Saved By God From The Wrath Of God
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What is the OBJECTIVE of this Sermon? To help people understand that they are saved. What they are saved from. And that they should REJOICE about it!
What is the DESIRED RESPONSE for this Sermon? That the believing would specifically REJOICE about their salvation this week. That the non-believer would be saved.
Me - What is humanities biggest threat?
Is it Covid-19?
Is it poverty?
Is it starvation/hunger?
Is it strained race relations?
Is it political corruption?
Is it wrongheaded worldviews?
Is it natural disasters on the existential threat of global warming or a meteor colliding with our planet?
What is our biggest problem that we face? What is humanities biggest threat that we need to be saved from?
We - The biggest problem we face, my friends, is GOD!
As I read through the Bible this year, I am struck with how terrible God can be.
We wrongly focus on the insignificant threats to the exclusion of our greatest threat. This is not wise. We must be ready for the inevitable day when humanity will face the wrath of God. And mark my words, that day will come.
Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”
God will, one day pour His TERRIBLE WRATH on this earth.
and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,
He’s coming, folks - and we must be ready.
“Do we all realize that the most important thing we have to do in this world is to prepare ourselves for eternity?” Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Yet God isn’t only a Holy God of Wrath, He is also a God of love!
This presents a bit of a conundrum, doesn’t it?
God, in His holiness must punish sin. But in His love He desires to rescue people from the penalty of their sin.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
God - Yes, God is love, but He is also your worst nightmare!
Think of it this way...
God is your worst problem and your best solution
Bottom Line - God Wants You to Be Saved FROM Him BY Him!
How can this be? How does this even work?
He gives three logical thoughts that do overlap a bit, but make a powerful point that He is our only hope for an eternal life in Heaven.
Paul argues in a way that goes from the greater reality to the lesser reality.
For example, I might say...
If I can lift up this piano, I certainly can lift up this rocking chair. See? Greater reality to lesser reality.
That’s what Paul does in these three verses. And he gives a clue when he says, “Much more shall”, or “Much more now”, or “More than that...”, This will become more clear as we move through the text.
So, remember, God Wants You to Be Saved FROM Him BY Him!
And the first argument He makes to prove this is...
1. If God Can Justify You By His Blood, Then He Will Save You From His Wrath (vs. 9)
Look at what Paul writes...
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
For those of you that are Christians that are here this morning, is there any doubt that God is capable of justifying you? And the answer is a resounding, NO!
That’s why Paul uses the word, “Since”
“Since, therefore, we have now (present tense) been justified...”
This verb, and related words from the same Gr. root (e.g., justification), occur some 30 times in Romans and are concentrated in 2:13–5:1. This legal or forensic term comes from the Gr. word for “righteous” and means “to declare righteous.” This verdict includes: pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin, and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer’s account, which provides for the positive righteousness man needs to be accepted by God. God declares a sinner righteous solely on the basis of the merits of Christ’s righteousness. God imputed a believer’s sin to Christ’s account in His sacrificial death (Is. 53:4, 5; 1 Pet. 2:24), and He imputes Christ’s perfect obedience to God’s law to Christians (cf. 5:19; 1 Cor. 1:30; see notes on 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 3:9).
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood...”
Blood? Why blood? Explain - It is a reference to Jesus’ violent death and atoning work on the cross (MSB).
Paul’s point is, SINCE this is true! SINCE believers are justified by the blood of Jesus, then God will have no problem whatsoever saving you from the wrath of God.
What is the Wrath of God? It is God’s promised coming judgment on the world. It is divine punishment!
Yes, God will, in the future, pour His wrath out on this earth. Why? Because those who refuse to repent and place their faith in Christ will one day in the future, and for eternity, experience the wrath of God!
His WRATH is the natural expression of His holiness!
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
As I said earlier, God is the unbeliever’s biggest nightmare!
Jonathan Edwards understood this well.
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th, 1741.(280 years ago)
The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked; his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than to bear to have you in his Sight; you are ten thousand Times so abominable in his Eyes as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn Rebel did his Prince: and yet ‘tis nothing but his Hand that holds you from falling into the Fire every Moment: 'Tis to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to Hell the last Night; that you was suffer’d to awake again in this World, after you closed your Eyes to sleep: and there is no other Reason to be given why you have not dropped into Hell since you arose in the Morning, but that God’s Hand has held you up: There is no other reason to be given why you han’t gone to Hell since you have sat here in the House of God, provoking his pure Eyes by your sinful wicked Manner of attending his solemn Worship: Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a Reason why you don’t this very Moment drop down into Hell. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/54/
Has the truth of his words changed in 280 years? Not one bit!
Yet, it is God in His gracious MERCY that keeps anyone from plunging into the depths of eternal hell. Giving people yet another opportunity to repent before they face the wrath of God.
I beg you to repent this very moment!
God gave the Egyptians ample warning and opportunity to repent, and turn to Him. Yet under the leadership and hardened heart of Pharoah, they continued to turn away from God instead of humbling their hearts toward him!
The Last plague against Egypt - Blood on the doorposts...
Let me give you some very good news. The believer in Christ will not experience God’s wrath!
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
But don’t miss Paul clear point in verse 9. He is trying to let these Roman Christians understand this...
If God can make you right with him by Jesus shedding his blood for your sins, he can also keep you from the coming wrath of God.
Let me ask you a very old question. A question that the Angel of the Lord asked Abraham regarding He and Sarah’s ability to have a child.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Well, is anything too hard for the Lord? If God can become a man and die a substitutionary death for you, certainly He can protect you from His coming wrath as well?!
Christian friends - if this is true, what are you so worried about? Why are you so fearful of the lesser things that might happen to you?
We get our heads so wrapped up in this world and all of her problems and challenges that we forget that there is a God who has taken care of our biggest challenge.
FEAR NOT! Your biggest problem is solved! Everything else is cake in comparison.
We have a God who has taken care of EVERY aspect of your redemption - you have no cause for worry nor for fear.
If you are an authentic Christian, then you are declared righteous and, as if that were not enough, you will never face His wrath.
Perhaps meditating on that will help you deal with the challenges you are facing!
Review - God Wants You to Be Saved FROM Him BY Him!
If God Can Justify You By His Blood, Then He Will Save You From His Wrath
2. If God Can Make An Enemy His Friend, Then He Will Save You By His Life (vs. 10)
Paul offers another if then statement that is given to give you hope! Look at the text...
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.
News flash - You and I, we are His enemies...
The good news is that for those in Christ, the text says, “we were enemies” past tense...
Enemies now made right with God.
Notice that Paul now uses the word “Reconciled” which is not the same as the word “Justify” that he uses in verse 9.
Reconciled - “To reestablish proper, friendly interpersonal relations after these have been disrupted or broken” - LN
Think of it this way...
Justification is Legal
Reconciliation is Relational
How were Christians reconciled (put into a right relationship with) to God?
By the death of His Son - Jesus Christ!
The death of Jesus on the cross, satisfied the wrath of God against you.
God the Father accepted the sacrifice of God the Son in the place of your payment.
What is your payment? Eternal Hell.
So, if you choose Christ, you live and you don’t have to pay for your crimes against God in eternal Hell prison.
Again, here is Paul’s point of verse 10 - which is simular to his point in verse 9...
If God can turn you from and enemy of His to a friend by the death of His Son Jesus on the cross, He can just as easily save you.
John Stott - Secondly and positively, we shall be saved through his life (10). For the Jesus who died for our sins was raised from death and lives, and means his people to experience for themselves the power of his resurrection. We can share his life now, and will share his resurrection on the last day. Paul will elaborate these truths in Romans 8; he does no more than sketch them here in promising that we shall be saved through Christ’s life.
John R. W. Stott, The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001), 146–147.
And He will save you. In one sense you are not saved yet because you are still here, living this life and your salvation, full and complete is yet to come.
who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
So although when you became a Christian, your eternal life began at that instant, your eternal salvation has yet to be revealed to you. And the point is, HE WILL save you quite easily because He has already turned you from enemy to He dear friend.
How does Paul say that He will save you?
“...we shall be saved by His life.”
By His life? I thought we were saved by His death? What is Paul talking about here?
What happened on that beautiful Sunday morning after the brutal crucifixion that took place on Friday?
He rose from the dead!! He is alive!! He is alive!!
We serve a risen Savior. He’s in the world today! I know that He is living, no matter what man may say...”
How do we know the the grave is empty? Because the Bible tells us over and over again!
And because He was raised from the dead, you too, if you are in Christ, will be raised to new life as well!
And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
You are saved not only because of Friday, but Sunday as well! No Sunday resurrection, no salvation!
Praise God Do you remember the chorus of the Hymn, Up from the Grave He Arose?
Up from the grave He arose
With a mighty triumph o'er His foes
He arose a Victor from the dark domain
And He lives forever with His saints to reign
This is our hope! If God can turn you around from being his enemy to his friend, He certainly can handle saving you in the future and following through with His promise!
Apply - He will not leave His enemy out in the cold, He will SAVE (future tense) you and provide an eternal home for you because HE IS ALIVE!
Folks, that ought to put some starch in your shorts! (Jeremiah was told by God to be brave and forthright in his speech to a people that would reject him, but he was to do it nonetheless! Why? Because God’s word was sufficient for the prophet!
He knew he had nothing to lose and everything to gain by listening to, trusting and obeying what God said to Him!
So it is with you! You have nothing to lose, friends because you have already gained it. So don’t live like this is heaven, it is not. Live for the next life!
Review - God Wants You to Be Saved FROM Him BY Him!
If God Can Justify You By His Blood, He Will Save You From His Wrath
If God Can Make An Enemy His Friend, Then He Will Save You By His Life
3. If God Can Make You Right With Him, Then You Should Rejoice About Him (vs. 11)
This is the unexpected but natural conclusion of being saved by God from God. Not just JOY, but REJOICING!
Look at the text...
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Did you notice all the “Much more” and “More than that” statements? Well, they culminate in the last on here in verse 11.
And the culmination is “Rejoicing”! We Rejoice in the face that our relationship with God is not longer acrimonious. We are not longer enemies of God. In fact, just the opposite.
And because of this, we can rejoice! Not only can we, we should. Why? God has made you right with Him through Christ.
I mean think about this for just a minute.
You were on death row because you have broken God’s law.
You were waiting to experience divine capital punishment for your crimes against God.
But you received word that you sentence had not been commuted but eliminated! And your crimes had been expunged altogether.
You were free to leave prison. You were no longer held responsible for the crimes you committed.
Another had paid your debt to society and you are now free at last!
What is your visceral response to such an event? Probably something along the lines of shouting, screaming with joy, and telling everyone you come into contact with!
This is the idea of rejoice. The word means to “express an unusually high degree of confidence in someone or something being exceptionally noteworthy - to boast” -LN
I love - “To boast”
When you get a new car, or home, or iPad, or whatever, you boast about it. You rejoice in it. We all do it.
But do you rejoice in no long being under the condemnation of the Lord.
Do you rejoice and brag about the fact that you will never be condemned because of your sin.
Do you rejoice or exalt in Jesus because he freed you from eternal prison?
The logical, natural, visceral response to such an event you your life should be a resounding YES! YES! I Brag on my Jesus every chance I get.
Is that true of you, however.
I know you are thankful for your salvation, but Paul uses the word REJOICE for a reason.
He wants the Romans and God want you to PUBLICLY PRAISE HIM FOR WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN YOU LIFE!
Review - God Wants You to Be Saved FROM Him BY Him!
If God Can Justify You By His Blood, He Will Save You From His Wrath
If God Can Make An Enemy His Friend, Then He Will Save You By His Life
If God Can Make You Right With Him, Then You Should Rejoice About Him
You - Probably the most important question I’ll ask you in closing is, are you saved by God from the wrath of God? How, you ask, can I be saved?
You are in good company. The Philippian Jailer asked the same question. Let me explain...
In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”
You can right where you sit believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. But you need to, as the first part of the verse states, openly declare it to someone. The declaration doesn’t save you, it solidifies what God has already done in your heart!
If you are not a Christian, a follower of Christ, a believer, what is stopping you from repenting of your sin and placing your trust in Christ?
“The reason God has not yet sent judgment upon this earth is to give the inhabitants the time and opportunity to repent of their sins. It is an awesome, terrifying fact. Deal with your sin now, or your sin will deal with you later.” - A.W. Tozer / A Man of God
You will NEVER regret turning your life over to Christ.
And if you are a Christian, but you are not rejoicing about being saved from the wrath of God, would you confess that sin right now and pray what David prayed so many years ago?
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
We - The church is comprised of blood bought, former enemies / now saints of God. What do you think we ought to do with what we’ve learned? Paul tells us!
REJOICE - Boast publically in the LORD
Tell someone this week that you are thrilled with Jesus and why!
“Do we all realize that the most important thing we have to do in this world is to prepare ourselves for eternity?” Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Connection Group Reflection Questions
1. What do these verses teach me about our character?
2. What do these verses teach me about God and his character?
3. Because these words are from God, they are TRUTH! What truth is he asking me to believe?
4. What do I need to do to obey him?
5. With whom can I share these truths?