Unwavering Faith Series

Romans 5:1-5a. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 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. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 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.) (ESV)

Tomorrow is Halloween. But more importantly, it’s Reformation Day—when the church celebrates and commemorates October 31, 1517. It was on this day that a 33-year-old theology professor at Wittenberg University walked over to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and nailed a paper of 95 theses to the door, hoping to spark an academic discussion about their contents. In God’s providence and unbeknownst to anyone else that day, it would become a key event in igniting the Reformation. There’s a common phrase among theologians that uses classical philosophical categories of causes to describe the Reformation: the authority of the Bible was its “formal cause” while the doctrine of justification was its “material cause.” (Luther’s 95 Theses: An Interview with Carl Trueman (thegospelcoalition.org))

In chapters 3 and 4 of Romans, the Apostle Paul establishes unequivocally that salvation comes only on the basis of God’s grace working through a believers faith. The apostle has established the fact that faith has always been the only way to salvation. Abraham, the physical progenitor of all Jews and their supreme example of a man right with God, did not accomplish that relationship through his good works but only through his faith. The questions and objections Paul now addresses pertain to how salvation is maintained. “Granted that a person is made right with God only by ‘being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus’ ” (3:24; cf 4:24), some of Paul’s readers would say. “Under what conditions then is redemption preserved? If a person is saved only through his faith, apart from any good works they may achieve, does that mean such a person can live just as they please because of their right relationship with God is eternally secure? Or is salvation preserved by one’s good works?”

What is it that people are most seeking in life, once their basic physical needs are satisfied? Some say they are seeking “freedom.” Movements for national liberation are usually based on this intense human desire. But we say that we are free. We have been free of foreign domination…, and our constitution and legal system affirm our individual liberties. Yet most of us are as restless and discontented (perhaps even more so) as those living under strongly oppressive regimes. Is it wealth we are seeking? One of the richest men in the world once said, “I thought money could buy happiness. I have been miserably disillusioned.” Others seek fulfillment through education, fame, sex, or power, but most are discontented even when they attain such goals. What is the reason? The explanation is that what people are really seeking is peace, and the ultimate and only genuine peace is found in a right relationship with God. The great North African Christian, Saint Augustine, expressed it best more than a millennium and a half ago, when he wrote in his Confessions, speaking of relating to God: “You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you.” (Boice, J. M. (1991–). Romans: The Reign of Grace (Vol. 2, p. 504). Baker Book House.)

In Romans 5:1-5, the Apostle Paul shows how people can achieve real peace through “Unwavering Faith” in God. Here he presents “links” in the chain of truth that binds a true believer eternally to their Savior and Lord, completely apart from any effort or merit on the believer’s part. Believer’s can be Assured of their salvation, possessing Unwavering Faith because of three things. First: 1) The believer’s Peace with God (Romans 5:1), Second, their 2) Standing in Grace (Romans 5:2a), and finally, their 3) Hope of glory (Romans 5:2b-5a)

Believer’s can be Assured of their salvation, possessing Unwavering Faith because of:

1) The Believer’s Peace with God (Romans 5:1)

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (ESV)

The first link in the unbreakable chain that eternally binds believers to Christ is their peace with God. The term therefore connects Paul’s present argument with what he has already said. In fact, “since we have been justified by/through faith” (v. 1) summarizes the entire argument of chaps. 1–4. In chapter 1, the wrath of God is declared. In chapter 2 is the summary of deserving judgement because all have transgressed God’s law and are deserving of His wrath. In chapter 3, we see our inability to save ourselves from the wrath of God and in chapter 4, Abraham is illustrated as the example of one who was justified by faith alone, just as how everyone to repents of sin can be right with God. Now in chapter 5, we see how one can have assurance of faith. Faith does not focus on our faithfulness or trustworthiness, but on God’s. Those who have placed their trust in Christ can rest assured that their faith has been credited to them as righteousness (Rom 4:24). Their confidence is based on the fact that Christ was put to death for their sins and raised again that they might be declared just (Rom 4:25) (Mounce, R. H. (1995). Romans (Vol. 27, pp. 132–133). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.).