Romans 5: 1 - 11

1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

⁶ 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 person, though for a good person 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.

⁹ 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, while 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 boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Justified Through Faith.

‘Therefore…’ is one of Paul’s favourite words in his letters. He sets out an argument, and having established his premise, he now says, ‘having proved all that, this is what follows!’ The first four chapters of Romans have been explaining the seriousness of sin and that we are all sinners – Jews and Gentiles alike. But we can be saved and forgiven for our sins by the grace of God, received through faith. It’s not about our works – rather, like Abraham believed, and it was ‘credited to him as righteousness’, so we also receive God’s righteousness through believing. Therefore… (v. 1), having been justified through faith, we now have peace with God, through Christ!

How do you feel about suffering? It is not anyone’s first choice in normal life, but those who suffer for their faith don’t have a choice. And if it comes, we glory in our sufferings, difficult though it is to imagine. And ‘suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope,’ (v. 3 - 4). At this time we need hope more than ever. I pray that our sufferings will not be severe, but that through it all we will develop perseverance, character and hope.

Who did Christ die for? The ungodly (v. 6). When did he die? At just the right time, when we were still powerless. Verse 8 is a well-known and well-loved verse that sums this up: ‘But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ He didn’t wait for us to get everything together, all sorted, all our behaviour and attitudes correct before he died for us. No, he died for sinners, when we were still sinners! Sometimes churches expect people to change first before they meet Jesus – if they do that they are getting it completely the wrong way round!

Verse 9 reminds us of the wrath of God (a topic too often forgotten or glossed over). Paul says that we have been justified by the blood of Christ – this means we have been declared innocent because of Jesus death on the cross. And because of that we are also saved from God’s wrath through Jesus. God has no punishment waiting for us because of our sins – we are forgiven, cleansed, made right and rescued from the consequences of our sin. Jesus has paid the price for our sins, averting the wrath of God from us. Hallelujah!

Romans 5 is like what happens when you climb a difficult hill and reach the brow where suddenly you can see a magnificent view stretched out ahead of you. Chapters 1 to 4 were about sin, and they were quite hard work. But now we get to chapter 5, we understand that the climb was worth it!

 

Prayer

Lord Jesus, I thank you that while I was still a sinner, you died for me! And I thank you that through your death and the shedding of your blood I am justified and reconciled to God! Help me live like I believe it, and help me to share this Good News with other people. Amen.