Introduction

Today’s lesson is designed to show that our faith is only as good as the one in whom we have faith and placing faith in someone other than Christ will not be pleasing to God and result in us ‘missing the boat to Paradise’.

Paul's description of how God has sent his power to move among ruined mankind will be in focus.  This is really good news, the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are given a detailed explanation as to how God found a way through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to justify the ungodly, meaning all people and to put us in a new position of favor with God.

We should note that though Paul tells us that we are headed for heaven one day, his Holy Spirit does a work to make us ready to live in the here and now. Further, we are told that the death of Jesus makes us ready for heaven, but then we are also told that his life indwells us, to make us ready to live on earth.

His death delivers us from sin and its penalty and his resurrection delivers us from the power of sin and the bitterness of death, as we live from day-to-day.  In practical terms our life is transformed and is no longer barren and twisted.

In our study Paul deals with several arguments that are constantly raised against his teachings. These revolve around the issues raised by the suffering of Christians and the whole point of tragedies, as well as questions raised by the concept of original sin and whether or not it is fair that people living after Adam, are to be held responsible for Adam’s sin.

This has given rise to several theories developed to explain sin and its effect on subsequent generations since Adam. Some even argue that if they were confronted with the same choices as Adam, they would have fared better than Adam, who is regarded as the head of the human race.

Of course such thinking brings into question the justice of God, the love of God and the wisdom of God in dealing with the problem of sin.  If we however pay close attention to the context, we will see that God’s means of dealing with sin is effective and maintains the honor of his Law; shows his hatred of sin; upholds his justice and maintains his truth, at the same time that he pardons sinners.

In the previous chapters in Romans, Paul emphasized the fact that men are saved by faith and proved to this mixed congregation of Jews and Gentiles, that it was impossible for a man to be saved by his own endeavors. In addition, Paul made it clear that there was no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all had sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Thus there is no room for boasting or spiritual pride of any sort.

He stressed that the only way a man can be justified and obtain salvation and thereby eternal life, is through faith.  In our study Paul begins to focus on the object of that faith.

He dealt first with the argument that would be posed by the pagan or natural man, who would argue that it would be unjust of God to condemn him for doing his own thing; for since he did not know about the Jewish Messiah and was ignorant of God, he could not be justified by faith in God. 

Paul swept that argument aside, pointing out that the pagan would be judged on basis of what he did with the knowledge that he had, and since he had rejected the knowledge that God had revealed to him, whether little or a lot, God was just to condemn him and find him guilty as charged. The fact is, these sinners knowingly and openly proclaimed against God and everything that God represented.

Then Paul examined the position of the man that claimed to be very moral and following his own standards. That man believed that he should be saved on the basis of his high morality and standards that he knew about and followed.  These were finger-pointing moralists who spent much time judging the failures of others, in order to deflect attention from their own sins

Paul argued however, that since that man’s standards made no provision for the forgiveness of sin, he would have had to have kept those standards of his perfectly, in order to present his behavior as acceptable to God.  It is clear though, that these moral people whether Jews are Gentiles, were not as good as they could have been and yet they were condemning others for doing the very things of which they themselves were guilty. God was therefore just to condemn them and find them guilty as charged.

Paul then turned to the religious Jew who held the position that he did not have to be justified by faith, for God had specially chosen him and given him great advantages.

Paul’s argument was that the covenants of Israel had always existed alongside  tremendous unbelief in the nation.  They had not followed the revelation of God and had become unprofitable, thus forfeiting the right to salvation.  Salvation would not rest on the possession of the covenants.  They were very religious and emphatic in teaching about the law, the things of God and often called on God’s name but though they boasted in the law they dishonored God by breaking the law.

Emphasizing that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Paul showed that  man was incapable of making himself ‘just’ before God.  Man could only be saved if God provided the way. 

‘The way’ was to send his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, as full payment for the sins of mankind.  Man could get heaven by that way, the way of faith.  He would have to place his faith in the provision that Christ had made for sin and in so doing he would be totally justified by faith.

Man exists in a hopeless state and the wrath of God looms over his head.  Consequently he must first be brought into a right relationship with God.  Thus God justifies man by faith. 

Paul in Romans 4 demonstrates how one is justified by faith; by giving four reasons from Scripture using the example of Abraham to support the principle of justification by faith. The Greek word translated ‘justified’ comes from the word ‘righteous’, and means to declare righteous.  Abraham is declared righteous on the basis of his faith.  That is he believed the word of God.

Note that Abraham was justified before he was circumcised and that circumcision was a sign of faith and only had meaning if he had been justified by faith. Thus Paul shows that his justification was not of the law, it was not through his own meritorious work, but by the grace of God, through faith.

“…Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” Rom 4:3

God gave promises to Abraham, including one that he would have a son and he believed these by faith and they were made good by faith. Seven years before Isaac was born, God appeared to Abram again and reaffirmed his promise, at which time he changed his name to Abraham; which means ‘father of a multitude’.  The faith of Abraham was then demonstrated, in that he did not doubt the word of God, (Rom 4:19-21 ) even though he and Sarah were now very old and past the years of child bearing, in addition Sarah was barren.

When Isaac was but a young boy God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable - to sacrifice Isaac the son of promise.  This is Abraham’s only son by which God’s promise was to be fulfilled.  Yet, Abraham’s action in not hesitating to do the command of God, showed the ultimate trust he had in God.  This demonstration of faith proved that he believed in the God of the resurrection and that if he had taken Isaac’s life, God would have undoubtedly restored it, that the promise might be fulfilled.

The first four chapters of Romans are insistent that ignorance, supposedly high morality and religion, are insufficient to produce salvation. 

Men of all ages are saved by the same principle, namely justification by faith.

This is saving faith, the kind of faith that must exist in the life of every believer.  Let us remember that sin is fundamentally unbelief; unbelief in the word of God.

Paul shifts his emphasis from faith to the object of our faith and shows us how our salvation by faith is accomplished.  We will now be shown that through the person of Jesus men are brought into fellowship with God.  We will also be shown that this one  work done by Jesus on the Cross, brings mankind who come to him, abundant, ever flowing, immeasurable, inexhaustible benefits.

Verse 1.  Therefore being justified by faith…”  we begin to now trace the results of having been justified by faith.

The implication is that everyone, including the Old Testament saint were justified by faith and not by works. They were justified by grace; and it is an untenable position to suggest otherwise.  Gentiles are the wild olive branch (Rom.11); they are the ones who have been grafted into to the natural branch, the Jews.

The Greek construction and the English translation of this phrase ‘having been justified…’, shows that justification is a one time declaration of ones standing before God, with ongoing results – endless benefits.

To be justified means to be declared righteous; it includes pardon from the guilt and penalty of sin and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ to the account of the believer and imputation of the penalty of sin to Christ. It is the possession of Christ’s righteousness that makes the believer acceptable to God.  To “declare righteous” is not the same as “making righteous”. We should not then boast in ourselves but in the Lord.

God declares the sinner righteous on the sole basis of the merit of Christ’s sacrificial death. (Is 53:4-5; 1 Pet 2:24)  This gift of God’s grace is received by the sinner through faith alone. (Rom 3:22,25). This gift is loving acceptance before God. One effect of justification by faith is made clear.  ‘Having been justified we now have peace with God…’ 

Let us now examine what is the real need of every person.  Some think that it is money, beauty, popularity, or wisdom that people want most but the people who have these things are still not satisfied.

The real need of every person, that which is most sought-after, is inner peace and security.  This inner peace is really the ability to see problems, having the ability to face them and remain stable and secure; for one can see the solution to the problems and know for certain that one will come out ahead.  To have this means having tremendous power and control, something human beings do not have.

The peace that we obtain having been justified is not a mere subjective or intellectual sense of calm or serenity.  It is the reality that one knows that he has been made a friend of God and that judgment has already been passed and he has been found not guilty.  Only by justification can a man stand, knowing that God has established a way of salvation, and he has been changed, and become reconciled to God, the one with ultimate power and control and before whose wrath no man can stand.

Note that the concept of “peace” or “Shalom” is derived from the Greek Old Testament or Septuagint, and is not the same as the common Greek understanding which simply meant the absent of hostilities. One writer describes:

“This Hebrew concept of “peace”, referring not so much to a purely inward peace, but a relationship characterized by God's peace toward the sinner, toward us. ‘It is neither anesthetic bliss nor the repose of a graveyard’.  It is God's disposition toward us and freedom we now have in our relationship with him.  There are no obstacles to our relationship with God.”

We remind ourselves that this peace is more than a peace which follows the results of a truce.  God has no animosity toward us at all.  He is at peace with us and this is based on the justification we receive when we trust Christ..

One must realize that peace with God is completely different than the peace that the world offers. The peace that the world offers is filled with emptiness that will not last.

When the world offers peace in the form of pleasure, fame and wealth, they are accompanied with such anxiety that all semblance of peace is immediately lost, as one’s mind is preoccupied with the preservation of these things.

The flattery and empty words that form human peace accords, bring only very transient peace.  It never lasts, as is seen in the innumerable broken so-called ‘peace agreements’.

Neither is there any real peace in philosophy and false religion, for the voice of one’s conscience will not remain quiet; until one has been reconciled to God and the problem of sin is dealt with. As one writer expounds :- 

“My peace is such as meets all the wants of the soul, silences the alarms of conscience, is fixed and sure amid all external changes, and will abide in the hour of death and forever!”

Verse 2.   When we become a Christian, we immediately have three things; peace with God, access to God, and the certainty, called the hope of sharing in the glory of God. This happens immediately at justification and continues permanently and continuously.

The access we now have to God is granted us on the basis that we are now friends with God.  Christ by his blood has reconciled us to God and that being justified Jesus introduces us to the Father.  This word ‘access’ is only used in two other places in Scripture (Eph 2:18; 3:12) and in each case, access to God is through Jesus Christ.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no one cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  Jn 14:6

“And a highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but is shall be for the redeemed: the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.”  Isa 35:8 .

Not only are we now justified and have peace with God but we are made able to stand.  This refers to our secure and permanent position in which we now enjoy the reconciliation and favour of God  (Rom 5:10; 8:31-34;  Phil 1:6; 2 Tim 1:12; Jude 24).  ‘It is a joy unspeakable and full of glory…’ 

As a result we have hope.  The English word ‘hope’ carries with it an idea of uncertainty; but when used in the New Testament there is no uncertainty whatsoever; it speaks of something that is certain, though not yet fully realized.  Paul tells us that we have a confident expectation, for the believer now possesses the Holy Spirit, a gurantee of all God’s promises.

We learn without a doubt, that because of our new standing before God, having been reconciled to Him, the ultimate destiny of the believer is to share in the glory of God.

The word “glory” usually means splendor, magnificence, honor; and the apostle here refers to that honor and dignity that will be conferred on the redeemed when they are raised up to the full honors of redemption; when they shall triumph in the completion of the work: and be freed from sin, pain, tears, and permitted to participate in the full splendors that shall encompass the throne of God in the heavens;  (Luk_2:9; compare Rev_21:22-24; Rev_22:5; Isa_60:19-20).

The Apostle tells us that we can rejoice now, since God has settled the question forever for us as to whether or not we will go to Hell and he has forever established the certainty of our being with him in heaven.

We can exult, rejoice, or literally boast.  We can stand up and declare ourselves, take a stand, speak up, tell everyone openly who we are and what we stand for clearly and loudly.  We speak about something that we love and can boast about, that matters to us, and it inspires so much joy that we can never be quiet, for we exult in the hope of the glory of God.

The future holds something glorious for us, for we will definitely partake in God's glory.  We will have a glorious body like that of our glorious Savior, we will be like him.  We will be near to Him in all his glory and we will be filled with his glory.  No wonder then that we rejoice or exult in the hope of the glory of God.

Verse 3.   Beyond this exulting or rejoicing there is even more.  Salvation produces a rejoicing spirit, for we learn to rejoice in our spiritual position….‘and not only that…’ The apostle says that our rejoicing is such, based on the previously discussed facts, that we will rejoice in our present troubles.

Paul now moves from the brightness of our future, to the darkness that we encounter in our present circumstances.  He picks out the worst things we meet, the tears, heartbreaks, sorrow, disappointments, the crying and says it makes us rejoice. 

One lady says we should not misunderstand the biblical teaching and “GROWL” in tribulations, but rather “GLORY” in tribulations.

There is no justification for believing that the justified life means that there will be no struggles, suffering and problems.  Paul says that the present struggles and suffering does not jeopardize the future.  Christianity is not just a “pie in the sky” belief system, only giving us promises and information about what one writer calls “the sweet by- and- by”.  One writer defines the meaning of the word ‘tribulations’:

“The Greek word for tribulation is “ pressure”. It is an outside force that pushes on you and exerts pressure on you to yield and conform to it.  Paul tells us that we can exult in these pressures as believers because of what they produce.  They pressure is of life, says Paul, are used by God to produce perseverance.”

 These “stresses” or “tribulation” will produce in us perseverance, character and hope.  Someone has described a Christian as one who is “ completely fearless, continually cheerful, and constantly in trouble”

The tribulation seen here is a result of our new found relationship to God (Matt 5:10-12; Jn 15:20; 2 Cor 4:17; 1 Thes 3:3; 2Tim 3:12; 1 Pet 4:19).  .  The tribulation that the world faces ultimately leads to their demise; but for the saint of God, this pressure produces something precious.

We all tend to think that when we suffer, it is a sign that something is wrong.  We also tend to think that if we are walking with Jesus everything should go well, and if we run into difficulty, it's a sign that we are out of fellowship, or even that this Christianity really doesn't work very well after all. If we do that our theology is simply wrong.

Actually, pressures, stresses, trials, hardships, difficulties, or whatever words we care to use, are indispensable tools used by God to make us into the persons that he wants us to be.

God really loves us too much to make us stay the way we are, and he loves us too much to deliver us from all these processes at work on us.

First, stresses produce perseverance; this word is often translated as patience.  However, tribulation does not destroy the believer; rather it strengthens them and produces rich spiritual benefits.  Perseverance is that ability to stand up or remain under immense strain or pressure, without succumbing (Rom 15:5; Col 1:22-23; 2 Thes 1:4; Rev 14:12).

Note that perseverance or patience must be learned.  God cannot simply give it to us and it is advisable not to pray for patience. The Apostle tells us that the only way to get patience is to go through some suffering.  God will bring you some suffering to produce patience if you need it.

Patience means fortitude or strength.  It might be tough for many people. Some don't have freedom and live under persecution and in danger every day, facing constant hostility, constantly being watched.  But this constantly reminds them that there is glory beyond anything that they are suffering and that that is absolutely certain.

Suffering makes us stronger than we ever think we can ever be. One writer states:

“ To have to trust God with something that is very hard and to see him give us the strength to survive make us different people that we were before.  And once we grow stronger we realize that our character is changing.  We do not merely experience isolated incidents of faith.  We have become people of faith.  Suffering leads to perseverance, which leads to character, and finally that leads to hope.” 

It isn't pleasant sometimes, but that's how reality is.

Suffering steadies us.  The first time we panic and God has to still the storm.  But as other storms come, we do not panic so much, because we have learned that we are a little  weaker than we had thought and we begin to know that we need a little help from our friend.

In this process we begin to learn something about Jesus. We learn that he is very gracious. We learned that he works things out in very peculiar ways we could never anticipate or dream about those kinds of solutions.  This Jesus is quite creative and wise.  So all this suffering produces greater and greater steadiness, and we realize that we could never have had that quality, if it wasn't for the suffering.

Verse 4.   Naturally speaking tribulation or the pain that accompanies it, is an undesirable thing.  However even the unregenerate man acknowledges ‘No pain, No gain’.  This epithet describes the positive aspect to pain.  God  has a purpose for pain, and in this case it produces a tried or proven character.

“Character.  A better translation is ‘proven character’, the Greek word simply means ‘proof’.  It was used of metals to test their purity.  Here proof is Christian character

(James 1:12).” 

Christians can glory or rejoice in tribulation because of what it produces – an approved and pure character.  And an approved character leads to hope.

Look at what happens now.  God has proven that we are reliable, we have character.  People can now start to call on us to help them through their difficulty, for they see strength in us.  Suffering then is not necessarily a mark of God’s anger, but instead is a mark of his love.  He is interested in character building.

God has built us up and He can say to the world “That guy or girl is a veteran, tested and approved, and you can check them out”. God does not have to worry but can hold us up to Satan as a reliable person, a Job.

This reliability produces hope, more trusting in the plans for future glory that God has guaranteed us.  Our expectation about the future is strengthened and deepened by the Spirit. We know for sure that the Holy Spirit is in us and this knowledge makes us even stronger.

Verse 5.   To be ashamed is really the antithesis to the believer’s hope.  To be ashamed is to be without assurance, to be without hope.  The Apostle Paul is proud, confident, and bold in Christ.

The proof that we shall not be ashamed is the fact that the love of God has been made manifest to us.  We having put our trust in Christ are given the Holy Spirit to live in and abide with us.  The Holy Spirit is the seal upon the promise that every believer will be glorified. Eph 1:13.

God’s love towards us is the source of all our blessing and the force that motivates and moves us to love and serve him with gladness.  Our hope comes from God and not from our circumstances; so when we trust him, we know we will never be embarrassed are disappointed for committing ourselves to him.

 His love for us is shed abroad, that is His love in us overflows, it is abundantly poured out, and reaches not only those who are close to us, but those who are afar off.  God’s love gives us the strength and desire to attend even to those things that we once found deplorable and to minister the love of God, for His glory. This is the main reason why we can rejoice in suffering.

We should be careful that we do not become bitter, angry and resentful and even deny the faith.  The Holy Spirit will fill our heart with experiences of the love of God that will be so glorious that we will rejoice in our suffering instead of being filled with anger, rage and resentment against God.

We must be very careful for the qualities of character that God wants are not produced automatically through suffering.  We must keep our minds in the right way, rejecting the thought that when we are in pain, God does not love us and has in fact rejected us.

Actually, when we think of it, the place that we look at and know that God loves us is really the Cross. There we see Jesus helpless, and apparently forgotten.  We'll get to God only through the Cross, and the Cross teaches us that the only way to God is a way of suffering, where we often feel helpless and forgotten.

The Holy Spirit teaches us that more and more each day, and our appreciation for Jesus increases steadily.  We will find as we mature that we begin to have intense times of being aware of intimacy with God.  We can only say that the Spirit that lives within us, from time to time overwhelms us with his power.  We can only experience the things and can hardly ever described them.  Not even gifted poets like David can really describe adequately the love of God and what it does to our souls.  The most he can say is that when we are walking through the valley of the shadow of death we fear no evil, for we experience the presence of the Spirit of God with us then, more than ever.

It is the Holy Spirit who has been given unto us that produces the fruit of the Spirit – which is “…love, joy, peace longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. Gal 5:22-23

Verse 6.   The fact that the Holy Spirit has been given to us by the Father, and that the Spirit has poured out this subjective awareness, understanding, and deepening appreciation or apprehension of the love of God in our experience, is a clear indication that we are now in covenantal relationship with God.

God has anointed us, sealed us, and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a down payment.  We are established together in Christ, and the Spirit ministers to us, guaranteeing the certainty of the future and the realization of the Old Testament Scriptures.

The magnitude of what God has done is now addressed before Paul examines the present ministry of the Holy Spirit.

The Cross teaches us how amazingly ungodly we are and shows us that we are not like God in any respect.  We can't even suggest that we have any claim on God or to suggest that we can justify ourselves and be found acceptable to him by our own effort.

We are sinners, enemies of God, completely impious and without any respect for sacred things.  We destroy ourselves and others by continuing sinful behaviour.  It is our sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross, for we were lawless, selfish, and helpless, constantly trying to sabotage and wreck God's plan to help us.

We have always resisted God’s effort to save us and bring us into fellowship with him.  The Cross shows the immense love of God, for He sent his son Jesus to show us that he loved mankind and would not let it perish.  Jesus came to die literally “for the sake of, on behalf of, instead of “, his enemies. This is love given to the undeserving, but not only undeserving, but completely helpless.

It is proof, that if God has already acted toward us in doing this great work of justification, He will surely perform the simpler task of granting us assurance.  If God has acted toward us in such a manner when we were still his enemies, how much more would He do now that we are friends?

Paul describes that state of man prior to being justified as without strength.  The word used here in a natural sense, is of those who are sick and feeble, deprived of strength because of their disease. In regard to justification we are unable to devise any plan to save ourselves, make atonement for our sin or escape the wrath of God to come.  Nothing but the grace and mercy of God could change our situation. 

Verse 7.   Paul now continues by making a comparison between God’s great love and that which man is willing to do.  Giving two scenarios, Paul says that one would be very hard pressed to find ‘for scarcely…’ is  a man willing to die for another based solely on the fact that he may be a man of integrity and righteous in his conduct.  Though one may admire such a man there is no personal affinity.

Even for a good man, that is one who has acted toward or others with great kindness and tenderness, and in whom we highly value the benefits of his charity; for such a person on rare occasion, we may find one brave enough to give his life.  And the scriptures do commend this kind of love – ‘there is no greater love than a man lay down his life for a friend…’  Yet this is still extremely rare.  The point of comparison is that man's love is quite faulty as compared to the love of God.

But consider now in comparison the love of God.  There is not a soul in the universe that would be wiling to die for one who was actively and continually seeking to do harm and injury to your person, property and character; one who is set on destroying our happiness.  There is none!  But Christ was willing to die for his bitter enemies, who are neither righteous nor good.

Verse 8.   God demonstrates or exhibits his love in this remarkable and unprecedented manner; His willingness to sacrifice His only son (Jn 3:16), that those who hate and despise Him may not suffer eternal punishment in the lake of fire.  He did not wait for man to clean up and get himself together.  God's love was pure, and not like the fickle love of men. There is nothing in man that he could merit such love. 

The ultimate sacrifice of God demonstrated his love.  In due time, in perfect timing, when the world was ready in every respect for the coming of Jesus and the spread of the gospel, Jesus died when we most needed a savior.

In contrast, the Cross was the ultimate demonstration of man's hatred.  God the Father was not indifferent to the plight of men, nor was it simply God standing aside and wanting to let an innocent Jesus be tortured and crucified. He was completely involved in the work of Jesus and this fact is God's ultimate proof of his love for us.

Verse 9.   ‘Much more then…’ If God loved us so much when we were his sworn enemy, what would He not do now that we are his dear children! After removing the greatest obstacle to salvation, our enmity, we can certainly expect that He will protect us now that we are His friends.  This is the ground for the hope that the believer has, as expressed in verse 5.

‘Being now justified…’  We have been pardoned; all charges dropped, we have been reconciled to God, His righteousness is given us, and the penalty for our sin taken away by Christ.  No future judgment in wrath is possible or threatened.

It is by the blood of Jesus that we have been purchased and sanctified and thus we are saved from the wrath of God.  One writer says:

“The fact that we are purchased by his blood, and sanctified by it, renders us sacred in the eye of God; bestows a value on us proportionate to the worth of the price of our redemption; and is a pledge that he will keep what has been so dearly bought.”

Verse 10  .   Here Paul speaks of justification and peace with God in terms of reconciliation.  The emphasis is on the offending party, the active and personal enemies of God, in other words us, being reconciled to God, not that He was reconciled to us.

 ‘We were reconciled…’  there is much involved in the process of reconciliation.  One writer shows us what we must consider:

“We are brought to an agreement; to a state of friendship and union. We became his friends, laid aside our opposition, and embraced him as our friend and portion. To effect this is the great design of the plan of salvation; 2Co. 5:1-20; Col_1:21; Eph_2:16. It means that there were obstacles existing on both sides to a reconciliation; and that these have been removed by the death of Christ; and that a union has thus been effected. This has been done in removing the obstacles on the part of God - by maintaining the honor of his Law; showing his hatred of sin; upholding his justice, and maintaining his truth, at the same time that he pardons; Note, Rom_3:26. And on the part of man, by removing his unwillingness to be reconciled; by subduing, changing, and sanctifying his heart; by overcoming his hatred of God, and of his Law; and bringing him into submission to the government of God. So that the Christian is in fact reconciled to God; he is his friend; he is pleased with his Law, his character, and his plan of salvation. And all this has been accomplished by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus as an offering in our place.”

Paul uses a form of argument which was according to rabbinic principle, called arguing from the lesser to the greater. This is really summarized in the phrase “ having done this, how much more, then”.

God had done the much more difficult thing of justifying sinners, so how much more then, can He deliver them through Christ, from future wrath or future judgment?  Since the judge had declared the sinner acquitted and legally righteous, the judge would not threaten that verdict without breaking his promise and the original justice involved in his action.

The expression, “the death of his son” is parallel to the verse 9 expression, “ by his blood”, and emphasizes the amazing price God paid to bring about reconciliation and justification for those who were his enemies.

“Not only have we been reconciled to God and delivered from his wrath, we will also be completely saved someday from sin and death by Christ resurrection life and our union with him.” 

As Jesus said – “Because I live, ye shall live also…” Jn 14:19.  These passages of Scripture most powerfully convey the assurance of salvation.  One thing needs to be said however and we should consider this:

Because of the death of Christ, we can rejoice in the future; because of the risen life of Christ given to us, we can rejoice in the present.  That is the difference.  His death saves us from the judgment of God, but his life saves us from the wrath of God.

Now, the wrath of God here is not hell, nor is it the great tribulation.  The wrath of God is the silent destruction of the soul and body that inevitably occurs when men disobey God, and it goes on all through life.

Men are experiencing the wrath of God today- that is what we read in the opening part of this book, didn't we?  Notice Romans 1:18:

“ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth.” (Romans 1:18 RSV)

It is therefore inconceivable that we will be deceived and indulge in the various impurities mentioned in Ephesians 5:35. Christians must never be doing the things that non-Christians do continually.

God has saved us from the rebellious spirit and nastiness, filthy habits, and ungracious ways. Jesus has made it possible to appropriate the fullness of life.

Verse 11 .   Another effect of justification is our joy or boasting in God.  In Romans 5:2 the justified are found rejoicing in tribulations. 

But now we rejoice in God himself – this means we praise God for who he is; his attributes; his justice, holiness, mercy, truth, and love.  This is one characteristic of those who have truly been reconciled to God – rejoicing in the perfection of God; for the sinner is opposed to him and finds no pleasure in God.

It is through the mediation of our Lord Jesus that the true character of God has been revealed, and that we have atonement. Note that the death of Christ has an effect toward God, for it means that God's justice was totally satisfied.  This is what we call propitiation. The effect of the death of Christ toward men renders all men favorable, and that is what we call reconciliation.

Men must receive that reconciliation to enjoy the benefits of it, and the Apostle stresses in 2 Corinthians 5:20 that they (and we) have been appointed ambassadors for Christ.

The word atonement use here is actually the only instance in the New Testament, and in this case it’s meaning to be reconciled to God.  In the Old Testament it denotes the covering of one’s sin. It broadly encompasses the plan of salvation and Christ completed work on the cross.

Verse 18.   We have been given certain facts that teach us that Adam's deliberate sin resulted in death spreading to all men.  It is accepted that all men are sinners. There has never been anyone who was or is righteous. Adam's misdeed is linked to the condemnation of many.  Mankind is therefore seen as participating with Adam in the sin, and therefore is with him condemned.  When Adam committed his offense death began to reign.  In this death is lifelessness, barrenness, no excitement, beauty, love, hope or joy in life.  The disobedience of Adam has brought death upon the whole human race.

In contrast the obedience of Christ brings life. 

It is evident that Adam did not die physically the moment that he ate the fruit, but Spiritual death now reigned over everyone, the word  ‘all’ applying to the entire human race – for all die. 

The righteous act of Jesus resulted in justification, and ‘all’ are all they who receive the gift of God’s grace, verse 17 “…they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, even Jesus Christ.”

One writer explains:

“ Adam brought a single experience of death to all people. But Christ brought a repeated and ever-growing experience of life to all that are in him.  That is the contrast.  We can take life from Jesus 1000 times a day.  We can take the gift of worth over and over again.  Whenever our spirit feels put down, or crushed, or insignificant, or inadequate or insecure, we can be renewed, we can take again the gift of life and righteousness from him.  So Christ Jesus is greater than Adam; for though the trespass of Adam brought death once, the sacrifice and death of Jesus brings life 1000 times….

Adam's single trespass brought in judgment, that is, death.  Adam trespassed once and brought death to all that were in him.  Christ died once and, despite thousands of trespasses, brought justification to all that are in him”.

Righteousness now reigns abundantly where once death reigned.  What Christ has done for those who have faith in him is comparatively far beyond the judgments that Adam’s transgressions imposed on mankind.  Adam's gift to us was a terribly gift.

The gift that Jesus Christ gives us is unimaginably more than can be thought of, for the provision of grace is never ending in its beauty.

Verse 19.   Adam's disobedience made us all sinners. Note the awful results of disobedience.  Adam's disobedience, that is, his failure to hear and obey the command of God, resulted in the multitudes being made sinners. Let us run away from disobedience in any form.

But Jesus’ obedience made those with faith in him righteous.  The movement is from the lesser to the greater; from the results of Adam's sin to the results of Christ's grace.

Verse 20. Paul shows again that the real intent was to show man his own sinfulness and inability to meet God perfect standard (Rom 7:7; Gal 3:21-22), thus it would drive him to Christ (Gal 3:24).  It made man’s sin clearer and the more life went on and the wrath of God increased, the sinning increased. The law had no ability to change the heart and its existence simply made matters worse for people, for it showed them their increasing trespasses.

It is clear that the presence of God’s holy law excited rebellious man, who were all enemies of God.  The law did not cause rebellious man to sin, rather it revealed the fountain of sin that was already present.  Paul gives more detail in Romans 7:7-11 as to the effect that the law has on an unregenerate heart.

“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Howbeit, I had not known sin, except through the law: for I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead.  And I was alive apart from the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died;   and the commandment, which was unto life, this I found to be unto death:   for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment beguiled me, and through it slew me.  Rom 7:7-11”

The effect of the law on the unregenerate heart made sin increase. But the life of Jesus Christ is more powerful than Adam's life.  This indwelling life will make the believer’s life more and more marked by the grace of God, which results in continuing displays of righteousness, and less and less displays of sinful behavior.

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Verse 21.   The reign of grace is stronger for those who have been transferred by Christ to a new sphere of righteous existence.  What he has done for us is much greater than the problem, no matter how big the problem had gotten.

This is a present reality for all believers, and those who have their identity in Christ must be wrapped up in him.  The goal is eternal life.  It can be enjoyed now while we await consummation in the future.  Christians are called on to live at this level where we are saturated with his life, where Christ lives his life through us. As Jesus said:

“ I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”.  (John 10:10 KJV)

 The conclusion then is simply this; as Adam as our representative we all die, but with Christ as our representative, through the exercise of faith in him we are justified.

“… and whom he foreordained, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he alsoglorified.  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?...” Rom 8:30-31.