This morning we’re continuing to look at the 9 blessings associated with being declared righteous as revealed in verses 1 through 11 of Romans chapter 5 …blessings that are described by Charles Spurgeon as marvelous treasures which belong to the people of God.
If you’ve been with us over the past two weeks we have looked at 5 of these blessings and the potential they have to impact our lives…I sincerely hope you have a grasp of these 9 blessings and the benefit they offer to us as Christians every day.
Three weeks ago we started off in verse 1 ‘having been justified by faith’ … This verse is actually something Moses wrote about Abraham thousands of years ago and has gone full circle back to the basic doctrine taught throughout the Bible.
It’s been said that
…Moses gave 613 commands or laws
…David reduced them down to eleven (Psalm 15)
…Isaiah further reduced them to six [33:14]
…Micah bound them into just three [6:8]
…Jesus said there are two [Matt. 22:37-38] …but later reduced that down to just one commandment
that you love one another as I have loved you [John 15:12].
Some have suggested because of the importance that faith plays in our lives that Habakkuk condensed them all to just one…going back to square one…that is really what the initial justification for Abraham was in the first place…the righteous shall live by faith…people adding to that just complicated God’s plan.
It’s interesting that as time went by there was actually an effort to reduce the number of cumbersome laws that were impossible to keep…in that one phrase Habakkuk echoed a timeless truth that was first spoken about Abraham thousands of years ago and is still applicable to us today… “The righteous shall live by faith.”
Something the Christian faith promotes is the importance of knowing that no one can be made right with God by following a set of rules.
Faith is so important to God that the only way we can be declared righteous…is by faith.
The difference between being declared righteous versus being made righteous… is being declared righteous doesn’t mean I’m living righteously so therefore I am righteous…you can’t live a righteous life.
Being declared righteous is something that is pronounced over you, it’s not because of who you are…or what you’ve done.
This morning we’ll look at the remaining 4 blessings that are the result of being justified or declared as righteous.
—While we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly – 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
Being reconciled to God is the highlight of this entire discourse…the message of the gospel is the message of reconciliation.
—While we were still sinners Christ died for the ungodly – Romans 5:8
Verse 6 tells us that Christ died for the ungodly…that was God’s plan for humanity…“…at the right time, when we were still powerless, [without strength] Christ died for the ungodly.”
Need some clarification…First…there are two words in the Greek that mean time…καιρός and χρόνος that obviously have two separate meanings…in the English there is only one word for time so we don’t see the impact of the phrase ‘At the right time’.
In the Greek the word used here for ‘time’ is καιρός…which is different than χρόνος time…[Gal. 4:4] explains χρόνος time…“when the fullness of time had come”…so…we have two kinds of time…at the right time…and at the fullness of time.
Καιρός time used in verse 6 is divinely appointed time…. Jesus came into the world at καιρός time – at precisely the right time.
Χρόνος time is sequential time…calendar time meaning in the history of world events God had a precise time in sending Jesus into the world…when the fulness of time had come…at the moment in history when God would accomplish the most good for His plan.
When Rome had unified much of the world allowing for safe travel…and the Greek language was the common language spoken throughout the empire making it an opportune time for spreading the gospel…it was at that time God sent Jesus into the world.
BUT He also came in God’s divinely appointed time… καιρός time…He did not come at some random time…He came precisely at the moment God designed from eternity…Christ came at a climactic moment in history ending the period of the Mosaic law and inaugurating the new age of grace.
God is never late…He always acts in His time…at the right time…the best time…the needed time…His appointed time…in due time “at the right time”.
Here we see something of the character of God…we see God working not only in our salvation…but in our everyday prayers…God’s timing is always perfect …at just the right time…He will respond.
As Christians….it is a lack of faith and obedience on our part to not trust in God’s judgment and timing…we question whether God really always has our best interest in mind…and here’s why we do that.
A common sin of God’s people is slackness in prayer…if there’s one sin that should be a concern to us maybe more now than at any other time…it’s our lack of prayer time…that omission is the reason for our spiritual leanness…the reason for many of our trials…our lack of joy…and a loss of confidence in God.
I am persuaded the longer I observe my own self, and certainly the longer I observe others, is that when we grow weak in our prayer life it is a sign of weakness throughout the entire person.
How can we expect to know much about God’s love if we don’t allow time for meditation…in searching the Scriptures…engaging in prayer…when there is no time in your life for communion with God then we miss out on what God would like to say to us.
The modern view of Christianity is that Jesus died for our sins out of sympathy …OR…we’re acceptable to God because of what we’ve done…OR …because we have promised to give up certain things…OR…because I’m sorry for my sins…OR…because I have repented of my sins…the list goes on.
It is not repentance that saves me…repentance is when I realize what God has done through Jesus and I stop continuing in a lifestyle that I know God does not approve of…I repent…I stop doing that…that is not salvation…that’s the danger of putting emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause.
Because man by nature is utterly devoid of the strength to do anything that is good…at least, anything which is good and acceptable to God…there must be an intermediary between us and God.
Man finds himself in a sad condition…he is weak…helpless…lost…and hopeless apart from God…worse…he finds himself in a condition that he is unable to help himself out of…with no visible means to save himself from that deplorable condition. That’s what ‘when we were still powerless’ means.
When I turn to God and by belief accept what God has done through the atonement of the Cross…instantly…I’m placed into a right relationship with God solely because of the death of Jesus…and for no other reason.
Paul says that Christ died for the ungodly…“ungodly” …what is that? …that speaks to our activity in opposition to the ways of God…ungodly is the designation given to sinners who refuse to worship the God who created them while living contrary to His holy character and commands.
“Christ died for the ungodly.” as one writer has said…those are five of the most heart-humbling…awe-inspiring…joy-producing words you’ll ever hear.
—We have been declared righteous by His blood – Romans 5:9
The full verse reads:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.’
Much more indicates what follows…that what follows is even more overwhelming and significant than what was previously stated…the preceding paragraphs dealt with the depth of God’s love as seen in the cross…BUT…in the following section Paul reveals the vastness of God’s love. TWO THINGS.
FIRST…verse 9 of Chapter 5 provides the strongest argument for the assurance of salvation in the Bible…it is something I stress continually in my sermons because of the insecurity people have regarding their salvation.
Here again we have the promise of eternal security…Paul uses a writing technique scholars call “arguing from the greater to the lesser.”…much more is referring to the greater…justification by Christ’s blood is the greater…the lesser is because of that justification we are spared from God’s wrath.
Another way to look at this phrase is…if Christ was willing to die in order to bring men into a right relation with God (the greater), how much easier will it be for Him to save us from God’s wrath (the lesser).
Once again Paul is using the statement ‘declared righteous’ …in [v1] Paul stated we have been justified by faith…declared righteous…here in [v 8] he states that we have been justified by His blood…is there a difference?
Actually, Scripture says there are four ways that we are justified:
Justified by God’s grace. “Having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).
Justified by Jesus’ blood. “…having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Rom. 5:9).
Justified by faith. “Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified [declared righteous] by faith apart from the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).
As forgiving as God is…even in His grace He could not justify us as righteous or forgive our sins because God requires that sin be paid for by something dying.
That’s how important the blood of Jesus is to our salvation.
There is no forgiveness without it. “Without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Heb 9:22+)
It satisfies the claims of God. “When I see the blood, I will pass over you.” Exodus 12:13
It redeems the believer. “you were not redeemed with perishable things”…but with the precious blood of Christ” (1Pet 1:18,19+)
It cleanses from all sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ… cleanses us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7+
It justifies the believer. “Being now justified by His blood” (Rom 5:9+)
That could only happen when God gave His only begotten Son to be the propitiation for our sin…TWO THINGS
FIRST…Propitiation…God taking His hatred of sin and putting it on Jesus… Jesus suffered and died on the Cross in our place…He received the penalty of God’s judgment because of our sin.
SECOND…The word begotten…the Greek word for “only begotten” is (μονογενῆ monogenes) and means a couple things:
Jesus was “uniquely born” …He had a “one-of-a-kind birth” …Jesus is the only person to be born of a mortal mother and an immortal father…nothing like it had ever happened before and will never happen again… a “one-of-a-kind birth” … the uniqueness of His birth is why Jesus is called the Only Begotten Son of God.
From His Father, He inherited divine powers…from His mother, He inherited mortality and became subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, weakness and death.
Earlier I gave three ways that we are justified…by grace…by faith…and by blood… the final proof of our justification is the resurrection.
The fourth proof of our justification…Christ “was raised again for our justification.” [Romans 4:25]…our justification is dependent upon Jesus’ shed blood…had Jesus not died, He could not have been raised…BUT…had He not been raised, that would be the evidence that His death did not satisfy God’s holiness.
BUT…because Jesus was raised we have the assurance that we are justified…it is the seal of our righteous standing before God. “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; you are yet in your sins.” (1 Cor 15:17)…as a result:
—We have been saved from God’s wrath – [5:9]
The second statement that reveals the vastness of God’s love…we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
The Bible records numerous accounts where God unleased His wrath on people…on nations…and at times on the whole world as a result of people’s unfaithfulness and disobedience.
There are accounts of God bringing His wrath on individuals…the people of Sodom and Gomorrah…Ananias & Sapphira…David’s disobedience caused 70,000 people to be killed [1 Chr. 21]…Moses not allowed to enter the Promised Land…God’s curse on Cain…God does bring His wrath on individuals.
There are accounts of God exhibiting His wrath on nations…the 10 Plagues on Egypt…the Assyrian captivity…the Babylonian captivity…of Israel…then there’s the plague God sent that killed over 24,000 people [Numbers 31].
Let me share with you how God works in these seemingly terrible occurrences …a common objection people have regarding how God works in His creation.
The Assyrian and Babylonian capture of Israel and Judah was the result of Israel’s failure to honor God…to be monogamous…they despised His covenant and abandoned His commandments…even burning their children as offering to pagan gods.
God demonstrates His wrath by handing people over to the natural consequences of their own destructive decisions…which at times ultimately leads to their death.
Then there’s God’s curse on the whole world…the Flood…but most notable of God’s wrath is seen in Revelation when He pours out the seven bowls of wrath …unrolls the seven seals…sounds the seven trumpets…just before Jesus’ return.
Again…we should be careful how we read this…there is the controversial topic people have regarding end time activities…more commonly referred to as pre-trib… mid-trib…post trib…referring to the timing of God’s judgment on the people who are living on earth just before Jesus’ second coming.
I’ll make this short…Paul in not suggesting those who are in Christ will experience God’s wrath…because they won’t…Bible says so…God did not appoint us to suffer wrath…[1 Thess. 5:9].
Those who are justified…declared righteous…through faith in what Christ has done will never suffer God’s wrath for sin.
What happens in Revelation 5 through 11 is God’s unleased wrath on an unbelieving world…God’s promise is ‘we will be saved from God’s wrath’.
At the conclusion of these promises…in verse 11 is the last blessing in this 9-blessing promise of being declared righteous by faith…we have been reconciled.
—We have been reconciled – Romans 5:10-11
Being reconciled to God is the highlight of this entire discourse…the message of the gospel is the message of reconciliation.
Reconciliation…it’s the restoration of the favor of God to sinners who repent and put their trust in Christ.
Which means we’ve been acquitted…been made righteous and brought into a right relationship with God.
Think about reconciliation on a personal level…reconciliation involves a change in a relationship…if two friends disagree and there’s a breach in their friendship the only way reconciliation can occur is if the one who has been offended is willing to forgive.
Our separation from God was caused by sin…God is the one who was offended …our relationship with God was we were enemies…but because of Jesus’s sacrifice our relationship has changed from being enemies of God to being friends.
The only way that reconciliation can take place – is if the barrier, the offense, which in our case is sin…is removed…but it must come from the offended.
Paul notes the importance of how reconciliation happens:
God reconciled us to himself through Christ. [2 Cor 5:18].
These eleven verses state the incredible blessings that are available to us in Christ…hopefully you’ll not leave here today unchanged.
We have been fooled by Satan to focus solely on the here and now…we live our lives, day-in and day-out, just going about our business and passing the time… oblivious of the blessing…and hope…and purpose that awaits us.
My prayer this morning is that God helps us to awake from our slumber…wipe the sleep from our eyes…and actively pursue the life God has prepared for us and enjoy the blessing of that life as described in these eleven verses.