Sermon Tone Analysis

Wenstrom Bible Ministries

Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom

Tuesday March 25, 2008

www.wenstrom.org

Romans: Romans 5:2b-The Believer Will Receive a Resurrection Body Because He Has Been Justified Through Faith in Jesus Christ

Lesson # 144

Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:1.

In Romans 5:1, we studied that since the believer has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, he has peace in the presence God through the Lord Jesus Christ whose spiritual death on the Cross reconciled them to God, implying that the believer now has a relationship with God.

In Romans 5:2a, we noted that because the believer has been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, he also has as a permanent possession access to this gracious benefit of a relationship with God, in which he stands forever, thus implying the believer has eternal security.

This evening we will study Romans 5:2b, which teaches that Paul rejoiced in the confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body.

Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

In Romans 5:2, “and” is the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction kai (kaiV), which is used to connect the previous statement with an additional one.

In the previous statement, Paul taught that through the Lord Jesus Christ, the believer has as a permanent possession access to the gracious benefit of a relationship with God in which he forever stands.

In the statement to follow, Paul teaches that in addition to forever standing in the presence of God, the believer rejoices in the confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent.

Therefore, the conjunction kai connects these two statements.

“We exult” is the verb kauchaomai (kauxavomai) (kow-khah-om-i), which means, “to confidently rejoice” since it combines the concepts of joy and confidence.

It is used of expressing an unusually high degree of confidence in someone as well as rejoicing in the sense of jubilation and great delight over someone or something.

This rejoicing is related to the believer’s confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-9).

The believer is commanded to rejoice.

1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.”

The Holy Spirit produces the joy of the Lord.

Romans 14:17, “for the kingdom of God is emphatically not eating and drinking, but rather righteousness and peace and joy by means of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13, ‘Now may the God who produces confidence fill all of you with all joy and peace by means of trusting (God’s Word), so that you will prosper by means of this confidence by means of the power of the Holy Spirit.”

This is called the fruit of the Spirit, which is the production of Christ-like character in the believer who experiences fellowship with God by being obedient to the Father’s will, which the Holy Spirit reveals to the believer through the communication of the Word of God.

Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”

The joy of the Lord is the direct result of obeying the Word of God.

Psalm 19:8, “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.”

The joy of the Lord is the direct result of trusting in the promises of God.

Psalm 28:7, “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart exults, and with my song I shall thank Him.”

The joy of the Lord is the direct result of experiencing fellowship with God.

Psalm 16:11, “You will make known to me the path of life; in your presence is fullness of joy; in your right hand there are pleasures forever.”

The propaganda of Satan’s cosmic system has promoted the lie that wealth, good environment, marriage, having children, approbation from men will produce happiness.

Satan’s propaganda machine promotes the lie that good circumstances and people are the basis for happiness, but God’s Word states that true happiness is based upon a relationship and fellowship with God for the purpose of doing the Father’s will.

Paul Sailhamer, “Joy is that deep settled confidence that God is in control in every area of my life.”

Oswald Chambers (1874-eternity), “Man cannot find true essential joy anywhere but in his relationship with God.”

In Philippians 3:1 and 4:4, the Philippians were commanded to rejoice “because of the Lord,” and there are several implications that are expressed by this technical expression.

Philippians 3:1, “From now on, my brothers, all of you begin rejoicing and continue doing so because of the Lord.”

Philippians 4:4, “From now on, all of you rejoice because of the Lord always, again I will order: from now on, all of you rejoice.”

The Philippians were to rejoice because of their eternal relationship and union with the sovereign ruler of the cosmos, the Lord Jesus Christ (Gal.

3:26-28).

Galatians 3:26-28, “For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

The Philippians were to rejoice because they have been called into fellowship with the Lord (1 Cor.

1:9; 1 Jn.

1:1-4).

1 Corinthians 1:9, “God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The Philippians were to rejoice because of what the Lord did for them at the cross resulting in the forgiveness of their sins (Col.

1:14; Eph.

1:7).

Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.”

The Philippians were to rejoice because the Lord Jesus will reward them for their faithfulness to Him in time (Col.

3:23-24).

Colossians 3:23-24, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance.

It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

So in Romans 5:2, the verb kauchaomai means, “to confidently rejoice.”

The object of the believer’s rejoicing is identified by the prepositional phrase ep’ elpida tes doxes tou theou, “in hope of the glory of God.”

Romans 5:2, “Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

“In hope” is composed of the preposition epi (e)piv), “in” and the noun elpis (e)lpi$) (el-pece), “hope.”

In Romans 5:2, the noun elpis means, “confident expectation.”

The object of this confident expectation is identified by the expression tes doxes tou theou, “the glory of God,” which does not refer to the Lord Jesus Christ as it did in Romans 3:23.

Rather, it refers to believers sharing the glory of God in the sense of receiving their resurrection bodies at the rapture of the church, which will complete their salvation and sanctification.

Therefore, the noun elpis refers to Paul and his fellow like-minded believers “confident expectation” of sharing the glory of God in the sense of receiving their resurrection bodies at the rapture or resurrection of the church, which is imminent.

In 1 John 3:3, John uses elpis of the believer’s “confident expectation” of the immanent rapture of the church, which he says motivates the believer in time and thus purifies them meaning it results in experiential sanctification.

1 John 3:2-3, “Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.

We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

The indwelling of Christ in Colossians 1:27 is called the “confident expectation” of glory, which refers to the resurrection body.

Colossians 1:21-27, “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach.

If indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Romans 5:2, “Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

“Of the glory” refers to the believer perfectly manifesting the character of the Lord Jesus Christ in a resurrection body at the rapture of the church.

In Romans 5:2, the noun doxa, “glory” is used in relation to the believer since in context Paul is listing the gracious benefits that the believer receives at the moment he was declared justified by God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The word is also used in relation to the noun elpis, which expresses a confident expectation about the future.

Therefore, doxa refers to the believer receiving a resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent.

It refers to the believer perfectly manifesting the character of the Lord Jesus Christ in a resurrection body.

In other words, the word expresses the idea of the believer being perfectly conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ in a resurrection body.

Romans 8:28-30, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

The “Rapture” is a technical theological term for the resurrection of the church, which is imminent, invisible to the world, and terminates the church age dispensation.

The “Rapture” will take place in the earth’s atmosphere when the Lord Jesus Christ will suddenly and forcefully remove the church from planet earth in order to deliver her from the Tribulation period.

The rapture is something we should be eagerly anticipating because we will receive our resurrection bodies at that time.

Philippians 3:20-21, “For our citizenship exists from eternity past in the realm of the heavens, out from which also we ourselves at the present time are eagerly anticipating as Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will cause our humiliating body to be outwardly transformed to be identical in essence with His glorious body because of the power that will enable Him to marshal all things created to Himself.”