Amazing Grace

Let’s Talk About Dessert!

I have to admit that I have never done this, but have you ever begun your meal with dessert? Cindy and I celebrated our anniversary this past week at Texas Roadhouse. By the time we had the buttery rolls, the fried pickles appetizer, our steaks and sides, we didn’t have any room left for desserts.

But, imagine beginning with the dessert menu! They have 3 there: Granny’s Apple Classic, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Big Ol’ Brownie. Would it taste different frontloading it in the meal? Imagine the Big Ol’ Brownie. You’re starving so you’d be enjoying the rich chocolate in a moist brownie. The cold Blue Bell vanilla ice cream adds complexity to the treat and the chocolate syrup makes every bite come alive!

Romans 5 is the dessert! In this chapter Paul will point out peace, grace, hope, and the love of God. It is a chapter filled with the desserts of Salvation!

Dessert (Grace) is Good!

I think my favorite dessert is apple pie with vanilla ice cream. Each Thanksgiving there is a family split over apple pie. Some are traditionalists – they want just apples in the pie. I, on the other hand, want homemade crust, some raisins, some pecans, some brandy flavor, with the apples. Top it off with creamy vanilla ice cream and I’m set.

Grace is infinitely better!

Peace with God

Romans 5:1–2 “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand…”

The nucleus of this passage is that we have peace with God. That peace comes as a result of justification that we discussed last week. As Christians we should remember the advantage that we have in enjoying this peace. Look at another passage from Paul and see how it can transform.

Philippians 4:6–7 NIV

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We don’t understand that peace, but it is a reality that “will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus”. Accept his peace and apply it to your anxiety, doubts, and fears.

Boasting in Hope

Let’s continue…

Romans 5:2 NIV

… And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.

What is meant by “the hope of the glory of God”? Theologian F.F. Bruce explains it this way:

But the glory of God is the end for which he created mankind (see note on 3:23), and it is through the redemptive work of Christ that this end will be achieved. So long as his people exist in mortal body, it remains a hope, but it is a sure hope, one that is certain of fulfilment, because those who cherish it have already received the guarantee of its realization in the gift of the Holy Spirit, who fills their hearts with the love of God.[1]

Paul adds some additional value to the idea of hope. These sub-themes emerge

Even Suffering Produces Hope

Romans 5:3–4 NIV

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

Cindy and I stumbled across a video of a 12-year-old girl named Skyler Derringer who survived the flooding at Camp Mystic. She had posted a video of her performing her version of the song Hallelujah. Her lyrics were powerful. Consider these lines:

I heard there was a giant flood but we were washed in Jesus blood and you don’t really care for my news do ya? On July 4, 2025, the water rose and we went adrift, the King composing hallelujah.

Our faith was strong You showed us love like only God from up above. Your prayers, your hugs, and your love overwhelmed us. We cried, we prayer, we did out share, you clothed us, fed us, brushed our hair and from our lips we drew the hallelujah.

They say the water overcame but I will never forget their names. No blame, no fault to You. We are a part of Mystic heart. We spread His light, His love, His Word, the Holy and the broken hallelujah.

We did our best, we left our mark, a light that shines within the dark. I told his truth, didn’t come to fool you. Even though it wasn’t long, we stand before the Lord in song nothing on our tongues but hallelujah

What an example of how suffering creates perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope!

God’s Hope Never Fails

In the Finger Lakes region, there are quite a few vineyards. Naples, NY is at the center. A few years ago, we visited during the fall. Cindy and I choose not to drink alcohol, so wineries are not interesting, but Naples did offer grape pies. I figured, “All these restaurants and farmer’s stands are offering them so they must be good.” Nope. Tasted like grape jelly in a shell. Maybe it would be good if I were 5 years old! A definite dessert fail. God’s hope does not fail!

Romans 5:5 NIV

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

God’s hope does not disappoint. As evidence of that Paul mentions the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer. “His indwelling presence is the pledge of that glory for which the believer hopes. The love which is his primary ‘fruit’ (Gal. 5:22) has its origin in God and is reproduced in the children of God.”[2]

Saved by Grace

Texas Roadhouse only offers 3 desserts. If you want Tres Leches cake, it is not available there. You will have to go somewhere like Churrasco’s. But, grace is available to everyone, at all times!

Jesus Loved Us Even in Our Sinfulness

Romans 5:6–8 NIV

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Paul argues, ‘you will scarcely find any one willing to sacrifice his life—well, perhaps a few people might go so far as to do so—but God shows his love for us in Christ’s sacrificing his life for those who were neither righteous nor good, but ungodly sinners’ (cf. 1 John 4:10).[3]

Vs 8 emphasizes the amazing fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. What amazing love! We didn’t have to be good, clean, or innocent before salvation. Jesus still sacrificed for each of us. The good news continues…

Romans 5:9–11 NIV

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Notice the repetition of how much more! Can you imagine the first time you tasted southern banana pudding (I’m simple)? How good was that? Vanilla pudding? Vanilla wafers? Fresh bananas? How much more! Saved from God’s wrath! Reconciled to God and saved! This is something to boast about!

Christ Destroyed the Curse of Death

Paul’s next point helps us to understand the purpose and need for propitiation. The death of Jesus on the Cross satisfied the wrath of God due to sin.

Adam Introduced Sin

As death entered the world through Adam’s disobedience, so new life comes in through Christ’s obedience. As Adam’s sin involves his posterity in guilt, so Christ’s righteousness is credited to his people.[4]

Romans 5:12–14 NIV

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.

In this passage the issue of the Law is brought up. According to Paul, the power of the Law was to “bring sin right out into the light of day, so that it might be more clearly recognized for what it really is.”[5]There is a joke about the preacher who refused to quote the Ten Commandments because it put ideas in the people’s heads. The Law spotlights the problem of sin.

The Gift of Grace

The “dessert” of grace is that Christ sets mankind free. Adam sinned once and brought condemnation. Mankind sinned over and over but Christ died once and covered the multitude of sins!

Romans 5:15–17 NIV

But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!

Comparably, death reigned, yes; but so much life is available because of His grace. Adam’s self-will brought death. Christ’s self-surrender supplies life. The gift provides immeasurably more good than the evil that came out of the trespass.[6]

Romans 5:18–21 NIV

Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Adam’s sin is imputed to us in exactly the same way that Christ’s righteousness is imputed to us. We inherit, of course, a sinful nature from Adam.… But that is not what condemns us. What condemns us, and makes us subject to death, is the fact that we have all sinned in Adam, … we are all held guilty of sin.… It is our union with Adam that accounts for all our trouble. It is our corresponding union with Christ that accounts for our salvation. (Boice 1992, 566)[7]

Enjoy Your Dessert!

We all have different favorite desserts. The next time that you find it on the menu or make it at home, take the time to think about amazing grace! With each bite reflect on Romans 5:

- Savor the peace of God

- Relish the goodness of Christian hope

- Delight in the universal availability of grace

- Celebrate the cure for the curse of sin

- But most of all, love the Savior, Jesus Christ.

You know, grace is a lot like dessert. Nobody earns dessert—you don’t get it because you’ve been perfect. You get it because someone loves you and wants you to enjoy it.

That’s what God’s grace is like. It’s sweet. It’s free. And it’s offered to you because God loves you—no strings attached.

So today, don’t push the dessert away. Receive it. Taste it. Enjoy the sweetness of God’s forgiveness and eternal life in Jesus Christ.

[1]F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 125.

[2]F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 127.

[3]F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 128.

[4]F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 130.

[5]F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 6, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985), 132.

[6]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 85.

[7]William F. Lasley and Richard Dresselhaus, Romans: Justification by Faith: An Independent-Study Textbook, Third Edition (Springfield, MO: Global University, 2010), 84.