Romans 5 - Faith Brings joy

Arrest and imprisonment. Pastors and church members can be detained for organizing or participating in unregistered religious activity. In 2025, for example, authorities detained Pastor Gao Quanfu of Xi’an’s Light of Zion Church and Pastor Qu Hongbo of Shenyang’s Sai’erte Youth Fellowship. USCIRF reports that Qu was mistreated in custody in an effort to obtain a confession.

Church raids and forced closures. House churches can be raided, meeting places shut down, and religious materials confiscated. Some churches are pressured to register with state-controlled religious organizations or cease operating altogether.

Surveillance and intimidation. Authorities monitor churches, leaders, online activity, and sometimes individual believers. Christians may be pressured to provide information about other believers or to stop participating in unauthorized congregations.

Pressure to renounce Christianity. There have been reports of Christians—particularly house-church members and people working in sensitive professions—being pressured to sign statements renouncing their faith or church membership.

Children being prevented from receiving Christian teaching. Chinese regulations effectively prohibit children under 18 from participating in most religious activities or receiving religious education. This means Christian parents can face a painful dilemma over how to raise their children in their faith.

Pressure on employment and education. Christians who are government employees, teachers, or otherwise in sensitive positions can face restrictions related to their faith. There have also been reports of pressure on parents and students connected with unregistered churches.

Physical abuse in some cases. This is not merely a matter of bureaucratic inconvenience. Human-rights and religious-freedom organizations have documented allegations of beatings, torture, coercive interrogation, and other mistreatment of religious prisoners.

Family separation and restrictions on movement. Authorities have used detention, house arrest, travel bans, and pressure against relatives. For example, USCIRF reports that authorities repeatedly harassed Pastor Jin Mingri and his church, seized the church’s building, and prevented Jin and his family from leaving China before his 2025 arrest.

One particularly troubling aspect

The government’s policy of “Sinicization of religion” seeks to bring religious teaching and practice into conformity with Communist Party ideology. State-approved churches can operate, but under significant government supervision; churches that refuse that system can be treated as illegal organizations.

And the pressure is not merely historical. In October 2025, Chinese authorities conducted a nationwide crackdown on leaders and members associated with Beijing’s Zion Church, including its founding pastor, Jin Mingri. USCIRF described dozens of arrests across multiple regions.

1Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace* with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 

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.

-Paul’s opening “therefore” in Romans 5 connects to his argument in chapters 1–4, where he established that sinners receive righteousness through faith rather than through works

-(1)Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith,( justified by faith): To this point in the Book of Romans, Paul has convinced us all that the only way of salvation is to be justified by grace through faith. Now he will tell us what the practical benefits of this are, explaining that it is more than an interesting idea.

-This gospel is not just an intellectual experience!

- (1)We have peace* with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us: This is the first benefit. Because the price is paid in full by the work of Jesus on the cross, God’s justice towards us is eternally satisfied.

-There are many people out there that don't even realize they Have no peace with God. They are in trouble and they don't even know it.

-Then there are people who sit in Church and they believe that having familiarity with God and Church they are made right with God. For these people the danger is greater.

Matthew 7:21–23: Jesus warns that not everyone who calls Him "Lord" or does mighty works in His name will enter heaven. He says He will tell them, "I never knew you."

Matthew 15:8–9: Jesus quotes Isaiah, saying, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."

2 Timothy 3:5: Paul describes people who hold to a "form of godliness" but deny its true power. NLT 5They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

-The power is not just for the miraculous. The power is to live a godly life, a life that is separated too the service of God.

-2Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand: This is the second benefit – we have a standing in grace – in God’s unmerited favor. This grace is given through Jesus and gained by faith.

-Access into God’s presence functions like being introduced into a royal throne room, where believers now have standing before God

-(friend introduces you to the King)

-2We confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory: This should be the logical conclusion to this standing of grace. When we relate to God on the principle of works, any rejoicing is presumptuous and any imagined glory goes to us, not God.

-2joyfully is the word normally translated boast. It means “a triumphant, rejoicing confidence.” (Morris)

-2look forward to never implies uncertainty; (hope KJV) as happy certainty.

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 

4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 

-we look forward to the confident hope but we can rejoice now 2We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials (tribulations): Paul anticipates the accusation that he is too “pie in the sky,” that glory for the Christian applies only to the sweet bye-and-bye. Paul replies, “I know we have many tribulations now but we rejoice in those also.”

- Paul isn’t spinning out spiritual platitudes. First, he uses strong words. Tribulations is “a strong term. It does not refer to minor inconveniences, but to real hardships” (Morris). Second, Paul lived a life full of tribulation. Paul knew the truth of this better than most anyone.

-No one likes to hear this! (reference the prosperity Gospel)

-A runner must be stressed to gain endurance. Sailors must go to sea. Soldiers go to battle. For the Christian, tribulation is just part of our Christian life. We should not desire or hope for a tribulation-free Christian life, especially because:

· God uses tribulation wonderfully in our life.

· God knows how much tribulation we can take, and He carefully measures the tribulation we face.

· Those who are not Christians face tribulation also.

-(Spurgeon)‘Tribulation worketh patience,’ says the apostle. Naturally it is not so. Tribulation worketh impatience, and impatience misses the fruit of experience, and sours into hopelessness. Ask many who have buried a dear child, or have lost their wealth, or have suffered pain of body, and they will tell you that the natural result of affliction is to produce irritation against providence, rebellion against God, questioning, unbelief, petulance, and all sorts of evils. But what a wonderful alteration takes place when the heart is renewed by the Holy Spirit!” 

-we must choose life in the spirit. It’s a necessity to turn our hearts towards God during trials. This world can make us bitter, if we’re not careful to trust in the one who delivers.

-Most every Christian wants to develop character and have more hope. These qualities spring out of perseverance, which comes through tribulation. We may wish to have better character and more hope without starting with tribulation, but that isn’t God’s pattern and plan.

-I would rather have God just sprinkle perseverance and character and hope on me as I sleep. I could wake up a much better Christian! But that isn’t God’s plan for me or for any Christian.

-(a message to young parents)

-I believe we should say – soberly and reverently about tribulation, “Lord, bring it on. I know you love me and carefully measure every trial and have a loving purpose to accomplish in every tribulation. Lord, I won’t seek trials and search out tribulation, but I won’t despise them or lose hope when they come. I trust Your love in everything You allow.”

5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

-And this hope will not lead to disappointment: The hope that tribulation builds in us is not a hope that will be disappointed. We are assured of this because God has proved His intention to complete His work in us – the proof being how dearly God loves us…

-because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love: Every Christian should have some experience of this, to have a deep inner awareness of God’s love for us.

-(if not pray for this experience)

- The Apostle Paul has been pretty rough on us for a few chapters, but the Book of Romans doesn’t lack emotion or passionate experiences with God. Paul wants us to think the right thoughts about God, but he also wants us to have the right experience with God –  giving us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love

-God’s love isn’t given to us in a trickle, it is our hearts filled with his love. Some Christians live as if it was only a trickle but God wants us to know the outpouring of His love.

-He has given us the Holy Spirit: This is how God’s love is communicated – through the Holy Spirit. A lack of awareness of God’s love can often be credited to a failure to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit and to walk in the Spirit.

Everyone who is a Christian has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9). “anyone who does not have the spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.”

But not every Christian lives in the fullness of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), “Don’t be drunk with wine because that will ruin your life but be filled with the Spirit.”

And not every Christian walks in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16). “So I say let the Holy Spirit guide your lives then you wont be doing what your sinful nature craves.”

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 

7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 

8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 

-(6)When we were utterly helpless: Paul describes the greatness of God’s love. It is love given to the undeserving, to those  utterly helpless, to the ungodly, to sinners. This emphasizes the fact that the reasons for God’s love are found in Him, not in us.

-(6)Who are these people? Who are the ungodly and wicked people Jesus died for? Paul spent the first two-and-a-half chapters of the Book of Romans telling us that we all are those people.

-(6) At just the right time and died for us sinners: God sent the Son at the right time, at the due time. It may have seemed late to some but Jesus’ work was done at the perfect time in God’s plan:  (Galatians 4:4). “But when the right time came, God sent his Son”, born of a woman, subject to the law.

-The world was prepared spiritually, economically, linguistically, politically, philosophically and geographically for the coming of Jesus and the spread of the Gospel.

-(6) died for us sinners: Paul mentioned the idea of a substitutionary sacrifice with the word propitiation in Romans 3:25. Here, he makes the point again by saying that Christ died for us sinners. The ancient Greek word for is the word huper, which means “for the sake of, in behalf of, instead of.”

-(7) most people would not be willing to die for an upright person: God’s love is a love beyond even the best love among humans. A good man might die a noble martyrdom for the “right kind” of person – such as a righteous man or a good man. But Jesus died for those who were neither righteous nor good.

-(8)But God showed his great love for us: How does the death of the Son demonstrate the love of the Father? Because it was harder for the Father to send His only Son, and because (2 Corinthians 5:19). 'For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. '

-We can’t separate the Father and the Son in the work at the cross

-The work of Jesus on the cross for us is God’s ultimate proof of His love for you. He may give additional proof, but He can give no greater proof. If the cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love, it is also the ultimate demonstration of man’s hatred. It also proves that the height of man’s hatred can’t defeat the height of God’s love.

-The demonstration of God’s love isn’t displayed so much in that Jesus died, but it is seen in whom Jesus died for – undeserving sinners and rebels against Him.

9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.

-he will certainly save us: There is a certainty to the salvation that God gives to us through Jesus.

-save us from God’s condemnation (wrath): Whose wrath? God’s righteous wrath. It is true that we must be saved from the world, the flesh, and the devil but most of all we must be rescued from the righteous wrath of God.

-it is certainly God over and above all other things that we should be afraid of, and yet in this day and time we see almost no fear of the Lord and his wrath. The most frightening of all is that even the Church has lost all fear of God.

10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

-while we were still his enemies: If God showed such dramatic love to us when we were enemies, think of the blessings we will enjoy once we are reconciled to God! If God does this much for His enemies, how much more will He do for His friends! 

11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

-There is a reconciliation that is happening here in verse 11: This reconciliation isn’t only helpful when we die; it also touches our life right now. God is forever done dealing with believers on the basis of wrath. He may chasten them as a loving Father, but not in punishment or payment for their sins. God only allows chastening to bring loving correction and guidance.

Adam and Christ Contrasted

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. 

- When Adam sinned, sin entered the world: The Apostle Paul regarded Genesis 3 as totally, historically true. According to Paul (and according to Jesus, as He says in Matthew 19:4-6‘God made them male and female.’), Adam and Eve were real people and what they did has a lasting effect to the present day.

- It is important to understand that the Adam and Eve account is not an optional passage to be accepted or rejected, or allegorized away. According to Paul’s theme here in Romans 5, you can’t take away the truth of Genesis 3 without taking away principles that lay the foundation for our salvation.

-“To Paul, Adam was more than a historical individual, the first man; he was also what his name means in Hebrew – ‘humanity.’ The whole of humanity is viewed as having existed at first in Adam.”

- Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone: Paul doesn’t prove this, he simply accepts it as true from Genesis 3 – sin entered the world through Adam. Significantly, Adam is responsible for the fall of the human race, not Eve. Eve was deceived when she sinned but Adam sinned with full knowledge (1 Timothy 2:14And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result.)

-Adam’s sin brought death: Death entered the world and spread to all men as a result of Adam’s sin. God promised Adam, in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die (Genesis 2:17). The principle of death was introduced into the world when Adam sinned and it has reigned on earth ever since. Every grave is mute evidence to the spread and reign of sin since the time of Adam.

-This sounds odd to our individualistic ears, but Paul clearly teaches that we all sinned “in” Adam. Adam is the common father of every person on the earth; every human who has ever lived was “in” Adam’s genetic makeup. Therefore, all mankind actually sinned in Adam.

-This is a family curse passed to us by our fore father.

13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. 

-Until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law: We know that at the root of it all we are made sinners because of Adam and not because we break the law ourselves. We know this because sin and death were in the world before the Law was ever given.

-The law was too late to prevent sin and death and it is too weak to save from sin and death.

14 Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. 

- Still, everyone died: The total, merciless reign of death – even before the law was given at the time of Moses – proves that man was under sin before the law. Death reigned… even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God: in the exact way Adam did, showing that the principle of sin was at work in every human.

-Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ: Paul presents Adam as a type – a picture, a representation – of Jesus. Both Adam and Jesus were completely sinless men from the beginning, and both of them did things that had consequences for all mankind.

15 But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. 

- But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift: Adam gave an offense that had consequences for the entire human race – as a result of Adam’s offense, many died. Jesus gives a free gift that has consequences for the entire human race, but in a different way. Through the free gift of Jesus, the grace of God… abounded to many. Adam’s work brought death but Jesus’ work brings grace.

16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 

17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

- Death ruled… righteousness will triumph: We could say that both Adam and Jesus are kings, each instituting a ruel. Under Adam, death rueled. Under Jesus, we can ruel in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

-It is staggering to think how completely death has reigned under Adam. Everyone who is born dies – the mortality rate is 100%. No one survives. When a baby is born, it isn’t a question of whether the baby will live or die – it will most certainly die; the only question is when. We think of this world as the land of the living, but it is really the land of the dying, and the billions of human bodies cast into the earth over the centuries proves this. But Paul says that the reign of life through Jesus is much more certain. The believer’s reign in life through Jesus is more certain than death or taxes!

18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. 

-Adam’s one sin… Christ’s one act of righteousness: From this passage, Adam and Jesus are sometimes known as the two men. Between them they represent all humanity, and everyone is identified in either Adam or Jesus. We are born identified with Adam; we may be born again into identification with Jesus.

-Again, someone may object: “But I never chose to have Adam represent me.” Of course you did! You identified yourself with Adam with the first sin you ever committed. It is absolutely true that we were born into our identification with Adam, but we also choose it with our individual acts of sin.

-brings condemnation… brings a right relationship (justification): The outcome of this election – choosing Adam or Jesus – means everything. If we choose Adam, we receive judgment and condemnation. If we choose Jesus, we receive the free gift of God’s grace and justification.

19 Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant. 

-God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were: Paul has shown us that the law does not justify us. Now he shows that in itself, the law doesn’t even make us sinners – Adam did that. Then what purpose does the law serve? The law makes man’s sin clearer and greater by clearly contrasting it with God’s holy standard.

-The flaws in a precious stone abound when contrasted with a perfect stone or when put against a contrasting backdrop. God’s perfect law exposes our flaws, and makes our sin abound.

-God’s wonderful grace became more abundant: If sin abounded under the law, then grace abounded much more under Jesus. Literally, the phrase abounded much more means “super-abounded.” God makes His grace super-abound over abounding sin!

-We might have expected that where sin abounded, God’s anger or judgment would have abounded much more. But God’s love is so amazing that grace abounded much more where we might have expected wrath.

-If grace super-abounds over sin, then we know that it is impossible to out-sin the grace of God. We can’t sin more than God can forgive, but we can reject His grace and forgiveness.

21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

- Grace reigns through right standing (righteousness). Many people have the idea that where grace reigns, there will be a disregard for righteousness and a casual attitude towards sin. But that isn’t the reign of grace at all. Paul wrote in another letter what grace teaches us: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (Titus 2:11-12). Grace reigns through righteousness, and grace teaches righteousness. (there is a false Gospel)

-Grace reigns to eternal life. God’s grace gives us something and takes us somewhere. It gives more than never-ending life. Eternal life has the idea of a present quality of life, God’s quality of life, given to us right now – not simply when we die.

- Wherever grace rules, God’s righteous standard will be respected. The legalist’s fear is that the reign of grace will provide wicked hearts with a license to sin, but Scripture doesn’t share that fear. Grace does not accommodate sin, it faces it squarely and goes above sin in order to conquer it. Grace does not wink at unrighteousness, it confronts sin with the atonement at the cross and the victory won at the open tomb.