In this section of the epistle to the Romans, the implications of justification by grace through faith in chapters 1-4 are now drawn out.
- The transition from wrath (Ro 1:18) to grace (Ro 3:21) transforms both the status and the experience of the believer. Instead of estrangement (Ro 3:10-17) there is now peace (Ro 5:1).
- In the place of falling short of God’s glory through sin (Ro 3:23), there is the hope of glory (Ro 5:2).
- Instead of suffering as judgment (Ro 2:5, Ro 2:6), there is joy in tribulation because of what God produces through it (Ro 5:3).
- Instead of fearful uncertainty, there is assurance of God’s love (vv. 6-8) and joy in Him (v. 11).
Thus, the gospel of grace means that our reconciliation with God depends solely upon the work of Christ. But this reconciliation with God is communicated to us by the gospel; for the proclamation of the gospel is the means whereby we are drawn to Christ and come to Him.
Ro 5:1 Therefore (therefore connects Paul’s present argument with what he has already said) being justified (acquitted, declared righteous…legal terms) by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
Faith joins believers to Jesus Christ, the “second Adam”. Since chapter three, Paul has been talking about justification by faith, how that God has declares the person who has placed faith in The crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ innocent of all sin charges because of their faith in Jesus Christ.
By faith in Jesus I mean believing that (1) He took all of my sin; (2) believing that He rose again from the dead. If you believe on Him Who sent Jesus to die for your sins and rose again from the dead, you are justified (just as if I never did it).
Now if I were justified by works then I would have peace with God as long as I was doing good. But when I failed that peace would again be broken. That’s the failure of man made religion, which is always works and ritual based instead of grace and faith based.
Please note that after we are born again, there is a change in our standing before God, we are now justified, and it is all a work of God’s grace.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Nobody is born in this justified state….you may have been raised in a Christian home, but that does not make you a Christian, and that is simply because God doesn’t have grandchildren, He only has children
I am not justified in the eyes of God until I am born again, and I am not born again until I (1) repent of my sin (2) trust in Jesus Christ for the remission of my sin (3) confess Him before men as Lord.
The first benefit of being justified by faith is that we have peace with God.
The enmity that characterizes the relationship between God and His sinful, rebellious creatures is ended for those who are justified through faith by faith in Jesus Christ
When we realize that peace with God is a free gift by grace through faith, it frees us from the vicious cycle of trying to establish peace with God upon the basis of my own efforts.
Peace with God is the first fruit of our justification. The rebellion is over. Reconciliation is won. This peace is not a guarded truce subject to new warfare. It is a permanent peace because it is rooted and grounded in the Prince of Peace Himself, Jesus Christ, Who is our peace.
It is important to note that peace with God is not the same as peace of God spoken of in other places (such as Philippians 4:7). This is peace with God; the battle between God and us is finished – and He won, winning us.
Peace of God is the assurance that God is in control of and working out all things in my life for good in my life. Thus peace is not in my circumstances or my feelings, but in Christ and His presence and promises.
John 14.27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 16.33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
Not only do we have peace with God through faith in Jesus Christ, we also have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand. With peace established, we now have access to God’s presence. The wall of partition has been removed.
The Greek word for access here means, ushering someone into the presence of royalty.
However, in later Greek, it is the word for the place where ships come in to find refuge during a storm at sea, a harbor or a haven.
In other words, it is by the grace of Jesus Christ that we have been ushered into the presence of God where we have found a safe harbor from the turbulent storms of life.
That friendly relation with God whereby we are acceptable to Him and have assurance that He is favorably disposed towards us Thayer
Ephesians 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
Ephesians 3:12 In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.
Loved ones, The Lord’s Supper this morning reminds us that through Christ, our glorious Mediator and High Priest, you and I have the privilege of walking into the presence of Almighty God. Let me tell you what this means.
When life is falling apart, we have access to God; when despair hits home, we have access to God; when things are wonderful, we have access to God.
It is by faith that we firmly and safely stand in this marvelous grace of God. And because it is by the grace of God that we have this access to Him, we know that the door is always open.
Satan troubles us constantly by claiming that the door is closed. “God doesn’t want you to come. You failed to be righteous.” However, my righteousness and access to The father is based on my faith in Jesus Christ. The door is never closed to us, even after I’ve been a miserable failure. In fact, if there is a time that we need that door to God open is when we have failed or sinned.
Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Note also that our faith is something that we stand in. We have a standing in grace.
Saving faith is a standing faith, it is a fixed position that sinks deep into the heart, and endures through life. It is not a changeable persuasion, only for one day or for a season in one’s life.
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Before we are saved, we fall short of the glory of God; now that we are in Christ, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God! What an incredible transformation God has wrought in our hearts.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
Gr. for tribulations describes the process of crushing an olive with heavy rocks in order to extract oil. Jon Courson
The word tribulations refers to all kinds of troubles and difficulties that may affect our lives. This includes such things as the pressures of school or jobs, family situations, financial or physical needs, tragic circumstances, sorrow, sickness, persecution, mistreatment or loneliness.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Some would say that Paul has lost his mind here. How can a person glory in difficult times? Hardships? Outside of Christ, you can’t. But in Christ, we can glory because we know that He is there with us and for us during our times of despair and sorrow.
2 Corinthians 1.3,4 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
I can glory in hard times because God comforts me in my tribulations and I also know that Romans 8.28 all things work together for good to those that love God to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Actually, Paul is headed in that direction because when we get to the last section of Rom 8.18 through the end of the chapter, he is going to remind us that even tribulation can never separate us from the love of God.
James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 1:3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces patience.
The KJV renders the word temptations instead of trials. Why? What God will allow in your life as a trial to strengthen our faith, Satan will seek to exploit to draw us into a mindset of hopelessness, doubt and despair.
And what purpose does tribulations serve? To develop patience.
God does not try us to discover more about us, but that we might learn a whole lot more about how weak we are apart from Him.
One sure ingredient for spiritual maturity is the testing of our faith in the fires of adversity. Our faith is made purified as we learn to lean upon The Lord and His strength. We are taught to have no confidence in the flesh.
Patience is the fruit of The Spirit that enables me to walk by faith as I wait upon The Lord to manifest His presence and purpose in the situation.
4 And patience, experience;
The Greek word for experience here is dokime. Dokime is used of metal which has been passed through the fire so that everything base has been purged out of it.
What experience does patience develop? The testimony that God is faithful. As I wait upon God, I experience the work of God in my life.
The fiery trials of our faith are allowed by God in our lives to purge us of our fleshly desires or any trust in the arm of the flesh (Jer 17.3).
By waiting and trusting in The Lord, instead of myself or my ability to “work the situation out”; my faith is strenghtened and I come out of the fiery furnace more Christ like than before I went in.
When the difficulties in our lives are met with patience, the outcome is another experience of the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. My experience in Christ has taught me over the years to say God is good, and despite what circumstances tell me, All things are working together for good.
and experience, hope:
True Biblical “hope” is not wishful thinking about something good that might happen in the future. It is a confidence from God concerning His promises, which makes it sure and leaves no room for doubt, because it is based on His character.
Experience in The Lord keeps us from flipping out or freaking out when life takes unexpected turns, because the hope that we have as Christians is not a worldly or temporal hope.
As a Christian, I can live in reality. I realize that the world is corrupt. I do not have to live a life of denial. Sin has brought into this world suffering, pain and physical death, but in Christ Jesus, we have a living hope.
Because I have a hope in Jesus Christ I can face the reality of life. Jesus is coming again for me, and Jesus should call me home before the rapture of the church, I have the promise that He will usher me into the presence of the Father without a spot or blemish of sin.
5 And hope maketh not ashamed (will never prove an illusion); because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
When we trust and hope in The Lord Jesus Christ, we will never be ashamed. On the contrary, whenever I freak out and flip out and in so doing let my emotions or my flesh have the final say about situations, I find myself beginning to think and speak and sometimes act in ways that are very shameful and dishonoring to My Lord Jesus Christ.
It literally reads, the love of God has been poured into our hearts.
Whatever God pours into us, He intends that it be poured out of us.
In Israel, the Dead Sea may be rich in minerals, but nothing can live in it. Why? There is no outlet. If your Christian life is all about learning and study (which are both important and good), you may be rich in Bible knowledge, but you have not yet learned the secret of life in The Spirit.
There is another Sea in Israel, the Sea of Galilee that is rich with life. Why? There is both an inlet and an outlet. When we learn to export what we import from God, our lives will be rich and a blessing to others.
God’s love is shed abroad when we are vessels that are being poured out for His Names sake.
The more that the love of Jesus is poured out in this place; the more that the love of Jesus is being poured out on one another in this place, the more of the love of Jesus that The Holy Ghost will pour in.
Beloved, Jesus Christ made the essential meaning and purpose of life very clear when He said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself (Luke 10.27,28).
Beloved, my admonition to you who call KF your home church is simply this….keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life (Jude 21). Resist with a passion the fleshly temptation to harbor unloving thoughts, speak unloving words, or serve The Lord with unloving motives or attitudes.
Closing Comments
The description of the love of God for sinners as is described in Romans 5.6-10 are filled with wonder that is beyond human comprehension.
The extent of God’s love is shown in the fact that Christ died for men in whom there was nothing that evoked that love. Jesus died for the ungodly, and the unrighteousness, who were His enemies!
For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the good sweet, wonderful and generous kind people? No. To the praise of the glory of His grace, Jesus Christ died for the ungodly. That’s me today..that’s you beloved…that’s you my friend.
Oh may the Holy Spirit take and stamp this truth, deep into each and every one of our hearts this morning as we take the bread and drink the cup.
Romans 5.11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Literally, the reconciliation, meaning “change.” Through faith in Christ, God changes us from His enemies to His family.
Have you received the gift of eternal life through faith in The Lord Jesus Christ? Whosoever shall call upon The Name of The Lord shall
