Chapter 5 is a new beginning. Chapters 1-3 demonstrate that sin is an issue that every man, woman, and child must deal with. ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALLEN SHORT. Chapter 4 Paul shows us that dealing with this problem is only possible through one means. Works righteousness is impossible….even Abraham demonstrated that by his life….only faith in Christ can deal with sin in our lives. THEREFORE: Pointing backwards, ‘because of all that I have proven you can now count on these wonderful truths’.
Pointing backwards but moving forward with hope
Self-made millionaire Eugene Lang greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in East Harlem. Mr. Lang had been asked to speak to a class of 59 sixth-graders, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how to get these children from another world to even to look at him. Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart. "Stay in school," he admonished, "and I’ll pay the college tuition for every one of you." At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling." Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school. A NEW BEGINNING WITH HOPE:
THREE THINGS PAUL SHARES WITH US IN Verses 1-5
Blessings of the Past Blessings of the Present Blessings of the Future
(1) Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through Whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
(3) And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; (4) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; (5) and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.
Things that are truly available to them because they understand how a true relationship of God happens: Admitting our sin(1-3) & Resting by Faith on the Finished Work of Jesus Christ based upon His shed blood on the cross(4).
Now they can know the riches/benefits of a genuine relationship with God.
There is great hope in having God’s name on a promise. I can remember the excitement of getting a tax rebate check from the IRS. In your hands is a promise from the US government to pay you X amount of dollars. You know the check is as good as our government is solvent.(cash it quick!) Why don’t we get even more excited about the promises God has attached His Name to? The great truths we can cash in on regarding what it means to be His child!
THE BLESSINGS IN THE PAST: Therefore, having been justified by faith….
Past tense statement of what is now true of us if we have trusted by faith in Jesus Christ. You may have in your Bible, ‘Therefore being justified by faith..’.
AORIST tense verb meaning a simple past act with lasting effects today. Also has a PASSIVE VOICE: Means that it is something received without any effort or action of your own.
We have no point of boasting regarding our relationship with God.
Except in what Christ has done for us. It was our only hope.
JUSTIFIED: Comes from a root meaning a ‘measuring reed’.
They went to a riverside and picked up a straight reed to measure with. We might use a yardstick.(Straight as well as a certain length)
Because of what Christ has done for us our record can be taken and placed up against God’s standard and we pass.
Made acceptable, in right standing up against God’s standards. We Measure Up
Not because of our own works but because of our faith upon the finished work of Jesus thru which God has imputed His righteousness to us.
Every word in Hebrew/Greek that talks about sin describes it as a deviation from a standard: missed the mark, fallen short.
Sin is not achieving God’s acceptable standard. In Christ we find our only hope.
Our only action in our justification is the exercise of our faith.
If you have a ball handed to you with a closed hand the ball does not stay. But when you receive it with an open hand the ball is easily taken. It is the same action by the giver on both occasions but only the open hand received what is given. Faith is the willingness to receive demonstrated by the opening of a life: SURRENDER, Acceptance of His will. We live in a world that has a clenched fist towards God instead of an open hand of faith. Hands closed while holding onto their things this world offers. God wants to give to everybody the gift of salvation. God put in my heart a desire to know His Son and at one point I opened my hand, opened my life and received what God was trying to give. The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to convict us before God of our sin and to place into our hearts a desire to receive God’s provision. To convince us to OPEN OUR LIFE.
One of the new technological things that I like is the ability to deposit a check and never have to physically give the check to the bank. You can now just take a picture of the front and back of a check and send that to the bank and the money is transferred. You can then shred or tear up the check. I thought that I might try to do the same thing with a hundred dollar bill but the bank would not let me deposit the money and hang onto the bill at the same time. Many try to do the same thing with God. They offer Him their life while trying to holding onto everything about their lives. God either gets all of us or wants none of us.
Justifying faith is receiving that which has been done for us thru Jesus Christ with an open surrendered life before God.
If not by accident or disease or at best old age our life in this world will one day end. We need to take that most important fact seriously and consider what really matters in this life. Especially being thankful for what God has done to offer us hope through Christ.
Decades ago the town Mannford was moved to a new location. The building of Keystone dam and the formation of Keystone Lake would cause the old town of Mannford to be under water. As a boy I lived within a bike ride of Old Mannford Ramp. My Dad and others would tell me how the buildings of the old town were still out there under the water. The fish were probably sitting in living rooms where people used to. Actually I think the fish were most likely in the school.
I assume that when the news came that the town would be flooded and covered that people didn’t say, ‘I think I will paint my house this week’, ‘Maybe I will repave my driveway…..I think I will build a new addition on the side of the house’.
It was all passing away so why invest in it? The reality of the future was what mattered the most. Our reality is that this life and the things of this world are on the way out so we should prioritize the things that will last beyond the here and now. When we understand this then our whole approach to each day of life will change.
THE BLESSINGS OF THE PRESENT: having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (2) through Whom we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
Three things we now how because of Jesus Christ: PEACE – GRACE - HOPE
PEACE WITH GOD
During my college years at OSU the track team shared the same floor of the athletic dorm with the wrestling and the swim team. That meant we all shared a television room together and got to know them better than the athletes from other sports. One of the wrestlers was Jimmy Jackson. Jimmy was a 6.6 370 pound 2 time NCAA and World Cup champion as well as a 1976 Olympian. Jimmy loved to watch two shows and he always laughed louder than anyone else . He loved Happy Days and THE MUPPET Show. Jimmy was good guy to know. Even all the football players feared Jimmy Jackson. PEACE with Jimmy was a good thing to have. If you had that relationship right then the rest of the campus was no threat to you.
Peace with God is the most important relationship we can have.
It is not the peace OF God but peace WITH God.
The Bible states that every person who is lost is an enemy of God(5:10).
Our relationship with Jesus brings peace between ourselves and God.
Sin caused a hostile relationship between ourselves and God(James 4:4 do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility to God’
The opposite of PEACE is to still be in hostility and that is where a lost person finds themselves in their relationship with God.
ACCESS TO THE GRACE OF GOD (2) we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace.
May have the words ‘introduction’ and/or ‘access’. Both are in the phrase. The problem is the English language. PERFECT TENSE: Not in English. A Greek tense that says ‘past action with continuing effect on us’. LIT…In the past we were INTRODUCED to this grace BUT today we continue to have ACCESS to it for every need. ‘Obtained our introduction’
The word used here for “access” is a Greek word that signifies being ushered into the presence of a king or ruler; a person of authority and respect.
When Jesus died, veil of temple torn in two. We were invited in.
REST UPON OUR HOPE IN GOD …and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
EXULT IN: When missionaries in the northern part of Alaska, where the Eskimos are, were trying to get the Bible translated, they had some difficulty. There was no word in the Eskimo language for joy.
As they were trying to translate joy they watched, they saw that the happiest, the most joyful moments in those Eskimo villages were in the evening when they fed their sled dogs. They’d go out, and the dogs would yelp and wag their tails and get all excited.
Out of that experience, they pulled a word for joy: When you translate the passage "The disciples, after the resurrection, saw Jesus and they were full of joy," for the Eskimos, it would read, "When the disciples saw Jesus, they wagged their tails."
Attitude of hope: Not wishful thinking as in English. Hope is a fact so established that it gives direction for life now even though you’ve not received it’. I know God will be faithful to His promises…one day I will be set free from the presence of sin…..one day I will be in God ‘s presence for eternity.
Hope is a powerful thing. It can carry your through many difficulties that this life might bring in your direction. When you sense you want to give up you can place you thoughts on what is true but yet to be revealed.
The Blessings of the FUTURE: (3) And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; (4) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; (5) and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Social security system was started back in 1935 to help bring us out of the Great Depression. The idea was that if they could get older workers to leave their jobs at age 65, then younger workers could come into the marketplace, and would have jobs to work at. The money they invested in social security would pay for those retirees.
Back in 1935 the average life expectancy in America was 63. Our government set the age at 65, because they figured there wouldn’t be as many payouts if they waited until age 65. Most of the people would be dead. And those that weren’t would die in 3 to 4 years. For the first 10 years of social security, there were 40 workers to every 1 retiree.
Life-spans have increased to the point that the typical retiree will draw benefits from social security not for 3-4 years, but for 15-30 years.
Now there are only 3 workers supporting the system for every 1 that is retired,
By the year 2025, there will be only 2 workers for every 1 retiree. NOT VERY SECURE
The Hebrews writer said, "He’ll never leave us. He will never forsake us." In the Greek it is in the emphatic negative -- literally, "he will never, never, never,...leave’.
Paul stresses that we all of our futures with one common fact giving us hope: That we are all in God’s hand. He is working out His purpose in our lives.
The most important thing is not what we do in life but who He makes us to be.
Failures, difficulties, tragedies, successes are all in God’s hand and they are only as valuable to the degree that make us more like Jesus Christ.
Rewards and opportunities in heaven will not be determined by the question, ‘What have you done?’ but ‘Who have you become?’ How has life molded you.
(3) And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; (4) and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; (5) and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
TRIBULATION: We also exult in our tribulations.
Tribulum comes from this. Agricultural instrument…long log with spikes that was drug across a field to separate the wheat from the chaff.
You might describe God’s purpose in allowing difficult things in our lives in order to remove things from us that should not be there.
Phil 1 It is not only been granted to you to believe in Jesus Christ but also to SUFFER for His sake.(tribulation is a gift from God)
HEB 11 Testimonies of those who will have a BETTER RESURRECTION.
1 Peter 4:12 Do not be surprised by tribulation, expect it, don’t get caught off guard.
MT 5 Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of the gospel.
James 1:2 Consider it all joy(unmixed, pure joy) when you experience trials and tribulation. Not mixed with fear, doubt, sadness
1:3 You know that such testing of your faith produces endurance. (4) Endurance until the testing is over. Then you will be mature and complete and you won’t need anything. Difference now and in eternity.
James 1:12 Blessed are those who endure when they are tested. When they pass the test, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. Not love comfort,
HEBREWS 12:11 ‘All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been TRAINED by it, afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. Gymnasium
Exercised work out with Use it to build our faith, our courage, our character. Trust God and get stronger.
Paul makes the same case in the Romans: knowing that tribulation brings about…… Three things happen when we rightly used tough times
PERSEVERANCE tribulation brings about PERSEVERANCE
Tribulation means A narrowing….feel like life is pressing you into a corner. The narrowing of a cave, walking, stooping, kneeling and crawling until you can’t take much more.
This leads to perseverance: One of favorite words in Scripture.
Understanding this word has in some ways changed my life.
Lit means to ‘abide under the load’ Opposite would be to panic or bail out.
More than just being patience until the trial ends.
Staying but thinking ‘I will this would just get over’.
It is Knowing this in God’s hand and if for His purpose and it will bring about something better in my life because of it.
Faith is most visibly seen when God doesn’t seem to be doing as we expected. When He is not making sense or when it is hardest to believe. That is when we can exercise the greatest faith.
PROVEN CHARACTER (4) and perseverance, PROVEN CHARACTER
God allows things in our lives to prove our integrity and demonstrate to us what He already knows. God will not allow anything more than we can handle to come upon our lives. He will only allow that which you can trust Him with and exercise, be trained by to thus make you stronger.
HOPE and proven character, HOPE;
This is a different kind of hope than before. It is more than a settle assurance before the fact but is actually a proven assurance after the fact that makes us more ready to trust at an even deeper level than before.
God can work things out in ways that are unimaginable: When we trust Him we discover deeper things about Him and about ourselves as well. Faith is not getting from God what we choose to ask for but accepting from God what He chooses to give.
(5) and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who was given to us.
Paul uses opposites (hope/disappoint) to strengthen point.
The secret of going thru difficulties is to understand that difficulties, sufferings, tribulations are not the wrath of God but the Love of God.
This is the first mention in all the book of Romans of the Love of God and it is attached to the subject of difficult times. When we are in the midst of difficult times we need to remember the fourth man in the fire. We are never alone.
Some of the most loving people I have ever met are those who have been touched by great tragedies. God brought them through by His love and left a little more in their lives than had been there before. But some of the most and unloving people have been those not been touched by much difficulty in this life. God invests in our lives to make us an even greater tool that He can use.
I walked a mile with pleasure, she chatted all the way but left me none the wiser with all she had to say. I walked with sorrow, and not a word said she, but oh the things I learned from her when sorrow walked with me.
I am told that when they used to try to remove all the impurities out of a metal that the refiner knew it was now pure when he could look at it and see the reflection of himself. You will know God is done with you when you look at your life and see the perfect reflection of the Jesus Christ. Until then you are work in progress and by the love of God He will use tribulation, trials and difficulties as refining tools in your life.
