Past, Present And Future Of Justification Series

The Past, Present and Future of Justification

Text: Rom. 5:1-11

Introduction

1. This morning we are going to talk about…THEOLOGY! “Now wait a minute Pastor Mark, we don’t want to talk about theology, we just want to talk about Jesus!” Well, you can’t talk about Christian theology and not talk about Jesus! When we talk about what we believe about Jesus and what he did for us we are talking about theology. When we talk about Jesus Christ, we are talking about the theological concept called Christology, which means the study of Christ (anything “ology” means the study of).

2. What we are going to talk about this morning is the concept of justification.

a. Now before you get all bent out of shape with this big theological word, I have good news for you.

b. Justification = Just As If I Never Sinned!

c. Now isn’t that good news? You bet it is. In fact, it’s not only good news, it’s awesome news!

3. Proposition: Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, it’s as if I never sinned!

4. In our text today, Paul talks about…

a. Present Results of Justification

b. Past Basis of Justification

c. Future Promise of Justification

5. Would you stand with me this morning as we read Rom. 5:1-11.

Transition: First, Paul talks about…

I. Present Results (1-5).

A. Justified By Faith

1. So, Paul’s topic of conversation this morning has to do with this concept of justification. Now, we have already established that it means “just as if I’d never sinned. But let’s go a little bit deeper.

a. It literally means “to set or put something right.”

b. In a judicial sense, it means to be declared not guilty!

c. All of our past sins are no longer counted against us.

d. Now, I don’t know about you, but that is a good deal as far as I’m concerned.

2. Paul begins this chapter with, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

a. Paul's opening statement is a summary of everything that he has said from 1:18-4:25.

b. Notice that he is using the past tense here, since you have been, referring to their conversion.

c. This is the heart of the gospel message: once we were sinners deserving judgement, but now we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and declared right with God because of our faith.

d. The first blessing of our being made right with God is peace, referring to the OT sense of shalom, "a state of well- being."

e. As a result of what Christ has done, we have had our sins forgiven and our guilt removed. We are now "good" with God again.

f. All of this comes through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is both the avenue of our salvation and the Lord of our life.

g. There is no way to experience this peace with God without a relationship with Jesus.

3. Then in v. 2 Paul says, “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.”

a. The second blessing of justification is access by faith into the grace in which we stand.

b. What Paul means by access is that we have access to God's presence, like having access to royalty, in this case, access into the chamber of the King of kings.

c. There are two reasons we have this access: first, because of what Jesus did, and secondly, through faith.

d. Paul refers to this access as the grace in which we stand.

e. Paul is referring to this free gift that we could not earn or deserve.

f. We have been given this free gift because of Christ's work and our faith, and this is the situation we find ourselves in right now.

g. We not only have peace with God, but we also have a place in God's very presence.

4. Now, what Paul says in the next three verses seems a little hard to swallow at first, but hang with me on this one. He says, “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.”

a. At first glance, this verse might make us wonder if Paul wasn't a few fries short of a Happy Meal! Seriously, Paul, rejoice in our sufferings?

b. Don't forget, this is the same guy while sitting in a Philippian jail, around midnight said to his companion Silas, "hey, let's sing some worship songs!"