Untitled Sermon

Justification = Jubilation

Romans 5:1-5

October 12, 2025

The past couple of weeks, Paul has let us know without question that we are justified by faith in the completed work of Christ and it has nothing to do with anything we have done.

But do we really understand what justified means?

Justify is to declare righteous.

So, justification is an act of God where He pronounces a sinner to be righteous because of that sinner’s faith in Christ.

According to one theologian, “the root idea in justification is the declaration of God ... that the man who believes in Christ, sinful though he may be, is righteous ... because in Christ he has come into a righteous relationship with God”

I feel it is important that we understand justification completely because it makes a difference, a big difference.

It makes a difference in where we are headed after we leave this earth,

but it also makes a difference in how we live and feel in our present state.

A beautiful passage this morning.

You could almost say these verses should be sung as a hymn.

The wording uses an exalted language.

It is written with a sense of confidence.

Notice how Paul is not open to arguments nor debates concerning these words as in preceding chapters, he just states the facts.

But this passage is also very personal.

Paul switches to 1stperson plural, these are his words, his feelings and I pray before we leave this morning, these are ours as well.

Romans 5:1-5

Therefore...there is that word again and we need to discover what it is therefore, and, in this case, Paul is saying in light of all we have brought up in the preceding verses, here are 3 realities that justification brings to us.

Three realities that should bring jubilation to our lives.

Peace with God ... vs. 1

Notice, this is peace with God, not the peace of God.

Not the peace that is promised to us in

Philippians 4:7

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

In Philippians, it is a calmness and satisfaction while in times of troubles.

A peace that we can have even during difficult issues, but it is subjective.

No, here we are talking about peace with God as a result of our justification.

It means that the conflicts between us and God are over now, whether I feel happy or not.

Did you hear what I just said?

I used the word conflictsbetween us and God.

Maybe a better word would be the hostilities between us.

Any good Christian sitting out there would argue with me, would take offense at what I said.

I’ve never been hostile towards God, how could you say such things.

I’ve never been in conflict with Him, I would not.

Well according to the Bible, if one of the results of justification is to bring peace with God, then that means before salvation, before you were justified, you and God didn’t always see eye to eye.

When we sin, two very bad things happen.

The first is you are breaking God’s holy law, that is obvious.

But also, you are also assuming Lordship over your life.

You are removing Him from the throne of your life and putting yourself there with the assumptionthat you have the authority to do so.

From my understanding and time in the military, if two entities are quarreling over a particular place, usually, there is a war, a battle.

We saw many examples of this while studying Judges on Wed. evenings.

And if you are claiming Lordship over your life, which God created and has rights to, then God is not happy with you.

You are being disobedient; you are being hostile towards Him.

But as a result of being justified, His anger is removed, and we can be at peace with Him.

Look over to verse 10...

Romans 5:10

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

That is reason for a little jubilation, God is no longer angry with me.

But not only do we now have peace with God, but Paul adds we now have access to His grace...vs. 2a.

Grace, that is God’s riches poured out on us.

Grace is that unsought, undeserved, and unconditional love of God.

Actually, the word access in the Greek means we have been introduced to His grace.

You see, under that same kingship setup, the only way you can enter into the presence of a powerful dignitary is if someone introduces you to them.

You don’t bust in based on your own merit.

That is what Jesus did for you and me once we put our faith in Him.

He takes us by the hand and walks us into the throne room of His Father and introduces us as one of His children.

Now, we get to stay in there, in His presence.

Wherever we go in the world, we are always in the heavenly throne room.

Timothy Keller

Look that peace with God is pretty awesome, ending the hostility between us and Him but now, due to being introduced to grace, there is a very positive aspect that comes from it, it’s called a relationship.

We can now have a friendship, a close personal relationship with God since we have been justified.

Now, all our requests and problems and issues can be taken up with Him in His presence, in His throne room and we have assurance that He hears us because we are so close to God the Father, I told you justification should bring some jubilation to your life.

Paul goes on to say in the second part of verse 2 that we have hope in the glory of God ... vs. 2b

This word hope, in English, is a rather weak word.

We hope for something, or we hope in something, but we do so without certainty.

Every deer hunter in here knows this word all too well.

Right now, you are preparing your deer stands and food plots and purchasing more clothes in my favorite color...camouflage.

All because you hope to kill a good deer this year.

But you know as well as I do you cannot be certain you will kill one.

Things happen, the wind is wrong, the weather is too hot, the deer smell you or you scare them off with your snoring in the stand. (I hear you in church)

The point is, you know that taking a deer is not certain, you are going home empty-handed way more times than with a prize, but you have hope.

But the Greek word for hope is elpis and it means a strong conviction; it means a guarantee, a certainty.

A certainty of the glory of God.

I asked the guys in Man Church a couple of weeks ago what they were most looking forward to in heaven.

I don’t know if I was surprised or disappointed that not many could give me an answer.

But I got to thinking, heaven by itself, can be a bit intangible, unimaginable, or even an unappetizing idea, because we haven’t experienced it.

Oh, but if we are justified in Christ, that peace with God and that Amazing Grace should give us a taste of what is waiting for us there.

We should be looking forward to experiencing the glory of God.

We should be yearning to experience His Splendor.

The outward shining of God’s inward being.

Remember what John said

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth

And how about that day up on top of the mountain we read about in

Matthew 17:2

And he was transfiguredbefore them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light

Those who know they have been justified by faith in Jesus should long for the day when we will not only behold His glory, but we too will be glorified with Him.

The day when everything that keeps us from being what we ought to be for God will forever be removed and we all

2 Corinthians 3:18a

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another

Oh, justification should bring some jubilation to our lives.

I know that life is difficult at times, it certainly is for me as well.

But when we are going through that valley of the shadow of death, when things look dark and unending, those benefits of peace, grace, and future glory, they sure do help.

Paul said in verse 3 that we rejoice in our sufferings.

Not only do we possess these extraordinary benefits of being justified but these joys stay with us even in our difficulties.

Paul didn’t say we rejoice for our sufferings, that would be ma sa kism.

That would be finding joy in painful experiences.

Paul didn’t say we endure suffering as a work for salvation.

Some feel God owes them heaven because of suffering down here.

No, we rejoice insuffering, because we know it has beneficial results.

Look what Paul says...

Vs. 3 – suffering produces endurance...it makes us focus and removes distractions.

Vs. 4 – endurance produces character...a confidence that comes from experience.

Vs. 4b – character produces hope...a greater assurance in the peace, grace and future glory that are a result of justification.

Paul has listed some benefits of justification that should produce jubilation in our daily walk with Christ, but these same 3 items are what is required for salvation.

Once we give our hearts to Him, we are forgiven of our sins and can be at peace with God.

This peace then leads to a personal relationship we can enjoy down here but it ultimately leads to being in the presence of God’s glory.

Have you been justified?