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Romans 5:1-2
As Paul introduced the Roman assemblies to his gospel, which is the gospel of Christ, he began by showing
them that both Jews and Gentiles were sinners, which is an offense against the holiness of God, and
therefore they were equally subject to His condemnation.
But the good news is what God has done for mankind through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, by
which men can be loosed from their sins. How do men lay hold of that redemption? By faith in Christ
and faith alone, works apart.
This was something that had to be emphasized particularly with the Jews, as they were inclined to believe
that they were saved through the covenant that God established with their forefather, Abraham, according to
the flesh, and that as long as they were faithful in trying to do the deeds of the Law, God would accept
them. But Paul proved resoundingly that Abraham was saved by his faith in Christ alone, apart from any
work that he had done; apart from circumcision, as well as the works of the Law.
When we come to the next part of Pauls letter, which begins with chapter 5, we see that Paul is now
moving on from his argument concerning justification. Paul has proven his point, concerning the one and
only way in which a man can become righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.
Now Paul will begin to define that righteousness in the context of the believers life the benefit of
righteousness to the believer, the effect of righteousness as he lives his life, and the final victory that
righteousness will accomplish in the believers life.
In chapter 5, Paul will principally deal with the benefits of righteousness to the believer; the abounding
blessings that accompany the imputed righteousness of Christ.
This is preparation for the next section of Pauls letter, on sanctification, in chapters 6-7; equipped with the
blessings of God, the believer is now prepared to live his righteousness through his new-found power over
sin (Rm 6:12-14), which Paul shows through his own personal example in chapter 7 (vv. 7-25).
Paul continues to speak of this power over sin and death in chapter 8 (vv. 1-13), citing the Holy Spirit as the
believers resource to accomplish this; by walking in the Spirit, the believer will not fulfill the lusts of the
flesh (Gal 5:16).
Sanctification of the believer is preparation for the day when he is glorified by the Lord (Rm 8:14-30);
when he receives his body of glory, grace having reigned through righteousness to eternal Life (Rm 5:21),
as a glorified son of God. It is then that we will experience the fullness of our union with Christ in every
respect; spirit, soul and body (1 Th 5:23).
At key points throughout his general discussion for all believers, Paul will cite the particular case of the
Jews. Much of chapter 5 is indirectly intended to show the Jew that his salvation has been eternally
secured by Christ, so that the Jew understands that he need not and indeed cannot work to maintain his
salvation.
And Paul will take all mankind back to Adam, to show that righteousness is not a matter of being a Jew or a
Gentile, but whether one is in Adam where all men begin or in Christ where all men need to be.

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In chapter 7, Paul will illustrate to Jewish believers that just as Christ has freed all believers from sin and
death, He has specifically freed the Jewish believers from the Law. Pauls own personal testimony follows,
underscoring this point.
Lets continue now with Pauls letter, beginning in chapter 5. We are only going to discuss the first two
verses today, but I want to read through verse 11 to maintain Pauls train of thought.
[Read Romans 5:1-11]
So Paul begins where he left off in chapter 4: with believers having been justified by faith. This results in
the believer having the blessing of peace with God (v. 1), which Paul returns to at the end of this passage,
speaking of reconciliation (v. 10-11).
Paul also speaks of the believers new standing in the grace of God (v. 2). And Paul tells of how
tribulation works, for the believer (v. 3-4). But central to all that Paul is talking about here is the hope of
the believer (v. 2, 4, 5) his hope of the glory of God, which is a know-so hope, based upon what God has
done for men in Christ (v. 6-11).
Lets look again at the first two verses, which is as far as we will get today.
v. 1-2 What I want you to observe first is a feature of the grammar here, which marks Pauls change in
subject. We are speaking only in generalities, here. Generally, Pauls discourse concerning the Gentiles in
chapter one saw the predominance of the third person plural pronoun they, their, them. Those Gentiles.
Then, as Paul began to address the Jews in chapters 2-4, we saw the second person singular (and plural)
being used you, your. You Jews.
But what do we find emerging in chapter 5? The third person plural; we, us, our. And although there will
be sections in which Paul is addressing particular persons or issues, the third person plural will continue to
predominate through chapter 8.
So, whats going on? In almost all of this section of his letter, Paul is applying what he is saying to
believers in general including himself with the believers in Rome we. Paul is making this personal
to them; and he will even bring in his own individual testimony, in chapter 7.
Chapters 5-8 reflect the personal experience of those who have been justified by faith, and the
transformation that righteousness works in their lives, until they are complete as glorified sons of God. We
might also call this the effect of grace, in the believers life. Paul will take his readers through this
transformative process with him therefore, we.
The first clause in verse one makes it clear that Paul is moving on from justification: Therefore, having
been justified by faith. Therefore expresses the conclusion of Pauls argument: justification is by faith
alone.
In using the past tense, having been, Paul is making it plain that justification is an accomplished fact for
the one who has believed into Jesus Christ. It is finished.

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In the courtroom of Gods justice, based on the work of our Advocate, Jesus, all charges against us have
been dropped our sin has been completely and forever put away. Therefore, God has graciously ruled that
we are free from all charges of sin and guilt; we are justified, by our faith. Faith in whom? Our Lord, Jesus
Christ.
Paul is saying that because we have been justified past tense we now, in the present, have peace with
God. Through whom? Through our Lord, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the source of our justification and our
peace with God.
You may have in your Bibles an alternate reading to verse 1. It might be at the bottom of the page, as a
note; but I think we need to discuss it. Instead of we have peace with God, another ancient reading is,
let us have peace with God. It would then read, Therefore, having been justified by faith, let us have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is a significant difference. In the first case, Paul would be indicating a causality: that because we have
been justified, we have peace with God; the one thing led to the other.
In the second case, Paul would be making an exhortation to the assemblies: that since we have been
justified by faith, we should have peace with God, indicating a choice on the part of the believer.
This is saying two different things; can we know which one is correct? I think we can. First of all, in this
portion of his letter, Paul is outlining the benefits of having been made righteous through faith in Christ;
benefits with which God graces the believer.
This would suggest that an exhortation by Paul on the part of the believer is out of context, here; he is
talking about Gods part, not our part. Paul begins to talk about the believers part in chapter 6, with his
discussion of sanctification.
Secondly, Paul distinctly uses the Greek preposition translated in the English as with; peace with God.
Can man make peace with God? No; God makes peace with man; that is Gods doing, through Christ. So
we can be certain that what Paul is saying here is that when a believer is justified by God, he has peace
with God.
Lets take a moment to understand what Paul means by peace here. Is he talking about world peace?
Thats a hot topic, in our world today. No, this isnt world peace; Paul is speaking about peace that
believers have, not the whole world, and it is speaking about believers, individually.
By the way, when will there be world peace? When Jesus comes to set up His kingdom, after the Great
Tribulation. His will be a reign of perfect peace and righteousness. Now, you cannot have peace without
righteousness, so until the world is ready to submit to their righteous and rightful King (Ps 2:9-12), there
will be no peace for them.
But there is peace for us, here and now; in fact, we can have two kinds of peace. There is peace with God,
as it says here; and there is the peace of God, as well. So whats the difference?
Lets consider peace with God, first. Peace with God speaks of reconciliation; a relationship of concord
between two people; in this case, between you and God. It means that you and God are in agreement. That
would, of course, imply that you and God were not in agreement before that is, before you were
reconciled.

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Now, when two people disagree about something, only one of them is right. So who was right you, or
God before you were reconciled? God was right, of course; Hes always right.
Reconciliation speaks of a change in position. If God was right, and you were wrong, who had to change
their position? You did. So God did not need to be reconciled to you; you needed to be reconciled to God.
But even though God was never in the wrong, and you were always in the wrong, Gods the One who has
to do the reconciling that is, He must reconcile us; we cannot reconcile ourselves to God. Why not?
Because we are at enmity with God, and we do not have the means of doing away with that enmity. And
what is it that causes us to be at enmity with God? Sin. In our lawlessness, we are at enmity with holy
God.
You were born that way; born a son of Adam, a son of disobedience (Eph 2:2); born at enmity with God.
You came into this world, screaming for what you wanted; I want, I want, I want. And as you got older,
you did everything in your power to get what you wanted, without consideration of what others wanted; or
more importantly, of what God wanted. It was all about you. You loved yourself very, very well.
Self-love is the root of our enmity against God, who is Love (1 Jn 4:8). Out of His love, God serves others;
He loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten Son to die for it. But out of your love, you
served yourself and yourself alone. You may have masked that under the guise of serving others, but
ultimately, it was all for you.
And in serving yourself, you served sin. You indulged yourself in everything your particular heart desired
in all of its lusts. Lusts of your flesh; lusts of your mind; you constantly fed their craven desires; in fact,
you were powerless to do otherwise. That was the working out of your self-love iniquities,
transgressions, sin; your lawlessness the manifestation of your enmity against God.
That was your life, as an enemy of holy God; of your Creator. And you conducted your life right within the
enemy camp; the camp of the enemy of God.
In fact, you were born into it; born into this world system; you were of the world. You operated your life
through that system; you participated in it, as you fed your lusts and desires upon its temptations. You
walked according to the course of this world (Eph 2:2). And in the enemy camp, you were a captive of sin,
and a captive of death.
But the One who has had the victory over sin and death rescued you from the enemy camp. Who is that
Victor? Jesus Christ. In the war for souls, Jesus captivated you with His love; and having taken you
captive, you are now His, forever.
Thanks to Jesus Christ, you have been extricated from the enemy camp; you are no longer of the world;
you have been translated into the kingdom of the Son of Gods love (Col 1:13).
Because Jesus took your sin upon Himself on the cross, and died in your stead to put it away, you have
been justified; freed of all charges of sin and its consequential guilt. Sin is what separated you from holy
God; its what caused you to be at enmity with Him.
But you are no longer in your sins; youre free of them; and furthermore, God has imputed the
righteousness of Christ to your account. So are you any longer at enmity with God; does He have any
charges against you? No; now He counts you as a friend.

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You have had a complete change of position, now. You are no longer in Adam, no longer a son of
disobedience; you are now in Christ, a son of righteousness. Thats your new position in Christ: reconciled.
The offense of sin against the holiness of God has been removed for you, by Gods gracious justifying act,
in Christ, which you have received, by faith. Everything is now right between you and God, thanks to
Jesus. You are at peace with God friend, not foe reconciled to Him.
Paul spoke of the believers reconciliation with God in his letter to the Colossians. Turn to Colossians
chapter 1. Paul was writing of Christ as the Son of God, the firstborn over all creation, and the firstborn
from the dead; the preeminent Son.
[Colossians 1:19-22]
v. 19 Paul is speaking of the fullness of the Godhead, which dwelt in Christ bodily, through the Spirit (Col
2:9).
v. 20 Paul is thinking here of the fruition of Gods plan in time, when all things meaning all beings on
heaven and earth will be reconciled to God, through Christ. Notice that reconciliation with God has only
one source; and what is that? The shed blood of Christ; the cross.
v. 21-22 the you here refers to the Colossians, who were mostly Gentiles therefore alienated they
were strangers to God. And they were also enemies based on what? Their wicked works their sin.
They were strangers and enemies, but now they have been reconciled. How? In the body of Christs flesh
through death; through the cross of Christ. Having been justified, they have been made righteous God
sees them as undefiled by the world, without any blemish of sin, and utterly irreproachable, through the
blood of His righteous Son.
[Return to Romans 5]
Paul begins and ends this passage speaking about peace with God the reconciliation of the believer the
result of his justification (v. 1, 9-11). Your sin has been forever dealt with, through Christ all sin, for all
time.
But what about your self-love the root of your sin, which led to your enmity with God? Thats something
that God is dealing with, in the here and now.
As a believer, you are learning to let the love of God rule in your heart; to rule over yourself; the spirit of
your being. This is a process. You are, more and more, being set apart to God, for His purposes, to do His
will; to have His will over your will.
This is the transformation known as sanctification, the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer, which Paul
will speak about shortly, in chapter 6. The result of sanctification is that the believer has the peace of God;
that inner tranquility, of heart-rest, that comes through submission of himself and his members to the will of
God.
Now, in Gods sight, outside of time, in eternity, this process is already complete; He sees you as
completely sanctified, self-love having forever and completely been consumed by the love of God. But
speaking in terms of time, we are progressively moving towards that realization.

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It is interesting to note that Jesus spoke both of peace with God and the peace of God when He was
addressing the Jews. Turn to Matthew chapter 11. This came in the form of an invitation to the Jews a
personal invitation, to come to Jesus.
[Matthew 11:28-30] Jesus was addressing a multitude who were predominantly Jews. He uses here the
imagery of oxen in a yoke.
The Jews would readily identify the yoke of which Jesus spoke with the Law, for that was one of their
metaphors for it; a Jew was said to take on the yoke of the Law, meaning he was to submit himself to it and
to keep it.
That was a very heavy burden, indeed, for a Jew to try to keep the Law. Yet the Jews labored and labored
under that crushing burden of their religious system of works, thinking it to be the means of their being
accepted by God.
But what does Jesus say? Does He tell them how they might succeed with that burden? No; it is a crushing
burden, which no man can bear; they cannot succeed with it.
Instead, Jesus simply says, Come to Me. If the Jews will come to Jesus, believing, He will give them
rest; He will free them from their burden of sin, and death, and the yoke of the Law. This is the rest of
peace with God; through coming to Jesus in faith, works apart, they will be justified and reconciled to God.
Jesus then encourages the Jews to yoke up with Him, instead; to learn from Him. A young ox was often
yoked up with an experienced one, which would show the young ox the way to go. And as the young ox
followed the lead of the experienced ox, yielding to him, the yoke was easy and light for him, for the
experienced ox did all the bearing; the young ox could simply rest in the yoke, in submission to him.
Jesus is meek and lowly of heart; in His humility, He was always perfectly submitted to the will of God, the
perfect son of righteousness. Those who are willing to learn from Jesus, who will submit to Him, will learn
the way of righteousness. This is the process of sanctification, through which a man can have the peace of
God; the man finds rest for his soul.
So in the words of Jesus, we see the rest that is given by God peace with Him reconciliation; and the
rest that is found, or learned by man the peace of God experienced through sanctification.
[Return to Romans 5]
Paul shows that the means of being justified and reconciled to God is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then
he goes further to indicate that through Christ, by faith, we have access into this grace in which we stand.
To understand the power of Pauls statement, I want to begin with the idea of access. This term from the
Greek is commonly used for the audience or right of approach granted to someone by monarchs. So who
would be this monarch, so to speak, that we have been granted access to, through Jesus? His Father
God. Through Jesus, we now have the right and the privilege of coming right into the presence of God.
Mankind had lost that right all the way back in the garden of Eden, when he brought sin into the world, and
death through sin (Rom 5:12). Sin created separation from God.

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That separation was graphically illustrated through the pattern of the Tabernacle and Temple, given to the
Jews. The ark, with its mercy seat, above which the presence of God dwelt as the shekinah glory, was
placed behind a veil, showing that men in their sin were unfit to come into the presence of holy God. The
veil said no access.
When Jesus died, Matthew and Mark recorded that the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to
bottom (Mt 27:51, Mk 15:38). The author to the Hebrews tells us that the veil represented the flesh of
Jesus. His body, rent in death on the cross, opened up the way into the presence of the Father for mankind,
so that now those who believe can boldly enter in (Heb 10:19-20); they have access.
So it is through Jesus through His death in our stead that we are enabled to enter into the presence of
God. Now, faith is needed to enter in; but once we have entered, it is grace that sustains us.
That is the idea behind Paul using the word stand. Paul doesnt say that the believer sits in grace, which
would indicate a position of rest; nor does he say that the believer is walking in grace, indicating his action
or conduct. Paul says the believer is standing in grace, which carries the idea of a firm position; one that is
permanent, immovable; a sound footing.
Paul wants to emphasize here that the grace of God secures the believer, who has entered His presence,
through faith in Christ. So we see in God through Christ, then, the power to save, and the power to keep
safe.
Jesus said, I give them everlasting Life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out
of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them
out of My Fathers hand. I and My Father are One (Jn 10:28-30). They are One in the work of salvation.
And that salvation is eternally secure, by the grace of God.
This was a particularly important point for the Jews to absorb. They had the tendency to think that their
salvation must be maintained by their own good works, or they could lose it. That was a deception that
false teachers used with the Galatians, and in many other assemblies (Gal 3:1-3). Paul is showing that it is
God who procured their salvation, through Christ; and since it was Christ who secured it, they cannot lose
it.
Notice Pauls use of the present tense here; this is our current standing grace. Grace is the unmerited
favor of God; we stand in His favor, having entered into it through Jesus. Where were we standing before?
In Gods disfavor; under condemnation, and destined for destruction.
But that was our past; before we were justified by faith. Now, in the present, we live in the realm of Grace,
where we are the recipients of the gracious benefits that God bestows on us as subjects of His kingdom; of
all the blessings that are conveyed to us by God, in Christ.
What are some of those blessings? We have named two peace with God were made friends with Him;
and the peace of God we have heart-rest and satisfaction.
What else? Direction and purpose in our lives. Intimacy with God, through the Holy Spirit. The
enlightenment of our understanding; having the mind of Christ. The joy of the Lord; strength to do His
will. Useful work to do. Freedom from sin, from death, and from self.

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And above all, love; knowing we are loved; enabled to love God, in return; and enough love left over to
love others. An endless supply of love. These are just a few of the blessings that come to mind, as we
consider this grace, in which we stand.
And thats where we are, at present; securely standing in the grace of God. But do you know that we also
have a secure future? Now in our day, circumstances on earth seem particularly uncertain. People today
are very concerned even fearful concerning the future.
But the believer has no such fears. Why? Because the eternal God has already secured the believers
future; it is an assured destiny, for every believer. And that is what Paul is talking about when he speaks of
us rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.
Now, it is very, very important to be clear on what Paul means when he speaks of the hope of the glory of
God. If you miss Pauls meaning on this, you will not understand a great deal of what he says later in
Romans; nor in the rest of his letters.
First of all, the Greek word for hope is quite different for the English word for it. In the English, the
word hope includes the idea of uncertainty; as in, Well, I hope so; I hope it will go well; I hope Ill have
a vacation this year.
The Greek word for hope contains no such uncertainty. It actually speaks of something that is certain;
certain, but not yet realized. That means it will be certain in the future. Do you see the difference, from
the English?
When Paul speaks of this certain hope I like to say, know-so hope as the hope of the glory of God
for the believer, he is not talking about some generalized bright prospects for the believer, in the future, but
for a very particular thing.
The cue is in the word glory; this is the assurance of Gods glory, for the believer. When Paul uses the
word hope this way, here and in his other letters, he is referring to the believers glorification; that is, the
future time when the believer will receive his body of glory; when he becomes a glorified son of God.
Paul will refer to our future, certain glorification many times is this letter, and he does so often in his other
letters. Lets just take a look at a couple of references he makes to it in his letter to the Colossian assembly.
Turn to Colossians chapter 1. This is how Paul begins with them, in this letter.
[Colossians 1:3-6] Paul is speaking of their certain, future hope. Where does he say it is? In heaven. Now
on earth, under time, the believers are not yet glorified. The fruit of the gospel has been borne sons of
God but they have not yet fully ripened, so to speak, under time.
But is there time in heaven? No; in heaven, there is just eternity. And in eternity, their glorified bodies are
already a reality; the fruit is fully ripe; thats why Paul says that their hope is laid up for you in heaven.
Now look down in verse 27, where Paul speaks of a mystery that has been revealed; that the Gentiles, along
with the Jews, have been reconciled to God (v. 21-27). This is what Paul calls that mystery among the
Gentiles.
[Colossians 1:27] Christ, dwelling in the hearts of those Gentiles who have put their faith in Him, gives
them a certain future to be with Christ in glory, as a glorified son of God.

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And Paul is not the only one who spoke about this certain future hope. Peter also wrote about it. Turn to
First Peter chapter 1. Peter wrote to the Jewish believers who had been dispersed because of persecution
into Asia Minor. This is how Peter began.
[1 Peter 1:3-5] Notice Peter says that God has begotten us again. When God created mankind, he put
mans seed in clay vessels. But man corrupted that vessel through sin, so that man then reproduced
corruptible seed.
Then God redeemed mankind, and through faith they are begotten again of God; they are born again of the
incorruptible Seed, Christ, who will one day bring forth in them a body of glory; thats the living hope
Peter speaks of; their certain future of a glorified body; incorruptible, undefiled; their heavenly inheritance,
as sons of God. Like Paul, Peter says these bodies are reserved in heaven for them, because theyre already
there, outside of time.
The apostle John also spoke of this certain future hope. Turn to First John chapter 3. In chapter 2, John has
been writing of the anointing that believers have received from the Holy One (v. 20). Who is the Holy
One? The Messiah Christ. And what is the anointing? Not a what, but a who? The Holy Spirit.
John encouraged the believers to let that anointing from Jesus abide in them (v. 24); to let the Holy Spirit,
who dwells in them, be right at home in them, by making Him a trusted friend; by listening to Him,
learning from Him, and being responsive to Him. In this way, the believers will then abide in Christ (v.
28); in submission to the Spirit.
Now, notice what John says in verse 28, of chapter 2. He is saying, abide in Him that is, in Christ that
when He Christ appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His Coming.
What coming is that? Not His Second Coming to the earth; that is for judgment. This is when Christ
comes in the air, for His church; for those who genuinely believe in Him.
We have an appointment with Jesus; the date and the time is certain, fixed, but only He knows when it is.
Abiding in Christ submitting to Him, which is worked out as practicing righteousness (v. 29) that is
what fills us with confident assurance while we are still here on earth; so we eagerly anticipate that
meeting with Him.
We continue in chapter 3.
[First John 3:1-3]
v. 1 Like we find in Pauls writings, we see that John does not always make it clear who his pronouns refer
to; but we can tell by the context. Who is the Him that the world does not know?
Think of what John is saying. The world doesnt know us, because now we are children of God; we are
born of Him. It doesnt know us, because it didnt know Him Jesus the Son of God, begotten of the
Father.
In his gospel, John said of Jesus, He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the
world did not know Him (John 1:10).

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10

Jesus said, If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the
world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you (John 15:18-19).
So the world does not know us, because we are of God, just as it didnt know Jesus, because He was of
God. It did not know Him; Jesus.
v. 2 It has not yet been revealed what we shall be; that is to say, our bodies have not yet been glorified;
Paul will speak about this in his letter to the Romans as the revealing of the sons of God (Rm 8:19). But
we know that when He is revealed who? Jesus, at His Coming for us; this is tied back to Johns thought
in chapter 2, verse 28 when He appears, at His coming.
We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We shall see our Lord, in His glorified body; and we
shall be like Him conformed to that glorious body (Phil 3:21); complete in His image.
v. 3 This hope is in Him in Jesus. This is the certain, future hope of which Paul is speaking, in Romans
the hope of the glory of God, our glorification in a body of glory. And everyone who has this hope purifies
himself. He submits to the Spirits work in his life, to be sanctified, so that hell be fit for that body.
[Return to Romans 5]
Notice finally that Paul says, we rejoice in that hope. Rejoice means to be joyfully confident. We can be
confident because it is a certain future hope. And with such a know-so hope, through which we will dwell
with our Lord forever, how can we be any less that joyful?
Next week continue chapter 5. Read Hebrews 12:1-11.