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Your Day in Romans - 5:1-21

Started by Al Moak, November 05, 2004, 06:36:06 PM

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Al Moak

The Eighth Sermon
Romans 5:1-21
Free of Debt!


Today I'd like us to think about visiting a bank.  The particular one I'd like us  to think about visiting is the bank of God's righteousness.  When we've entered the bank, and when we get up to the teller's window, we can ask to see our account statement.  It's an extremely important document, and we need to be very, very sure we know how it reads, because our eternal destination depends on it.

Before we can really understand the statement, though, we'll have to be at least a little familiar with the bank manual.  We need to know how the bank operates.  We're actually looking at part of that manual today in Paul's letter to the Roman Christians.

In the first four chapters of this letter we saw that all mankind, Jew and Gentile alike, is totally bankrupt.  We saw, in fact, that it's a completely hopeless situation – there's an infinite debt, and it has to be paid, and we have nothing with which to pay it.  There's but one solution and one means of relief, and we saw that the wonderful fact is that that one existing means is actually a wonderfully adequate and available means! 

You and I can actually avail ourselves of it through faith in the redemption that was accomplished by Jesus Christ our Lord. And the astounding fact is that even though we we're all completely bankrupt - guilty, lost, and ruined sinners - yet the astounding fact is that we can, in that redemption, become as pleasing to God as is His only-begotten  Son Jesus Christ!

But it's by faith alone that it can happen.  And it's a special kind of faith.  It has to start with our full admission of our bankruptcy, and then it has to be followed by an unconditional surrender to an alienated God.  We need to acknowledge Jesus Christ, God's only Son, to be our Lord, as well as trusting Him to accept those who come to Him with the attitude of real surrender.

As we discovered in the previous chapters, those who come to Him that way are radically changed, never again to be the same person they were before.  It's just that radical change that's summarized in the first five verses of the chapter before us today.

The first thing Paul mentions is peace with God.  That's a really radical change, because, previous to redemption, none of us could have peace with God!  In fact, we were all involved in rebellious hostilities against God - we were at WAR with Him!

What I mean, simply, is that, beginning with Adam, we all declared independence from God, because we didn't want Him ruling over us, telling us what we should or shouldn't do.

In fact, it went much further than that - we didn't even want to acknowledge His ownership over anything in this world – we've wanted it all for ourselves.  Prior to Christ's changing our hearts we wanted to pretend that God wasn't even present, didn't see what we were doing, and had forgotten about us.  In fact, any idea of actually having to come before Him and answer to Him for any aspect of our lives has always been enough to fill every one of us with anger and  terror.

But that's all been radically changed for those who have surrendered and given up their rebellion.  They've been justified by their faith, and that just means that God now views them as entirely innocent, so that instead of terror they are now at peace with Him!

God wants every one of His people to fully understand just how wonderful that peace is.  It's summarized in the benediction God commanded His priests to speak to His people in Old-Testament times.  They were to say, "The Lord bless you and keep you!  The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace."

That's a tremendous before-and-after contrast, because David had previously said, "God is a just Judge and God is angry with the wicked every day" – yet here we find that His face shines with love upon all those who are justified!

And that justification has very far-reaching results.  All the justified, the apostle says, now have happy access by their faith into the very presence of the Lord of glory!  It's no wonder, as Paul puts it here, that the justified sinner now "rejoices in hope of the glory of God!"

And not only that, but, for the justified, there is no longer any doubt about the eventual outcome.  A little further along, Paul says, "All things work together for good to them that love God, that are the called according to His purpose."  What he means is that for those experiencing such gracious justification from God everything that happens here in this world will be made to contribute toward a glorious outcome in eternity!

He goes on to make it clear that the justified believer can actually glory in everything that happens to him in this world, even including tribulations and trials.  That's because he can know that "tribulation produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character, and character produces even more solid hope, hope that cannot disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit Who was given to us." 

How?  How can justification through faith be so totally life changing?  Paul answers that question.  He says, "For when we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Do you see it? Our Lord's Self-sacrificing death for uncaring, unprepared, ungodly sinners makes their justification forever effective and life changing!  Since He gave Himself for us while we were still sinners, how much more will He also make absolutely sure that what He did results in our total salvation and eventual glory! He would not – could not - give Himself on the Cross for an incomplete salvation!

So, as Paul goes on to say, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...?  He's just saying that, having paid the ultimate price, He'll conduct us through ANYTHING and EVERYTHING  - on into the very presence of the reconciled God!

And that wonderful love of Christ is made absolutely effective by His presently resurrected life!  Paul tells us about it when he says, "For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."  His death provided redemption - to the fullest - and His resurrected life provides equally perfect assurance that every one of His people will arrive safely at last in His presence.

One of the reasons is that "He ever lives to make intercession for us."  So, in the case where there might be any question because of our daily failures, then we need to remember that He is always before the bar of divine justice to plead our case - successfully - based on the redemption He's accomplished.

Even further, His present life also means that the work of His Holy Spirit will continue in us to keep us confessing, repenting, believing, and rejoicing even unto everlasting life!  He comes by His Spirit into our hearts to help us live the Christian life.

There's just one remaining question, and it's this: why does God the Father accept His Son as our Savior?  The remainder of the chapter answers that question.

He answers by first carefully and fully defining our previously unjustified position relative to God and His to us.  It's actually just a fuller explanation of 3:23, 24, where he said, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." 

We need to understand that the original Greek makes it necessary to read this slightly diffently.  It should read, "For all sinned and fall short."  It's referring to the one sin of Adam.  We all participated in that sin and are guilty before God.  It's reflected in verse 12 of the present chapter, where Paul says, "death spread to all men, because all sinned."  In other words, death was the result for the entire human race.

It's absolutely vital for us to grasp this, because we can't really grasp the dazzling wonder of what Jesus our Lord has done for us unless we first have a little understanding of the immensity or our need.  That need has to be seen in two aspects.  We need to see our relationship to Adam's sin, and we need also to see our own present involvement in sinning.

See what the apostle says here.  In verse 15 he says, "But the free gift is not like the offense.  For if by one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many."  The key is the great contrast here: the sin of the one man  was charged to everyone's account, but then another Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, took upon Himself the guilt for ALL of His people.

The sin of the one man was a great evil, because it was sin against such a good and holy God.  But – and we need to be very aware of this - our Lord assumed that guilt, not only for one man but for each and every one of His people!

But there's much more.  Professor John Murray's translation of verse 16 reads, "and not as through one that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgement came of one unto condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses unto justification."  On the one hand, there was the sin of Adam, but on the other hand were the many, many trespasses that we have all committed.  We're being told here that our dear Savior has taken upon Himself the guilt of both!

Dear brothers and sisters, this part of Paul's letter is telling us some important things!  It's telling us that we inherited Adams' guilt as our own.  But it's also telling us that we're equally guilty of our own individual sins as well.  And then it's telling us that our Savior took upon Himself the responsibility for all of it!

It's what our Lord meant when He uttered those overwhelming words "It is finished!" on the Cross, Like the great crescendo of a great symphony, these words just finalize the wonder of our Savior's work in giving Himself for Adam's sin and ours as well!

So, now, how does your account statement read?  Are you still charged with the awful debt of treason and rebellion against the holy God, or does it list as a credit the entire righteousness of Jesus Christ, so that all debits against you are forever removed?  What I mean is - have you come before Him and admitted your guilt and surrendered yourself to His entire lordship and Saviourhood?  Do you trust Him to receive you?  If so, then you are justified by faith!



Chris & Margit Saunders


Al Moak

#2
What an appropriate hymn!  He IS the Gospel!

Pat

I've enjoyed going through this study this evening, Al.  And yes, that IS an appropriate hymn for this portion.

Thanks so much.

"Click for Waterloo Wellington, Ontario Forecast"

Al Moak

Thanks so much for your help, Pat.  I thank our God if it is a helpful study to you.