ADDRESSES ON ROMANS
The quotations from Moses in verses 6-8 are very signifi- cant. I wonder if their full meaning has gripped us? Look at them again, and you will see how Moses, as well as Abraham, saw Christ's day, "and was glad." By faith he saw that the Lord Jesus would come down from heaven, "Immanuel," "God with us." By faith he saw that the Lord of glory would suffer and die and be buried and rise "again from the dead." These words and scores like them can be explained only by the fact that every Old Testament saint is in heaven today because he believed in the promised Redeemer. And these prophecies marvelously show that they were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. No mere man could have shown "before- hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow" (I Peter 1: 11 ) . What Paul is saying here is that this message is not new, that sinners have ever been redeemed by "the righteousness which is of faith," if they have been redeemed at all. Paul is saying here that we must rest on what our Lord has already done. He finished the work of salvation. There is nothing to add to this finished work. As verses 6 and 7 tell us, faith does not say that Christ must come down or be raised from the dead. Faith knows that Christ has already come down from heaven and has been raised from the dead. Therefore, it is not necessary that He do so again. Faith sees righteous- / ness through the death of Christ for our sins and through His resurrection for our justification. It is not something to look forward to; it is something at hand. It is not a difficult thing. Moses saw all this by faith, and contrasted the righteousness 9f the law with the righteousness of faith. He saw that the righteousness of faith was something which would be accom- plished by Christ. My friend, have you received this gift of God's righteous- ness? Listen to His words of invitation: "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and Page 198]
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