Gracious Father in heaven, I ask for your help now as we undertake to open this great doctrine of the

imputation of the

righteousness of God in Christ by faith.

It is a great, sweet, powerful, strong, historic life-giving truth, and I long for it to be understood and believed and

cherished and savored.

that's the work of your spirit, Lord,

to take my sentences of exposition and make them kindling for a fire of faith.

So come, I pray, and put your match to these words I ask in Jesus' name.

Amen.

One more question on chapter four before we leave it and go next week, Lord willing, to chapter four,

before we leave it and go next week, Lord willing, to chapter 5 of this great book of Romans.

It comes from chapter 422, the words,

therefore it was credited to him as righteousness.

The it refers to faith and the him refers to Abraham and so it is

therefore faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.

So faith is counted as righteousness for Abraham. Now we've seen that three times already.

Verse three, Abraham believed and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Verse 5, at the end of the verse, his faith is credited as righteousness.

Verse 9 at the end of the verse.

Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness,

and now we see it again in verse 22 therefore it was

credited to him as righteousness. The question is what does that mean? Does it mean that faith is our righteousness or is at least a significant component of it which God

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