Romans 5:6-9

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

This is if course an incredibly well known passage, often preached during evangelistic sermons – and understandably so. However, it is rarely preached in context, and therefore rarely understood as a non-evangelistic passage (which, as we shall see, was how it was actually meant to be read). The usual omission by evangelistic preachers being the word ‘for’ at the start of v6; it is either ignored or left out entirely.

What is the ‘for’ there for? Well, we were left at the end of v5 with Paul saying that he rejoices in all his life, including sufferings, for suffering leads to more and more hope (and hope is the chief foundation of his rejoicing), and that hope is a safe and solid thing to rejoice in because it will not put us to shame – it will not fail us, it is not in vain. He knows this because God’s love has been poured into his/our heart by the Holy Spirit (v5). The question we were left with was, “How can Paul be so sure that God loves him?” The rest of this section in Romans then, is looking at the connection between the loving action of God towards us, and our assurance of salvation. Paul wants us all to know the certainty of our salvation, and therefore, that our hope is not in vain and will not put us to shame.

So, to make the ‘for’ at the start of verse 6 work, let’s give Paul a question for him to answer; “Paul, you say in verse 5 that your hope will not put you to shame because God’s love has been poured into your heart by the Spirit – how are you so certain that God’s actions towards you are that of love?

⁶For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Thanks Paul. You’ll notice in these verses a simple ABA logical structure; How is Paul certain of God’s love for us?

A: For it was while we were weak/sick/powerless that Christ died for the godless (v6)

B: People very rarely die even for good people (v7)

A: But Christ died for us while we were sinners (v8b)

Therefore, Christ’s death is a demonstration of the love of God towards us (v8a). It is when we behold our sinfulness and depravity that the death of Christ makes no sense – except as an act of love, an act of unmerited grace. It’s the only way you can make sense of the motive of the cross – it must have been the love of God. It is not a love rooted in the beauty of the beloved, for there was simply nothing lovely about us – we were godless, weak and sinful – terms that should not be taken lightly in remembrance of Romans 1-3. No, the love of God is rooted entirely in God’s character of love. He loves because he loves. It is not a satisfying answer, yes, but it is the only answer that makes sense in the end. It is a love that takes the words out of mouth, and leads us to fall before him and offer our lives as living sacrifices, for we cannot offer anything else – or anything less. It debases us so we are unable to take anything from God except his grace, and debases us so we are obliged to give him all the glory, and keep none ourselves. We get all the grace, he gets all the glory. That’s the way things are meant to be.

What shall we conclude from this love of God towards us? We should conclude with exactly the point Paul set out to make from these verses; Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (v9)

Paul didn’t write verses 6-8 for us to use in evangelistic sermons, but in sermons to Christians. He didn’t write it to evangelise, but build up and encourage Christians. Will our hope put us to shame? No. Can we be certain that our hope is not in vain? Yes. Why? Because if we have been made righteous by Christ’s death (his ‘blood’), and therefore we have been saved by God’s love, how much must we be certainly saved from the wrath of God! God’s love has been poured into our hearts, the love of a dying saviour dying for unworthy sinners. If that is the way God has worked towards us – why on earth would we think that our hope will be put to shame by the world, Satan or anything else in all creation?

This is not an evangelistic passage, but a passage to get us evangelising – your hope is secure, therefore, go take up your cross, risk a thousand risks of love for the gospel of the love of God! Give your life for the king and his kingdom.

Singing the praises of the lamb with you,

Matt.

Romans 5:1-5

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I find that one of the easiest things to do in life is to lose my joy in God; to stop rejoicing. A little sickness, a little useless moping over sin (as opposed to repentance, which leads to joy), a little thing to make me impatient, a bad night’s sleep, a little folding of the hands in laziness – I could go on. I thank God that he hasn’t put me through a time of intense, prolonged suffering in life yet – because I think I’m under-prepared spiritually to deal with it. But God isn’t going to wait till I’m ready, and he won’t wait for you either, we have to be ready now.

The one with the umbrella ready to go when the storm hits, will ride out the storm better than the one who didn’t think about bringing an umbrella. For the storms in life will come, if they haven’t already. And it’s always much harder to put the umbrella up when you’re lost in the storm. We need to get it out now. We need to read passages like Romans 5:1-5 now.

We need to understand first and foremost that suffering is not a curse from God, but a blessing. We need to step back and see the bigger picture between us and God. Remember, since we have been justified (declared righteous) by faith, we have peace with God (v1). That means, that if you are a Christian, and you are diagnosed with cancer, God is acting towards you peacefully. The proper response then, in all circumstances, is to rejoice in hope of the glory of God- for we stand in grace and the promise of eternal life in heaven is guaranteed by the work of Christ. No earthly suffering or trial compares to that. None of it affects the way God acts towards you.

But some might object – How can I rejoice when my body is in constant pain? Or, How can I possibly rejoice in hope of the glory of God when my life seems so hopeless? How can I rejoice, when God has taken so much from me? They are real, honest, brutal questions; ones that you might be feeling right now, and ones I do not wish to cast aside lightly. But have a look how Paul answers such objections;

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

How is it possible to rejoice when your child dies? How is it possible to rejoice when cancer comes? It’s possible if you put the suffering in its place. That’s really hard to do sometimes – but it’s the only way you’ll find your joy, the only way you’ll find a song, or a prayer or a life of praise and joy on earth. For when we see that suffering produces endurance, and that endurance produces within us character, and that character produces hope – we see that the design of suffering is not a dead end – we can actually win more hope. And hope is the stuff of rejoicing is it not? To say with Paul, “I rejoice in this suffering, this affliction, this trial – for I can see its God given design, I can see its effect, I can see its fruit…it changes my character…it fuels my hope…and I rejoice knowing that my hope, does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (v5).

Paul is saying, I don’t just rejoice when things are good. No, more than that, I can see the end of this suffering is hope. Hard-won hope. It doesn’t come by the road of ease and comfort. No, as I endure and press on through hardship, I am transformed, and my hope, my vision is lifted ever higher. And so I will rejoice, for I know my hope is not in vain, for I know the love of God for me, the love that was poured into my heart by the Spirit. I know that love…even in the depths of despair. Why then, should I not rejoice in God my saviour, God my hope?

Knowing the love of God for you puts steel in your hope. And having a hope of steel means you can rejoice no matter what. 

But how is Paul so sure that God loves him? Stay tuned for the next part of Romans 5.

Fighting for joy in suffering with you,

Matt.

Romans 5:1-2

¹ Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

“All we are saying is give peace a chance”, cried Lennon. Well, we’re nearly half a century on, and it still doesn’t look like the world is going to give peace a chance. Of course, as Christians we know this world will never know peace amongst itself until it has peace with God. For it is only those who belong to the Spirit-indwelling community of Christ can truly experience peace amongst themselves – across all age, gender, race and cultural divides, for they are one with Christ, who broke down all the walls of hostility (Ephesians 2-3).

Surely to have ‘peace with God’ is the greatest of all possible relationships. To be friends with the creator, to have no hostility with your maker and judge. To have him look on you with approval, rather than disdain – to have him accept you as his own, and to be able to relate with him. And to be able to do this without needs of penance, or constant self-belligerant sacrifice. Is that not what we want?

Well actually, no it isn’t. It’s the last thing we want, and that’s the problem. We would rather have power and glory than peace – and so we either ignore God and set ourselves up as King, or we write a new relationship contract with God based on our merit and works. Unsurprisingly, both result in enmity with God – and that is where we all stand before our maker and judge, as enemies.

And yet, Paul boldly states that since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The logic is simple. Since we have been declared innocent (justified) by faith, (and not law), we have peace with God – for such a justification rests entirely on the work of Christ on our behalf. The work of Christ fully satisfies the requirements of the law – for how else could those who have faith in him be declared innocent – and therefore, there is no longer any basis for enmity between Christians and God, but perfect peace. Ponder that for just a second. There is no longer any basis for enmity between those of faith and God. There is no reason for God to be anything but peaceful towards them. The perfect, righteous and holy Father, who hates sin with vengeance and wrath, at perfect peace with those who desire nothing more than to be at war with God. That is simply incredible. Therefore, what the Lord Jesus Christ did was simply incredible. for it is through him that we have this peace with God (v1).

v2 fleshes it out a little further; Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Why do those who have faith in Christ have peace with God? Because, Christ is the door into grace. And we enter through the door of Christ by faith in him. And so we now stand in the place of grace. We are swimming in an ocean of endless mercy and love! There is no better place to stand than in God’s grace! For those who stand in God’s grace spend their lives, and all eternity doing one thing, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God! We get the grace, God gets the glory! God gives the grace, we get peace with him! We stand in the room of grace – in the room of gift, not works – we stand in the room of peace, not enmity – we stand in the room of joy.

This is the first time in Romans that Paul has used the pronoun ‘we’. He is speaking to the church in Rome, and ultimately, to all the church of faith in Christ. Can you replace ‘we’ with ‘I’? Can you say, “Through Christ I have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which I stand, and I rejoice in hope of the glory of God”?

If you can’t, if only you would accept grace rather than fight for glory!

If you can, rejoice and live today in hope of an eternity of glorifying God.

Standing joyfully on grace,

Matt.

Romans 5:1

¹Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

We have reached another key structural verse in Romans. You might remember from way back, I introduced the helpful method of joining these key verses, and removing everything in between, as a good way to get our heads around the overall flow of the letter. Let’s give it a go;

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (1:14-17)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (1:18)

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. (2:6-8)

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
    “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. (3:9-11)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (3:21-25)

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. (4:3-5)

No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (4:20-25)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we  have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (5:1)

 We could make it even shorter if we like – 1:17, For in it (the gospel) The righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith…2:22, The righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe…5:1, Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

I hope you can see now, the core theme of Romans 1-5:1. It is all about righteousness, faith and justification through Christ. This is what the gospel is all about. There is on offer a righteousness from God, to sinful and hopeless humanity, that is received by faith alone in Jesus Christ’s gracious works – the end result of which is the deceleration of justification from God upon the sinner, which of course means eternal peace with God (5:1). 

I hope that was helpful in simplifiy these chapters for you, I encourage you now to read over them in your own time. We’re out of room in this post, so in the next post we’ll begin to explore these first few verses of chapter 5, and look at what it means to have peace with God.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Word, we thank you for its truth, its life giving truth. We thank you for your indwelling Spirit by which we read it. Please continue to help us understand it, love it, treasure it and make it known. Thank you for the wonderful good news of justification by faith in Jesus Christ. Help us never to let it go. In Christ’s good name. Amen. 

Wrestling with the Word alongside you,

Matt.   

Romans 4:16-25

¹⁶That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, ¹⁷as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. ¹⁸In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. ²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” ²³But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

We are BACK ON AIR! After several false restarts since the last post on the 31st of March, and after my two biggest readers asked for a comeback – I finally got typing. Please pray that such a break will not be repeated!

We return to Romans at the close of chapter 4, beginning at verse 16, which says, “That is why it depends on faith…” What is it and why does it depend on faith? Very simply, the it were the promises given to Abraham (see previous post for more details about the promise). Why do the promises given to Abraham depend/rest upon faith? Because, the previous verse said, “For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression…v16..THAT is why it (the promises) depend on faith“. If the promises rested on law, on Abraham’s ability to keep a set of rules, the only promise he would have seen was God’s just wrath against him. Therefore, for Abraham to actually receive the promises of God, God would have to design his relationship with Abraham so it was based on faith – otherwise his promise would not be kept – and God usually keeps his promises!

But why would faith guarentee the promises? Doesn’t that still mean that the promises still rested on Abraham’s ability to keep the faith? How is that any different from law and works? The answer is simple and given in the rest of v16 – “That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring.” You see, faith is not a work – maybe in our eyes, but certainly not in God’s eyes. It isn’t a law. It is the simple and broken trust of a sinner who falls upon the perfect gracious love and work and power of God to save. When Paul says the promsies depended on faith, he doesn’t mean that Abraham is the one holding it together – that would be ridiculous! No, when we say, as sinners ourselves, that our eternal life depends on our faith, we mean very clearly, and joyfully, that our eternal salvation depends on the grace of God alone. We were mere sinners drowning in the waves of sin and death with no hope, but God worked through Christ and swam out to save us. He simply said ‘trust me, take my hand Abraham/sinner’ – and we did. Our salvation was thereby guaranteed! Because it was not I who swam back to shore, but Christ who rose from the dead and dragged me there. Look at Abraham;

²⁰No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, ²¹fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. ²²That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

That is what faith is! Knowing that God has promised you great promises, and being fully convinced that God was able to do it, and will do it! You don’t have to squeeze your eyes really tight and think, “I am FULLY CONVINCED that God can do it” – just simply reflect upon God. Can he do it? Yes! Not because of who we are, but because of who God is and what God has done for us through Christ. Abraham didn’t consider how old and broken his body was, it didn’t matter – God had promised him children, a nation, a land – and all he did was grow stronger in faith – and that made God look glorious. Thus, this faith was counted to him as righteousness. And this same simple faith in the promises of God will make us righteous before him too. How can that be!? For, the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, ²⁴but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, ²⁵ who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Are you fully convinced that Jesus died for your trespasses, died to bear the wrath they deserved? Are you fully convinced that Jesus rose from the grave to declare once and for all that all who trust in him are justified and will rise over death leading to eternal life? Do you believe in him who raised this dead Jesus our Lord, do you believe he can save you by his might and power and promise? You should! And if you do, then you are a truster. You are throwing yourself on God’s grace alone. You are a Christian. And, incredibly, you are therefore, perfect in his sight.

Heavenly Father,
Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to your cross I cling. Naked come to you for dress, helpless look to you for grace. Stained by sin to you I cry, wash me Saviour or I die. I fall upon your grace Father. Thank you for Christ, thank you for grace. Help me to declare the end of works and law to all the world, and help me declare your never-failing grace and power to every nation. In Christ’s name. Amen

Worshipping God’s grace this morning.

Matt.