Romans 5:1-11

Introduction

Romans 1–4 ESV

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. 1 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality. 12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. 17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. 1 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” 5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” 13 “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” 14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” 15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known.” 18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. 1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? For we say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. 13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 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.

All humans are broken, lost, sinful, bent away from God and in on themselves

: All humans are broken, lost, bent away from God and in toward themselves, and from this reality has sprung all of the brokenness in our world. But God is making everything right through the gospel - the good news that Jesus has given himself as a substitute for us in en raised from the dead proving his Lordship over even death itself

All brokenness and evil in the world stems from this reality, and humans stand in desperate need of forgiveness of their sin and reconciliation with God

God has achieved this by Jesus offering himself as a substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf to pay the penalty for our sin and raising him from the dead

We receive this grace through faith in Jesus

God raised him from the dead

Key term - justification - made righteous before God, declared to be “not guilty”

I. Results of justification by faith

A. We have peace with God

Romans 5:1 ESV

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

Romans 5:1

Justification

We are not only forgiven of our sin, but we are declared to be “not guilty”

The clearing of all charges against us leads to real, tangible results

Peace

We have all inherited what the Bible calls a sin nature; we are bent away from God, in toward ourselves.

Because of this, the Bible describes us as enemies of God (as we will see in ) - scholar Leon Morris says it this way:

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Romans 3. The Effects of Justification, 5:1–11

An enemy is not a person who comes a little bit short of being a friend; it means someone in the opposite camp.

Application: We do not need to be anxious or fearful about our status in God’s eyes

Does God like me?

Is God angry at me?

How can I be sure that I have peace with God?

Romans 5:6–10 ESV

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.

At the right time = the right time in human history, and the right time when we were powerless to save ourselves from our sin

Contrast: human love vs. God’s love

It isn’t easy to find someone willing to die even for a good person

Jesus died for sinners who hated him

Argument from greater to lesser

We have been justified by his blood, so we will be saved (preserved, kept) from the wrath of God

We were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, so now that we are reconciled, we will be saved by his life

B. We have access to God

Romans: An Introduction and Commentary D. The Blessings Which Accompany Justification: Peace, Joy, Hope, Love (5:1–11)

peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing

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.

Access

Technical meaning of this word is “introduction”

It refers to the introduction to the ruling chamber of a king - you cannot come into this kind of place without an introduction

But “introduction” also implies a one time occurence, whereas Paul is trying to say that we have ongoing, continual access into the presence of God

Continued access to the chambers of a royal person

This grace in which we now stand

This is an uncommon way to use the word “grace” in the NT

It is Paul’s way of saying we have been brought into a place of favor with God, and so have free access to God himself

Application: It’s easy for us to gloss over this, but this should honestly floor us

God pays attention to your prayers

But God doesn’t answer my prayers how I want him to?

Prayer is relational before it is transactional

We should be amazed that God hears and pays attention to our prayers

Even if he doesn’t answer them how we want him to

Illustration: Parents don’t always answer their kids’ requests according to what is wanted

II. Because we have peace with God, we rejoice

Because we have peace with God and free access into his presence, Paul says that our response is that we can rejoice. In Paul’s mind, peace and joy are two sides of the same coin in terms of blessings of the gospel. He gives three things we can rejoice in.

Romans: An Introduction and Commentary D. The Blessings Which Accompany Justification: Peace, Joy, Hope, Love (5:1–11)

Peace and joy are twin blessings of the gospel: as an old preacher put it, ‘peace is joy resting; joy is peace dancing.’

A. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God

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.

Romans 5:

Hope

Hope often means for us a sort of vague wishful thinking about what may happen

I hope the Blazers win the NBA Finals in 2020

For Paul, hope was about living in light of something that has been guaranteed but not yet revealed

We are being conformed to the the image of Jesus - he is actually growing and maturing our faith so that we become better people, so that ultimately we will perfect reflect the glory of God

We great hope for our future

Jesus is coming back to judge all things, restore all of creation, and grant his people eternal life with him

Glory of God

God himself and all of his character and purposes

Fulfillment of our purpose to reflect the goodness of God himself into the world he has made

We were made in the image of God to participate in and reflect his glory

Paul said in

But our hope is that we are moving toward fulfilling God’s original plan for human beings to share in and reflect his glory into the rest of creation

Romans 3:23–24 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Our lives are headed somewhere - to a greater maturity in our faith, to looking more and more like Jesus until one day we fully reflect the glory of God

B. We rejoice in our suffering

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.

Romans 5:

Rejoice = boast

Strange word to use with connection to suffering

Suffering

We rejoice in our suffering because it has purpose

This word is a strong term - not referring to minor inconveniences, but to real hardships

Sometimes it’s not popular to say God has a purpose in our suffering because people make insensitive, overly specific, and presumptuous statements about the purpose God has in specific human suffering

Hurricane Katrina - God’s judgment on New Orleans

We should not speak for God - we are not the prophets of the Bible who had a direct word from God to give

But the alternative is to say there is no purpose in suffering, which is to say our suffering is meaningless

Endurance

“Persistence”

The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Epistle to the Romans c. Judgment, 2:5–16

It is used of the soldier who, in the thick of a hard battle, gives as much as he gets; he is not dismayed by the blows he receives, but fights on to the end.

Character

Difficult to translate to English

It refers to the quality of being approved on the basis of a trial

“Tested-ness”

Illustration: “It’s character building”

Hope

It does not put us to shame - our hope does not disappoint us

Because God has poured his love into us through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us

Paul, in Ephesians, says that the Holy Spirit is given as a “seal” or guarantee of what is to come - God’s love being poured into us through the Holy Spirit means we have been given a taste of the new creation and resurrection life that Jesus is bringing, and it is the guarantee of our future

We rejoice in our suffering because in it we see the purposes of God to bring us to a place of greater character, maturity, faith, and hope for our future.

C. We rejoice in God himself

Ultimately, our greatest hope and joy is in God himself

We do not want to celebrate what God does over who he is

God himself is the source of our peace, strength, comfort, hope, and joy

Illustration: What if I only enjoyed what Kelsey did for me instead of enjoying her?

Application

We also don’t want to make the mistake of doing things for God and never spending time with God

This is especially tempting for Christians who have been in the church a long time

Prayer and Scripture, alone and in community

Conclusion