Romans 5:1-11
Today we are going to take a more expository, verse-by-verse
approach to this Epistle reading from St. Paul in Romans chapter 5. I encourage you to follow along as we do so.
So far in Romans he has laid a strong case for how we all
stand condemned in our sins because of the law, but then moved on to explain
that a righteousness apart from the law is revealed to us – a righteousness by
grace through faith in Christ. Now he
continues unpacking the implications of that for the Christian.
There are so many different ways to look at this thing that
God does for us in Christ – like the facets of a diamond – and Paul certainly
highlights a number of them for us today.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are justified by faith.
Made just, or righteous by God.
Notice we don’t justify ourselves, but it happens to us, God does it for
us. Our faith which trust this action is
a gift in and of itself, a gift also worked by him. To be justified by grace through faith in
Christ is at the center of Paul’s teaching, and it really is the heart of the
Christian religion. But it’s just one
way of describing it all.
Peace with God.
That’s another way of explaining what Christ has done for us. He’s brought us to peace with God.
Perhaps you have, like I do, some vague memory of an old
western movie in which some scoundrel of a cowboy lies dying from gunshot. And as his life fades away, he has some last
words with his friend, and tells him, “he’s made his peace with God”. Well, maybe, maybe not. But the Christian knows, and St. Paul teaches
that it’s not we who make peace with God, it’s God who has made peace with us,
through Christ. We are justified by
faith – not by works – and so we can have that peace and assurance in full.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith
into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Another way of describing this is we now obtained access
into this grace by faith. Access –
entrance – availability. God is open to
us when before he was closed. His love,
grace and mercy, are for us! And of that
we can be sure – by faith. This comes
along with rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. That is to say, we have a future. We’ll say more about that shortly.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings,
knowing that suffering produces endurance,
Most people don’t rejoice in sufferings. Sufferings are things to be avoided. They are what you complain about after a
long, hard day. They are the nagging problems and the sudden disasters of life
that bring you only pain and suffering.
No one likes suffering, but we Christians rejoice in it. Or we might say we rejoice in spite of it,
for we know that suffering done in Christ, and especially for the sake of
Christ, has a benefit. It leads to
endurance.
When we suffer, we learn that suffering isn’t the worst
thing that can happen to us. When we
suffer, and are faithful, we learn that suffering need not lead us to despair
and make a shipwreck of our faith. God
is with is, even in our suffering, and he works good from it just like he
promises to do for all who are in Christ.
And one of the goods he brings from it is endurance. A spiritual toughness. We are not blown over or apart by every
little problem and even big problem in life.
Rather, we learn in suffering to turn ever more to Christ and his grace,
and we endure. Thanks be to God.
4 and endurance produces character, and character
produces hope,
Character. A strange
idea. The Greek suggests it can also
mean “experience” or “proof”. When we
endure suffering we have the battle scars that prove our faith is genuine. And even better, we have the proof of
hindsight, looking back to see how God’s hand has sustained us through it all
by his grace in Christ.
And looking back, it’s easier then to also look forward in
hope. Confident expectation that God
will fulfill his promises to us in Christ.
A sure and certain hope of the resurrection and the life of the world to
come.
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given
to us.
Hope does not put us to shame. It doesn’t chase us away in discouragement of
our sins and God’s disapproval. Rather,
hope encourages us that God, who spared not his own Son, but sent Jesus to the
cross for our salvation – he will certainly bring that good work in us to
completion.
And to further sustain us in this hope, he gives us his Holy
Spirit, pouring his love into our hearts.
The picture is of a generous pouring out, an overflowing of blessings, a
heart that is awash in the love of God that always grows and never fails.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time
Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ died for the weak and ungodly. Thanks be to God – for we are all weak and
ungodly apart from him. And he did it at
the exact right time, as God’s timing is always perfect.
7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous
person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—
Some of our best movies and books tell the hero story of one
who sacrifices himself for others. We
aspire to such heroicism as it is rare in our world. We hold up soldiers who die for freedom,
police who are killed in the line of duty, and firemen who rush into a burning
building as examples to follow and models of bravery and goodness. But these are simple earthly examples. God does it even better:
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
He didn’t die to save a cute little girl, or a fair damsel
in distress. He died to save a rotten
nasty filthy sinner like you, like all of us.
Christ died for the ungodly, the weak, the guilty.
9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his
blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
Justified by his blood – declared righteous and holy in the
cosmic courtroom of God. The blood of
Christ changes the verdict for us – from guilty to not guilty, from ungodly to
godly, from weak and worthless to strong in his strength. Everything is different for us because of
Jesus. Everything is better. It’s the great reversal.
And we are saved from the wrath of God because he, Jesus,
bore the wrath of God for us. By his
holy precious blood and in his innocent suffering and death, Jesus became the
substitute and made atonement for sin, all sin, even your sin. Thanks be to God!
10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to
God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be
saved by his life.
Reconciliation.
Another picture of what Christ does for us. He reconciles us to himself, and to God. It’s a picture of a broken relationship made
whole and right again. A husband and
wife who separate and then come back to each other. Or two friends who have a falling out, but
are able to work through their differences.
Or even enemy nations who eventually find peace and partnership – and
become allies and friends. Yes God
forgives us, but his grace goes even further – he doesn’t just set the bar back
to neutral. He loves us. He cherishes us. Jesus calls us friends.
And even more than wiping the slate clean and repairing the
relationship, furthermore we are saved – rescued from death and hell – saved –
salvaged and restored and renewed.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
All of this leads us to rejoice. God’s grace for us in Christ is really just
the best. And like Paul, we could go on
and on describing it in so many ways:
Justified. At
peace. Given access to God, and having
hope. Suffering but enduring by faith,
and greatly loved. Reconciled to God and
saved from his wrath. And all of it by
the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Thanks be to God, and glory be to Jesus. Amen.
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