Romans 5.9a-Paul's Use of the Logical Argument of A Fortiori
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday April 8, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:9a-Paul’s Use of the Logical Argument of A Fortiori
Lesson # 151
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:1.
This evening we will study Romans 5:9 in which Paul employs the a fortiori argument in order to teach that if Christ died as a substitute for sinners, how much more then, will He deliver from the wrath of God the sinner justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:1-11, “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. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life and not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
In Romans 5:9, “then” is the “inferential” use of the post-positive conjunction oun (ou@n) (oon), which denotes that what is introduced at this point is the result of an inference from Paul’s teaching that is contained in Romans 5:1-8.
It is introducing a summarization of Paul’s statements in Romans 5:1-8 that are the result of an inference from these verses.
By way of review, in Romans 5:1, Paul teaches 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.
Romans 5:1, “Therefore, because we have been justified by means of faith as a source, we, as an eternal spiritual truth, always have peace in the presence of God through our Lord who is Jesus, who is the Christ.”
In Romans 5:2a, he teaches 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.
Then, in Romans 5:2b, we noted that in addition Paul rejoiced in the confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body.
Romans 5:2, “Through whom also, we have as a permanent possession access to this gracious benefit in which we forever stand and in addition we make it a habit to rejoice upon the confident expectation of sharing God’s glory.”
Next, in Romans 5:3, Paul taught us that the confident expectation of the rapture produces endurance in the believer in times of adversity.
Romans 5:3, “In fact, not only this but we also make it a habit to rejoice on account of our adversities because we know for certain that adversity, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces perseverance.”
In Romans 5:4, we noted that perseverance produces tested character and tested character produces confidence in the believer in his relationship with God, that he will be rewarded for enduring undeserved suffering and that God is conforming him into the image of His Son.
Romans 5:4, “And in addition, perseverance, as an eternal spiritual truth produces tested character and in addition tested character, as an eternal spiritual truth, produces confidence.”
Romans 5:5 teaches that the believer’s confidence in the Lord is never disappointed because God the Holy Spirit reassures the believer that he is the object of God’s love.
Romans 5:5, “In fact, this confidence, as an eternal spiritual truth, never disappoints because God’s love is always being poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us for our benefit.”
If you recall, Romans 5:6-8 forms a single argument that demonstrates the unconditional and absolute nature of God’s love for the believer.
This argument not only provides evidence for the love of God being poured out in the believer’s heart through the Holy Spirit by pointing out that the source of this love is God’s character and nature, but also, in doing so, it substantiates the absolute dependability of the believer’s confidence in the Lord.
This confidence in the Lord is mentioned by Paul in Romans 5:2b and 5:5.
The Holy Spirit’s work in communicating God’s love for the justified sinner is also mentioned in Romans 5:5.
Romans 5:6-8, “For while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still helpless, still, at that particular appointed moment in history, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of the ungodly. For, it is unlikely, anyone will die as a substitute for the benefit of a righteous person. In fact, possibly, someone might also have the courage to voluntarily die as a substitute for the benefit of the good person. But, God (the Father), as an eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, proves His own divine-love for the benefit of all of us by the fact that while we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still sinners, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of all of us.”
In Romans 5:6-8, the apostle Paul ends each verse with the verb apothnesko, “died,” which refers to the voluntary substitutionary spiritual death of the impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union.
He uses this verb at the end of verses six, seven and eight in order emphasize the unity of the argument presented in these verses.
This verb along with the statement dikaiothentes en to haimati autou, “having been justified by His blood” in Romans 5:9 indicates that oun in Romans 5:9 is introducing a statement that is the result of an inference from Romans 5:1-8.
This statement summarizes Paul’s statements in Romans 5:6-8 and refers to the fact that the voluntary substitutionary spiritual death of the impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union is the basis for the believer’s justification, which is confirmed by Paul’s statements in Romans 3:21-26.
In Romans 3:25 and 5:9, the expression “His blood” depicts the substitutionary spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross, which was the payment for our sins.
Therefore, in Romans 5:9, Paul refers to the voluntary spiritual death of the impeccable human nature of Jesus Christ in hypostatic union by reverting back to the representative analogy to haimati autou, “His blood.”
This again indicates that the conjunction oun is introducing a summarization of Paul’s statements in Romans 5:1-8 that are the result of an inference from these verses that emphasize the spiritual death of Jesus Christ demonstrates God’s love for the sinner while he was an enemy of God.
Therefore, the believer’s confidence in the Lord is not misplaced but is on a firm and eternal foundation.
The fact that God the Father sent His Son to the Cross to die as a substitute for the believer prior to being justified by faith in Jesus Christ guarantees the believer that his confidence in the Lord is not misplaced but rather He can be depended upon.
Therefore, Paul’s statements in Romans 5:6-8 and the expression dikaiothentes en to haimati autou, “having been justified by His blood” in Romans 5:9 emphasize that as an expression of His love for sinners, the Father sent His Son to the Cross to die a substitutionary spiritual death.
This sets up the a fortiori or “much more” logical argument in Romans 5:9 that if God the Father sent His Son to the Cross while the justified sinner, i.e. believer in Jesus Christ was still an enemy of His, how much more then will He deliver the sinner justified by faith in His Son from God’s wrath.
Christ’s substitutionary spiritual death on behalf of the believer while he was unregenerate and an enemy of God, guarantees that the believer will be blessed in the future and avoid the wrath of God.
In other words, if God the Father expressed His love for the believer by sending His Son to the Cross to die as a substitute for them while they were His enemies, then He will certainly bless the believer now that he is reconciled to God.
This a fortiori or “much more” logical argument is used by Paul to return to the subject of the believer’s confidence in the Lord, which he mentions in Romans 5:2b and 5.
In Romans 5:2b, Paul rejoiced in the confident expectation of receiving a resurrection body and in Romans 5:5, he teaches that the believer’s confidence in the Lord is never disappointed because God the Holy Spirit reassures the believer that he is the object of God’s love.
Therefore, in Romans 5:9, he is returning to the concept of the believer’s confidence in the Lord but from the perspective of the future in that since Christ died for the believer while he was an enemy of God, it follows that he will not face the wrath of God.
Romans 5:9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
“Much more” is composed of the dative neuter singular form of the adjective polus (poluv$) (po-loos), “much” and the comparative adverb mallon (mallon) (mal-lon), “more.”
The adjective of degree polus and the comparative adverb mallon form the logical argument called a fortiori, which is a Latin phrase meaning “with stronger reason” and is an idiom of greater degree.
A fortiori has two parts: (1) The greater (2) The lesser.
What requires a greater degree of effort is used as the basis for showing what requires less effort.
It is a conclusion compared with some other conclusion or recognized fact, as inferred to be even more certain or inescapable than the two conclusions it combines.
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary defines a fortiori, “with greater reason or more convincing force-used in drawing a conclusion that is inferred to be even more certain than another.”
A fortiori uses an inferential conclusion as being more conclusive than another reasoned conclusion.
It is a system of argumentation or debate which takes an accepted fact and by a comparison produces an inescapable fact and confident conclusion.
Therefore, in Romans 5:9, the adjective polus and the comparative adverb mallon form the principle of a fortiori.
They emphasize that if God has done the most “difficult” thing for the believer in sending His Son to die as a substitute for them while they were His enemies, how much more can God be depended upon to accomplish the “easier” thing, namely, deliver them from the wrath of God now that they are reconciled to Him.
The expression pollo mallon introduces the argument that if Christ had done the “greater” work of providing the basis for the justification of sinners by dying for them as their substitute, He will certainly then perform the comparatively “lesser” task of delivering them from the Lake of Fire, now that they are reconciled to Him.
The “most difficult” or “greatest” problem facing God when dealing with sinful mankind was that not only did He need to fulfill the demands of His holiness that required that sin and sinners face His righteous indignation but at the same time He also needed to express His love for sinners in providing them a way of avoiding His righteous indignation.
So the logical argument of a fortiori as expressed by the words pollo mallon emphasizes that if Christ died for His enemies, it follows that He will deliver His friends or those who have been reconciled to His Father through faith in Him.
If God can do the greater work, it follows a fortiori that He can do the lesser.
The “greater” is the work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ’s spiritual death on the Cross, which is an accomplished fact of history.
The “less” is God protecting, sustaining and delivering the believer in time and blessing him in the future and delivering him from the eternal Lake of Fire.
This expression pollo mallon, “much more” appears five times in Romans chapter five.
Romans 5:9-21, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life and not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. The gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification. For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
