Romans 5:1-5, 6-11, 12-14, 15-21
Results of Justification
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand, and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction 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 that has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9 Much more surely, therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.[e] 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11 But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Adam and Christ
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so death spread to all because all have sinned— 13 for sin was indeed in the world before the law, but sin is not reckoned when there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam, who is a pattern of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died through the one man’s trespass, much more surely have the grace of God and the gift in the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abounded for the many. 16 And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the gift following many trespasses brings justification. 17 If, because of the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore just as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all. 19 For just as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 But law came in, so that the trespass might increase, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so grace might also reign through justification leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
RECAP of what we’ve looked at over the past few weeks …
- Salutaion (Romans 1:1-7)
- Prayer of Thanksgiving (Romans 1:8-15)
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- 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish, 15 hence my eagerness to proclaim the gospel to you also who are in Rome.
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- The Power of the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17)
- The Guilt of Humankind (Romans 1:18-32)
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- 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.
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- The Righteous Judgment of God (Romans 2:1-16)
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- 3 Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
- 14 When gentiles, who do not possess the law, by nature do[h] what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, as their own conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them ….
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- The Jews and the Law (2:17-29 and 3:1-8)
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- 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something external and physical. 29 Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not the written code. Such a person receives praise not from humans but from God.
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- None Is Righteous (3:9-20)
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- 9 What then? Are we (Jews) any better off?[l] No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under the power of sin, 10 as it is written: “There is no one who is righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who has understanding; there is no one who seeks God ….”
- 20 For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
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- Righteousness through Faith (3:21-31)
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- 21 But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been disclosed and is attested by the Law and the Prophets, 22 the righteousness of God through the faith of Jesus Christ[m] for all who believe.[n] For there is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; 24 they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
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- The Example of Abraham (4:1-12)
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- 9b We say, “Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.” 10 How then was it reckoned to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after but before he was circumcised. 11a He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith[s] while he was still uncircumcised.
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- God’s Promise Realized through Faith (4:13-25)
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- 13 For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.
- 16 For this reason the promise depends on faith, in order that it may rest on grace, so that it may be guaranteed to all his descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham ….
- 23 Now the words, “it was reckoned to him,” were written not for his sake alone 24 but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe[w] in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was handed over for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
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| Romans 5:1-5 NRSVue | Romans 5:1-5 NET |
| Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have obtained access[b] to this grace in which we stand, and we[c] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
3 And not only that, but we[d] also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction 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 that has been given to us. |
[a] Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have[b] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access[c] into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice[d] in the hope of God’s glory.
3 Not[e] only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God[f] has been poured out[g] in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. |
From Barclay’s commentary …
AT HOME WITH GOD
Romans 5:1-5
Since, then, we have been put into a right relationship with God in consequence of faith, let us enjoy peace with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him, by faith, we are in possession of an introduction to this grace in which we stand; and let us glory in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but let us find a cause of glorying in our troubles; for we know that trouble produces fortitude, and fortitude produces character; and character produces hope; and hope does not prove an illusion, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given unto us.
Here is one of Paul’s great lyrical passages in which he almost sings the intimate joy of his confidence in God. Trusting faith has done what the labour to produce the works of the law could never do; it has given a man peace with God. Before Jesus came, no man could ever be really close to God.
Some, indeed, have seen him, not as the supreme good, but as the supreme evil.
Some have seen him as the complete stranger, the utterly untouchable.
It is only when we realize that God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that there comes into life that intimacy with him, that new relationship, which Paul calls justification.
Through Jesus, says Paul, we have an introduction to this grace in which we stand. The word he uses for introduction is prosagoge. It is a word with two great pictures in it.
(i) It is the regular word for introducing or ushering someone into the presence of royalty; and it is the regular word for the approach of the worshipper to God. It is as if Paul was saying, “Jesus ushers us into the very presence of God. He opens the door for us to the presence of the King of Kings; and when that door is opened what we find is grace; not condemnation, not judgment, not vengeance, but the sheer, undeserved, incredible kindness of God.”
(ii) But prosagoge has another picture in it. In late Greek it is the word for the place where ships come in, a harbour or a haven. If we take it that way, it means that so long as we tried to depend on our own efforts we were tempest-tossed, like mariners striving with a sea which threatened to overwhelm them completely, but now that we have heard the word of Christ, we have reached at last the haven of God’s grace, and we know the calm of depending, not on what we can do for ourselves, but on what God has done for us.
Because of Jesus we have entry to the presence of the King of Kings and entry to the haven of God’s grace.
No sooner has Paul said this than the other side of the matter strikes him. All this is true, and it is glory; but the fact remains that in this life the Christians are up against it. It is hard to be a Christian in Rome. Remembering that, Paul produces a great climax. “Trouble,” he said, “produces fortitude.” The word he uses for trouble is thlipis, which literally means pressure. All kinds of things may press in upon the Christian — want and straitened circumstances, sorrow, persecution, unpopularity and loneliness. All that pressure, says Paul, produces fortitude. The word he uses for fortitude is hupomone which means more than endurance. It means the spirit which can overcome the world; it means the spirit which does not passively endure but which actively overcomes the trials and tribulations of life.
When Beethoven was threatened with deafness, that most terrible of troubles for a musician, he said: “I will take life by the throat.” That is hupomone. When Scott was involved in ruin because of the bankruptcy of his publishers, he said: “No man will say `Poor fellow!’ to me; my own right hand will pay the debt.” That is hupomone. Someone once said to a gallant soul who was undergoing a great sorrow: “Sorrow fairly colours life, doesn’t it?” Back came the reply: “Yes! And I propose to choose the colour!” That is hupomone. When Henley was lying in Edinburgh Infirmary with one leg amputated, and the prospect that the other must follow, he wrote Invictus.
“Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.”
That is hupomone. Hupomone is not the spirit which lies down and lets the floods go over it; it is the spirit which meets things breastforward and overcomes them.
“Fortitude,” Paul goes on, “produces character.” The word he uses for character is dokime. Dokime is used of metal which has been passed through the fire so that everything base has been purged out of it. It is used of coinage as we use the word sterling. When affliction is met with fortitude, out of the battle a man emerges stronger, and purer, and better, and nearer God.
“Character,” Paul goes on, “produces hope.” Two men can meet the same situation. It can drive one of them to despair, and it can spur the other to triumphant action. To the one it can be the end of hope, to the other it can be a challenge to greatness. “I do not like crises,” said Lord Reith, “but I do like the opportunities they provide.” The difference corresponds to the difference between the men.
- If a man has let himself become weak and flabby, if he has allowed circumstances to beat him, if he has allowed himself to whine and grovel under affliction, he has made himself such that when the challenge of the crisis comes he cannot do other than despair.
- If, on the other hand, a man has insisted on meeting life with head up, if he has always faced and, by facing, conquered things, then when the challenge comes, he meets it with eyes aflame with hope.
The character which has endured the test always emerges in hope.
Then Paul makes one last great statement: “The Christian hope never proves an illusion for it is founded on the love of God.” Omar Khayyam wrote wistfully of human hopes:
“The Worldly Hope men set their hearts upon Turns Ashes–or it prospers; and anon, Like Snow upon the Desert’s dusty Face Lighting a little Hour or two–is gone.”
When a man’s hope is in God, it cannot turn to dust and ashes. When a man’s hope is in God, it cannot be disappointed. When a man’s hope is in the love of God, it can never be an illusion, for God loves us with an everlasting love backed by an everlasting power.