Untitled Sermon (20)

Introduction

The first word in chapter 5 - “Therefore” - forms a bridge attaching Romans ch.4 with Romans ch. 5.

In Romans 4, Paul wrote about Justification by Faith. Justification by faith is when God declares a guilty sinner innocent before him by the person having saving faith in the finished work of Jesus.

R.C. Sproul: “The doctrine of justification by faith alone...is...when God counts somebody righteous on the basis of faith, it is not because He looks at them and sees that they are inherently righteous. Rather, they have been clothed by the imputation, or transfer, of the righteousness of Christ to that person by faith.”

In Justification by faith the greatest exchange in human history takes place. God takes our unrighteousness and gives us Christ’s righteousness. The doctrine is called imputed righteousness.

Paul, referencing David, writes about this exchange in Romans 4:6–7 “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.”

This means that no one can ever be justified by works or merit a righteousness that allows them to have a good standing with God.

The importance of Justification by Faith cannot be dismissed:

One of the five solas that separated the reformers from catholicism was Sola Fide.

John Calvin: “Justification by faith is the hinge on which all true religion turns.”

Adrian Rodgers: “I believe that a great number of people are going to die and go to hell because they're counting on their religiosity in the church instead of their relationship with Jesus to get them to heaven. They give lip service to repentance and faith, but they've never been born again.”

Adolp Saphir - It is not: do you know Justification by faith but have you been justified by faith.

In Romans 5, Paul expands on the benefits of Justification by Faith. He does so by constructing an unbreakable chain that eternally binds us to Christ. This chain is comprised of 5 links.

Even though I will mention all five links, my focus this morning will be on the 4th and 5th links.

The First 3 Links

Justification by faith produced peace with God.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”

Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

The meaning behind “peace” is more than an end of hostilities. A. T. Robertson (one of the more famed Greek scholars of his day) wrote that the meaning underlying the phrase “peace with God” is “to enjoy peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Illustration: First Persian Gulf Conflict.

Romans 8:37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

Justification by Faith brought us into sphere of grace.

Romans 5:2 “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

“By whom” affixes to the the Lordship of Jesus in v.1. Jesus being Lord is the reason we have been brought into the sphere of grace.

“Access” means introduction or entry.

“Stand” - H. A. Ironside wrote on the importance of “stand.” The word is objective, not subjective. Therefore, a person’s standing in the sphere of grace will never vary, change or be modified.

“also” means better than was came first.

John Piper: “This is something more than justification, and something more than peace. This is the mighty sphere and influence and dominion of transforming, empowering, preserving grace - God's infinite power no longer against us but for us.”

Romans 5:21 “That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Justification by Faith allows us to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2 “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

The word “rejoice” means more than being happy or joyful. “It is glorying and…exultation, in view of exaltation and blessedness which Christ has secured for us.”

“Hope” tells us our rejoicing focuses on a future time.

“Glory” is one of those very difficult word to define. John Piper wrote: “Defining the glory of God is impossible.” Yet, perhaps the best definition I have ever heard on the glory of God is: “glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness.”

1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

Fourth Link

Romans 5:3–5 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

The 3rd link causes us to rejoice regarding something that will happen in the future.

The question is: is there anything to rejoice about with what is going on today?

Paul answers this question in Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”

The word “glory” is not the same word for ‘glory” in verse 2, but the same word for “rejoice.”

Not only can we rejoice about something that will happen in the future. We can rejoice about events that are happening today.

The vent that Paul describes may not be anything that we expect to read from God’s word.

We can have exultant rejoicing and glorying in tribulations.

Tribulation - Has the underlying meaning of being under pressure and was used of squeezing olives in a press in order to extract the oil and of squeezing grapes to extract the juice.

The tribulation is not what is common to man bu asscoiated with our faith in Jesus Christ:

2 Timothy 3:12 “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”

Matthew 5:10–12 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

Why rejoice in tribulation?

Tribulation brings about patience.

The word patience means endurance, perseverance. The ability to continue working faithfully in the face of strong opposition.

Patience produces experience.

Paul’s idea of experience is different than our concept of experience.

We view experience by the number of years someone has been involved in a trade. Paul viewed experience as being successful while in the trade.

Experience are victories in tribulation.

Experience produces hope and this is is not to be ashamed (Will not disappoint).

Our hope of the glory of God intensifies through tribulation.

There are a lot of things we do not know about but the one thing we can be absolutely certain about is our hope of the glory of God will not disappoint.

Why will the hope of the glory of God not disappoint? Romans 5:5 “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.”

The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.

The idea behind the word “shed” is “has been and continues to be poured out into our hearts.

Kent Hughes: “Our hearts have been filled to the overflowing with God’s affections.”

How was God’s love shed abroad in our hearts? The first word in verse 6 “for” is a term of explanation. God’s love was shed abroad in our hearts by the death of Jesus Christ.

Why did Jesus have to die?

The adjectives that Paul describes man:

Without Strength

Helplessness.

Sickness.

C. H. S. - “In this verse the human race is described as a sick man, whose disease is so far advanced that he is altogether without strength: no power remains in his system to throw off his mortal malady, nor does he desire to do so; he could not save himself from his disease if he would, and would not if he could.

Romans 3:9 “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;”

Illustration:

Ungodly - Absolutely and unequivocal irreverent towards God.

I have told many people about the Lord, the part they struggle with the most is the depth of their sinfulness.

Timothy Keller: “A man in a rebel army may look after his comrades, may keep his uniform smart, and so on. Those are ‘good’ - but they are done in hostility to the rightful ruler. You would never expect to hear of this rebel’s conscientiousness or generosity and be pleased by his conduct in rebellion.”

Sinners

Sinner is a person who misses the mark.

If the person continues and with purpose misses the mark, we would call him deviant.

Enemies - Hostile against God.

No one else was willing to die for us - Romans 5:10 “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

No one else was qualified to die for us - other than the Christ.

Romans 5:6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

What motivated God to send His Son to die on the cross?

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

JM - “The most overwhelming truth of the Gospel is that God loved sinful, fallen, rebellious mankind so much ‘that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.’”

He is contrasting the love of man and the love of God. A bold contrast! God did much more than men would ever dare to do by laying down His life for His enemies!

“Commend” - God proving His love.

Commends in the present tense - Leon Morris - “The Cross is an event of the past but it keeps showing the love of God.”

God proves His own love towards us!

‘His own love,’ is emphatic, prompted from within not from without."

Romans 5:8 is history’s clearest and greatest “I love you!”

Paul here was contrasting the worth of the life laid down, Jesus Christ’s, and the unworthiness of those who benefit from His sacrifice.

Jesus’ death on the cross is proof that God’s love has been and continues to be shed abroad in our hearts.

And can it be:

And can it be that I should gain An int’rest in the Savior’s blood? Died He for me, who caused His pain— For me, who Him to death pursued? Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Refrain: Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?’

Tis myst’ry all: th’ Immortal dies: Who can explore His strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries To sound the depths of love divine. ’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above— So free, so infinite His grace— Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam’s helpless race: ’Tis mercy all, immense and free, For, O my God, it found out me!

Fifth link

Romans 5:9–11 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.”

We shall be saved from the wrath through Him.

There are three time frames to salvation:

Past - Ephesians 1:4 “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:”

Present - 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.”

Future - Romans 5:9 “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”

Consider how Paul constructs are future salvation:

Passive voice verbs

Being justified

We shall be saved

We were reconciled

Being reconciled

We shall be saved

Passive voice verbs are not dull, boring or lack energy if God is acting on our behalf. What great love!

What shall we be saved from?

Wrath - refers to to an inner, deep resentment that seethes and smolders.

Even though God’s wrath is continually being revealed from Heaven, Paul’s view is a future wrath!

Nahum 1:2 “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; The Lord revengeth, and is furious; The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, And he reserveth wrath for his enemies.”

John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Romans 2:5 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;”

How shall we be saved from this unimaginable wrath?

Through Him

By His life - By His life - speaks of union with Jesus

Crystal clear in these 11 verses: God’s love for us and how this love is demonstrated through Jesus Christ

Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ died for the ungodly

Christ died for us

Reconciled by the death of His Son

Saved By His Life

Joy is through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Our view of Jesus is important.

Conclusion

When we are in union with Jesus, we can joy in Him. The word for Joy is to exult.

We exalt becasue we have received an atonement

Atonement means exchange.

2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Philippians 3:9 “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:”

Jesus is our scape goat