Romans Chapter 5
Paul completed his case that God justifies sinners on the basis of faith alone, and he turned his pen to counter the notion that although believers receive salvation by faith, they will preserve it by good works.
He argues that they are bound eternally to Jesus Christ, preserved by His power and not by human effort.
For the Christian, the evidences of that eternal tie are:
1.His peace with God (verse 1);
2.His standing in grace (verse 2a);
3.His hope of glory (verses
4.His receiving of divine love (verses
5.His certain escape of divine wrath (verses
6.His joy in the Lord (verse 11).
Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"
“Justified”:
Means just as if I had never sinned.
Being justified underscores that justification is a one time legal declaration with continuing results, not an ongoing process.
Galatians 2:16 "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
Peace comes when we are assured of our salvation.
It is not an internal sense of calm and serenity, but an external, objective reality.
God has declared Himself to be at war with every human being because of man’s sinful rebellion against Him and His laws.
The first great result of justification is that the sinner’s war with God is ended forever and this scripture refers to the end of this conflict as a person’s being reconciled to God.
Romans 5:2 "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
We have access to the Father, because Jesus tore down the middle wall of partition and gave us access when He died on the cross.
We see how Jesus furnished us access to the Father.
Mark 15:38 "And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom."
This curtain was not torn down by man, but by God.
What was so unthinkable to the Old Testament Jews is now available to all who come.
“Stand”:
Refers to the permanent position believers enjoy in God’s grace.
“Hope in the Glory of God”:
Unlike the English word “hope”, the New Testament word contains no uncertainty; it speaks of something that is certain, but not yet realized.
The believer’s ultimate destiny is to share in the very glory of God, and that hope will be realized because Christ Himself secures it.
Without the clear and certain promises that comes from the Word of God, the believer would have no basis for hope.
Romans 5:3 "And not only [so], but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;"
Jesus taught that in this life you will have tribulation and that the only peace is in Him.
John 16:33 "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."
2 Corinthians 1:4 "Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."
You see, the problems come to all.
Christians have Jesus to lean upon in their troubles.
In Revelation 7:14, we see all the Christians around the throne who have been taken out of great tribulations on this earth.
He promises He will be with us and provide a way out for us.
Matthew 5:45 "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."
One of the greatest examples of someone who was perfect and upright in the sight of God, and yet has great tribulation, is found in the book of Job.
Job is tested by tribulation and yet his patience never tires.
When we are going through tribulation
Jesus was tried for 40 days and nights, but never faltered.
We can make it too, if we keep in the back of our mind that it is for our own good and not harm.
Patience (also known as perseverance), refers to endurance, the ability to remain under tremendous weight and pressure without succumbing.
Romans 5:4 "And patience, experience; and experience, hope:"
“Experience”:
Means character, or a better translation would be proven character.
The Greek word simply means “proof”.
It was used of testing metals to determine their purity.
Here the proof is Christian character.
Christians can glory in tribulations because of what those troubles produce.
All Christians have the hope of the resurrection.
In Lamentations 3:26 "[It is] good that [a man] should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD."
I have discovered that God allows these little trials to come along to see if we will rely on Him while we endure under pressure.
If we fold in the trial, then we have to go through another similar trial until we learn to lean on him in our trials.
1 Thessalonians 4:13 "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope."
Romans 5:5 "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
We find that this Holy Ghost spoken of here comes and dwells within us as soon as we accept Christ as our Savior.
It is the Holy Ghost in us that loves others unselfishly.
God has implanted within our hearts evidence that we belong to Him in that we love the One who first loved us.
We are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation.
If we are ashamed of Jesus or the Holy Ghost here, He will be ashamed of us in heaven. We must not be ashamed but boldly tell of our Lord and Savior and His blessed Holy Spirit.
Romans 5:6 "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly."
The mystery of it all is how He loved us enough to die for us while we were evil in every way. Unregenerate sinners are spiritually dead and incapable of doing anything to help themselves. “In due time”:
Meaning at the time that God had chosen.
Jesus died for those who deserved to go to hell, because they had sinned. “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom.3:10). Everyone needs a Savior.
God loves a sinner and has made way for him or her: the way is Jesus Christ our Lord. He gave each of us a free will so we must be willing to be saved, then Jesus does the rest.
Romans 5:7 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die."
This is just saying that it would have been a little more understandable that Jesus would die on the cross for us, if we had been good people.
As uncommon as such a sacrifice is, Paul’s point is that we were neither righteous or good yet Christ sacrificed Himself for us.
There are no good people.
Matthew 19:17 "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
A death of this cruel nature would be hard to endure, even for righteous people, but for wicked people it is almost not understandable.
The reason we do not understand is because God’s love is so much greater than any thing we know about.
Romans 5:8 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
In verse eight above, it is as if God forced His love to be shown by His mighty hand.
The word “commandeth” means more than just give.
The greatest love ever known was when God the Father gave His only begotten Son to die on the cross for you and me that we might be saved.
The mystery of it all is He does not wait until we are good enough to be saved.
Romans 5:9 "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."
The wrath being spoken of here is not God’s temporal wrath to come on the earth as in the book of Revelation, but of God’s eternal wrath reserved for unrepentant sinners.
We see this (in 1 Thess.
“By His blood”:
Not by His physical blood, but by His death we shall be saved from wrath through him, through His violent, substitutionary death.
References to the blood of the Savior include the reality that He bled in His death, a necessity to fulfill the Old Testament imagery of sacrifice, but are not limited to the fluid itself.
New Testament writers also use the term “blood” as a graphic way to describe violent death.
References to the Savior’s blood are not simply pointing to the fluid, but at His death and entire atoning work.
Because Christ bore the full fury of God’s wrath in the believing sinner’s place, there is no fury left for him.
Romans 5:10 "For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life."
When we were still God’s enemies, Christ was able by His death to reconcile us to God.
Certainly, now that we are God’s children, the Savior can keep us by His living power.
In John
Because He (Jesus), lives, we shall live also.
Jesus is life:
In John 14:6 "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
Jesus is life.
If we have Jesus, we have life.
Romans 5:11 "And not only [so], but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."
2 Cor. 5:18 tells us: “And all things [are] of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”.
All the aspects related to someone’s conversion and newly transformed life in Christ are accomplished by a sovereign God.
Sinners on their own cannot decide to participate in these new realities.
‘Atonement”:
Means restoration to divine favor.
Notice, this atonement is by Jesus Christ.
Even our joy is in Him.
Romans Chapter 5 Questions
1.In verse one we are justified by what?
2.Who do we have peace with God through?
3.In Galatians 2:16, we find that no man is justified by what?
4.When does peace come to the believer?
5.How do we have access to the Father?
6.How was the veil of the temple rent?
7.We glory in tribulations knowing that tribulations worketh what?
8.In John 16:33, we find that in Jesus we might have _____________.
9.In this world we will have_____________.
10.In Revelation 7:14, who do we see around the throne?
11.Who does God make the sun to shine on?
12.What is possibly the best illustration of tribulation undeserved?
13.What do we need to remember when we are being tried?
14.Patience and experience brings what?
15.In 1 Thessalonians 4:3, what hope does the Christian have?
16.What Old Testament book gives promise of the same hope?
17.Hope maketh not ashamed, why?
18.What within us loves others unselfishly?
19.Verse 6 said, Christ died for whom?
20.What is our only way out?
21.Verse 7, maybe for __________ _______ ________ some would even dare to die?
22.God _______ His ________ toward us?
23.What condition were we in when Jesus died for us?
24.What is the greatest love ever known?
25.In verse 9, we find that we are justified by what?
26.We will be saved from the ________ to come?
27.How were the Christians dressed in Rev. 7?
28.Where had they come from?
29.In verse 10, when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by what?
30.In John 11:25, Jesus said He was two things, what were they?
31.In John 14:6, Jesus calls Himself 3 things, name them.
32.The word atonement in verse 11 means what?