Chico Alliance Church
August 12, 2001
Pastor David Welch
“The Benefits of Justification”
Romans 5:1-11
Review
The message of Christ’s work on behalf of those who have sinned against His father is the power of God for everyone’s salvation. The power of the good news of Christ lies in its message concerning the way to become righteous before God and no longer enslaved to unrighteousness or sin. The first five chapters of the letter focus on God’s gift of righteousness to everyone who puts their trust in Christ. Paul answers the question, “How can a sinful man be reconciled with a holy God?
I. Receive the gift of God’s righteousness by faith 1-5
A. God proves every man needs His righteousness 1-3
Max Lucado summarizes this part of Paul’s letter like this:
Up until this point in Paul’s letter all efforts at salvation have been from earth upward. Man has inflated his balloon with his own hot air and has not been able to leave the atmosphere. Our pleas of ignorance are inexcusable (1:20). Our comparisons with others are impermissible (2:1). Our religious merits are unacceptable (2:29). The conclusion is unavoidable: self-salvation simply does not work. Man has no way to save himself.
Even more simply “We have failed.”
B. God explains and illustrates His way to righteousness 3:21-4:25
1. God’s way to adequate righteousness explained 3:21-31
a) It was manifested apart from law
b) It was witnessed by the Law and the prophets
c) It was for ALL who trust in Christ without distinction.
d) It is acquired as a gift granted because of God’s graciousness
When God “justifies” us it means He declares us to be righteous. It is a legal term indicating compliance with a standard. Since we have determined the inadequacy of our righteousness it must be someone else’s. We must find some other source. Well God arranged for such a righteousness to be granted as a free gift. We are declared righteous by reason of God depositing the righteousness of Christ into our spiritual bank account. Because of His great love, God grants or gives Christ’s righteousness to every believer as a free gift of His grace on the basis of humble trust in Him. It is a gift because no man has the wherewithal to purchase or earn it. It is impossible to dig ourselves out of our substantial moral debt to God. Paying the debt is only half the problem. We need a life that fully complies with the standard all the time. Man faces a crucial twin dilemma. Man is morally bankrupt as well as righteousness deficient. We not only didn’t have sufficient funds to enter a holy heaven, we overspent our account to astronomical proportions.
According to God’s own law, every person who has done the crime must do the time. The wages of even one sin is death. The soul that sins must die. From God’s estimation all have sinned and all still continually fall short of God’s standard. Therefore someone had to pay the required penalty. That person was the sinless Christ. God made Him to be sin FOR US that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
e) It is granted by God on the basis of the redemption accomplished in Christ Jesus
The reason God can impute or deposit Christ’s perfect righteousness into our moral bank account is because Christ not only volunteered to pay the debt on our behalf but also to fill our account with His righteousness. Redemption is the just legal and moral basis enabling God to freely forgive the debt and fill our account along with a truckload of blessings that accompany salvation yet to be explored.
f) It is granted because Jesus satisfied (propitiated) all the demands of an angry God
g) It completely eliminates any opportunity for man’s pride
h) It applies to everyone who trusts
i) It establishes the very righteous standard which requires payment for sin
2. God’s way to righteousness illustrated by Abraham 4:1-25
a) Abraham was justified because he trusted God not himself 1-8
b) Abraham was justified before circumcision or the Law 9-16
c) Abraham exercised genuine faith 17-22
d) God justifies ALL who trust like Abraham 23-25
What are the results of this gift of justification? What difference does justification make? What benefits flow from God depositing the righteousness of Christ to my account?
Paul masterfully highlights the benefits of justification to everyone who believes beginning in chapter 5 which opens with a “therefore.” This passages serves as a powerful summary of many of the truths to be expanded on through chapter eight.
C. Justification results in multiple benefits 5:1-21
1. Benefits of justification highlighted 5:1-11
Therefore, having been justified by faith
The benefits or results of justification span the range of time – past, present and future.
Paul offers glimpses in each time dimension all through the passage. These blessings have all come as a result of Christ’s work on the basis of man’s faith. Paul touches on the contribution of each member of the Godhead. This is also a passage of exultation.
Exultation is to boast or declare with confident assertion and enthusiasm.
Exult in hope of the glory of God.
Exult in the process or the path to the fulfillment of that hope.
Exult in God Himself.
Paul introduces the first glimpse into the results of justification by reminding us again of the great truth of God’s gift of righteousness previously presented in chapter three and four i.e. “having been justified.” It is a passive verb indicating an action done to or for us. In this case, God justified us on the basis of faith in Christ.
Having been presented with the gift of Christ’s righteousness at a point in time…
Having had our moral and spiritual record credited with all of the righteous deeds of Christ… He reminds us again that God granted this gift on the basis of faith in His promise.
The first result?
We have peace with God or Let us have peace with God
“we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” 5:1
“let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
For most, the controversy surrounding this passage will pass by. Because of my extreme desire to accurately present what God has actually said and not what I think He said I must take a moment to discuss the difficulty surrounding this passage. Most translations give no indication any discrepancy exists. Here it is. Since we do not have the original manuscript penned by Paul or his secretary, we must rely on copies made from the original. Since they did not have copy machines that would have produced an exact replica of the original, the text became subject to slight variations here and there as time went on. A whole discipline of determining the most likely original text (textual criticism) arose with principles and rules to govern their translation decisions and the process of handling the multitude of manuscripts that have been discovered over the centuries. Certain manuscripts were deemed more accurate or wield more weight than others.
The older, the more likely to be uncorrupted.
The location or area of origin. The closer to main centers of the church the more weight attached.
With this in mind our current passage comes under this discipline. Two variations have appeared in this passage. Normally we are talking about a variation in words, but in this case it involves only ONE letter. ?????? and ???????
The difference in meaning is between a declarative statement and a suggestive statement. As indicated above, one would be translated “we have peace with God”(declarative) and the other would be translated “have peace with God” (suggestive). It appears that the latter translation actually has the strongest text support but translators have interestingly opted for the former in spite of such evidence. Paul clearly intends to address our PEACE with GOD that comes as a result of our justification by God. At issue is whether he intended to reinforce the surety of that fact (declarative) or whether he intended to urge us to personally internalize the truth of our peace with God in the sense of enjoy or experience the wonder of restored peaceful relationship with God.” One declares our peace with God as a settled fact based on our justification by God through faith in Christ. The other urges a personal internalization on our part concerning our settled peace with God.
In reality, the case for both truths can be made from other passages. Arguments for each interpretation here could be made to sway us either way.
We sometimes forget that truth empathically declared in the Scripture must go beyond mental assent and mere acknowledgment to internalization that refocuses not only our thinking but also our feeling. A reminder to do so is not inconsistent with the writing of Paul. We will return to such an application after exploring the wonder of this peace with God.
This judicial gracious act of God (justification) resulted in a brand new standing with Him. We presently and continually have peace with God through the efforts of our Lord Jesus Christ. This new relationship is a present reality. “We CONTIUALLY HAVE peace with God.” There are different aspects associated with this term peace.
• Peace with God.
• Peace of God.
• Peace with ourselves or inner peace.
• Peace with others.
Each of these aspects of peace is available to the believer but Paul focuses here on the first one – peace WITH God.
The verb form of this word means “to bind together that which has been separated.” The term “with” or “toward” is a preposition indicating intimate relationship. It was used in John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the word was “with” God.” Without this peace with God there can be no lasting peace at any other level. The blessing affirmed here has to do with a new relationship with God. In order to appreciate the new relationship we must revisit the old relationship. Scripture communicates the reality of broken relationship with God throughout.
Behold, the LORD’S hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. Isaiah 59:1-2
You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:4
For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Romans 5:10
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Ephes. 2:1-3
This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. Ephes. 4:17-19
For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. Romans 8:5-8
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands— remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Ephes. 2:11-12
Quite a dismal state! Notice the words regarding our sorry state used in the span of this brief passage. Helpless, ungodly, sinners, under wrath, enemies. All men are born enemies of God, children of wrath. In practical terms, all men were born with a bent to oppose God and the establishment of His righteous kingdom. Paul referred (chapter 1) to those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness and fail to honor God as God or offer thanks to Him but seek to eliminate any responsibility to Him. Every man enters this world with a bent to be his own God and establish a standard of his own rather than conform to God’s absolute standard of behavior. Every person enters this world under the influence of the prince of darkness hopelessly locked into a life naturally hostile to the kingdom of God. God will one day deal with His enemies.
"Blessed are you, O Israel; who is like you, a people saved by the LORD,
Who is the shield of your help and the sword of your majesty!
So your enemies will cringe before you, and you will tread upon their high places." Deut. 33:29
Your hand will find out all your enemies; Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
You will make them as a fiery oven in the time of your anger; The LORD will swallow them up in His wrath, and fire will devour them. Psalm 21:8-9
Surely God will shatter the head of His enemies, the hairy crown of him who goes on in his guilty deeds. Psalm 68:21
For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, for, behold, Your enemies will perish; all who do iniquity will be scattered. Psalm 92:9
He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. Hebrews 10:12-13
You get the point. You don’t want to remain an enemy of God. You want to be reconciled to God. But there is nothing you can do to change you status. Jesus made reconciliation with God possible. He made it possible to go from foe to friend of God. Because of the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus removed all of the static, hostility and antagonism between God and us. Having been justified by faith we can have and enjoy a new relationship of peace with God. He made intimate relationship with God possible again. He brought true reconciliation. He is the mediator. He is the intercessor. He is the go between. He is our faithful representative.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Eph 2:13-22
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach— Col 1:19-22
Jesus sacrificed Himself for a higher purpose. He took our penalty and removed the barrier of sin that created hostility and separation between God and us, that we might enjoy relationship as God intended all along. On the basis of our justification by God, Jesus himself ushers us into His presence holy and blameless and beyond reproach as far as the law is concerned because we stand before Him with the perfect moral record of the perfect Christ. Because of Christ, the war is over!!!
Paul reminds us that only through Jesus do we enjoy such a standing and blessing.
“through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand.” 5:2
The grace alluded to here is the blessing or favor of God regarding justification and new positive relationship with God. It is something we actually have and still have. Perfect tense verb “obtained”. It is something that has been previously settled and established. It is an introduction or access in a grace in which we “stand”. Access = approach, audience with a monarch, a position of closeness, introduction. It communicates the idea that we gained entrance by reason of someone else. Paul reminds us that it is granted again by means of faith in Christ.
Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:19-25
“stand” = to cause to stand, to set in place, establish, confirm. Paul uses the perfect tense indicating an action completed in the past having present day implications. This is not a temporary or fleeting privilege. Christ provided a permanent introduction to the King. It is a grace in which God establishes us and in which we STILL stand! Hallelujah! Through Christ we have been granted and still have access into a special grace, a significant privilege, a world of blessing in which we have been established and are still established.
Paul expresses the firmness of this union most eloquently at the end of chapter eight. Once alienated and separated and without hope, having been justified through faith, we are reconciled with God through Christ! Once at war and enemies and children of wrath, having been justified by faith, we now have peace with God through Christ! Christ made it possible to move from enemies to sons. So what? What does that mean for my everyday life here on this earth?
Application
Realize the truth of peace with God
Be sure you understand the implications of this passage. Even though you might not feel like an enemy of God… Even though you may even think about God and go to church…
Without the righteousness of Christ, the God who has been offended considers all outside of Jesus an enemy, a child of Satan destined to face His full wrath. Through faith in Christ God grants us the righteousness of Christ and justifies us on the basis of His flawless record of righteousness not our dismal record of unrighteousness. This new standing before God is the basis of peace with God. Through Jesus we have been reconciled to the one we so deeply offended. He bears no grudge. He harbors no bitterness. He floods our life with His own unconditional love. He claims us. He lives in us.
He desires to display His character through us. There is unimpeded access. After Jesus finished His work, He took us by the hand and walked with us into the very holy of holies of the temple, and into the presence of the holy God where He proudly and enthusiastically introduced us, and presented us, to His Father holy and blameless and without reproach.
And this is just the beginning. There is much more to come. We are only getting started into the full impact of this new relationship with God as sons. Paul continues the encouragement by reemphasizing the glory of this grace that was given to us, and we still have, and in which we were established and still stand. If God did this for us while we were considered his enemies, how much more can we expect now that we have been reconciled and made His child? Things like hope of the glory of God, new appreciation for the glory process, saturation with the unfathomable love of God permeating our heart by the Holy Spirit, freedom from God’s wrath, salvation, inexpressible joy.
Internalize the truth of peace with God
The church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase. Acts 9:31
Here we see a perfect balance in the early church that resulted in peace and numerical growth. We see the building up most likely through the teaching of the word and fellowship. We see a healthy reverence for the holiness of God. We see the continual personal ministry of the Holy Spirit. As a result of these things they continued to increase.
If we adopt the translation mentioned earlier, Paul intends to encourage a personal internalization of this great truth of peace with God. He would have said “have peace with God” or “enjoy your new state of peace with God.” This really identifies the core of the Gospel. We think the core of the Gospel is US. No, the core of the Gospel is GOD! It has to do with what we must do to reconcile to the one who created us for relationship with Him. Since we have deeply offended Him and our sins have created a deep gulf of separation between us, what can be done to restore the damage done to the relationship? The “Good News” or the Gospel is about reconciliation with God.
Some times we feel like God doesn’t like us and is mad at us. Sometimes we feel like God is our enemy. God is NOW for us. He has committed Himself to us as his dearly loved children. Bank on it. Feel it. Live it. Rejoice in your established relationship. Those of us who have understood and experienced reconciliation with God through the efforts of Christ are now ambassadors of God to spread the good news.
Declare the truth of peace with God
Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Cor. 5:18-20
God calls us to be ministers of reconciliation. We are to urge people to return to God. We are to appeal on the basis of reconciliation. How that flies in the face of much of today’s teaching. We urge people to come to God for personal reasons. We urge people to come to God to feel better. We urge people to come to God to get something. We urge people to come to God to fix something. People need to come to Jesus to be reconciled again to their Creator who created them for intimate relationship with Him.
We are just getting started with the wonder results of salvation. Don’t miss any of it.
First – Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to fully enjoy the peace made possible by the one who not only made peace but who is our peace.
Next week we will explore the second and third results of justification: hope of the glory of God and a new attitude toward the process leading to the fulfillment of that hope in verses 2-8.
