My Fellowship Group is walking through Romans. A couple of months back, it was my turn to lead the study. Here is what I learned. Because Romans 5 begins with “Therefore”, begin reading at Romans 4:20-25 and go to the end of Romans 5. Maybe the information contained here will give you a deeper understanding as I believe it has me.
Rom. 4:20-25 He did not waiver in faith at the promises of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, being fully convinced that what He had promised He was ALSO ABLE TO PERFORM. And THEREFORE “it was accounted to him for righteousness”.
That was not just written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but it was written for US! And it SHALL BE IMPUTED TO US WHO BELIEVE IN HIM WHO RAISED UP JESUS OUR LORD FROM THE DEAD, who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
Rom. 5:1-11 So since we’ve been justified by that kind of faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace which we [now] stand in, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
But wait! There’s more!
We also glory (used to refer to an aspect of the Christian life. The idea expressed is. that those who are children of God will receive and share the glory of God, just as Jesus Christ did. In this sense glory describes the goal towards which the Christian life moves)
in tribulations (trials and tribulations are more than just hardship. In trials of unfortunate circumstances, our faith is tested and our devotion to Christ can grow from this suffering),
because we know that it produces perseverance (continuing steadfastly despite the difficulties or delays we face. The Bible teaches us to persevere in faith, trusting God to fulfill his promises. When we face difficulties we can trust that God understands our situation and sees our distress),
And that produces character (who we are because of our relationship with Christ. It is something that can be built and learned as we follow Him. Furthermore, genuine Christian character is not just about our personality or our disposition. It is a description of who we are as Christians ̶ and what we are called to be in our entirety),
which [then] produces hope (the confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of righteousness. The scriptures often speak of hope as anticipation of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, and to trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone with confidence — the proper response to God’s promises).
A side note: We can substitute “create” for the word “produce”. In the beginning God created us in His Image — our imaginations, our thoughts and our words can create just like His. What we imagine, think and say can create/produce positive or negative things in our lives. Remember the power of life and of death is in the tongue — Proverb 18:22.
But wait! There is still more!
Because hope (the confident expectation of and longing for the promised blessings of righteousness) does not disappoint (fail to fulfill our expectations or prevent from being realized) — WHY? Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us [yet another Gift from our Father]. What does that mean? In some way, this simple phrase summarizes the whole message of Christianity. The Gospel is the story of God, Who IS Love, taking on human flesh in order to love us back to Himself. Faith is our recognition of His love for us. Life is the adventure of letting Him love us and loving Him back.
Why? Because when we were still without strength — meaning we were “powerless”. Before our justification by Christ’s sacrifice, we had no way to appeal to God for vindication. In our guilt, we could not stand before Him, just as Job and Bildad said.
But in God’s perfect time Christ died for the ungodly — namely all of us, for who among men is sinless? Yet, God did not commission Jesus to come and die just for the Noah’s, Abraham’s, Moses’ or even the Peter’s, John’s, Paul’s, and Timothy’s of the world. Hallelujah! Instead, while we were still actively IN OUR SINS, Christ died for us. You know, John records Jesus as saying “no greater love has a man then to lay down his life for his friends” — John 15:13. But look what Paul says God through Christ Jesus did for us in 5:10! Obviously, God’s love is MUCH GREATER than man’s love!
I want to add here that we Christians tend to get it twisted. We offer our version of God’s love to those we deem worthy of salvation, mainly to those we hope to see in heaven — those that we would lay our lives down for, maybe.
But it isn’t about our love or our lives. It’s about God’s love and the sacrifice His Son made for ALL of mankind. THAT, my friends is the ultimate inclusion — equality across the board. He leveled the ground for every single person at the foot of the cross.
How we choose to respond to His invitation is up to us. The consequences of our choice cannot then be blamed upon God — Matthew 22:1-14.
There is so much more to the story than having been justified by His blood — (the act by which God moves a willing person from the state of sin (injustice) to the state of grace (justice). We will also be saved from wrath through Him. We need to be careful how we read this. Paul is not implying that there is a question about whether those who are in Christ will experience God’s wrathful, angry judgment on sin. Those who have expressed saving faith—true believers—absolutely will not. Instead, Paul is simply arguing that the second idea is obvious, once the first is accepted. Writing today, Paul might have said, “Since A is true, then B is really, really true.” Both ideas are connected, and both are true. In other words, those who are justified in God’s eyes, through faith in what Christ has done, will certainly never suffer God’s wrath for our sin. This is the context of Paul’s use of the word “we” in this passage: those who are saved by grace through faith.
Now, check out Gal. 3:6-9
Rom. 5:12-21 it is easier for me to understand how Paul explained this in 1 Cor. 15:21. But it brought up a question for me for quick minute. I think the world has the idea that Adam and Eve ate the fruit, thereby taking sin into their bodies. However, Jesus specifically says in Matthew 15:11-20 that it isn’t what goes into the mouth/body that defiles a person. It is what comes from his mouth, i.e. his thoughts and heart. Had the fruit made them defiled, it would have passed through the body and out, and their descendants would not have been affected. However, the act of eating the fruit in direct disobedience, the lack of trust in their Creator — the unbelief — well that was accounted to them as unrighteousness. And their unrighteousness brought death. For whatever reason, the freedom of choice that God created us with always seems to question Him, to rebel against Him, to act contrary to His will and way. So, no, there is not one of us without sin, even if our sin isn’t like Adam’s and Eve’s. And none of us will escape natural death, hence why each and every one of us is in need of a savior — THE Savior, Jesus Christ the Lord, Son of the Living God.
TDuncan 