faith isn’t a work you perform to impress God; faith is the empty hand that receives Christ. Faith doesn’t bring your righteousness to God; faith receives God’s righteousness in Christ.
Illustration: “That’s outrageous!” Have you talked with a non-Christian neighbor and explained God’s grace to them only for them to be in disbelief? “You mean to say I don’t have to do anything for God to accept me?” Why the outrage? Because every religious path is one of works and obligation. That’s what Paul anticipated from the Jewish religious elite. They accused him of biblical novelty. That’s what at the beginning of this letter in 1:2, he said God promised the gospel beforehand in the Scriptures; in 1:17 he quoted from the prophet Habakkuk that the righteous live by faith; and in 3:21 Paul said the law and prophets testify of this truth. Paul brings in Israel’s greatest father and Israel’s greatest king, and both testify to the same thing: sinners are accepted by grace through faith, not through wages. You can never earn enough! Receive what Christ earned!
Transition: But if God counts righteousness to believing sinners, what does that look like? What does justification feel like from the sinner’s side? Paul brings in a second witness—David—to say justified people are forgiven people.
And With Full Forgiveness (vv. 6–8)
In verses 6–8 Paul turns from Abraham to David: just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works (v. 6)—quoting Psalm 32:
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin (vv. 7–8). Note David’s emphasizes. Blessedness isn’t wealth, comfort, success, or ease.
Blessed is the sinner whose record has been forgiven.
Blessed is the sinner whose rebellion is covered.
Blessed is the sinner whose sin won’t be counted against him.
Who is David to say that? He’s not speaking as a detached theologian, but as a man who knew the filth of his own sin: David the adulterer, the murderer, the cover-up artist. David the king who wrecked lives in his lust and abuse of power. Yet David says, Blessed is the man whose lawless deeds are forgiven.
Blessed is the man whose lawless deeds are forgiven.
David knew that apart from his sins and apart from his works, his faith in the Lord to come made him blessed. Why?
Because justification has two sides. God does something negative and something positive.
Negatively: he doesn’t count your sin against you. He takes away your guilt.
Positively: he counts righteousness to you. He grants you righteousness.
What a gospel for the believing soul! What amazing news to sinners of all stripes! What a message we have for the world!
ners of all stripes! What a message we have for the world!
So, when Paul says God justifies the ungodly, he doesn’t mean God pretends sin is no big deal. He means God deals with sin fully in Christ; so fully, that he can forgive the guilty and count them righteous.
Justification means your worst sins aren’t ignored; they’re forgiven.
Justification means your guilty record isn’t edited; it’s covered.
Justification means God doesn’t count your sin against you because he’s counted Christ’s righteousness for you.
That is why David says blessed. This is the truly happy man. Not the man with the clean public image, but the man with the forgiven heart. Not the woman who’s never sinned, but the woman whose sins are covered by grace.
Application: that means the justified life isn’t the perfect life or the life of pretending; it’s the forgiven life.
Transition: So then, if this is true—if God really counts righteousness to sinners who believe, if he really justifies the ungodly, if he really forgives lawless deeds—what kind of church should this gospel create?
Conclusion: What Does this Mean for Us as a Congregation?
Let me ask what does this mean for us as a congregation?
I called you a motley crew of sinners last Sunday—that’s what we are! How amazing that God accepts us! Amen? If God justifies the ungodly, so what?
First, this doctrine creates a non-boasting church. 3:27 asked, “What becomes of our boasting?” and now 4:1–2 says if Abraham couldn’t boast before God, neither can we! Faith excludes boasting. A congregation gripped by justification of the ungodly shouldn’t be proud or performative. We should be marked by humility about ourselves, patience with strugglers, and gentle with the repentant. There should be no air of superiority at OURC because every one of you came in the same way: not by works, but by grace.
Second, this doctrine creates a joyful church. The blessed man is the happy man. The forgiven woman is the happy woman. Because God justifies the ungodly like you and me, the life of OURC should be one of joy. One old writer said it like this: “Before justification we have no right to joy; and after it no reason for misery.” Come together in the joy that God has pardoned and accepted you in Christ. Welcome each other in the joy of justification. Express this spirit of joy.
Third, this doctrine creates a warm and welcoming church. If God justifies the ungodly, OURC must never act like the gospel is only for the respectable, the polished, or the easy to love. The gospel is for the worst and must not be fenced in by ceremonial or sectarian limits.
Because God justified the ungodly like you and me, there should be boiling within us a zeal for the salvation of the lost in our community. We should never be a congregation that sits around and moans about how terrible the world is, how bad the politicians are, or how things will never be the same. If the world is as bad as it looks, then let it activate you to let them know the joy that God justifies the ungodly!
Pray that God would draw the lost and make the preaching effective. Welcome the outsider. Don’t let someone who is new sit by themselves or stand off by themselves. Pursue the wanderer, invite the neighbor. Reach out! Show love! Invite people to church. Offer them a ride. Remind them of your invitation. Believe that no sinner in our community is beyond the grace of God.
Gospel Call
If you’re one such outsider today, a sinner in need of salvation, or even someone who’s been hurt by church and you built up the guts to try one more time this morning, I want to say to you that we love you and are glad you are here. But Jesus loves you more. He came to this earth, live, died, and rose again for sinners just like you and me. Put your trust in him now. Pray in your heart, “Lord, forgive me, accept me, and help me live for you.” Come see me outside so we can pray together and I can help you to walk a new path of life.
Beloved: memorize Romans 4:5, cling to it, and preach it to your own heart: To the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. That’s the Christian’s hope. That’s the church’s message. That’s the gospel of Jesus Christ.