Grace Unveiled: To Whom the Lord Will Not Impute Sin #11 | Jim Hammond
Recap
Pastor Jim continued his series on Romans entitled, “Grace Unveiled.” This 11th installment of the series entitled, “To Whom the Lord Will Not Impute sin” picks up at Romans 4:6: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.” Pastor Jim carefully unfolded what it means for God to not impute your sin. Essentially, this scripture is saying, “Blessed is he who stepped over that line and the burden of what he should get for crossing that boundary is taken off of him.” That guy is blessed!
Dive Deeper
This message begins with Romans 4:6: “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works.”
Paul is quoting David when he wrote Psalms 32:1–2: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
The Old Testament is written in the Hebrew language. The meaning of these Hebrew words is as follows:
The word transgression means “to cross over a line.”
The phrase “blessed is the man whose sin is covered,” means “to miss the mark.”
Romans says, “miss the mark” means anything you do or say that’s not done out of faith is a sin.
The word iniquity means “twisted.”
Guile means “deception.”
So this verse is saying “blessed is he who crossed over the line that shouldn’t have been crossed.” Why is he blessed? Because he is forgiven. Forgiven means “to have a burden taken away.”
Essentially, this scripture is saying, “Blessed is he who stepped over that line and the burden of what he should get for crossing that boundary is taken off of him.” That guy is blessed!
Verse 2: “Blessed is the guy who doesn’t have his iniquity imputed to him.” The word “impute” is a word used in accounting. It’s something listed in a ledger. It was “accounted” to Abraham as righteous because of what he believed.
Psalms 51, 130, 143, and 32 talk about the same concepts that Paul was trying to get across in the book of Romans.
Psalm 32:1–2 teach justification in God’s eyes: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.” The point is, God is giving you something you don’t deserve.
Illustration: You give your child a gift and he tries to give you cash in exchange for the gift. Now, it’s not a gift anymore. Trying to pay for the gift destroys the concept of it being a gift.
The word “righteousness” in the New Testament is described by Greek scholar E.W. Kenyon as the ability to stand before God without a sense of guilt or inferiority and have mastery over the devil.
How do we have the ability to stand before God without guilt or inferiority? It’s because He hasn’t imputed sin to us. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, He gives you a gift that has to be received by faith.
It’s imperative you understand what this gift does for you. If you don’t understand it, it will cost you. In order to walk successfully in New Covenant concepts, you have to understand it.
Read About It
Romans 4:6–8, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works. 7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
Psalm 32:1, Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
Hebrews 8:12, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
Discussion Questions
What does it mean that God will not impute our sin?
If someone tries to pay you for a gift you gave to them, why would it no longer be a gift?
How does E.W. Kenyon describe righteousness?