Last week we started looking in chapter 5 of Romans at the blessings associated with being declared righteous…starting in verse 1 and ending in verse 11 Paul shares 9 blessings associated with being declared righteous…Charles Spurgeon describes these 9 blessings this way “What marvelous treasures are those which belong to the people of God!”
—We have been declared righteous by faith – Romans 5:1
—We have peace with God – Romans 5:1
—We have obtained access by faith into His grace – Romans 5:2
—We rejoice not only in hope but in affliction – Romans 5:2-3
—We have God’s love poured out in our hearts – Romans 5:5
—While we were still sinners Christ died for us – Romans 5:8
—We have been declared righteous by His blood – Romans 5:9
—We have been saved from God’s wrath – Romans 5:9
—We have been reconciled – Romans 5:10-11
Last week we looked at three blessings associated with being justified by faith:
—We have been declared righteous by faith – Romans 5:1
The difference between being declared righteous versus being made righteous… being declared righteous doesn’t mean I’m living righteously so therefore I am righteous…being declared righteous is something that’s pronounced over you, it’s not because of who you are…or what you’ve done…or because of a behavioral modification in your life.
Being declared righteous is the result of a heart transformation that produces righteous living.
—We have peace with God – Romans 5:1
The only way we can have peace with God is by allowing God to resolve our sin problem…one we inherited from our first parents Adam and Eve, we are born with a disposition to please ourselves…we resisted God’s rule over our lives and as a result that rebellious nature sets us at odds with God.
In our sinful state we cannot have peace with God no matter how hard we try.
BUT God took the initiative in pursuing peace…Jesus’ crucifixion guaranteed our justification and brough peace between us and God.
—We have obtained access by faith into His grace – Romans 5:2
One of the most powerful promises in the Bible… through faith in Christ we have gained full access into God’s presence.
The doctrine of the priesthood of the believer states that all believers in Christ share in His priestly status…there is no special class of people who mediate between us and Christ.
All believers have the right and authority to read… interpret…apply the teachings of Scripture…and pray to God without going through a priestly class of people…continuing on Paul reveals another blessing:
—We rejoice not only in hope but in affliction – Romans 5:2-3
Paul does not discuss whether a Christian will experience sufferings; it’s a given …a Christian will experience suffering! …there’s no doubt and no debate… the Christian life is a hard life…sometimes God makes it that way.
Two things we’re not told when we become a Christian…1) at times God will make life difficult and 2) rejoice in affliction.
It’s not a natural reaction to rejoice when times are less than good…Paul is not suggesting that when we’re going through suffering…hurt…and pain…we just put a smile on our face and pretend the pain isn’t real and gloss over it… that’s not what the Bible is talking about here or anywhere else.
The problem with suffering is that prosperity preaching claims God will bless you socially…physically… and financially as a result of your faith in Jesus…so that when problems arise, we’re left confused.
Prosperity teachers claim that the more faith you have, the more material blessings you will receive…that’s a lie.
False teaching about prosperity has infiltrated many a Christian’s understanding of what it means to follow Jesus…many well-meaning Christians have proclaimed that “life will be better and easier when you follow Jesus.” isn’t true.
Jesus, along with all 12 apostles, were homeless…beaten… and killed for their beliefs…so where were their material blessings?
Faithfulness does bring spiritual blessings…obedience brings spiritual blessings …but God does not promise financial and physical blessings as a result of following Jesus.
The Christian life is not a life measured by material blessings or the avoidance of suffering…said earlier…the Christian life is a hard life…Christians will suffer far more in this life than unbelievers will…Bible says so…something we don’t tell people when they become Christians.
Paul wants to help us see the purpose God has in our tribulations so that when they come we won’t be knocked off balance and think God has turned against us.
In the life of a Christian trials are going to come in a number of different ways and reasons that unbelievers will never experience.
1) Chastisement…2) Character development…3) Suffer for Christ’s sake…4) to help someone who’s in a similar situation.
And herein lies the problem…for many…religious tradition teaches the idea that suffering is somehow “payback” for sin…or…I don’t mind being a Christian but I don’t want any difficulties in my life”…spoiler alert… Jesus warned His disciples to expect difficulties as they obeyed His will…if you’re a Christian you will experience those 4 trials in your life.
For Christians suffering matters…it counts for something…for those in Christ suffering has a purpose…in the midst of suffering we see God refining us.
Does Jesus give us life to the fullest…YES He does…but not as some believe the ‘abundant life’ to be (John 10:10) again the prosperity teachers have polluted Scriptures…the abundant life does not mean material wealth and prosperity.
The abundant life means gaining a heavenly perspective [Rom. 12:2] …that leads to a growing trust and knowledge of God [2 Pet. 3:18] …while living a life full of the fruit of the Spirit [Gal. 5:22-23.]
In this verse Paul might well have been referring to the suffering resulting from persecution the Christians were receiving as a result of their faith in Christ…but there’s an additional side…those difficulties God allows or sends into our lives.
Trusting God is not about ignoring your feelings…it’s not pretending that everything is OK when it isn’t.
Suffering in the life of a Christian accomplishes a good in us…Paul lists the chronological order of what persecution…affliction…distress…tribulation…and suffering produces.
As bad as they are, Paul says they produce another positive characteristic in us…endurance…the ability to keep going when we feel like stopping.
Endurance is the ability to trust God during those the long stretches of time when illness or sickness persists…it’s during those times that provide us with an opportunity to trust God at a deeper level through difficult times.
God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort, but character development
Because suffering produces endurance…and endurance produces character… and ultimately…all of that is producing hope…but not as the world sees hope.
Worldly hope is founded on irrational thinking…empty vanity…a humanistic philosophy…and deceitfully inspired prospects…all resulting in disappointments, frustration, confusion, and shame.
But Christian hope is founded on an altogether different principle which is rooted in God’s trustworthiness that is centered on the never-failing Word of God and His promises.
Christian hope is the positive assurance that what God promised will happen and the certainty that what we cannot see does exist.
It’s believing the Word of God to be factual even when evidence in the natural world says it ain’t so…even when the testimony of our physical senses says that’s not possible…and is denied by logic.
When you look at how Paul uses the word ‘hope’ it seems there’s a possible misunderstanding…between [v. 2] and [v. 4]…in verse 2 ‘we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God’ and [v 4]… ‘proven character produces hope.’
It might sound like at the end of verse 4 that hope is the product of being tested by tribulation…that we only acquire hope when things are going bad in our life because it says, proven character [brings about] hope…So is hope only what comes after affliction?
What about the hope that is first mentioned in verse 2 that ‘we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God’, what about that hope? …sounds like we have some confusion about the ‘hope of the glory of God’ [2] and the hope that comes as a result of affliction [4].
There is no confusion…nobody would be able to persevere in faith if we did not first have hope that God is for us…I don’t understand how unbelievers go through life and the difficulties of life without the firm knowledge that God is for us and will bring us through affliction because even during difficult times God is always working it for His good…not necessarily for your good.
Here’s where stories like the men in the fiery furnace…and Daniel in the lion’s den …poses a serious problem because…countless tens of thousands of people throughout history have not been saved.
That’s why it’s important to know that during difficult times God is always working it out for His good…not necessarily for your good.
That’s where the confidence comes in when knowing God is in the midst of our trials…and He will bring you through that affliction.
We don’t first get hope because of perseverance and proven character…we already have hope by being declared righteous by God…which provides us with the ability to endure trials…a hope that does not disappoint [5:5].
We don’t find peace with God first by passing the test of perseverance…we pass the test of perseverance because we first have peace with God.
We stand firm in Christ before we have tribulations…we don’t enter tribulations wobbling in our own power…but standing firm in the power of grace…this is the work of Christ before we meet trials so that we will be able to stand in trials.
—We have God’s love poured out in our hearts – Romans 5:5
Three things about this verse…this is the first time Paul mentions love in the letter to the Romans…Second…here’s where the Greek at times is confusing.
In the Greek it literally reads…‘the love of God has been poured out into the hearts of us’ …the issue with theologians is whether it’s in the genitive construction…“love of God,” meaning the love that we have for God…OR…the subjective meaning…the love that God has for us.
The NET Bible argues for a plenary genitive…a sort of middle of the road meaning…which is probably more realistic…that both love from God and our love for God is meant…it seems an appropriate work of the Spirit both to communicate God’s love to us and to make it possible for us to love God.
Third…in the opening 11 verses of chapter 5 Paul makes mention of the trinity …God…our Lord Jesus…and the Holy Spirit…hard to deny the existence of the triune God when each one is mentioned separately.
This is the single issue Christianity has against both Jehovah Witnesses and the Mormons…Jehovah’s Witnesses reject the Trinity doctrine…and Mormons believe that God is three distinct persons…not one singular being.
In the Greek it says that the love of God ‘has been poured out’ …this wording is especially meaningful…that’s one word in the Greek…that verb is in the perfect, passive, indicative, 3rd person!
Here’s how powerful that meaning is to us…don’t see it in the English.
First…the statement ‘has been poured out ‘ is in the perfect tense…meaning it’s already happened! …the perfect tense describes a completed action that occurred in the past with the result continuing into the present.
The Holy Spirit is universally given to all justified people….if you have been justified, you have the Holy Spirit already.
It’s not something you get when you’re baptized…or through a laying on of hands experience…at salvation the Holy Spirit comes and instantly dwells in you.
Second…It’s not up to us! The verb…has been poured out…is in the third person…meaning it’s God who’s doing the action…God is the active person… we are the ones receiving His love that He poured out…we don’t have to work for it, or do anything for it.
Third…It is real! the verb is in the indicative mood which means according to Paul what is being described is actually happening and it’s happening now…it’s not just a feeling, it is actual.
Paul goes on to say…the love of God has been poured out within our hearts—here’s the KEY– through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
I want to talk about this for a few minutes because it is so important in the life of a Christian…God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit…we are infused with God Himself.
Christians can easily identify with God the Father…and His Son Jesus…but… the Holy Spirit is without a body and a personal name…seems distant to many.
No Christian can fulfill God’s will for his life apart from being filled with His Spirit…we can do nothing that involves God’s will apart from His Spirit.
When we are saved, the Holy Spirit does a number of things to us and for us:
We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit [1 Cor. 3:16] …means to take up residence or to inhabit…the Holy Spirit lives within every believer.
We are baptized in the Spirit [1 Cor. 12:13] …into one single spirit of unity… we all equally belong to Christ which makes us all equal members of one body.
We are sealed by the Spirit. [Eph. 1:13]
Nowhere are believers commanded to be indwelt…baptized…or sealed by the Holy Spirit because that all occurs automatically at salvation…we do nothing.
In [2 Cor. 2:22] Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as a pledge (ἀρραβῶνα) …that word is translated a number of different ways…but pledge is the more accurate meaning…in the Greek it indicates partial payment…it’s like earnest money given in advance as a security that the whole will be paid afterwards…the Holy Spirit is a pledge of future things.
The instant you are born again you receive the Holy Spirit…God does not give you something …He gives you Himself…the Holy Spirit is God…living out His
life through you as you fulfill His purposes.
This goes back to Ephesians 5:18…Paul’s command to ‘be filled with the Spirit,’ …that one single statement is a sermon in itself.
That statement is in the imperative mood indicating a command…the problem is for many the Holy Spirit is this mystical Casper the ghost like figure that looms around unseen and undetectable…the name alone implies some cosmic force.
Here’s where the confusion comes in…in separating being baptized in the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit…two entirely completely different concepts.
All Christians are baptized in the Spirit at conversion…you don’t have to do anything to be baptized in the Spirit except trust Jesus as your Savior…at that point you are…indwelt…baptized and sealed by the Holy Spirit.
BUT… being filled with the Sprit does not happen at conversion.
The filling of the Spirit is not getting more of the Spirit…at conversion you already have all you are ever going to get…the filling of the Spirit is allowing the Holy Spirit to get more control of you.
Every Christian is indwelt by the Holy Spirit…once and for all…BUT…the filling of the Holy Spirit is NOT a matter of how much of the Spirit we have…but how much the Spirit has of us…that’s the difference between being baptized in the Spirit and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
Without the filling of the Holy Spirit…we will always be out there just doing things on our own…in our own strength…trying to make ourselves better … trying to be acceptable to God by our human efforts.
KEY— not all Christians are filled with the Spirit because they have not fully surrendered themselves to God…this is why we are unsuccessful in our Christian life…this is why we are not experiencing a closer walk with God…this is why situations continue to overwhelm us.
HOLD IT….I’m a Christian…If I have been baptized with the Spirit…isn’t that surrendering myself to God…NO IT IS NOT…as long as I am self-sufficient doing what I want to do…living how I want to live…attempting to fix my circumstances on my own…I will never be in a position to be fully surrendered to God…the importance of making Jesus the Lord of your life.
That’s what the phrase…“Spirit-filled life” means…to be filled with the Spirit is to voluntarily put yourself under the influence of the Holy Spirit…to be under the control of the Spirit…just as someone who is drunk and is controlled and dominated by being intoxicated.
BUT…just like someone who drinks too much…eventually the effects of the alcohol diminish…so does the filling of the Holy Spirit …that’s why [Eph. 5:18] should be translated… “keep being filled.”
The continuous aspect of being filled—being kept filled—involves day-by-day, moment-by-moment submission to the Spirit’s control…here’s the KEY to being kept filled:
…it involves confession of sin
…surrender of our personal will
…it requires the death of selfishness
…being kept filled is only achievable when God is able to work through our willing submission.
As we study these blessings it’s no wonder Spurgeon describes them “What marvelous treasures are those which belong to the people of God!” …looking at the remining 4 blessings that await every person who has been justified by faith we can only in humble submission to God thank Him for His Grace… God treating me as I don’t deserve to be treated.