<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>Romans 4;4&amp;5<div><br></div><div><b>4. &nbsp;Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned to him as a gift, but as his due.</b></div><div><b>5. &nbsp;And to the one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Notice in verse five,&nbsp;Paul does not say, “And to the one who does not ‘trust’ in his works…”. Paul writes,</div><div><i>“And to the one <u>who does </u><b>not work</b>” </i>!<span>!!</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Certainly this means our works do not contribute to our being reckoned righteous. &nbsp;<i>“For</i></span><i>&nbsp;by grace you have been&nbsp;saved through faith; and this&nbsp;is not your own doing, it is the gift of God—&nbsp;not because&nbsp;of works, lest any man should boast.” &nbsp;</i><span>(Ephesians 2;8&amp;9)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>But, we <u>do, do good works,</u>&nbsp;do we not? &nbsp;The answer is both “No and Yes.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>We ‘of ourselves’&nbsp;<u>do not</u>&nbsp;do our own good works! &nbsp;<i>“For&nbsp;God&nbsp;is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” &nbsp;</i>(Philippians 2;13). Therefore, Believers never seek credit for the good works that they do, for in truth, it <i>is God</i>&nbsp;indwelling them who is doing those good works. &nbsp;All the praise and honor belongs to God alone.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>As Saint Paul says, <i>“But by the&nbsp;grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. &nbsp;On the contrary,&nbsp;<u>I &nbsp;worked harder than any of them, </u><b>though it was not I, but the grace of God which is in me.</b>” &nbsp;</i>(1 Corinthians 15;10)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Therefore we have in Christ both the “Old-man ‘I’”, and the “New-man ‘i’”.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span>The Old-man I, seeks credit and does his ‘ good works’ in the strength of himself, the power of&nbsp;his own flesh.</span></div><div><span>The New-man i, knows it is God, and the grace of God at work in him inspiring and accomplishing true good works done to God’s glory and not the New-man.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>As Paul says, <i>“I have been crucified with Christ; it is <u>no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me</u>;&nbsp;and the life i now live in the flesh, i live by faith, in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” </i>(Galatians 2;20)</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>So when Paul says in our text today, <i>“…the one who<u>&nbsp;does not work</u>” &nbsp;</i>he is speaking about the ‘New-man i.’</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>This Is who Jesus is speaking about when He says, <i>“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see <u>your good works</u>&nbsp;and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” &nbsp;</i>(Matthew 5:16)&nbsp;</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>When two&nbsp;big&nbsp;strong horses and one&nbsp;small weak horse are teamed up, yoked together, with the small horse in between them,&nbsp;the weight of the yoke is virtually all on the big&nbsp;strong horses, the weak small horse just walks along in yoke with the big horse, for him, <i>“the yoke is easy and the burden is light.” &nbsp;</i>(Matthew 11;28-30). We the New-man,&nbsp;walk with Christ by the Holy Spirit…these are&nbsp;the two strong horses.</span></div><div><b></b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, deliver me from the overwhelming impossible burden of trying to do good works myself. &nbsp;Bless me to believe I am in yoke with Christ by the Holy Spirit and it is God at work in me doing the good work. &nbsp;In Jesus i pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br><br><div><a href="https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&amp;c=Global_Acquisition_YMktg_315_Internal_EmailSignature&amp;af_sub1=Acquisition&amp;af_sub2=Global_YMktg&amp;af_sub3=&amp;af_sub4=100000604&amp;af_sub5=EmailSignature__Static_" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>


Romans 4;4&5
4.  Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned to him as a gift, but as his due.5.  And to the one who does not work but trusts Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.
Notice in verse five, Paul does not say, “And to the one who does not ‘trust’ in his works…”. Paul writes,“And to the one who does not work” !!!
Certainly this means our works do not contribute to our being reckoned righteous.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— not because of works, lest any man should boast.”  (Ephesians 2;8&9)
But, we do, do good works, do we not?  The answer is both “No and Yes.”
We ‘of ourselves’ do not do our own good works!  “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  (Philippians 2;13). Therefore, Believers never seek credit for the good works that they do, for in truth, it is God indwelling them who is doing those good works.  All the praise and honor belongs to God alone.
As Saint Paul says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain.  On the contrary, I  worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is in me.”  (1 Corinthians 15;10)
Therefore we have in Christ both the “Old-man ‘I’”, and the “New-man ‘i’”. The Old-man I, seeks credit and does his ‘ good works’ in the strength of himself, the power of his own flesh.The New-man i, knows it is God, and the grace of God at work in him inspiring and accomplishing true good works done to God’s glory and not the New-man.
As Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life i now live in the flesh, i live by faith, in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2;20)
So when Paul says in our text today, “…the one who does not work”  he is speaking about the ‘New-man i.’
This Is who Jesus is speaking about when He says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  (Matthew 5:16) 
When two big strong horses and one small weak horse are teamed up, yoked together, with the small horse in between them, the weight of the yoke is virtually all on the big strong horses, the weak small horse just walks along in yoke with the big horse, for him, “the yoke is easy and the burden is light.”  (Matthew 11;28-30). We the New-man, walk with Christ by the Holy Spirit…these are the two strong horses.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, deliver me from the overwhelming impossible burden of trying to do good works myself.  Bless me to believe I am in yoke with Christ by the Holy Spirit and it is God at work in me doing the good work.  In Jesus i pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”

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