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Turn to Romans 5. We are now entering a glorious spiritual banquet hall filled with rich gourmet food for our souls. Martin Luther wrote, “In the whole Bible there is hardly another chapter which can equal this triumphant text.” Here and right up through chapter 8 God teaches us the absolute and eternal security of every soul who trusts in Christ for his or her justification. Romans 5:1-11 is worth reading again and again while pondering and praying with thanksgiving. If you struggle with doubts or even depression or anxiety or fear, this passage is for you. Take a strong dose of these most assuring truths. As I read through verses 1-11 notice these themes:
- Everything here is through Christ alone, not through your church or sacraments or any self-efforts whatsoever.
- Behind Christ’s redeeming work is the amazing love God has for His people.
- Everything gets better and better. You see it in verses 3 and 11: “not only this but…”
- Everything in this passage highlights the absolute security of every believer in Christ.
- Three times Paul calls us to a joyful, confidently exulting in all these truths.
THE GRAND BANNER TRUTH OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH ALONE
Romans 5:1a, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we…
First, whenever you see a “therefore” you want to ask, “What’s it there for?” And of course, here it points back to Romans 3 and 4 where Paul hammered away the doctrine of justification by faith alone based on the work of Christ alone. Our guilt was imputed to Him on that cross and His righteousness was imputed to our account.
Notice it says, “having been justified…” Get ready for a few grammar lessons this morning. “Having been justified” is an aorist passive participle, a verbal adjective describing a noun or pronoun, in this case the pronoun “we.” We who believe are the ones described as having been justified by faith. Some versions translate it “being justified” as if justification is an ongoing work, but justification for believers is an accomplished fact, a completed act. Sometime in your personal history you heard the gospel and God opened your heart to understand your need to be saved. You knew you were a sinner before God and you trusted in Christ alone to save you from an eternal hell and bring you to God, and God declared you righteous. No one is born justified; it happens to each believer at a point in time. You may not know exactly when, but sometime in your past God declared you righteous. If you don’t know if you are in this truth and have been declared righteous by God, if this great banner truth of justification by faith doesn’t fly over your life, then settle it today. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved (Romans 10:13).
Grammar lesson number two: having been justified by faith is in the passive voice. You didn’t justify yourself. You were justified by someone outside of yourself. Having been kissed by your wife means your wife kissed you. She initiated it and completed it. Having been justified means God justified you. And we can add, it’s a legal, forensic declaration. God didn’t make you righteous, but He declared you righteous with the righteousness of Christ.
How did you access this great gift of justification? By faith alone. Imagine if Paul said having been justified by your works or good deeds, or by the law, or by your baptism or by your church. No, faith is the empty hand of your heart receiving this gift – freely by His grace. We find out later in Romans that God is even the one who gave you the gift of faith through a new heart to enable you to believe. We all were dead in our sins, unable and unwilling to come to Christ. But God through the gospel message breathes life into dead souls and gives the capacity to believe. That’s called regeneration. For a little theology lesson: regeneration always precedes faith.
We should never walk around thinking, “I’m going to heaven because I was smart enough to believe.” No, you weren’t. In yourself you didn’t even have a desire to come to Christ. God gave you that desire as a gift, so thank Him even for the gift of faith! Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Your entire relationship with God from beginning to end is by the pure grace of God. Never forget that. And always be thankful for God’s grace.
So, with this grand banner of “justification by faith” leading the way, in verses 1-2 God is going to give us three tremendous, assuring truths that flow right out of justification by faith: peace with God, access into God’s grace, and hope in God’s glory.
YOU HAVE UNENDING PEACE WITH GOD
Romans 5:1b, We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
In our sin we were in a state of war with God. “What do you mean? I’ve always been at peace with God. He can do His thing and I’ll do mine. I’m not angry at God. I even feel peace in my heart toward God.” No, at the most fundamental level, our greatest problem was that God’s wrath was on us. In our sin as rebels against God, we were sinners in the hands of an angry God. John 3:36 says, “he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” Ephesians 2:3 says we were children of wrath. Friends, everyone outside of Jesus Christ is at war with God. God hates sin and His wrath is upon you whether you know it or not.
Now you read this text against that black background: having been justified by faith, WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. If you are regenerated and in Christ, the war is over for you. This is why peace with God is the first and most important blessing coming to us through Jesus Christ. All the wrath we deserved was poured out on His Son. And notice, (grammar alert!), “we have peace” is in the present indicative form. This means we have it, right now, it will never end. This peace is not first a feeling, but a fact, a present reality. The war is over. That’s a fact. God is reconciled to us and we draw a personal sense of assurance, or the enjoyment of peace with God in our hearts. If we lose that sense of peace, the fact of peace remains, because we have it. That’s a promise from God. Like marriage, you may not feel married at times, but you are. It’s a fact. You’ve got a marriage certificate to prove it. In Pilgrim’s Progress when Christian and Hopeful took the easier path “By-path Meadow,” they ended in Doubting Castle bludgeoned by Giant Despair. Christian finally remembered he had the key of promise that unlocked every door out of that miserable dungeon and out they went. Peace with God is the first promise of your security in Christ.
How do we have this peace with God? Through one means only. Through Jesus Christ alone. There is no other way to peace with God. How many people think everything is fine between them and God, even though they reject Christ. You can’t reject Christ and be fine with God. No, Christ is our peace. Colossians 1:20 says He made peace through the blood of His cross. Ephesians 2:14 assures us He Himself is our peace. There is no other.
Peace with God! The first and foremost blessing resulting from that great doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone. And unlike the peace treaties of men that never last, this is a peace that will never end, that assures you all is well between you and your God forever. “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.”
YOU HAVE BEEN INTRODUCED INTO GOD’S GRACE
Romans 5:2a, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand…
Let’s feast on this savory dish of truth. “Through whom” is Christ. We should never tire of hearing about Christ. Paul never did. What has He done for us? Christ has opened the door and introduced us into a grace-standing with God. We stand in God’s unmerited favor. Christ has brought us into God’s Grace Palace. Remember the Israel’s temple? I read this week that Herod’s temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus had a curtain or veil hanging between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. This curtain was 60 feet high and 30 feet wide and four inches thick. No one was allowed to go past this curtain into the Holy of Holies except the High Priest once a year. If he messed up while in there, he would die suddenly. That’s why little bells hung off his robe. Silent bells meant there was trouble. I hate to ruin a great story, but the idea that they tied a rope around his foot so they could drag him out in case he died in the Holy of Holies well may be just that, a story. But then again, if he did drop dead in the Holy of Holies, how would they get his corpse out if no one else was allowed to enter?
When Christ came to the end of His six hours on the cross, He cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit to the Father. Immediately the earth shook, rocks were split, and that 60x30x4-inch curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom. Picture that powerful scene! Christ on the cross had torn down the barrier between God and sinners. The word “introduction” means to lead into or have immediate access into someone’s presence. Ephesians 2:18 says, “For through Him we both have our access (same word) in one Spirit to the Father.” Ephesians 3:12, “in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him.” Jesus opens the door into the grace of the Father’s presence!
We now stand, firmly and fixed, in this grace-standing with God. Picture this wonderful Grace Palace, with its windows glowing with warm, inviting light. Sounds of singing and laughter and nothing but joy come from this wonderful place. But as you look in, you realize you are outside in the harsh, cold darkness. You can’t go in. You’re shut out because of your sin. You need Someone to take you in. Then the Owner’s Son comes out and calls you to Himself through the gospel. He puts His arm around you and takes you right into His grace and now not only do you have peace with God, but He opens that door and takes you right into this grace-standing, into the Father’s presence. First Peter 3:18 puts it so clearly, “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us (same Greek word as “introduce”) to God.”
Ladies and gentlemen, we as believers in Christ are standing on grace ground. Not law or works ground, but because of undeserved favor by God. Grammar lesson: “stand” is in the perfect tense – we have stood. Christ brought us to God in the past and this standing in grace continues right up to the present. Plus, the word “stand” means firmly and immovably established. There you are in the presence of God Almighty, who formerly was at war with you but now is at peace with you. He receives you into personal fellowship, a loving relationship without fear or doubt, yet fully aware you don’t deserve this. For all eternity we will be conscious that we are standing on grace ground and that we don’t deserve to be there in God’s presence.
YOU NOW LIVE WITH CONFIDENT EXPECTATION OF GOD’S GLORY
Romans 5:2b, and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Let’s not underemphasize this word “exult.” Paul means we are beside ourselves with triumphant joy. That’s what exult means. There’s almost a holy swagger about it. “Are you sure Paul?” He replies, “I couldn’t be more sure!” It is even translated “boast,” but here our boasting is completely in the Lord, not in our own deeds. We’re not proud of ourselves. Our sense of triumph, of joyful victory, is completely in Christ. Haldane reminds us of how the Eunuch and the Philippian jailor in Acts both rejoiced the moment they believed. Remember that poor fellow in Acts 3 who was lame from his mother’s womb? Peter came along and healed him, and he responded by “walking and leaping and praising God” (Acts 3:8). That’s what exult means.
If we could only see ourselves as we were under God’s wrath and outside of His grace and contrast that to our new status of having peace with God, standing in His grace, and our future packed with certainty, with this hope, confident expectation, we would do more exulting! We were hell bound, and now we are glory bound! Fanny Crosby wrote, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.” This should be our song all day, every day.
We’re exulting in hope. That’s not “I sure hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” Rather it is a confident expectation based on the facts of God’s Word. This isn’t a possibility of what might happen, but the guarantee of what will happen.
And what is our confident expectation? It is that we will see the glory of God, of Jesus, the glory of heaven. When the angels came to those shepherds, the glory of God surrounded them. When the three disciples went with Jesus up to the mount of transfiguration, this glory burst forth and they saw His glory (Luke 9:32).
We’re headed to the celestial city and what will happen when we get there? We’ll not only see the glorious majesty and splendor of the invisible God, but we’ll be glorified. God will make us just like He intended humans to be, but it will be even better than Genesis 2 before the fall. Right now we’re being transformed in our sanctification from one degree of glory to another (2 Cor. 3:18). When Christ comes for His church at the Rapture, we’ll instantly be changed into the perfect likeness of Christ. Even our bodies will be just like Christ’s body and reflect His glory.
Philippians 3:20-21, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
When we are totally glorified, we’ll rejoice in the presence of His glory.
Jude 1:24, Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,
Charles Wesley put it beautifully in his hymn “Love Divine.”
Changed from glory into glory till in heaven we take our place;
Till we cast our crowns before Thee, lost in wonder, love, and praise.
SO WHAT?
We are living under that banner truth of justification by faith alone and these are three of the wonderful blessings: peace with God, standing in His grace, and confident expectation of coming into God’s glory. What a future! Is this banner of justification by faith alone flying over your heart, identifying your spirit? Can you with Paul say you have peace with God rather than His wrath are indeed? Are you standing on grace-ground with God, fully accepted by Him? Do you have that confident expectation of God’s glory instead of condemnation?