45 Preaching/Teaching Romans 5/The Assurance of Glory

The Assurance of Glory

EOT Paul shares the benefits we have right now before we taste ultimate glory.

EOS-We must live confidently in the riches of Christ.

DDS-How will you live confidently this week.

Have you ever noticed how much life is connected to how confident you are. Basketball for me is a living picture of how true this is. Most great athletes are confident. Now I know there is a fine line between Confidence and cockiness.

My very first college game was one of my most successful outings I had. We played a team that hosted the NAIA championship and we played them my coach told me good game. Now that may not seem like much. I started over 120 college games and that would be the only time I remember him telling me good game afterward. But I played with Confidence in this game.

However in that same year there were times when I did not play with confidence. We played a team named OKC and they were ranked in the top five. The night before we played them I could not even sleep. I mean I tried every sleeping position in the book and I could not get to bed. I played one of the worst games I had ever played.

In the same year I could play one game with extreme confidence and another game I could play scared.

Confidence is important.

But you see with basketball my confidence was based solely on myself.

If you are believer in Jesus the Bible tells us we are eternally secure, which means we can never lose what God has done for us, we are secure in what Jesus has done for us.

It is a picture of God holding onto us.

So if this is true why is it so easy to live our christian life like I played basketball against OKC.

And instead of standing out for God we look just like the world.

God invites us to live confidently in him!

Are you confident in your relationship with God?

I mean like really confident?

What if we lived confidently because we are followers of God.

and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. NLT

In this section Paul gives us many reasons why we should live confidently in Jesus

Let’s look at why we should live confidently in our relationship with God.

1. We must live confidently because our greatest identity is to be God's image bearer (Justified) 1a.

In the first book of the Bible Genesis God tells us that we were made in the image of God. In other words our greatest identity is to be God's image bearer.

Past justification (v. 1)-This has to deal with our identity. We are in a identity crisis in our country. There are so many identities we have as people. And we are so confused, we do not even know if we are a male or female anymore. We have made our lesser our identifies our greater identifies. In our country many have made their skin color the most important identity we have. We are confused! But if you are a believer in Jesus there should be no question of what your identity is.

Romans 5:1 (NASB95)

Therefore, having been justified by faith,

Notice when there is a therefore in scripture we must ask why is it there. Last we talked about how we are justified by faith.

Being declared righteous before God has more implications than just a legal pronouncement.

We are once and for good justified.

If you have put your faith in Jesus you are now in right standing with God, is that amazing or what.

This is our greatest identity is our identify in Jesus and this is the identity we are supposed to be living in.

Application:

What is your greatest identity righ now? What are some of the identities you have. I am a man, I am a father, I am a husband.

2. We must live confidently because of the peace of God (1b)

Peace with God (v. 1). I remember I was on a amazing trip with Heather. We had a hotel room on the beach and we left the sliding door open and heard the ocean all night. Is was one of the most peaceful experiences of my life. We live in a world where peace is not a characterization of it. We have two major wars going on right now with huge implication. Turn on the news and you will see that Peace is not the norm. But Jesus says Peace is what I give you.

Romans 5:1 (NASB95)

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Let us keep on having peace with God. Translated different ways.

We have access to live in peace.

Before Christ Peace would not be a word that described me. It still might not be a word that describes me all the time. Story of John Wesley went to America to CONVERT the heathens. But he had no peace. It turned out even though he was very religious he did not have a relationship with God. It was coming home from this trip that he began a relationship with Jesus. And it was at that moment that he experienced peace like never before.

Application:

Are you tapping into the peace that is yours? Are you living confidently in it?

Maybe you are saying I don't have that peace, and maybe it's because you have never began a relationship with Jesus?

3. We must live confidently because of God's unlimited grace (2).

Romans 5:2 NASB95

through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

New Living Translation Chapter 5

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Access into God’s grace (having been under God’s wrath, v. 2)

The NLT calls it undeserved privilege.

Amazing grace how sweet the sound

Remember for a second when you first became a follower of Jesus, how sweet was that. And that excitement that we once had can sometimes be forgotten quickly. How do we live in the grace of God, the undeserved privilege on a regular basis.

We have access to that grace all the time if we are followers of Jesus.

now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

Now we stand-We have to stand in it every day. We don't just have to think of it as something God has done, we can stand up in it every day.

Confidence-We have confidence in it. Do you think Satan wants you to be confident in Jesus Of course not he wants to put doubts in your mind. He wants you to think you are a failure. He wants you to think that God's grace is not really that great, and that you do not deserve it.

If when I put confidence in myself I could play better basketball, think what would happen if we put our confidence in the Grace of God. We will have joy, you can't be an obedience Christian miserably. It is like the kid who says I have to clean my room. NO. As a Christian we get to obey God and one of the main ways we do this is by rejoicing. Why are we rejoicing, because God is going to finish what he started.

Application:

Are you living confidently in the grace of God?

We are one day going to share in all of God's glory. Salvation is not just past, it is past, what Jesus has done for us, Present-what Jesus is doing in us and future what he will do in us and how we will worship him in heaven forever in the mansion that he has built for us, remember he was a carpenter.

4. We must live confidently because not even trials can take our joy (3-5a)

Joy in tribulation (vv. 3–5a)

Romans 5:3 NASB95

And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;

He tells us how to do what!

How do we respond to difficult times. We rejoice, why can we do this, because what we have in Jesus.

Romans 5:4 NASB95

and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;

Why we rejoice they help us develop endurance.

The best of things endure. Think about couples who have been married for a long time, it is such a beautiful picture of God's love, but both partners have endured.

How many Christ followers do you know who were on fire for God for a short season but not anymore. I have friends who were on fire for Jesus who would no longer even claim to be a Christian today.

They have not endured in their faith.

Look at happens when we endure, the result is character. Isn't quality character something that is rare in society today. Great character is not easy for anyone. But the author says if you will endure you will grow in character.

This path of rejoicing in trials is not an easy path.

What is the result of that is we will be even more confident in our salvation.

Illustration: Tim Chung's Mom-I have a friend who is a living testimony of what happens when someone lives this verse out. Romans 8;28 on her tombstone.

Romans 5:5 (NASB95)

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts

I love this next part, hope does not disappoint.

My last game as a player I felt the reality of disappointment. The hope of the world disappoints. Did you know that at times I will think back to basketball and be disappointed. I have had to work through different things i had though were failures in my college career. One of those thins was in college my sophomore year was my best year. I had a great year that year. But usually you want to keep building off each year. How in the world did I get worse by my senior year. I have spent a lot of time thinking through the disappointments I have had with basketball.

Application:

Heather and I have went through a big trial lately. I am going to be honest my first reaction was not rejoicing.

5. We must live confidently because of the Holy Spirit (5b).

Romans 5:5 (NASB95)

through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Did you know that when you believe in Jesus he sends his spirit to live in you. I used to think that if you accepted the gift of God that baby Jesus came and this little Jesus was in your heart. But the Bible tells us if you will accept the gift of God, his spirit literally indwells in us.

The same spirit that came upon David when he defeated Goliath is the very spirit that lives in you if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.

The Same spirit that allowed Samson to do his mighty strength against the Philistines is the Spirit that live in you. What does the holy spirit do, well it tells us here that it fills our hearts with love.

The basis of our confidence is God!

Romans 5:6–8 NASB95

For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

6. We must live confidently because our future is secured (9-10).

Romans 5:9–10 NASB95

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Our Friendship with God restored: picture what Adam and Eve had before the fall, this is now restored.

7. We must live confidently because we are friends with God (Reconciled) 5:11.

Romans 5:11 NASB95

And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.