Our Safety and Security in Christ

Introduction

We have just completed an eight week study on depression from God’s Word, and in doing so I attempted to give us Scriptural encouragement for how we navigate the fog together. We worked through the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Psalms and the Gospels. As we did so, I wanted us to see how God’s Word is written for our instruction, not just in how to follow rules, or what to do and not do, but also so that we may know how to navigate the difficulties of life through the power of God and because of the work of Christ. There was one message underneath it all that I hoped permeated the discussion, and that I was waiting until this sermon to lay out in as clear fashion as possible:

Doctrine and theology matter for the Christian life. And they matter a great deal.

I cannot tell you how many times I have heard someone say something along the lines of “I don’t need theology; I just need Jesus.” But here is the thing: that statement is a doctrinal statement, and you are doing theology even if you don’t want to! The reality is that the Christian faith is founded upon a message about a person. That message? The Gospel of God, which is the main subject of this book that we have spent two years studying together. The person? Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And at its core, all that doctrine and theology consist of is the study of this message and this person so that we can continue to grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ!

And so, in the prior messages, concerning depression, my goal was to help us understand doctrine and theology. Why? Because remembering what Christ has done is essential for understanding the Christian faith!

Paul knows this and now, as we enter chapter five of the book of Romans, we are taking what we have learned in the first four chapters and bringing it to bear on a very particular area of the Christian life: our security in Christ, and the confidence we can have that we are truly saved. This is so important to Paul that, one way or the other, he will spend the next four chapters discussing this message.

Since it has been a few months since we’ve discussed Romans, let’s drop back and review for just a minute. Romans was written by Paul to the church in Rome, a people that Paul had never met and a church that he had not founded. But Rome was an incredibly strategic place for Paul’s mission to see the Gospel spread throughout the whole world, and so Paul writes the letter that we call Romans to encourage and equip the church at Rome to become a missionary outpost for the whole world. As he begins, he reminds them that the Gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe, and that it is the just who live by faith. But there is a problem: none are just! at the end of chapter 1, we learn that the wrath of God is revealed against sinful men, and that the whole world is sinful and rebellious against God! In chapter 2, Paul carefully dismantles the Jewish argument that they may somehow be ok before God because of their birth, and tells them that they too are without excuse. In chapter 3, Paul summarizes by telling us that all, both Jew and Gentile are under sin and without excuse from birth, and that none seek God.

The middle of chapter three begins a different section by showing us that God’s righteousness was revealed from heaven, and that the law and prophets bore witness to it. This righteousness puts man and God at odds, and man rightly deserves the wrath and punishment of God. The law and prophets bore witness to this righteousness, but it has been made manifest through the person and work of Jesus Christ. At chapter three, we learn that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his faith as a gift through the propitiation made by Christ, as he satisfied the wrath that we have earned. This is all of grace, and in chapter four, we learn that neither birth, circumcision nor law can bring this justification: it must happen in our lives the same way it happened in Abraham’s life: by faith.

And so, we begin chapter five with one of the most loaded words that occurs in the Bible: therefore. All that we just discussed? That’s what the “therefore” means. Paul wants us to think a little about why any of this matters. And he begins with helping us understand how this truth, of justification by faith alone, serves to strengthen us in our times of doubt, and to anchor us as we navigate the waters of uncertainty. As we examine this security in Christ through faith, I want us to see three results of justification that we can lean on when we are doubting: we have peace with God, we have access to God, and we can glory in God. All these things come through Christ, and that is the anchor for our souls.

So, remembering what Christ has done is key for understanding how secure we are in Christ

Result 1 - We Have Peace With God

Romans 5:1 ESV

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

-You cannot have a true Christianity without a true repentance, because the first and primary work of Christ in the Christian soul is to make peace with God.

The human obsession with peace - we all want to feel and experience peace with each other, because we are a people in conflict. But our primary, and most severe, conflict is not with one another, but with God.

We have wronged the King. We are at war with Him. and so we must first be at peace with Him. Justification marks the end of the worst of all possible wars (RC Sproul story - pots and pans clanging in celebration that the war was over. But peace on the earth is for a short time - peace with God is for eternity).

The primary purpose of the Christian Gospel: to reconcile us to God, not to give us earthly blessings.

Refer back to “the wrath of God is being poured out against all unrighteousness and wickedness of evil men who in their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” We must remember that this is the normal state of humanity: at war against God, who is pouring out His wrath. This is the primary reason that Paul spends two chapters speaking about the depravity of man - because there is no reconciliation if there is not alienation and estrangement.

Refer to 3:24-26 to describe what happened to give us peace with God.

Romans 3:24–26 ESV

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

It wasn’t that we simply surrendered; it is that the love and calling of God conquered us, and a glorious conquering it was! This is why we talk of the Gospel in terms of submission and surrender.

This idea, of peace with God, is the identifying factor of the Christian life, and everything else about the Christian life flows from it. You must be clear, and it must be settled: do you have peace with God?

practical outworking of this idea:

first, a man at peace with God can, and should have, a mind at peace with God. difference between peace of God and peace with God here. Truly understanding the doctrine of justification means that a person can have a mind that is at rest about his relationship with God.

second, we can know that God loves and is merciful to us, even as sinners, and even in spite of our sin. Next chapter - this doesn’t give us a reason to sin; rather, it prevents us from it.

Third, we can speak truth to our own conscience, and to the accusations of the enemy, when it rises up against us. “when Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within, upward I look and see Him there, who made an end of all my sin.” OR, the hymn by John Newton “Approach, My Soul, The Mercy Seat” - “Be Thou my shield and hiding place, that sheltered near Thy side, I may my fierce accuser face, and tell him Thou has died.” What will silence the enemy? What will silence guilt? Not that we are good people, or that we are presently obedient, or what we have done in the past. Only by reminding ourselves of what Christ has done can we truly silence the enemy.

And the fruit of having peace with God? Having the peace of God Philippians 4:7

Philippians 4:7 ESV

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

and because we have peace with God, we can see the second result of our justification: we have access into the grace of God

Result 2 - We Have Access into the Grace of God

Romans 5:2 ESV

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.

-when we were enemies with God, at war with God, we did not have this access. Now, because of the intercessory work of Jesus, we will never lose this access.

illustration: imagine if you needed to meet the Queen of England - most of us can’t just walk up and introduce ourselves. We need an introduction. This word “access” carries the meaning of being introduced to God -

What Jesus does: introduce us to God as sons, no longer as enemies. We were at war with a God we never truly knew!

It is easy to overlook this beautiful truth. At the garden, the best thing that Adam and Eve had was access to God. To walk with him in the cool of the evening. To be in perfect fellowship with Him. To have the constant awareness of His presence. But at the fall, this access was lost. In the OT, access to God was restricted by a series of mediators and priests, and true access with God, in the Holy of Holies could only happen once per year, at the Day of Atonement, and then only with one person. But now? The veil of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and we have constant access to the Father through the reconciling and mediating work of His Son.

The angels with flaming swords - guarded Eden, so that man no longer had full access to God. Guarded the inner court of the temple, showing that man no longer had full access to God. But when Christ died, the blood of Jesus extinguished the flaming swords of the angels, and Christ our High Priest mediates on our behalf, so that we have full access to the Father through the work of the Son!

God looks favorably on His children! And this is our source of hope! We stand on grace forever. Do we live as children of the heavenly king, who will one day judge angels?

Do we understand that we have all the resources of the King at our disposal? A test of this - how often have you asked someone else to pray because you were convinced that someone else had more access to God than you? Are you a Christian? This doctrine aids us in remembering truth here.

And how did we get this access? Grace. More than simply a favor we didn’t earn; we get the exact opposite of what we have earned! The wages of sin? Death! The gift of God? Eternal life? How? Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has given us access to the Father, as we stand on grace by faith.

And these first two results lead us to our third result of justification: we have hope in the glory of God.

Point 3 - We have Hope in the Glory of God

Romans 5:2 ESV

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.

-justification is a state or standing, and so because of our standing in Christ, we have the full benefits of sons of God, and so respond with rejoicing.

What is it to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God:

Rejoice - this word is normally translated “boast.” This gives us a bit more insight about what he is getting at here as we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Paul is giving us a little bit of a play on words here - it is more like “we glory in glory.” The joy of the Christian life is a targeted joy - we fix our eyes on Jesus, and our joy, our boasting, our rejoicing is in His finished work, and our final destination.

Hope - the certainty that all God’s promises are yes and amen in Jesus, and that every thing that God has ordained is right, and will most certainly come to pass.

Before we were justified by faith, God looked at us in a legal manner, and made a legal declaration of “guilty.” We were rebels, not children. But when we place our faith in Christ, we are no longer under law, but under grace, and God makes a family declaration about us: children of God.

Hope is the anchor for our souls. But it must mean something different than the way we normally use hope. The ways I’ve used hope just this week:

I hope the Packers can make the playoffs this year.

I hope that this upcoming school year goes smoothly for my family.

I hope that my wife makes it safely home from being with her family in NC

I hope that I can come up with some clever idea to keep us from starving while my wife is away.

I hope that the weather cools off soon.

Not a single one of these is actually the biblical definition of hope. It is very hard for us to change our day to day language, but what we can do is be careful to distinguish in our own minds what the Bible means when it talks about hope, and what we are usually talking about.

There is one thing that we should never say “I hope so” to - the question “are you saved?” I have found it to be true that if you answer “I hope so” to “are you truly saved,” then the actual answer is highly likely to be no.

RC Sproul calls hope “faith looking forward.” As we will see next week, this sort of hope is never put to shame. verses three through five will help us to discern a bit more about what how this hope is built in the Christian life, especially in times of suffering, but for today, we see that we rejoice in this hope of the glory of God. What a neat phrase. What does it mean?

Glory of God - the word glory in the Bible carries a feeling of heaviness. When someone says something truly profound, we can often say things like “that was really heavy.” This is a glimpse into what we mean when we talk about God’s glory. His glory is profound, amazing, awe-inducing. And our response to that glory is worship. That is precisely why worship is partly celebratory, as we celebrate the Gospel, the work of Jesus, and the hope of the Gospel, but it must also carry reverence, because it is a heavy, weighty thing to consider the glory of God.

to look forward to the day when we see the glory of God, and to do so with joy and pride!

to count our sufferings as light and momentary because of the joy of what awaits us.

The Christian does not answer “I hope so” when asked “will you go to heaven when you die?” This hope that Paul is talking about it sure and certain! RC Sproul: “hope is merely faith looking forward.” We will definitely be with Jesus. Why? He has made peace with God for us, and He has given us access to the Father!

So, to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God means to have joy and to worship in the certainty of God’s promises and our guaranteed future because we have been justified!

What is Romans 5:1-2 Telling me to do?

Christian: Become certain and completely familiar with what you believe, so you can fight doubt with doctrine (when Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of the guilt within)

Understanding the foundations of your faith is a critical component to fighting doubt, discouragement, and disappointment in the Christian life. Think about what we just talked through this morning:

Doubt - the objective truth of the Gospel is that all who have turned from sin and submitted their lives to the Master, believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ now have peace with God! In the times of my life when I am most tempted to doubt, I must run back to the simple truth of justification. I am declared righteous. I may not “feel” saved, but my feelings can be deceitful! I may not “feel” loved, but my feelings are not a good guide. What guides me through doubt? The fact that Jesus Christ was my propitiation, is my high priest interceding before the throne of grace, and will receive me in glory and say “well done, good and faithful servant.”

Discouragement - there are any number of times when the problems of this world will just feel overwhelming, and I will wrestle with despondency, sorrow and discouragement. We just spent eight weeks examining what the Bible says to this, but this passage reminds us that even in the midst of discouragement we have a source of hope and joy - the fact that we have peace with God! Even when I don’t have peace with others, I can have peace with God. Even when the world around me rages, I can have peace with God. Even when I am tempted to believe that there is no way God could save someone like me, and that there is no way God could use someone like me, I can have peace with God. How? Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who gives me access into grace through His finished work!

Disappointment: my life may not turn out at all the way I hoped it would. Things may go the opposite of the way I hope. I may labor in an unappreciated, unrecognized way for years. I may spend my whole life investing in children that walk away from the faith when they are grown. I might put immense effort into a failing relationship, and it not have a happy ending. That diagnosis I get might be terminal. I may work really hard, and try really hard, and still fail. But listen to me friends: in these moments, through these moments, we as Christians have peace with God! Not only that, because of the fact that we have been declared righteous by the finished work of Christ, we have access to the Father who cares for us, cares about our concerns, and is prepared to unleash the whole resources of heaven and earth to accomplish His purposes for His people. In the midst of hardship, He still intends good for His people, because we have peace with God! Our rebellion has ended, and we are adopted. And so, even in this hardship, we rejoice in hope. We have hope in hopeless times, because The Father has accepted the work of the Son, and so has recieved us as sons!

This is theology and doctrine at work. We may have presented these truths as dry, and lifeless and uninteresting at times in the Christian life, but my friends they could not possibly be farther from that. There is life in these truths! But you must know them. There is no badge of honor in heaven for living a long time in Jesus and not knowing much about Him. Our spiritual maturity is directly connected to our knowledge about God’s ways and God’s work. We have peace with God through Christ! We have access to God through Christ. We have unending hope in glory through Christ. Know these truths, friends, and find hope and life in the only place hope and life can be found.

Non-Christian: Put your trust in Jesus and have peace with God - there is no peace in your life because there is no peace with God.

The single most important thing any person can ever do is to turn from sin, and trust in Jesus. I will be honest with you here, friends: if you do not have peace with God today, my prayer for you is that you will have no peace at all until you are reconciled to the Father. All you must do is turn in your weapons of rebellion. Submit and admit your rebellions against Him. Repent of your sins, and trust in Christ alone to save you.

Benediction: Romans 5:1-2

Romans 5:1–2 ESV

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