Rom. 4:1-12, Spiritual Truth is REALITY (1)

A. W. Tozer, in The Pursuit of God, (Ch. 4) defines two terms: reality and reckon.  His point is that spiritual truth is as “real” as physical truth, but that spiritual truth is not known through the five senses but must be “reckoned” to the soul.  Our life in Christ is real, not just a theological statement. 

As you consider the 41x of the verb and 2x of the noun, keep in the back of your mind that someone is saying that something you can’t see is nevertheless real.  This word is the “impute” term, an accounting term, where Christ’s righteousness is counted to us and our sins to Him.  I am fine with the “impute” term, but even then, what we are saying to our soul is that a real spiritual event has taken place.  We are not just calling things real, as if we were deluding ourselves.  We are saying they are real!

logismos: calculation, reasoning

·       Ro 2:15: their thoughts accuse & excuse one another

·       2Co 10:5: casting down imaginations (false reasonings about spiritual reality!)

logizomai: Strong’s definitions: 1) to reckon, count, compute, calculate, count over; 2) to number among, reckon with; 3) to reckon or account

·       Mk. 11:31: leaders reasoned among themselves, if we say “from heaven” He will ask why we didn’t believe him.  (What they are reasoning about is spiritual truth, something not visible to the eyes, as to whether or not John the Baptist was from heaven.  I.e. “which answer will we reckon to be real?”

·       Mk 15:28: Jesus was numbered w/the transgressors (Lk 22:37; the physical eyes saw Jesus on the cross; the spiritual reality was he was being counted as a transgressor.  This is a quote from Isa. 53:12, Hebrew mana, which is first used in Gen. 13:16 in the numbering of Abraham’s descendants.  In other words, it is appropriate to use logizomai in an accounting sense.  Even then, what is being put to the soul’s account is a spiritual reality.)

·       Jn 11:50: Caiaphas reasons this & that.

·       Ac. 19:27: Demetrius was concerned that the goddess Diana would be despised,  and her magnificence destroyed (This is an unusual translation.  Young’s Literal Translation says, reckoned for nothing.  This makes sense, but “for nothing” is not in the Greek.  It’s as if the sin against Diana would be to “reckon” her at all.  She should just be worshiped, which everyone did, without discussion.)

·       Rm 2:3: do you think you will escape judgment

·       Rm 2:26: if uncirc. keeps the law, his uncirc. is counted as circumcision.

·       Ro 3:28: we conclude a man is justified by faith.  (What a grand spiritual reality.  Again, the point is, we don’t operate out of myths.  We don’t just “say” we are justified by faith.  We reckon it; we count it as real to the soul.)