Psalm 1 - Grace that Bears Fruit

Psalm 1 opens with the blessed man, the ashrae man, who does not drift into the counsel, path, and seat of the wicked, but delights in God’s law day and night. The old Sunday school reading of that psalm was simple enough: don’t keep bad company, read the Bible, do what it says, and God will bless you. Yet Psalm 1 may also point beyond the believer’s obedience to the one person who is truly righteous, approved, and flourishing under God’s providence.

Christ fits the ashrae man in every way. Christ walked among sinners without sin, knew God’s word perfectly, stood rooted in the Father’s will, and will stand in the judgment as the Judge himself. Christ’s righteousness, not human moral effort, is imputed through faith. The old moralistic error turns Psalm 1 into a ladder for getting God’s approval, while the opposite error turns grace into an excuse for remaining knuckleheads.

The tension between Christ’s righteousness and the righteousness to which believers are called brings Paul and James into view. Paul insists that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, yet God justifies freely by grace through faith because Christ’s sacrifice satisfies divine justice. Abraham believed God, and righteousness was credited to him before he had anything to boast about. David likewise blesses the man whose sin God does not count against him.

James pushes against empty intellectual assent. James does not deny Paul’s doctrine of justification by faith, but denies that a faith with no trust, submission, or obedience is justifying faith. Abraham’s offering of Isaac did not replace Genesis 15 with a new way of being accepted by God. Abraham’s obedience activated, completed, and fulfilled the faith already credited as righteousness. Paul uses justification as God’s declaration of righteousness; James uses it as the demonstration that such faith is real.

Paul and James therefore stand back to back against two enemies: antinomianism on one side and legalism on the other. Ephesians 2 joins the whole thing together. God saves by grace, not works, lest anyone boast; then God says, “for we are his workmanship, created in Christ for good works.” Justification is not the finish line. Justification brings believers into the life God prepared beforehand, a planned walk of righteousness empowered by the Spirit.

The Christian life still contains the four T’s: trials, tribulation, temptation, and trouble. Romans 7 admits the misery of wanting what is right and still wrestling with the flesh. Romans 8 answers that misery with no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Christ remains the author and finisher of faith, so failure must not lead to endless navel gazing or the slough of despond. Isaiah’s call remains the final word: look unto God and be saved. Look unto Jesus, for he is God and there is none other.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Christ is the truly blessed man. Psalm 1 does call for a life shaped by God’s word, but its fullest shape is found in Christ. He alone stands before God without sin, without withering, and without fear of judgment. His righteousness is not merely an example held over believers; it is the gift credited to those who trust him. [04:41]
• 2. Grace never licenses spiritual laziness. Cheap grace imagines that Christ obeyed so believers can keep on being knuckleheads. Yet grace joins sinners to Christ in order to make them alive, purposeful, and increasingly like him. The Spirit does not erase the call to obedience; the Spirit makes that walk possible. [09:19]
• 3. Faith shows itself through obedience. James refuses the idea that bare agreement with Christian truth is saving faith. Abraham’s obedience did not purchase God’s declaration in Genesis 15, but revealed that Abraham’s trust was living and whole. Works are not the root of justification, but they are the fruit that exposes genuine faith. [19:29]
• 4. Believers are saved for good works. Ephesians 2 does not stop at “by grace you have been saved.” God’s workmanship is created in Christ for works prepared beforehand, giving ordinary days real meaning and direction. Grace justifies, then grace supplies the Spirit for the walk God planned all along. [26:50]
• 5. Failure calls the eyes back to Jesus. Romans 7 gives honest language for the ongoing war between flesh and the new life of the Spirit. Spiritual self-examination becomes deadly when it turns into constant staring at inner junk and failure. Christ rescues, sustains, and finishes the faith he began.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [00:31] - Psalm 1 and an Early Memory
• [03:07] - Moralism and the Blessed Man
• [03:59] - Psalm 1 Points to Christ
• [06:42] - Why Churches Missed Grace
• [08:54] - Grace, Obedience, and the Balance
• [11:39] - Paul and Justification by Faith
• [17:19] - James on Faith and Works
• [20:33] - Two Senses of Justification
• [23:22] - Paul and James Fight Back to Back
• [25:04] - Created in Christ for Good Works
• [29:30] - Trials, Failure, and No Condemnation
• [32:53] - Look to Jesus and Be Saved

Bible Reading

Psalm 1
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. [01:56]

Ephesians 2:8-10
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. [26:50]

James 2:14-26
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. [20:33]

Romans 3:21-26
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. [12:10]

Observation questions

1. In Psalm 1, what downward pattern is described in the words “walks,” “stands,” and “sits”? What is placed in contrast with that pattern?
2. What pictures does Psalm 1 use for the righteous and the wicked, and what do those pictures communicate about stability and judgment?
3. In Romans 3:21-26, what words show that justification is God’s gift rather than something sinners achieve for themselves? [12:27]
4. In James 2, what examples does James give to show the difference between saying the right things and having a faith that actually acts? [17:43]

Interpretation questions

1. Psalm 1 describes a blessed, righteous person who delights fully in God’s law and stands securely in judgment. Why is Jesus the fullest and truest fulfillment of this description, rather than merely an example for people to copy? [04:41]
2. Romans 3 says that God is both “just and the justifier” of the one who has faith in Jesus. How does Christ’s sacrifice allow God to forgive sinners without treating sin as unimportant? [12:40]
3. James says that faith without works is dead, while Ephesians says salvation is not a result of works. How do these passages fit together when works are understood as the fruit and evidence of living faith, not the price of acceptance with God? [22:00]
4. Ephesians 2:10 says believers are created in Christ for good works prepared beforehand. What does this suggest about the purpose of ordinary acts of service, obedience, work, and care for others? [27:43]

Application questions

1. Is there a place where the counsel, habits, or attitudes of people around you are slowly shaping you away from delighting in God’s Word? What would it look like to take one concrete step toward a more rooted life this week?
2. It is easy either to try to earn God’s approval or to use grace as an excuse to remain spiritually lazy. Which danger do you tend to drift toward, and what truth from Romans 3 or Ephesians 2 do you most need to remember? [28:42]
3. James uses the example of a needy brother or sister who receives kind words but no practical help. Is there a specific need in your home, church, workplace, or neighborhood where your faith could take a tangible step this week?
4. God’s workmanship is created in Christ for good works prepared beforehand. What responsibilities or relationships in your present week might be part of the good work God has already placed before you? [26:50]
5. When you fail or feel spiritually weak, do you tend to excuse sin, try harder in your own strength, or become discouraged and withdrawn? What would it mean in that moment to look again to Jesus rather than endlessly stare at your failure? [32:53]
6. The Christian life includes trials, tribulation, temptation, and trouble, yet there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Where do you need the group’s encouragement to keep confessing, repenting, and trusting Christ’s sustaining grace? [31:55]