Romans Week 17, November 13, 2022

Introduction

As we begin this week I'm reminded of a couple of things. First of all I want to remind you of this marvelous quote that I shared at the beginning of the message two weeks ago:

Romans Romans 5:1–21: Peace: What the Gospel Produces

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

C. S. Lewis

Secondly I want to call our attention back to a reference that I shared at the end of the message. It was a verse by the apostle Paul. And he said this:

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.

This verse is especially relevant in light of the elections we went through this last week. Many are celebrating election victories. Many are grieving electoral losses. There is a lack of peace in our country and our town.

Peace is that thing that we want. Peace is a thing that God calls us to pursue.

Peace is that thing that Paul calls us to seek in our life prayerfully. Peace.

The only way to know peace in our life is through Jesus. The solution to our life's problems will never be our politics or political leaders. It will always be our savior.

Let's read through the entire passage again, and we will see how far we get through it today.

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.

We have peace with God through Jesus

One benefit of peace with God is access to the presence of God.

Romans 5:2 ESV

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.

Do you remember in the Old Testament the story of David and Saul? Saul brought David into his household after he defeated Goliath. David had access to Saul as long as Saul was in a good mood. David played music to encourage Saul, and David's access to Saul depended on his mood. But when Saul felt too threatened by David, he denied him entry and tried to kill him.

Access to someone in power means you can get things done and be safe. When we have access to and can talk with our parents, we can get money to buy what we want or protection from bullies. When we have access to speak with our boss or someone else in leadership at the company, our opinions will have more wait. Access to God means something more.

Ephesians 3:12 ESV

12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him.

Because of Jesus, we have boldness and access with confidence to God. Because of Jesus, we can talk to the God who made the universe, and despite our sins, he will hear our prayers.

I don't know about you, but sometimes, when I screw up and sin, I need to grovel extra hard before God if I approach him. I need to be just sad enough about my sin to come before the presence of a holy God. God calls us to be repentant, but because of what Jesus has done, we can also live confidently as we approach God in prayer.

Remember what the writer to the Hebrews said about this:

Hebrews 4:16 ESV

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

We have access to God through the work that Jesus did on the cross! That is stinking awesome! One of the most remarkable illustrations of the access to God we now have is when the temple curtain ripped from top to bottom.

Matthew 27:51 ESV

51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.

Remember, in the temple, there was a massive curtain that divided the holiest place from the holy place. Only the high priest could enter the holy of holies, and that only once a year. But when Jesus died, this curtain ripped from top to bottom, symbolizing the reality that we now have access to the presence of the holy God because of Jesus's death.

Hebrews 10:20–22 ESV

20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Jesus opened a way for us to know God and be in His presence through what He did on the cross.

Think about it what Jesus accomplished for us includes several things.

He purchased adoption for us so we could be called children of God.

He made way for us to spend eternity with God in heaven.

He welcomed us into God's family. He has given us a gift of righteousness.

Can you imagine what it would be like to stand in God's presence to live eternally, to be God's child, and to experience many of the benefits that God purchased for us through Jesus without the Shalom of God, without the peace of God?

Peace with God gives us security and hope

Romans 5:2–4 ESV

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,

As Christians, we live with the reality of Romans 323, for all have sinned. And yet we also live with the fact that we have hope. And the hope we have is not the hope that children have that their parents might buy them another toy. It's that confident hope that we have to know certain friends are reliable and we can always depend on them being there. It is the hope we have believing confidently and something we can hang our hats on.

I love how one author puts it.

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

Every human being was created to be a walking billboard, a living display of the glory of God. Like a neon sign bereft of glowing gas, the human frame apart from God stands lifeless and unanimated, displaying nothing except the closed-for-business look of an abandoned storefront.

With Jesus, we can look through whatever suffering the world gives to the glory of God. Here is the capacity to rejoice in pain, knowing that we can see the benefit that pain produces. We know we can see character growth through our endurance of pain. And as God builds in our character, we find hope.

Christians are like athletes, in a sense, training for a great game. Athletes subject themselves to significant pain and suffering to build endurance and character in the hope that they will win the game. Athletes have great confidence to face great suffering because they hope for a great result that comes out of that suffering. They hoped for that result because they believed the coach intended for them to win.

Demoralizing suffering is that suffering for which you don't see a reason, and you don't have hope that it will lead you to win. Think concentration camps or a terrible boss at work. I know I made quite a leap there, and I apologize. But we have hope when we have confidence in the person leading us and watching over our lives.

If we don't have this confidence, we will face the pains of this life looking like a burned-out storefront, as the quote, I shared before said.

This painful lack of hope is what I see in the eyes of many I run into suffering from poverty or drugs or abuse.

Suffering and hope

So here's a question can you experience lifelong suffering without relief and still have hope? Can you be incarcerated in a concentration camp, literally worked to death, and still have hope? What did he have a debilitating sickness that will never give up but leave you drenched in pain for the rest of your life? Can you still have hope? Can you live in a country that is legally utterly opposed to Christianity and suffer greatly for your faith and still have hope? It's ironic the things that we are worried about as believers in America. The rights and privileges that Christians are concerned about losing.

If we want to get a good perspective, let's see what Paul wrote to another church or several churches about what they were going through.

2 Corinthians 4:17 ESV

17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,

2 Thessalonians 1:5 ESV

5 This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering—

Acts 14:22 ESV

22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.

So in many places we see the apostle Paul and the early church fathers encouraging Christians to have a greater perspective. They encourage them to see that suffering and tribulation in this place they were talking about persecution, but they wanted the church to have the capacity to see that through suffering God works. Through persistence we get to safety.

I love how the great preacher Charles Spurgeon put it:

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

It is “by perseverance”, Charles Spurgeon said, that “the snail reached the ark.”

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

Hope derives from persevering through afflictions wherein we prove to ourselves that we are Christ’s and because we are Christ’s we shall share in the glory of God in the future! The person who falls away from faith in the moment of suffering for Christ is the person who has failed to offer proof that he or she is standing in the grace of God

I don't share this as a criticism of anyone who has struggled to find hope in the middle of great suffering. Instead, I share this as an encouragement. Be encouraged that you have hope because of what Jesus has done for you. Because of the cross, you have an indestructible hope that cannot be interrupted by sickness, disaster, or any problem you can run into. You can hope and rely on your savior.

Let’s continue in this passage in Romans

Romans 5:5–8 ESV

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.

Isn't it true that sometimes the things we hope for in life don't come to pass? We hope for our spouse, and some people don't get married. We hope for kids, and some of us cannot have kids. We hope for freedom from pain or healing from sickness, and it doesn't happen. Disappointment leads to discouragement leads to despair. So here's a question for Christians how do we know that we will not find our hope in our savior a disappointment?

Paul offers two proofs in this passage.

First of all, God has poured his love into our hearts. He has given us love. He has given us his Holy Spirit.

This passage is the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned in the book of Romans. And it's important because it's one of the proofs of the confidence that we can have in God.

Here's what I mean, if you have trusted in Christ Jesus as your savior, he has put his Holy Spirit in you. And what the Holy Spirit does is he bears witness to our hearts that we are children of God. He bears witness to our hearts that God loves us.

Paul phrases this differently in another passage in Romans.

Romans 8:16 ESV

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

Of course, offering the testimony of the Holy Spirit to each of our hearts as proof that we should be confident in God is subjective. Each of us has different experiences. Paul points out the objective reality in Romans 5/8: God has already demonstrated his love for us.

Romans 5:8 ESV

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

Think about it come on at the point of our greatest vulnerability. At the point where we are utterly worthy of punishment for our sin Jesus steps in to take the penalty for us.

Romans 5:9–11 ESV

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.

Justified—>Reconciled—>Rejoice!

Paul finishes this passage which I remind you is about the benefit of peace we receive. Paul concluded this passage by summarizing and reminding us of what Jesus has done.

His blood has justified us. Justification is a forensic and legal term. Through justification, our debt is paid. Through Jesus' blood, we stand forgiven in the court of heaven.

Verse 10 of this passage reminds us that we are reconciled to God by the death of his son, and as those who are reconciled, we are saved by his life. Reconciliation is a relational term. You are reconciled to a friend after you fought. You are reconciled to your spouse after you realize that she was right. Because of Jesus and his work, we can have a restored or new relationship with God. We can have true life.

The sacrifice of Jesus was different than any sacrifice before or after him. His blood paid for a sin that no one could pay—his life won us a new relationship with God. And because of all this, we can rejoice in God. We can live lives of peace because God has paid our debt and done the work to reconcile us to him.

Conclusion, Rejoice!

We have access to God no matter what, Rejoice

We have peace with God because of Justification and Reconciliation—Rejoice

We have hope in God regardless of what goes on in our lives because of Jesus—rejoice!