Romans 5.11-We Rejoice On Account of our Relationship with God Through our Lord Jesus Christ Who Reconciled Us To God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 20, 2008
Romans: Romans 5:11-We Rejoice On Account of a Relationship with God Through the Lord Jesus Christ who Reconciled Us to God
Lesson # 155
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 5:1.
This morning we will study Romans 5:11, in which the apostle Paul states that he and his fellow like-minded Christians confidently rejoiced on account of their new relationship with God, which they received by means of the spiritual death of the Lord Jesus Christ and which death reconciled them to God.
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 5:11, “and” is the “adjunctive” use of the conjunction de (deV) (deh), which introduces an additional spiritual benefit that is the result of being declared justified by God the Father through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.
This benefit is connected to the previous spiritual benefit mentioned by Paul in Romans 5:10.
Romans 5:10, “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.”
This previous benefit in Romans 5:10 pertained to the believer’s deliverance in the future from eternal condemnation as a result of receiving the imputation of the eternal life of the Son through faith in the Son.
The additional benefit introduced by the conjunction de pertained to Paul and his fellow like-minded Christians confidently rejoicing in their relationship with the Father.
This relationship is the result of Jesus Christ reconciling them to the Father through His spiritual death on the Cross.
Romans 5:11, “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
Next, we have four words in the Greek text that form a correlative clause.
“Not only…but also” emphatically states that Paul and his fellow like-minded Christians were “not only” (ou monon) confident that they would be delivered from eternal condemnation because they possessed eternal life “but also” (alla kai) they confidently rejoiced in their relationship with the Father.
“This” refers to Paul’s a fortiori statement at the end of Romans 5:10.
In this statement Paul argues that if the Christian was reconciled to the Father while His enemy by means of the spiritual death of His Son, how much more will they be delivered in the future from eternal condemnation because they have been reconciled to the Father through the spiritual death of His Son Jesus Christ.
“We exult” is the verb kauchaomai (kauxavomai) (kow-khah-om-i), which combines the concepts of joy and confidence and 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.
The object of the believer’s rejoicing is identified by the prepositional phrase “in God,” which refers to the believer’s relationship with God.
Romans 5:11, “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 5:11, Paul is speaking of the Christian confidently rejoicing in his relationship with the Trinity since he has been discussing the spiritual benefits that the believer receives as a result of possessing a relationship with God.
The apostle Paul is using the figure of speech called “metonymy” in which God the Father is put for a relationship with Him as obviously implied by the context.
In Romans 5:11, the preposition en, “in” is a marker of “cause” and the noun theos, “God” is a “dative of cause,” which emphasizes the “basis” upon which Paul and his fellow like-minded Christians confidently rejoiced.
Paul is emphasizing “why” he and his fellow like-minded Christian were confidently rejoicing.
Romans 5:11, “And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
“Through our Lord Jesus Christ” denotes that the Christian can confidently rejoice on account of His relationship with God “through the personal intermediate agency” of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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.”
“The reconciliation” is the noun katallage (katallaghv) (kat-al-lag-ay), which like the verb katallasso, “reconcile” that appears in Romans 5:10, is used of God reconciling Himself to sinful humanity through the death of His Son Jesus Christ.
Both words refer to the doctrine of reconciliation, which along with the doctrines of propitiation and redemption form the three major doctrines of Soteriology (the study of salvation) as well as the “Finished Work” of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Redemption is inward, dealing with man’s sinful nature, propitiation is Godward in that Christ’s death satisfied the demands of God’s holiness that required that sin be judged and reconciliation is manward in that Christ’s death reconciled sinful humanity to God who is holy.
Reconciliation is God’s peace treaty with the entire human race and is appropriated by making the non-meritorious decision to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
Therefore, in Romans 5:11, Paul is saying that through the personal intermediate agency of the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner justified by faith in Christ has “obtained” or “received reconciliation” from God.
2 Corinthians 5:17-21, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
Colossians 1:13-23, “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities -- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father's good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 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.”