"Just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
Just as David also describes: King David of the Old Testament knew what it was like to be a guilty sinner; he knew the seriousness of sin and how good it is to be truly forgiven. He knew the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works. If David were judged on works alone, the righteous God must condemn him. Nevertheless he knew by experience that blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven.
"No sinner, and try he ever so hard, can possibly carry his own sins away and come back cleansed of guilt. No amount of money, no science, no inventive skill, no armies of millions, nor any other earthly power can carry away from the sinner one little sin and its guilt. Once it is committed, every sin and its guilt cling to the sinner as close as does his own shadow, cling to all eternity unless God carries them away." (Lenski)
To whom God imputes righteousness apart from works … blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin: David agrees with Abraham regarding the idea of an imputed righteousness, a goodness that is given, not earned.
"Our adversaries the papists oppose the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us; they cavil at the very word … and yet the apostle useth the word ten times in this chapter." (Poole)
In the Psalm quoted (Psalm 32:1-2), David speaks of the blessedness, not of the one who is justified through works, but of the one who is cleansed through imputation. This is centered on what God places upon us (the righteousness of Jesus), not on what we can do for God.
Dear Holy God, Thank you for imputing your righteousness upon me! My heart is filled with love and gratitude for you!
No comments:
Post a Comment