Romans 5.9b-If Christ Died For Sinners, How Much More, Will He Deliver the Justified from the Wrath of God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Wednesday April 9, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:9b-If Christ Died for Sinners, How Much More, Will He Deliver the Justified from the Wrath of God
Lesson # 152
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, “having been justified” is the verb dikaioo (dikaiovw) (dik-ah-yo-o), which refers to the judicial act of God whereby He declares a person to be righteous as a result of crediting or imputing to that person His righteousness the moment they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
Consequently, God accepts that person and enters that person into a relationship with Himself since they now possess His righteousness.
The mechanics of justification are as follows: (1) God condemns the sinner, which qualifies them to receive His grace. (2) The sinner believes in Jesus Christ as His Savior. (3) God imputes or credits Christ’s righteousness to the believer. (4) God declares that person as righteous as a result of acknowledging His Son’s righteousness in that person.
Romans 5:9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
“Now” is adverb of time nun (nun) (noon), which emphasizes the present state of Paul and his fellow Christians who were declared justified by God the Father in the past when they exercised faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
The word is employed with the aorist tense of the verb dikaioo in order to emphasize the believer’s present state of being justified as a result of the past action of the Father declaring them justified through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
“By His blood” is a “representative” analogy between the physical death of the animal sacrifice in the Mosaic Law and the spiritual death of Christ.
A “real” analogy would be a literal death compared to a literal death.
The physical death of the animal would be compared to the physical death of Christ.
A “representative” analogy is the physical death of the animal on the altar representing the spiritual death of Christ on the cross.
The animal was real and literal but it did not represent the literal blood of Christ shed on the cross.
The animal blood represents the spiritual death of Christ on the cross (Col. 1:20; Heb. 10:19; 13:20; 1 Pet. 1:2).
Therefore, the blood of the animal sacrifices were merely a shadow pointing to the reality of the Christ’s spiritual death on the Cross (Heb. 9:12-24).
Our Lord’s spiritual death is recorded in Matthew 27:46.
Matthew 27:45-46, “Now from the sixth hour darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?’ that is, ‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’”
When the Lord Jesus Christ cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? He was experiencing spiritual death meaning that in His human nature he was separated from His Father.
In Romans 5:9, the prepositional phrase “by His blood” means that the substitutionary spiritual death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross is the basis for justification since His unique spiritual death propitiated or satisfied the demands of God’s holiness, which required that sin be judged.
Romans 5:9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
“We shall be saved” is the 1st person plural future passive indicative form of the verb sozo (swv|zw) (sode-zo), which means, “to deliver.”
The word is also used in the Greek New Testament of the believer’s deliverance from eternal condemnation as well as the believer’s deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system.
The believer’s deliverance is accomplished in three stages:
(1) Positional: At the moment the believer exercised faith alone in Christ alone, he was delivered “positionally” from real spiritual death and eternal condemnation, the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature through the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection and session of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 19:9; John 4:22; Acts 4:12; 13:26, 47; 16:17; Rom. 1:16; 10:1, 10; 11:11; 2 Cor. 6:2; Eph. 1:13; 2 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 2:10; 5:9; 6:9; 1 Pet. 1:9-10; 2 Pet. 3:15; Jude 3; Rev. 7:10).
By “positionally,” I mean that God views the believer as crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ, which was accomplished at the moment of salvation through the Baptism of the Spirit when the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit placed the believer in an eternal union with Christ.
In other words, the “positional” aspect of the believer’s salvation refers to the past action of God saving us from sin, Satan, his cosmic system and eternal condemnation when we trusted in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
The verb sozo is used of the believer’s deliverance in a “positional” sense in Ephesians 2:8.
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
The believer’s deliverance positionally sets up the “potential” for him to experience this deliverance in time since this deliverance can only be experienced after salvation through obedience to the teaching of the Word of God.
It also guarantees the believer’s ultimate deliverance at the rapture, which is based upon the sovereign decision of God rather than the volition of the believer.
(2) Experiential: After salvation, the believer can “experience” deliverance from the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature by appropriating by faith the teaching of the Word of God that he has been crucified, died, buried, raised and seated with Christ.
This constitutes the believer’s spiritual life after being delivered from real spiritual death (2 Cor. 1:6; 7:10; Romans 6:11-23; 8:1-17; Phlp. 2:12; Galatians 2:20; Colossians 3:5-17; 2 Tim. 2:10; 3:15; Heb. 2:3, 10; 1 Pet. 2:2).
In other words, the “experiential” aspect of salvation is used of the believer’s deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system in the present moment.
The verb sozo is used of the believer’s deliverance in an “experiential” sense in 1 Corinthians 1:18.
1 Corinthians 1:18, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
(3) Ultimate: At the resurrection the believer will be delivered “ultimately” and permanently from the devil, his cosmic system and the sin nature when he receives his resurrection body at the rapture of the church, which is imminent (Rom. 13:11; 1 Thess. 5:8-9; Heb. 1:14; 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5).
In other words, the “ultimate” aspect of salvation is used of the believer’s future deliverance from sin, Satan and his cosmic system.
The verb sozo is used of the believer’s deliverance in an “ultimate” sense.
2 Timothy 4:18, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
In Romans 5:9, the future tense of the verb sozo indicates that the word is referring to the act of God delivering the believer in an “ultimate” sense in the future from eternal condemnation.
The believer’s deliverance from eternal condemnation is in view here in Romans 5:9 and not his deliverance from the tribulation period, which is also called by students of prophecy as “Daniel’s Seventieth Week.”
This is indicated in that Paul is used this deliverance in the context of Christ’s spiritual death, which delivers them from real spiritual and eternal condemnation in the eternal Lake of Fire.
Also, up to this point in the book of Romans, Paul has been teaching that the entire human race is under the wrath, or righteous indignation of God due to sin (Romans 18:-3:18).
He has pointed out that the sinner can only be declared justified by God the Father and delivered from the wrath of God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and not by observing the Law or circumcision (Romans 3:19-4:25).
Therefore, in Romans 5:9, the verb sozo refers to the believer’s deliverance from eternal condemnation in the eternal Lake of Fire.
Romans 5:9, “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”
“From the wrath of God” is composed of the preposition apo (a)pov), “from” and the articular genitive feminine singular form of the noun orge (o)rghv) (or-gay), “wrath.”
This prepositional phrase indicates that because the believer has been declared justified by means of faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, he is “totally and completely separated from” experiencing God’s righteous indignation forever in the eternal Lake of Fire.
In Romans 5:9, the noun orge is attributed to God referring to His attitude of “righteous indignation” in response to any thought, word, or action of His moral rational creatures, whether mankind and angels, that is opposed to His holiness and manifests itself in actions that judge and punish the guilty.
In Romans 5:9, he declares that the wrath of God is “eschatological” meaning that it is “yet future.”
This speaks of the Great White Throne Judgment of every unbeliever in history that will take place at the end of human history and is the judgment of all unregenerate humanity in human history for their rejection of Jesus Christ as Savior (Rev. 20:11-15).
God’s righteous indignation is the legitimate anger towards evil and sin since both are contrary to His holiness or perfect character and nature.
In fact, God’s righteous indignation expresses His holiness.
The holiness of God pertains to the absolute perfection of God’s character or expressing the purity of His character or moral perfection and excellence and means that God can have nothing to do with sin or sinners.
He is totally separate from sin and sinners unless a way can be found to constitute them holy and that way has been provided based upon the merits of the impeccable Person and Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.
God hates sin so much and loves the sinner so much that He judged His Son Jesus Christ for every sin in human history-past, present and future and provided deliverance from sin through faith in His Son Jesus Christ. The only way to avoid God’s righteous indignation is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 3:36, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
“Through Him” denotes that the Lord Jesus Christ is the personal intermediate agent who delivers the believer from eternal condemnation since He is the mediator between sinful mankind and a holy God.
1 Timothy 2:5-6, “For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.”
