Romans Week 16, October 30, 2022

Introduction

God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

C. S. Lewis

Kenneth Boa and William Kruidenier, Romans, vol. 6, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2000), 150.

Peace in our time. The pursuit of peace in the world is perhaps one of the most noble things that men and women have sought. Leaders have tried to make their entire legacy out of this pursuit of peace international prizes are giving for those who pursue peace. And yet it has been remarked that making peace is a lot harder than making war.

Perhaps in no greater place do we see this true than in our own hearts and our relationship with God. How can we have peace when we know the contents of our hearts? How can we make our hearts places where we can live in peace with God?

The peace of God which passes understanding. That's what we want. And that's what the gospel purchases for us.

The Product of the Gospel—Peace with God.

Romans 5:1–11 (ESV)

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,

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.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of 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.

11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

What’s the Therefore There-For?

One of the best biblical study principles you can pick up and keeping your arsenal is whenever you see the word therefore ask what is it there for? Because when you do that you will allow God's word to teach you great truths. When you do that, you will understand arguments that authors like Paul are making. So as we look at this word let's take a look backwards at what Paul has taught us in the book of Romans what has he shown us so far?

First and most importantly what is the driving purpose of the book of Romans? What's this book all about? If you don't know yet you should know if you don't have it memorized yet you should get it memorized it is this verse:

Romans 1:16 ESV

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Paul's letter to this church is all about the gospel, and the power of God pause spent chapters demonstrating that the entire world is guilty of sin and in desperate need of this gospel message. And God could very well have in his right, responded to the actions of humanity with devastating judgment. He could have repeated the judgment that the flood was time after time and instead chose to provide a way for humanity to know God and to be forgiven.

So Paul says all have sinned, and God has provided a solution for this sin as found in Jesus. Paul has illustrated this using all the law and the prophets, thousands of years of God's working through humanity Paul has shown and pointed to with the first four chapters of this bo And if this book had ended here at the end of chapter 4, the Christians and believers in Rome and around the world would still have the gospel, the truth about God. However, there would still be something more that Paul wants to add.

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love what one commentator writes:

Romans A. The Benefits of Peace with God (5:1–11)

Peace with God is what the gospel produces in the life of the person who receives the gospel message

You might consider this chapter a bit of a pit stop a resting period as we prepare to dive into the rest of what paul wants to Walk us through about the gospel. He wants to use this idea of peace to encompass the many benefits of salvation for our lives.

Do you realize that Paul refers to peace more than 45 times throughout his Letters?

How do we sell the gospel to people? Do you describe it as a ticket to heaven? Do you describe it as a solution for day-to-day problems? What if we thought of the gospel in terms of peace? What if we thought of the gospel in terms of real lasting and living peace in our lives and those around us.

Some people have described the gospel as a proclamation first and an invitation second. Think about that, the gospel is a proclamation of peace to a world at war. And as necessary it's an invitation to a response.

Romans A. The Benefits of Peace with God (5:1–11)

In that sense, the gospel is a proclamation of peace to billions of people worn down by a lifetime spent at war

Imagine someone single handedly solving the conflict in Ukraine. Imagine a great sacrifice performed that caused both countries to immediately lay down their arms and Russia to leave the country immediately. And all that the residents of Ukraine had to do to accept this peace was to believe it. All they had to do was to set down their guns and unlock their doors and take a deep breath and receive the peace that was purchased for them. They didn't have to fight for it any longer because someone already bought it.

The crazy irony is that we live in a world often unaware that it is at war with sin. Men and women live their lives celebrating sin and cannot see the Devastation and war that sin is waging against them. We see it all together too poignantly as those who follow Jesus Christ. We have the Holy Spirit in our hearts and minds and we see the pain and devastation that comes through sin filled actions.

Let’s receive this proclamation of victory for what it is. It is a declaration that the war has been won and we can accept the victory and the peace purchased for us.

OK looping back around to answer the question I asked at the beginning of this whole session what is the word therefore therefore? It is there to connect everything that Paul has been saying about a universal need for the gospel and God's means of bringing the gospel to connect that forward with what he's going to write about in the rest of the book. And he's gonna write in the rest of the book about the power of the gospel to minister to all people.

Let’s take another look at this first verse:

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wrath is changed to peace

The greatest legal transaction in history has brought peace with God. We possess peace because of what Jesus purchased.

What is this piece that we have.? Usually we think about peace as an absence of something. We have peace on the car ride when the kids aren't fighting. We have peace in the world when nations aren't fighting which is pretty much never. We have peace in the absence of conflict.

In the Bible piece is portrayed more as a substance rather than just an absence. Peace describes completeness fullness welfare. In Old Testament Hebrew language it is this word Shalom. That is peace pure it is a cup filled up and running over. It is knowing that your family is reasonably provided for financially and enjoying the warmth of friends and family. It is friendship tranquility contentment health wealth safety soundness and wholeness and more.

That's what biblical authors think of when they think of peace. No I'm not saying that all these shades of peace are in this passage because Paul is really focused on a penalty a payment for sin.

Perhaps one Old Testament use of this word for peace would best capture what Paul is saying here:

Ecclesiastes 3:8 ESV

8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

In this passage peace is that ending of conflict. Yesterday I sat at a family birthday party and got to talk with my sister in law's grandfather. The man is 92 and was drafted into the Korean War. He said he trained and prepared and had his orders cut to send him over to Korea and then right before he was to ship out they signed the truce and in the conflict and he was sent to New Mexico. The gospel is a signing of peace and ending of our conflict with God.

One commentator puts it this way:

Romans A. The Benefits of Peace with God (5:1–11)

Instead, peace is “external and objective,” a condition “in which all the hostility caused by sin has been removed. It is to exist no longer under the wrath of God”

Think about that. Because of the Gospel we can live knowing God knows the worst of us and forgives and loves us.

Pax Romana

Have you ever heard about the pox romana? This is a term that describes the peace of Rome. It describes a period of nearly 300 years where the Roman Empire thrived and the world at least the Mediterranean world was at peace and it prospered because of the control and influence of the Roman Empire.

Many people have said that the Roman Empire and the pox romana was part of the reason the gospel was able to spread as far as it did. The peace of Rome enabled the gospel to spread but the peace of Rome did not mean peace for Christians all the time . Christians went from being tolerated to persecuted and eventually accepted but their status was always in flux. On the other hand, because of what Jesus did their relationship with God was a settled fact.

You know what's fascinating, emperor Augustus began the period of the pox romana and it was under his reign that a census was called for all the people that sent a Nazarene Carpenter and his pregnant wife to be counted in this city of David.

The beginning of the peace of Rome coincided with God bringing to earth peace on earth in human flesh.....

Ephesians 2:14 ESV

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

John 14:27 ESV

27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

We have peace because we have Jesus.

I love what Martin Luther preached on this truth:

Romans A. The Benefits of Peace with God (5:1–11)

Martin Luther, in a sermon on Romans 5, said that “peace with God” presents a remarkable antithesis:

• The righteous man has peace with God but affliction in the world, because he lives in the Spirit.

• The unrighteous man has peace with the world but affliction and tribulation with God, because he lives in the flesh.

• But as the Spirit is eternal, so also will be the peace of the righteous man and tribulation of the unrighteous.

• And as the flesh is temporal, so will be the tribulation of the righteous and the peace of the unrighteous (Heritage, p. 96).

Perhaps the greatest lesson for us today is to combine praying with and for those in authority over us and yet calling people to look for true peace in God.

1 Timothy 2:1–2 ESV

1 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.

God calls us to pray relentlessly for those who are in authority over us. In this passage he calls us to pray for all people. So that we may live peaceful and quiet lives godly and dignified in every way. That means we should pray for our leaders in our community. We should pray for the elections coming up. We should pray that we're able to live quiet and peaceful lives as a result of having leaders that are thoroughly prayed for.

To that end we should pray for the health of our community we should pray that our community thrives and grows. We should pray for our community.

I love celebrating growth in our community. I love seeing the work that beau Turner has put into the truck stop. I love seeing the work that three sisters investments is doing during development around town. I love seeing good and positive growth in our community. And we should pray for our community.

But

we must remember that true peace is found in God. Life with God is peace. Life with God is not peace.

We can have the best amenities of any community from concert venues to food places and entertainment and more but if we have a community filled with people without God we will be at a community that is not at peace. If we have a country with leaders that lead with perfect wisdom and excellent diplomatic choices but if we are a country without our relationship with God then we will not be a country that has found peace. If we as individuals in Terre Haute and citizens of America live full lives filled with tons of family time and meaningful work and financial provision and relaxing vacations and a good retirement even if we do all those things and we do them without God we will live without peace in our own hearts and we will find ourselves persistently struggling with the wrath of God against our actions. Because God must and will judge sin. And no matter how much our culture tries to thrive if it thrives without God it will never be a peaceful and truly thriving culture. True peace is only found in the solution that God brings.

Romans 5:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.