Romans 5-8 in 15 Words

"For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus." (Phil.1:6, NASB)

Here in this verse, the Apostle Paul summarizes the great theme of security laid out in his magnum opus, the letter to the Romans. In the Greek text, Paul's certainty of the fulfilment of the believer's salvation is expressed in a mere fifteen words (ninety-seven characters--how's that for coming in under the limit for a tweet?), yet it is frontloaded with rich theology.

The foundation of his confidence is where those who reject eternal security usually go off the rails, for if the fulfillment of salvation is dependant upon us even in the slightest bit, then we have good cause for concern. But Paul does not look to the Philippians as the means of this future perfection. Rather, his confidence is in God (v.3). It is God who set these saints apart as holy (that's what the word saint means), and Paul is absolutely certain that what God starts, He finishes. He will see them through to the end result. He will accomplish what He started. He will not lose a single one, but all who have had this good work begun in them will see it realized. This is no mere hope for Paul the way we so often understand hope, as something that is uncertain of actually coming to pass as when a trembling young man with sweating palms shyly asks a young lady to prom. Rather, this is Paul's certainty, his absolute assurance, his confident expectation. No matter what happens, Paul is confident that God will finish the work of salvation which He started. And the realization will be accomplished through the same means by which it was initiated--through Jesus Christ. His finished work on the cross saved them; His glorious appearing will perfect them.

Here, then, is the perfect summary statement to describe the extended teaching on the security of the believer that Paul presents in Romans 5-8. Those whom God has justified, Paul writes in Romans 5:1, have peace with God. That is the state of our relationship with God, dear Christian friend. The enmity has been replaced by peace. Where before we were the objects of God's wrath, now, because Jesus has taken our place and bore our punishment, we are now sons. Where before we looked to Him with only the anticipation of judgment, now we look to Him as a son looks to a father. Finally, we are at peace.

And Paul says that, as a result, we exalt in the glory of God. In Romans 3:23, it was the glory of God which we had fallen short of in our sinfulness. It was this glory, this fulness of all that God is in His being and Person that stood beyond our reach, and now Paul says that we exalt in it! We rejoice in it! We savor it! And when it is revealed in all its majesty on the day of Christ Jesus, it shall not bring death to us, but perfection and completion. Where now we see in a mirror dimly, in that day we shall see face to face. In that day we shall exalt in the glory of God, for that is why we were redeemed in the first place, "to the praise of the glory of His grace."

Romans 5 continues to demonstrate the reality that our justification by faith is a secure and unchanging justification, for if God has accomplished the greatest, most difficult thing possible--reconciling us while we were helpless sinners and enemies, then certainly He will do the easier thing, which is to complete what He started. He has already done the hard part--saving us. He most certainly will do the easy part--perfecting us. Through Jesus Christ He has transferred us from the mastery of sin and its cadaverous consequence to a new Head, Whose one act of obedience has produced righteousness and life. The wages of sin are most certainly death, but Paul's confidence for the Philippian believers is the provision of the free gift of eternal life!

In Romans 6-7 Paul turns to the life of the believer and the freedom to live righteous lives, yet even this is related to the security of the believer, for here we read that we have been raised from the dead with Christ. God has given us new life in Jesus Christ, and this new life is the birthday of this good work which He has begun in us and will complete. The flesh rebels, yet the field will be the Lord's!

Paul's confidence that the battle will be won is expressed in two phrases in Romans 8 which serve as bookends to the chapter: "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (v.1) and nothing "will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (v.39). No condemnation and no separation--that is the reality for the believer who has trusted in Christ. Truly, then, if God is for us, who is against us? And God really is for us! He gave up His Son in order to set into motion a plan, originated in eternity past, in which He would purchase us for Himself. The scourging, the cross, the tomb, all of it was so that He might purify for Himself a people that are His very own, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

Romans 5-8, then, encapsulated in fifteen words in the greeting of the letter to the Philippians. What God has started, He will finish. What is incomplete will be completed. What is imperfect will be perfected. And one day, when Jesus returns, we will know this completion, and we will exalt in the glory of God, for He will have completed what He started and fitted us perfectly to glorify Him for eternity.

Sola Deo Gloria!

The Mercies of God

Below is an excerpt from a sermon I preached at Cedar Valley Bible Church on July 13, 2014, from Romans 12:1-2 entitled, "The Elements of Commitment." You can listen to the whole sermon here.

"The foundation of commitment are the mercies of God: 'Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God…' When Paul speaks of the mercies of God, he is referring to the proceeding 11 chapters of Romans where God’s mercies are displayed. Like a beautiful painting on a black canvas, God’s mercies are presented in those chapters against the blackness of our sin, and as such they stand out, they catch our eye. We marvel at them because we see them illuminated against such a black background. As Paul works his way through, he is finally brought to the point of outburst at the end of ch.11: 'For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.' Our salvation and new life are the very expressions of the mercies of God, but the role of these mercies is not complete. We never grow beyond the need for His mercies, because here Paul turns to them and declares that these same mercies, spelled out in terms like justification, sanctification, redemption, and election, are the very basis by which we can and must live as committed Christians."

Seven Benefits of Justification in Romans 5:1-11

In the first half of Romans 5, the apostle Paul gives us seven benefits of justification. These benefits come to us, he says, when we are declared righteous by God through faith in His Son (Rom.3:21-30). These are the experiential effects of justification, and they are true for every believer. In Paul's overall argument in Romans, this section moves our justification from the abstract to the concrete. Here we come face to face with what God has done on our behalf, and how it impacts our life today, as well as our eternity.

1. Peace with God (5:1): this is the result of the doctrine of reconciliation, which Paul will return to at the end of the section, and so peace with God forms something of a set of bookends within which the other benefits exist. Without this peace, we could not have these benefits, and this peace comes through Christ.
2. Standing in grace (5:2a): Grace is the atmosphere that we breathe, and it is the ground upon which peace is accomplished. It is a word that encapsulates God's action toward us.
3. Exulting in hope (5:2b): Hope is confident expectation. It is a certainty that God will do what He says He will do that is based on His character. Our hope is that we will behold the glory of God, and we are confident that it will happen because of our justification.
4. Joy in suffering (5:3-4): This future-oriented hope equips us to endure the sufferings of the present-day with joy. Furthermore, hope-oriented suffering changes us for the better. Therefore, we do not rejoice in the actual suffering, but rather in the certainty that it is transforming us as it develops perseverance, proven character, and hope. Suffering strengthens us when it is met with the truth that God is accomplishing His purposes in us (see James 1:2-7; Rom.8:28-29; 12:1-2).
5. The indwelling Holy Spirit (5:5): As an act of God's love, every believers has been given the Holy Spirit, who is the instrument by which God's love has been poured out in our hearts. His present-day ministry to every believer is to develop these character qualities listed above, and He is the demonstration of God's love toward us.
6. Deliverance from future condemnation (5:6-10): Four terms describe our condition when Christ died for us: helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies. The pinnacle of human love is to sacrifice yourself for someone close to you, but Christ did it for His enemies! Left in that condition, there could be no peace, but only the promise of God's wrath. But through Christ, the justified are delivered from any future condemnation.
7. Present reconciliation to God (5:11): The other bookend to these benefits of justification. The chasm between us and God has been bridged by Jesus and we can now fellowship with Him, and most importantly, glorify Him for all He has done in justifying us.

These, then, are seven benefits of our justification. Each deserves thorough study and contemplation as we think of who we were, where we are going, and how God has provided what we ourselves could never provide. As we study them, may the Holy Spirit use these great truths to accomplish God's purposes in our lives!

The Backdrop to Justification in Romans, or, "Before We Talk About the Good News..."

In Romans 1:18-3:20, Paul makes his case for the just condemnation of all humanity. The gospel reveals the righteousness of God (1:16-17) and Rom.1:18-3:20 Paul goes to great lengths to demonstrate that man does not possess that righteousness. The result is that every person, non-religious and religious alike, Jew and Gentile, stands justly condemned and deserving of the wrath of God.

Then, beginning in 3:21, Paul turns to the gracious provision of the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, which Barnhouse calls, "the heart of the epistle." But we might ask why didn't Paul start there? Why the spilling of so much ink over such things as sin and wrath and judgement? The reason is that Paul first must demonstrate our need and inability before he turns to how our need is met. The need is great and requires a great provision, but in order to see our great need, and better, in order to see the greatness of the One who meets our need, we must recognize just how dire our situation is. The sinfulness of humanity stands in contrast to the righteousness of God manifested in Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of 1:19-3:20 in Paul's overall argument in Romans.

Imagine a room with windows in it. It is daytime and quite a bit of ambient light is flooding the room. You turn on a lamp, and while some additional light is observable as a result, the brightness of the bulb is not really noticeable because there is so much ambient light already in the room. One may not even see any need for a lamp at all.

But imagine it is late at night and the room is dark. Now the need for the lamp is obvious, and when it is switched on, noticeable light floods the room. The same amount of illumination is being put out, so why the difference?

Obviously, the answer is found in how dark the room was prior to the light being switched on. The darker the room, the stronger the contrast and the more bright the bulb seems, even though it is putting out the exact same amount of illumination. In the bright room, the light was washed out by the existing light. In the dark room, it's importance and brilliance are evident.

That is something like what Paul is doing in these early chapters of Romans. It is why he spends so much time talking about the depravity of man and the reality that all are under condemnation. He is darkening the room so that, when he comes to 3:21 and the topic of justification, the brilliance of the light of this good news can shine with exceeding brightness. The contrast of the depravity of humanity and the reality of wrath, judgement and condemnation serve as the darkest of backdrops for the good news of God's provision of the righteousness we so desperately need but can't accomplish for ourselves. And when that gracious provision is finally introduced in 3:21, it stands in brilliant contrast as it shines against the backdrop of all that darkness, just like a light in a dark room.