Blessedness Through Christ—Romans 4:6-8

"David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: "Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him" (Romans 4:6-8)

Can you imagine King David shaking your hand? He’d see you from across the room only to make a beeline straight to you in order to congratulate you. Sounds weird, right? This is King David we’re talking about, a symbol of the glory of Israel.

And yet, in the Psalms, King David saw a glimpse of what was coming through the Messiah, the time we now live in and called us blessed. The Amplified Bible puts it this way:

“Thus David congratulates the man and pronounces a blessing on him to whom God credits righteousness apart from the works he does:

Blessed and happy and to be envied are those whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered up and completely buried.

Blessed and happy and to be envied is the person of whose sin the Lord will take no account nor reckon it against him.” (Rom. 4:6-8 AMP)

King David saw this through the eyes of faith and said these people should be congratulated because they are extremely blessed.

What did he see?

He saw that God would not only forgive sin, which King David experienced himself so he understood its importance. But he also saw that through the Messiah (Jesus) believers in Him would live with sin NEVER being a charge against them.

He goes on to say that their sin will be forgiven, covered, and forgotten. In the way Paul wrote this, the Greek word he used for ‘will not’ is called an emphatic double negative, meaning that sin will never, not ever, be counted against us. This is the strongest language that could ever be used to describe the state of the New Testament believer.

He is also using this double negative with the word credited, an accounting term, that means imputed, charged, or reckoned with. Think about a credit card. When a purchase is made, the amount charged is then imputed to the cardholder and has to be paid later. However, David says that the Lord will never (not ever, ever, ever) charge sin against us making us pay for it. He won’t charge us because Jesus was charged, and He paid the ultimate price for sin once for all (Heb. 10:10; 14).

Understanding this, you can see why King David called us blessed!

Paul uses two examples of great men of faith to support this claim that we are completely justified and declared righteous by faith in what Jesus did for us apart from anything we can do.

Today, I invite you to evaluate your heart to see where you fall on this continuum. Do you live a life weighed down by feelings of the guilt and shame associated with your sin or have you found the freedom to enjoy the righteous standing you have before God?

 

Previous: Romans 4:4-5  Next: Romans 4:9-10

Original article published July 1, 2009.

Juli Camarin

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