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ROMANS 5
The Glory of Divine Acquittal
We saw last time in Romans 4 that salvation is by faith alone. Nothing that man does can secure his own salvation. We are saved by faith alone in the finished, complete and perfect work of Jesus Christ, Who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead victorious over death, hell and the grave.
Now this time we will explore the benefits of justification. First, Chapter 5 begins with “Therefore.”
Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
“Therefore” connects 5:1 with what Paul had written in the previous chapter. In fact, “since we have been justified through faith” (v. 1) summarizes the Paul’s entire argument in chapters 1-4.
Those who have placed their trust in Christ can rest assured that their faith— minus any of their own works—has been credited to them as righteousness.
A deep, settled confidence comes to the believer that, based on the fact that Christ was put to death for their sins and raised again from the dead, they have been declared righteous!
Remember, JUSTIFIED means “acquitted, freed, vindicated.” Jesus’ righteousness was literally imputed to our spiritual account through justification.
Once justified, several benefits become ours. We find them listed in 5:1-11.
First, we experience a:
NEW RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD (V. 1-2)
Our new relationship with God brings three additional benefits:
Peace
Access to God
The Hope of Glory
PEACE: “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
The word peace carries rich meaning. It does not primarily describe a state of inner tranquility. To have “peace with God” in this passage means to be in a relationship with God where all hostility caused by sin has been removed.
We now have peace between ourselves and the God with Whom we had formerly been at war because of our sinful lifestyles. Romans 8:6-8 describes this war:
Romans 8:6-8
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinfulmind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
Following justification, the war is over. We now have peace with God!
Next, we are granted:
ACCESS TO GOD: “through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” (vs. 2)
Through Christ, we have been ushered into the very presence of God the Father. By faith we have gained access into the incredible relationship described in Ephesians 2:18
Ephesians 2:18
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.
The word ACCESS means “a bringing or welcoming in.” Here it particularly refers to our acceptance by God. We are now “accepted in (or because of, or through) the beloved.” (Ephesians 1:6)
And the third benefit of our new relationship with God is:
THE HOPE OF SHARING THE GLORY OF GOD: “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
This third benefit is all about facing the future with joy. The word HOPE means “to anticipate something good, usually with pleasure or excitement.”
In other words, the person with hope wakes up with a happy expectation that something good is coming. We might call it “Happy Hope.”
The person who is justified by Christ is filled with hope for the glory of God in the hereafter, and also of reflecting or displaying that same glory in the here and now.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may tell of the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Next, Paul presents a whole new concept of suffering in verses 3-5:
Romans 5:3-5
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
PRINCIPLE: Christian suffering is a source of joy because its purpose is to build character in the believer. Like it or not, suffering produces maturity.
This maturity comes in stages and begins with the development of PERSEVERANCE (Vs. 3).
PERSEVERANCE: means “Patiently waiting with a joyful attitude.”
“we know,” says Paul, “that suffering produces perseverance”
The Greek word we translate into suffering literally means “pressure.” It describes distress brought about by outer circumstances.
The truth about the Christian life is that the Cross and the Crown go together; the grief and the glory work hand in hand.
Difficult circumstances, pressures, trials and sufferings work for the good of the believer because God has decreed that they shall:
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Tearing a page from Paul’s diary, we read:
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
We are handicapped on all sides, but we are never frustrated; we are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone; we may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! Every day we experience something of the death of Jesus, so that we may also know the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours
Next, Paul says that:
PERSEVERANCE PRODUCES CHARACTER (Vs. 4).
The Greek literally says “proven character.” It means character that has been tested and found to be genuine.
The Amplified Bible says, “And endurance (fortitude) develops maturity of character (approved faith and tried integrity).”
When we pass through difficult times and emerge on the other side with our faith intact and with a right attitude, it can be said that our character has been proven.
God is far more concerned with how we go through a trial than what the trial was.
And finally:
PROVEN CHARACTER PRODUCES HOPE:
That is, proven character produces the ability to maintain joy and confidence in God, even when the chips are down and the going is rough. The mature believer knows:
Romans 5:5
And our hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
We can place hope in many things that will end up in disillusionment and frustration. But not the hope we place in Christ. That hope will never leave us feeling like the fool or disappoint us.
A New Assurance in Judgment
Next, Paul launches into a “how-much-more” argument. He begins by pointing out the absurdity that one man would die for another man who happened also to be his enemy:
Romans 5:6-8
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Paul’s point is, if God did all of this for us while we were yet in our sins and still His enemy, how much more will He do now that we are His children!
Romans 5:9-11
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Once we grasp this kind of love, hope springs eternal! We know that if God would do all of this, then we know that we shall be saved from any and all wrath on the judgment day. The immature Christian has not yet developed this confident hope. John tells us:
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love.
The Gift of Righteousness
Starting at verse 12, Paul launches into an extended contrast between Adam (the first man) and the results of his sin, and Jesus Christ (the “second man”) and His atoning life and death.
Romans 5:12
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
We all inherited the sin of Adam. And death was the consequence of Adam’s sin.
But what about those between Adam and Moses who didn’t know sin was sin because they didn’t have Moses’ law(commandments)? Paul answers:
Romans 5:13
For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
Sin was not added to men’s accounts prior to Moses’ law in the same way it was afterward. Nevertheless, death still reigned from Adam to Moses because we all inherited Adam’s condemnation.
Romans 5:14
Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Then in vv. 15-19, Paul makes five comparisons between Jesus Christ and Adam, showing the superiority of the gift of grace over the curse of sin and death:
FIRST: He compares Adam’s trespass, through which many died, to the free gift of God’s grace in Christ, which has abounded for many (v. 15).
Romans 5:15
“But the gift (of grace) is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overf low to the many!”
SECOND: He compares the condemnation that followed Adam’s trespass and the justification that follows the free gift of God’s grace (v. 16).
Romans 5:16
Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification.
THIRD: He compares the death that reigned through Adam’s trespass and the much greater reign in the lives of those who receive the free gift of God’s grace (v.17).
Romans 5:17
“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”
FOURTH: He contrasts the condemnation that came to all people through Adam’s trespass and the far greater acquittal that comes to all people through Christ’s act of righteousness (v.18).
Romans 5:18
“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”
FIFTH: He compares the disobedience of Adam, through which all were made sinners, and the obedience of Christ, through which the many will be made righteous (v.19).
Romans 5:19
For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
Paul ends Chapter 5 magnifying the triumph of grace:
Romans 5:20-21
The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From Moses to Jesus, death reigned like an evil dictator. But from Jesus onward, grace reigns like a righteous king through Jesus Christ!