Saved From The Coming Wrath Series

Chico Alliance Church

September 2, 2001

Pastor David Welch

“Saved from the Coming Wrath”

Romans 5:9

Review

In this letter Paul answers the question, “How can a sinful man be reconciled with a holy God? It also answers a similar question, “How can the offender escape the wrath of the offended.” God is both the offended party and the one called upon to judge the offender.

So far we have followed Paul’s argument up to chapter 5.

Paul introduced the theme in chapter one announcing not only the revelation of the means to becoming right before God but also the revelation of the righteous wrath of God upon all those who suppress the truth in ungodliness and unrighteousness.

Chapter 1-3 demonstrated that everyone is ungodly and unrighteous and destined for wrath.

The last section of chapter 3 announced the means of acquiring the necessary righteousness to not only escape Gods’ wrath but also become God’s very own son. Chapter four illustrates the core concepts of justification by faith through the example of Abraham and applies to all who have the same kind of faith as Abraham demonstrated. Beginning in chapter 5, Paul elaborated on some marvelous results of Justification

So far we have touched on three specific realities related to our justification.

Having been justified by faith in Christ…

Having been declared “not guilty” through the substitutionary sacrifice voluntarily offered by Christ.

Having had our moral account purged of our inadequate attempts to live according to the God-given standard and replaced with Christ’s perfect, eternal conformity with God’s standard...

Enjoy peace with God

First Paul urges us to thoroughly take pleasure in our newly acquired peace with God.

The war with God is over. God no longer considers us enemies but saints, friends, dearly loved children, citizens, soldiers, a cherished bride. Because Jesus paid the penalty for our violation of God’s law by suffering and dying on the cross, God is free to extend his love rather than his wrath to all those who will embrace His son.

Justification brings about an end to the war with God a peace, a new relationship.

Justification also brings a new hope for the future worth shouting about.

Exult in hope of reflecting the glory of God in the future.

Second, Paul urges us to enthusiastically verbalize our excitement about our future destiny. Every child of God will one day perfectly reflect the glorious nature of its heavenly father. We will personally experience and display the dazzling glory of the glory of God. We will perfectly represent holiness, perfection, truth, and light.

Exult in present tribulations that produce future character

Third, Paul whisks us back from a future glimpse of the end product to encourage a godly response to the present process. Spiritual growth and becoming more like Christ is such a glorious prospect that we may not only exult in the hope of the end product, but in the process as well.

The process

We exult in tribulations knowing that tribulations lead to endurance or perseverance and perseverance leads to prove character and proven character leads to greater hope or confidence and this confidence will never prove disappointing or cause us to be shamed because God has flooded our heart with His eternal, never ending love. God floods our heart with his love by the Holy Spirit who He sent into our heart at the moment we believed and were justified by that belief. It was a love not based on our goodness or merit or strength for while we were helpless, sinners, ungodly and enemies Christ died for us making justification, peace with God, hope of glory, and confidence in the work of God possible.

For the fun of it and for a slightly different perspective let’s follow the process backwards.

God has completely flooded our hearts with his love that instills confidence or hope that increases as we more and more respond to life like Jesus. That happens as we chose to response to difficulties by the power of Christ that realizing they are means to glory motivates exultation.

Now the fourth benefit stemming from justification.

Realize your redemption from the coming wrath

Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 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 5:9-10

Paul was most likely familiar with John’s quotations from Jesus.

"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36

"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. John 5:24