Romans 5:1-11 - part 1 (1-5)

OK, so we are back in Romans. We took the last three months or so and looked at the book of Esther, and now we jump back into the book that changed Martin Luther from a Catholic to a Protestant. We are going to be looking at Romans 5:1-11 tonight, although we probably won’t make it through the whole section.

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.

Ok, before we really dive into this, let’s consider where we’ve been, get our bearings a bit.

As you may or may not remember, the letter to the Romans was written, most likely, from Corinth, probably around 57AD. This is 7-10 years before Paul’s death.

If we look at where we are so far, we see this (from the Layman’s Bible Commentary):

Acts thru Corinthians The Fruits of Salvation (Romans 5:1–21)

So far in his letter to the Romans, Paul has been explaining the Christian doctrine of justification by faith. He began by describing our need for salvation (1:18–3:20) and followed with the way of salvation (3:21–4:25). In this section, he begins a lengthy examination of the fruits of salvation—the effect salvation has on believers.

Let’s dive into the passage for tonight and see where it takes us.

Romans 5:1 ESV

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

I have heard it said by many smarter than me, but whenever you see a “therefore,” you have to figure out what it’s there for. So Romans 5:1 is a transition from the conversation of justification in chapter 4 in to the next point in chapter 5.

Let’s look at the last couple of verses in chapter 4 to get our bearings for chapter 5:

Romans 4:22–25 ESV

22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

In chapter 4, Paul was talking about Abraham’s faith being counted as righteousness to him, we see that he makes the correlation to the words written about Abraham’s faith as not being only for Abraham, but for all who believe. We see in verse 25 Paul talks about Jesus who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

So, in 5:1, Paul continues the thought.

Since we have been justified...

But how are we justified?

By faith. (see chapter 4).

Since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through Jesus.

R. C. Sproul says this:

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

The primary effect of justification for us is peace with God. That is an astonishing conclusion, a fantastic announcement. But some may react, ‘What’s so good about having peace with God? I didn’t know that we were at war.’

I like how Sproul puts that, because we are, in fact, at war with God. Our sin separates us from God. It puts us at enmity with Him (see verse 10).

Sproul further puts it this way:

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

The New Testament declares that by nature we are fallen creatures, that we have a built-in hostility towards God and we are exposed to the wrath of God. This may sound utterly incredible, but the New Testament clearly teaches that deep down within us, our natural inclination is to hate God. But when we come to Christ, when we repent of our sins, the war is over. God signs a peace treaty.

But Christ’s death and resurrection (4:24) allows for our justification.

Justification is us being “made right.” If you break the word down, justification is this: it’s “just as if I’d never sinned.”

That justification through faith brings us peace.

So, I am of an age that we did not have the Internet growing up. I didn’t get an internet-capable computer until I went to college in 1997. I was born in 1978, and I actually turn 45 next Wednesday. Growing up in the 80s, as a voracious reader, I would read the World Book. You guys remember the encyclopedias? I still find myself browsing Wikipedia for no apparent reason. I love encyclopedias, and I loved the World Book set we had at home. And I was fascinated with World War II. I would read the articles, read the related articles, and then read them all again.

Both of my granddads were in the Pacific Theater in WW2. Coming out of that, understanding the implications of that war, and the resulting “conflicts” - Korea and Vietnam, we entered what was effectively a time of peace - or at least a time when we were not actively at war. Now, we have been spoiled until very recently with peace in our country. I remember, even in my lifetime, the threat of the Russians. I remember watching the news on November 9, 1989 (almost 34 years ago) when people began knocking off sections of the Berlin Wall. I remember the massive relief that I felt without really even being able to understand why. It felt like the Cold War was over. I mean, this is a very powerful memory in my soul.

Then, very soon after that, with the terroristic regimes of Sadam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini in the Middle East, there was this specter of war that sort of clouded the horizon. Yes, we were at peace, there was not an actual war happening, but the threat seemed to be out there.

Then we had the Gulf War, and then....peace, again. Until 2001. Since then, we have been militarily engaged basically constantly, but it doesn’t really feel like war most days because it is this ongoing thing.

The point of all of this is that peace in modern terms doesn’t really feel strong.

Again, I’ll quote Sproul:

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

The peace that we experience in this world is always a fragile peace, a peace that comes with uncertainty, a peace that may not last.

But when God declares peace, when he declares us just, the war is over. And it is over for ever. To be sure, believers may incur his displeasure, they may cause him to respond with chastisement, but never again does God lift up the sword against his children. The war is over; the peace of God is ours. It is a transcendent peace, a peace that passes understanding. A peace so stable, so deep, so rich, that in its fullest dimension it remains incomprehensible to us. It is the peace of a healed, restored and reconciled relationship that once was broken.

That is what peace with God is. It is the end of war. God set the terms, God drafted the peace treaty, and there is a forever peace through Christ.

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.

Not only peace, but grace. Again, because of faith, we have access to grace.

Why would that be important? We have to understand the whole sentence to grasp this word. This grace is where - and how - we stand before God.

No one can stand before God, because of sin. Because of Adam’s sin, we do not have access to the Father. When you look at the tabernacle or the temple, people could get close, but never stand with direct access. You had to be specifically set apart for that, such as the high priest or Moses himself. Even then, the access was predicated on circumstances and settings that God prescribed.

But with the death of Christ, the veil that separated the Holy of Holies, the Most Holy Place, from the rest of the temple was torn.

Christ had atoned for sin. Now, those who had been justified could come directly before God. The blood of Jesus covered their sins. The ability to come before God is a grace that is given because of our justification by faith.

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

Paul is emphasising the fact that for us to be in the presence of God is not a matter of merit, rather it is God’s mercy and grace that make it possible for me to enter into fellowship with him.

Sproul further notes this:

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

When I believe in Jesus, his righteousness is imputed to me and I have access to God. It is a grace in which I stand. I have been elevated to a position of privilege, to stand in the presence of God by grace.

Think about that. What did Moses do at the burning bush? What do we see people do in the presence of angels, messengers of God, or even in physical manifestations of God Himself (such as the bush, the flames with Abraham, etc.)?

They fall on their face. They bow down. But Paul says that, through this faith we have access to stand before God. Christ’s sacrifice allows us to boldly approach the throne. That is great news!

That is why we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

And what does that phrase, “glory of God” mean? It is the intrinsic weightiness of who God is.

Again, from Sproul:

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

We can’t pass that phrase ‘the glory of God’ without a brief comment. The Greek word is doxe; its Hebrew equivalent, kabod, meant ‘heaviness’ or ‘weightiness’. Glory has to do with the intrinsic significance, weightiness and dignity of God himself. Everyone is aware that one of the most crucial issues of the twentieth century is the issue of human dignity. We would have to be deaf to fail to hear the sighs, the screams and the cries of protest that bombard our ears from every corner of this world about human dignity. Many philosophers have abandoned hope of the dignity of man, saying the only significant question left for philosophers to examine is the question of suicide.

But the Christian declares that there is a real, substantial, eternal basis for the dignity of man. Our dignity is not rooted in our own humanity but is derived. It is assigned to us by the only one who has intrinsic, eternal, self-existent dignity—God himself. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, because he has promised that not only will he remain dignified, but he has made us dignified. In fact he promises us the ultimate completion of our justification, what the Bible calls ‘glorification’.

Continuing on, we see Paul give a classic Pauline compound sentence:

Romans 5:3–5 ESV

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.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care for suffering. I am a whiny baby. My pain tolerance is low, and my annoyance factor is high. I’m a terrible patient.

So suffering is not something I usually rejoice in.

Last night, we went over to the Whisman’s house so that Chloe could go trick or treating with some of the folks from church. It was a bit cold. James, James, and I sat/stood at the end of the Whisman’s driveway giving out candy and hugged the fire from the fire pit. It wasn’t very comfortable. About 30 minutes in, Jessica texts me, because Chloe is freezing and ready to go home. I say my goodbyes and go pick them up, and we head home. We are almost warm by the time we get home, get inside, when *boom.* Power goes out.

There was an accident at Clough and Larma that knocked down power lines. We were out of power for about 2 hours.

And it took every ounce of self-control for me to not stomp my feet and throw a hissy fit. I don’t like being uncomfortable.

So when Paul says we actually rejoice in our sufferings, I want to tell him he’s crazy.

But that’s just it. He isn’t crazy.

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

Paul is saying that if God is in control, then the most bitter human experiences we are called upon to endure (death, disease, the loss of loved ones, war, terror, all of these things that we dread in the depths of our beings) become not only tolerable, but we can actually glory in them because we know that God has promised to redeem every pain that we experience

See, the sufferings produce endurance. This is, in some translations “perseverance.” Stick-to-itivness. Literally, the Greek word is hypomone which means patient endurance.

The suffering allows us to persevere.

And the persevering, the endurance produces character. That character is part of our continuing sanctification, a step on the road toward personal holiness, that process of being made in the likeness of Christ. Christ suffered much more than we, and when we suffer, we are made more like Him. That produces Godly character. And that character produces hope.

This hope isn’t something frivolous. It is a hope centered in faith in Christ on the steadfastness of God.

And this hope doesn’t put us to shame or disappoint us. Why?

Because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

Now, I know one of the most famous verses in all of scripture, in particular for evangelism, is just around the bend here (Romans 5:8), but I think you would be hard-pressed to find a verse that is more comforting to the believer than Romans 5:5. Because God’s love isn’t some trivial warm feelings or butterflies in the stomach.

This is the agape, unconditional love of God that Paul is talking about. This is God giving us not simply love, but love for Himself and for Jesus.

The Gospel of God: Romans Benefits of Justification (4:23–5:11)

The supreme test of whether or not a person is a Christian is whether or not he has an authentic love in his heart for Jesus Christ. He may make mistakes in his doctrine, he may not have his life entirely cleaned up, but the question is, Does he love Jesus at all? Without this work of grace, without this work of the Holy Spirit, people do not love Jesus. They may respect Jesus, they may admire Jesus, they may say good things about Jesus, but there is no love for Christ outside of justifying faith.

You see, a lot of people know the Sunday school answers. I know that I struggled with this for a long time. I was saved at a young age. I’ve been a member of a church and in regular Sunday school almost 40 years. I know the right answers. But, as I dug deeper in my faith as a young adult, I wondered if it was head knowledge or heart knowledge. And I remember ultimately coming to the conclusion (unknowingly, and less eloquently) that Sproul does: If we don’t love Jesus, we don’t have saving, justifying faith. And if we have that love for Jesus, no matter what the attacks of the enemy say, no matter how many times we fall, we know that the love for Jesus, given to us by the Holy Spirit who indwells us, is a marker of that justifying faith.

We’ll finish this section next week.