5:1-2
As we begin to look at chapter 5 of Romans it’s imperative that we have a good understanding of chapter 4 because the first word in the first verse in chapter 5 is the word ‘therefore’ …emphasizing the importance of what has previously been written.
That word is assuming you have some knowledge regarding the importance of how faith works in the life of a Christian.
At the expense of repreaching last week’s sermon again…which dealt with chapter 4… I want to just refresh how Paul is using the term ‘justified by faith.’
The Church today bases the promise of Heaven solely on our profession of faith in Jesus apart from any actual living by faith in God…that’s incorrect.
If you are banking eternity on a belief in Jesus as all you need to get into heaven regardless of your lifestyle…that is wishful thinking.
The idea that I’m going to live in a mansion in Heaven simply on my profession of faith regardless of how I live while on earth…that is dangerous living.
James elaborates on the danger of that thinking in his epistle defining faith as
a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone. (James 2:24).
HOLD IT…are you suggesting that how I live my life is also a contributing factor to how righteous God sees me…YES here’s what (James 2:24) is stating …all who are saved through faith by God’s grace will participate in good works.
James is not saying that faith is not the means through which we receive God’s grace…because it is…but he is taking it a bit further in saying that a so-called ‘faith’ which results in no change in your attitude…your thinking…or your lifestyle…is not genuine faith.
It’s not a matter of doing ‘things’ or ‘stuff’ …I’m not suggesting doing anything as the means of salvation…Abraham was counted righteous by God based on:
1) his faith in God as the one and only true God…first of all…and here’s what the church fails to emphasize.
2) his willingness to be obedient to God’s leading in his life whereby his actions proved that he believed in God.
We are in fact saved by the grace of God alone…but out of gratitude to God we should have a willingness to live a life that is good…holy…kind…and after the mind of Christ.
That’s the difference between a professed believer and a true believer… country’s full of ‘professed believers’…yea I believe in God…believing in God does not make you a Christian…the devil believes in God. The only basis for which God can forgive us is the Cross of Christ.
For these professed believers…their idea of being a Christian is not remotely tied to anything suggested in Scripture…they persistently disregard Christ’s teaching about righteous living…Paul gives a summary of what righteous living involves in Romans 12.
These professed believers disregard God’s standards of righteousness by willful disobedience…as a result…they have no claim to salvation.
In Romans chapter 4 Paul uses the example of Abraham…the father of the Jewish nation…in essence Paul is asking…do you understand what led God to count Abraham as righteous?…it was through both faith and obedience.
Beginning in chapter 5 and continuing on through the end of chapter 8 Paul explains the results of being justified by faith…that’s why starting in chapter 5 Paul is assuming you have a good understanding of that principle…which is why the first word in chapter 5 is the word ‘therefore’.
Starting in verse 1 and ending in verse 11 Paul shares 9 blessings associated with being declared righteous.
These two verses…verse 1 and verse 11…form the bookends of the blessings that come with being declared righteous by 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
This morning I want us to look at just three of these blessings and what they mean to us as Christians.
1Therefore, having been justified by faith we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ…2 we have obtained access
by faith into His grace.
Paul begins by stating ‘Having been justified’ (Δικαιωθέντες) in the Greek that is one word…it is an aorist passive participle in the nominative case…the aorist participle describes action having occurred prior to the main verb.
The main verb is ‘we have’ …the action occurring before ‘we have’ is ‘Having been justified’…so because we have been…past tense…justified…we now have peace with God.
When we place our faith in Jesus and commit ourselves fully to Him the first thing Paul tells us is that we are justified…then…we have peace with God… peace is the result of justification.
We are no longer at odds with God…we are no longer His enemy…we no longer stand before Him stained by sin…He now sees us as righteous.
Throughout Scripture we find evidence regarding the security of the believer… Paul begins chapter 5 with a validation of that promise in the statement… Having been justified…something that happened in the past and continues on into the future.
As a Christian…if you’re not sure about your standing before God, it’s difficult to have peace with God…this is declaring the security of the believer… conversely …there is no peace between God and sinners until sin is dealt with… We either stand as enemies of God….or as believers in God.
As a result of being justified all barriers between us and God have now been removed …“well, guess I wasn’t aware that there were any barriers”…there are.
You’ve probably felt them but were unaware of them…this goes back to Genesis chapter 3 where these barriers are spelled out by Moses in describing the fall of man and the consequences.
I want you to understand how big the problem was between you and God…how great the devastation of sin is on our lives…what Moses says about Adam and Eve pertains to every person who has ever lived:
Genesis 3:7 – SHAME – They realized they were naked.
Genesis 3:8 – GUILT – They hid themselves from the presence of the Lord.
Genesis 3:10 – FEAR – They were afraid, so they hid themselves.
Genesis 3:11-13 – BLAME – They both had excuses for their disobedience.
Genesis 3:19 – DEATH – To dust you shall return. The great equalizer.
Genesis 3:23 – SEPARATION – God sent them out from the garden.
Realizing the consequence of sin more fully helps us appreciate the power that the grace of God brings.
As you read through these 11 verses one thing that may not be obvious is how Paul identifies himself to the Christians whom he is addressing.
He doesn’t begin by beating his chest and telling them how wonderful a person he is…that he’s something special…unlike them…I saw the risen Christ… unlike you I was personally taught for three years by the Holy Spirit…unlike you I have a special calling as an evangelist…unlike you…I have personally healed people.
It would have been easy for Paul to isolate himself. Instead he puts himself into the same class as those whom he is exhorting…as you read the first 11 verses of chapter 5 Paul uses
—the personal pronoun ‘we’ 16 times
—the collective phrase ‘our’ 4 times…our Lord…our affliction…our hearts.
—‘us’ three times.
The use of ‘we’ … ‘our’ …and ‘us’…indicates he is referring to himself as well as those whom he’s writing to…second…the use of personal pronouns indicates he is talking about saved Christians and not the entire human race …hence…‘let all of us together as Christians enjoy the blessing of being declared righteous by faith.
Paul is describing some of the benefits for those who by faith in Christ have been justified and made right before God because their sins were forgiven.
—We have been declared righteous by faith – Romans 5:1
The difference between being declared righteous versus being made righteous is that to be 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.
It doesn’t mean I’m living righteously so therefore I’m being made righteous… being declared righteous is the result of a heart transformation that results in righteous living. As a result of being declared righteous:
—We have peace with God – Romans 5:1…Before we can understand what it means to have peace with God, we must recognize that in our natural state there is no peace with God…we were enemies of God (5:10).
That’s because we inherited a sin nature 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.
Justification…being declared righteous–just as if I never sinned–brings peace.
Along with justification and peace that comes from Jesus’ crucifixion is a warning…it’s not a guarantee for everyone…the danger of easy believism…that you can accept Jesus as your Savior…but you don’t have to accept Him as your Lord.
Here’s the tragedy of not giving your life to God…but rather just acknowledging Jesus as God’s Son with no real desire to live a Christian lifestyle.
On that first Christmas the angels proclaimed; ‘peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.’ Scripture does not say…peace on earth, good will to all men.
Nowhere in Scripture is it taught that peace on earth is for all men.
Peace with God and the favor of God is not directed at all people…only those that trust in the name of the only begotten Son of God and have made the decision to live a life controlled by the Holy Spirit…those are the ones identified as “those on whom his favor rests.” As a result:
—We have obtained access by faith into His grace – Romans 5:2
In several places in the New Testament we read that in Christ the believer has access into the presence of God…through faith in Christ we have gained full access into God’s presence…we are allowed into the Holy of Holies.
Something that once was reserved for only Jewish priests…a curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple…unauthorized entry meant death …but at the Cross that curtain was torn from top to bottom symbolizing our privilege to access God.
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.
According to Romans 5:1 and 2 the life of the justified believer is a mix of peace…and hope…but in the following verse Paul further reveals that it also involves more than that.
Paul is identifying what occurs when you are “justified by faith” …that a trust in God and belief in Christ causes you to walk in newness of life…whereby you have peace with God…and access into God’s grace.
What further blessing can there be? …Paul identifies 7 more blessings as the result of being declared righteous by faith…as we continue on, we shall see next week God is providing for us even greater blessing.