Romans 5

Romans 5:1-11 – Peace Through Christ

Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through Jesus.  We have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand.  We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  (Rom. 5:1-2)

What does having peace with God mean?  Before we were justified through faith in Jesus, we were God’s enemies.  Being at peace means instead of being at war with Him, we are at peace with Him.  We are truly resting in God while all around us there is war.  We now have a friendship with God.  We have unity with Him and have the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Because of His grace, nothing can separate us from God’s love.

What is the hope of the glory of God?  Christian hope is different than the hope we usually talk about.  It’s not wishful thinking.  Hope in God is that He will do everything He promises.  It’s the hope that one day we will see God Himself – that gives us hope.  Sin has spoiled our glory, but one day God will change us and we will be a part of His glory.  That’s hope.                            

Paul says we also rejoice in our sufferings.  This suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character hope.  (Rom. 5:3-4)

How can we be glad that we suffer?  I don’t know any suffering that is joyful.  Do you?  Paul says suffering does something and accomplishes something.  It’s productive and has value.  We know it works and that is what makes us rejoice.  It’s like a woman in labor.  She suffers during child birth, but she knows it produced something worthwhile.

I think he might also be talking about the suffering we endure as Christians.  Matt. 5:11-12 Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.”  As Christians we are attacked for our faith and belief in Jesus.  When this happens, we are sharing what Christ’s suffered.  He too was attacked and mocked.  When we suffer because of our faith, we become stronger.  It develops our character and strengthens our faith.

Principle:  Being justified through faith brings hope and peace with God.

Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.  We see just at the right time when we were powerless that Christ died for the ungodly.  God demonstrates His love for us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom. 5:5-8)

God will never disappoint us.  He has given us the Holy Spirit who helps us know God loves us.  God has proven His love by giving us His Son, Jesus to die on the cross.  He chose to rescue us just at the right time.  While we were sinners and powerless, He died for us.  There was and is nothing we can do to save ourselves.  He died for all sinners then, now and those in the future.

Have you accepted Jesus as your rescuer?

Since we have been justified by His blood, how much more can we be saved from His wrath.  We were God’s enemies, but were reconciled to him through the death of Jesus.  Then how much more can we be saved.  We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Rom: 5:9-11).

We are considered righteous because of Jesus’ death made us righteous and God has forgiven our sin.  We will not suffer punishment.  Our salvation is complete.  We were His enemies, but are now His friends.

If you have been reconciled to God, do you rejoice, really rejoice?

Romans 5:12-21 – Life Through Christ

Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and this death came to all men because all sinned.  Death reigned from Adam to Moses.  Adam was the pattern of the one to come.  Many died by the sin of one man, then God’s grace and gift came by the grace of the one man, Jesus that overflow to the many.  His gift is not like the sin.  Judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many sins and brought justification.  By the sin of one man, death reigned so those who receive God’s provision of grace and gift of righteousness will reign in life through one man, Jesus.  The result on one man’s sin condemned all men.  The result of one act of righteousness was justification bringing life for all men.   The law was added so that the sin might increase.  Where sin increased, grace increased.  Sin reigns in death and grace reigns through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus.  (Rom. 5:12-21).

Adam sinned because he didn’t obey God’s command to not eat from one special tree in the garden.  If he did, he would die.  Adam didn’t listen and he disobeyed so death was the result of his sin and then sin both physical and spiritual came to all people.  Everyone has the same nature as Adam so everyone has a tendency to sin.  There was sin in the world even before the law was given to Moses.  The law just made people recognize their sin.

Adam chose to do what he wanted.  Christ’s gift came because He loves us.  Many died because of Adam’s sin and many people received the gift of life because of Jesus.  Adam’s sin brought God’s judgment, but the death of Jesus was sufficient to make people righteous.  His death was the perfect sacrifice for sin and He had to die only one time for all people.  Adam’s sin makes everyone guilty, but the righteous act of Jesus can make everyone righteous for those who will invite Him into their lives.  People became sinners because Adam did not obey, but many became friends with God because Christ obeyed.

There is a lot in these verses and Paul seems to be repeating himself and sometime it seems he is going around in circles and sometimes he is hard to understand.  I think it is because he wants us to understand exactly why we must be justified by faith.  He wants us to realize that this gift of grace that Jesus gives us is the most import gift we will ever receive.

The lesson for me is that we should watch our behavior and the choices we make, because they affect our children and others who are watching.  Our choices probably won’t affect the entire human race like Adam, but our conduct will affect others.

Some people believe we are born a good person and just do bad things.  That is not what the Bible teaches.  We are sinners even from the womb - Ps. 51:5; 58:3, Rom. 3:10; 3:23; 5:12, 1 John 1:10 – just to mention a few.  We are born selfish and self-centered.  Just look at a baby and how he cries to get wants he wants.  Because we are born of the flesh, we are united with Adam because of our sin.  We are enemies with God and are separated from Him, because we are sinners.  We must accept and believe in Jesus to forgive our sins, and then we will be united with Him and reconciled to God.

Are you being deceived into thinking you are a good person and have nothing to worry about?

Have you repented of your sins and trusted in Jesus as your Savior?

Principles: 

Through Adam’s sin all were condemned, but through Christ’s righteousness all in Him are justified.

The law is necessary to expose and convict us of our sin.

There is abundant grace for sinners who have trusted in Jesus.

There are 2 kingdoms that reign – the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan.  Those who belong to Satan’s kingdom will suffer permanent death and eternal destruction.  Those who belong to the Kingdom of God will have redemption and forgiveness and eternal life.

To which Kingdom do you belong?

Next time we will study Romans 6.  Have a blessed day and thanks for visiting my site.  Hope to see you here again.  --  I encourage you to trust in Jesus.

__________________________________________

If you have enjoyed my post and have found if helpful, please leave a comment or share this post with the buttons below. 

You can follow me by clicking the “Follow” button or you can "Subscribe by Email".  If you follow by email, you will receive an email every time there is a new post.