Romans 5:15-17

¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.¹⁶And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. ¹⁷For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Yesterday we flew into the second half of Romans 5, a tough nut to crack. We saw how Adam and Christ are the same; they are figureheads of humanity, you’re either in one or the other. God either sees you in Adam, as one who sinned with Adam in the garden, or God sees you as in Christ, as one who obeyed perfectly. And God will treat us accordingly, death or eternal life. Paul wants to show us the amazing gifts of justification by faith in Christ – Imputed righteousness, eternal life, freedom from the imputed unrighteousness of Adam, by contrasting the two. In verses 5:15-21 he outlines their characteristics, continuing to emphasise how they are identically patterned, but polarised to the extreme. The helpful picture is the Sahara Desert and the Swiss Alps – they both have similar, but opposite, effects on those who are in them – the climate of one leads to much death, one the climate of the other leads to much life. The ‘climate leading to much…’ being the similarity. So let’s look at the first three comparison in verses 15-17, and we’ll look at the final three in verses 18-21 in the next post.

Comparison 1 (v15) – But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

The comparison here is between Adam’s trespass and Christ’s disobedience. If one man’s trespass brought about the death of so many, Paul is certain that Christ’s free gift of grace (which is also the grace of God expressed, notice the doubling in the verse),  will abound for many (to life, I assume). The outpouring of life through the gracious act of Christ is even greater and more abounding than the outpouring of death through Adam’s disobedience.

Comparison 2 (v16) – And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

Here the comparison is between the judgements of God that each action leads to. Adam’s trespass brings condemnation to all in Adam, Christ’s free gift brings justification, even though it follows many trespasses. Thus, Christ’s free gift trumps the disobedience, it can justify those who have trespassed many times, though Adam’s one singular trespass spells utter condemnation. One is absolutely condemning, one is absolutely absolving. Those in Adam have no hope in remaining in him, those in Christ, can now have perfect hope despite past sins and guilt.

Comparison 3 (v17) - For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Paul’s point here is spectacular, and so easy to miss! Death reigns in the lives of all in Adam, because as we saw in verse 16, it brings complete condemnation from God. But those who receive the absolving, gracious, free gift of righteousness will reign in life through Christ. Death reigns in Adam, but those in Christ reign in life! Christians reign! We are victors, we are kings and queens of life, through Christ. It is the comparison of a slave and a king, one is chained by death, one rules in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Paul is not saying anything about the physical or material nature of life when he says we ‘reign’, he is highlighting how spectacularly alive we are when we are in Christ – we are so alive, compared to how dead we were – he is polarizing the two outcomes as much as he can, to show us once more how glorious justification by faith, and imputed righteousness is. Death reigned over you when you were in Adam, now you reign in life in Christ! It is universe shattering stuff.

This passage is highlighting Stay tuned for the next three.

Undeservedly reigning in life with you,

Matt.

Romans 5:12-15

¹²Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— ¹³for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. ¹⁴Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. ¹⁵But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

201 in 2010 is my goal. That is, this year I hope to post 201 times on this site – an average of 4 a week. That’s exciting, but if we’re honest (and we take into account my previous attempts at consistency here), it’s almost impossible to believe. Sigh. But I’m starting to think ‘why not?’, is it really that hard? And I start getting excited about the possibilities. With 201 posts, averaging 5 verses each, I can cover 1000 verses – that’s the rest of Romans, both the Corinthians and Galatians too! Would appreciate it if you sent up a prayer for my perseverance, and would be very encouraged if you left a comment that you read this (so I know I can be kept accountable!)

Onto Romans then. This is long one, so strap in, there’s gold to be had.

We have just (3 months ago) witnessed in the opening of Romans 5 the amazing love of Christ, which is the bedrock of our assurance of justification by faith in him – an assurance that leads us to rejoice, even in sufferings. Paul now takes an interesting turn, and compares Christ to Adam, in order that we might see more fully the riches of what he won for us (namely, justification and the imputation of righteousness). It might seem strange that Paul would compare Christ to Adam, and then even say that they have a lot in common – aren’t they polar opposites? In a way, yes they are complete opposites, but Paul wants to show us that while they are opposite in almost every way, their lives and actions are remarkably similar in their pattern  - especially in relation to us, the human race.

But as you might have noticed, this section of Romans is very tricky to read and get our heads around. You feel the roughness as soon as you read verses 12 and 13; Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yes, those alarm bells in your head are not misfiring, there is a grammatical error here. Paul sets himself up to make a point by comparing two things, but only states one. He begins with the ‘therefore’, and says ‘just as…’ but there is no ‘…so also’. We’ve got the start, but not the end of the sentence. The sentence is abruptly stopped after ‘all sinned’ – which is why the ESV has put a hyphen there. By placing verse 15 onto the end of verse 12, we find what Paul was probably going to say, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned, (v12) so also, the grace of God and the free gift of grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many (leading to eternal life) (v15, v21). Thus, we make sense of the often confusing phrase at the end of verse 14 that Adam was a ‘type of the one who was to come’  - or a ‘pattern’ as the NIV says. Adam is the same as Jesus, in the way that the dry Sahara desert is the same as the verdant Swiss Alps. Not same in nature (quiet opposite in fact), but same in pattern – just as all who find themselves in the Sahara get thirstier and die, so also, all who find themselves in the Alps get quenched and healthier. The similarity is in their bearing upon those who find themselves in them – they both affect people’s destiny in a similar (but opposite) extreme manner. One leads to death (and lots of it), one leads to life (and lots of it).

So it is with Christ and Adam. But before he can go on to flesh out this wonderful truth for us, Paul stops himself mid sentence in verse 12 to clarify something. What does it mean that all sinned (v12)? Does that mean, ‘Sin came into the world through Adam, and death through that sin, and so death spread to all men because all individually then sinned like Adam did in the garden’, or does it mean, ‘Sin came into the world through Adam, and death through that sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned with Adam in the garden’. Can you see how this could go either way? Can you see the difference. Read them again if needs be.

I am convinced Paul meant the latter option. It is the less convenient option for our brains, but the much more faithful option to the text. Somehow, mysteriously, the action of Adam was our action too. We sinned in Adam, with Adam in the garden. Though we were not there bodily in the garden, his action is our action. It is imputed to us, we will be held responsible for it, and death will come to us, not firstly because we sinned bodily in our own lives, but because deeper down we are in Adam – we are counted as a child of Adam, we were with him and in him as he sinned.

Now I understand very well that this is very hard for us to conceptualize and grasp – especially since our individualistic culture doesn’t make room for categories like this. But it is what the text is saying. Let me show you 1 weak reason, and 2 very strong reasons why I think it must be this way.

1. The simplest is that it says, ‘all sinned’ – not ‘all sin’. Though I don’t know whether the Greek actually emphasises this (and so it’s a weak argument), if Paul were telling us that death spread to us because we sin like Adam, not with him, he would have put ‘all sin’, not past tense, and made it clear using a comparative word such as ‘like’. That’s the weak reason.

2. A much stronger reason is that we cannot make sense of verses 13 and 14 unless we see them as verses proving that we sinned with Adam. It’s the very point Paul is making in these verses. “For sin indeed was in the world before the law was given” – that is, we know sin was around before the Mosaic law, “but sin is not counted where there is no law” – that is, these sinners before the Mosaic law could not be held accountable or punished by a law that was yet to appear. “Yet, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam” – Paul is saying, the people between Adam and Moses died, even though they had not sinned against the Mosaic law (like Adam did against the law in Eden), because they had already sinned with Adam. That’s why they died. Why else would they have died, unless they were being counted with Adam, in Adam, as Adam? Paul is making clear that our relationship with Adam is one of imputation – that is, the language of being with and in someone else – having their actions be seen as yours, and your actions being seen as theirs. All of humanity, be virtue of being Adam’s children are in him, and sinned with him in the garden.

3. This leads to the most powerful reason why it is important we say with Paul that we sinned with and in Adam and share in his death – it’s because Paul is comparing Adam and Christ, they are patterns of each other in relation to their bearing on us. If we say, as most would, that, ‘Through Adam sin and death entered the world and death spread to everybody because all sinned individually like Adam,’ then the comparison with Jesus must say likewise, “So also through one man, Jesus Christ, obedience and life entered the world and life spread to all because all individually did acts of obedience like Jesus”. And suddenly all of Romans 5 falls apart and doesn’t make sense. Justification by faith, and the imputation of Christ’s obedience ceases to exist.

You see, we are very happy with the doctrine of Christ’s imputation of obedience – i.e., we love being in Christ, and having Christ’s obedience counted as our obedience, and having life spread to us accordingly. But we begrudge against the doctrine of Adam’s disobedience, we hate being cursed because of ’someone else’s action’, or getting death because ’someone else stuffed up’.

But that’s not what happened. It wasn’t someone else’s action, it was our action.

If you’re still struggling, have a think about the cross. Who crucified Jesus? Who was there in the crowds mocking him, who hurled the insults? Was it not you? With one voice the crowd, the world yelled ‘Crucify him!’, and we yelled too.

The good news is that when we see our sinfulness, in the garden, and at Gethsemane, we can turn to Christ in faith and humility and be forgiven. More than that, we are actually transferred from being counted in Adam and the crowd to being counted in Christ. And suddenly, breathtakingly, it is not the disobedience of Adam that defines our eternal destiny, but the obedience of Christ. Suddenly, we are counted righteous, we are counted with Christ as one who has never sinned. We are not in Adam, but in Christ. God no longer sees us as Adam, but as his beloved child, Christ. Suddenly, we find ourselves worshipping the King and Lord of the universe, who died to save Adam – me.

Savouring the doctrine and grace of imputation,

Matt.

Romans 5:9-11

⁹Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. ¹⁰For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. ¹¹More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

We ended the last post with Paul’s doctrine of assurance, summed up by the wonderful v9. He now wraps up the section by giving us an assurance of why the assurance is assured (I assure you). We see him fleshing out v9 in v10, For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Here is Paul’s logic; If God sought to reconcile us, to bring us into friendship and peace (5:1), and sought this reconciliation to such an extant that he gave his Son in death – doing all this while we were his enemies, then, now that we are reconciled, and now that Christ is not dead but alive, shall we not much more be assuredly saved from the wrath of God? That was long winded, so I’ll try to condense; How could the wrath of God possibly fall on us - since it is we who were reconciled as enemies by the death of Christ, and are now at peace with him – as surely as Christ lives, how can we possibly not be saved?

One more time, even shorter now; If it were Christ’s blood that was shed for us, and that blood shed for enemies to make them friends with God – why would God do anything but welcome us home? The timing and nature of our salvation is the key to its assurance.

This is one the foundations of the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. Once you are bought by the blood of Christ shed for enemies, you cannot be ‘unransomed’, or ‘unjustified’, or ‘unreconciled’. It is inconceivable, and evidently from Romans 5 (and especially Romans 8), it is un-biblical. So no, a Christian cannot fall away. And yes, Christian, you are going to heaven. Embrace the truth with joy.

Paul does, for he replies to this wonderful doctrine of perseverance with v11, More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Those who are justified by faith and know they have peace with God (v1), who have obtained access by faith into grace (v2), who know that all things, even sufferings, lead to greater hope (v3-4), and into whose hearts the love of God has been poured out through the Holy Spirit (v5) – the love of God demonstrated in Christ’s death on the cross for sinners while they were sinners (v6-8), who know therefore that they have been justified by that blood of love and have complete salvation from the wrath of God (v9), and know the certainty of this assurance rooted in the nature and timing of this salvation (v10) – how could these people, and Christian this is you - how could these people be held back from always rejoicing in God through our Lord Jesus Christ? How is that conceivable? It is endlessly absurd to the extreme!

To think that one of these people could be held back from rejoicing in God!? That would be a contradiction, it would be an illogicality, an unacceptable response – it would be foolishness – it would have to come from such sinful motives, it would be completely unjustifiable, an outrage! No wonder Paul says in Philippians 4, Rejoice in the Lord always, again, rejoice in the Lord. It would never be right for them to choose anything other than rejoicing in their God through their Lord Jesus Christ. Never.

And yet…and yet, dear Christian – do we not find a thousand ways, a thousand justifications, a thousand reasons not to rejoice in God? 

There is not a Job in Sydney, dare I say this whole nation, who, once God had taken everything from him, every joy and comfort and luxury and health and happiness from his life - still rejoiced and blessed the name of his God. I am living proof of that. Just take one thing from me and, *click*, any hint of joy in God is gone.

Resolve now to rejoice. Repent of your joy-lessness in God, for it flows out of nothing but worldliness and sin. And return to your reconciler, your redeemer with a life of praise and worship today.

Heavenly Father, how can we your redeemed people, your reconciled by the blood of Christ people, not rejoice in you through Christ? And yet Father, we grumble and complain, rejoice in worldly things, and forget you always. We do not live lives marked by joy in you. Our joy is bound up in so many things other than you. We confess them now______, and ask for forgiveness. Help us to dwell on the truths of Romans 5, that we might evermore live to your praise and glory, always full of joy despite the circumstances, despite the pain, despite the loss - transform us we ask, that by the power of the Spirit, we might live radically glorify lives that clearly demonstrate that you are our joy, reward, prize, delight and all encompassing love. We pray this in the precious name of Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Rebuked,

Matt. 

P.S – Would love to hear from you if you are still following and reading. Please leave a comment on either this post or the front page – www.romans1133.wordpress.com - Thanks!

 

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.