SERMON GM16-081
SERIES: Renewal Through Romans: The Gospel Defined, Explained,
and Applied
SETTING: North Kelso Baptist Church
SERVICE: Sunday AM (April 24th, 2016)
SUBTITLE: How to Be Right with God (Part 12)
SCRIPTURE: Romans 5:1
SUBJECT: Justification produces advantageous benefits for the
believer
SUMMARY: Since
the believer has been declared and is treated by God as righteous, Paul now
provides some of the obvious results or benefits of having been justified by
faith. All of the following benefits have been made possible by the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ and by placing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These
benefits serve as an anchor giving us security and confidence to face the
trials of life.
SCHEME: To provide confidence that justification safely secures the believer
from condemnation
SKETCH:
3A The
Implication of Righteousness (4:23-5:21)
1B …it is procurable
by all men who believe (4:23-25)
2B …it is productive
for all men who believe (5:1-5)
1C Peace
with God (1)
1D The
Basis for Peace (1a)
2D The
Beauty of Peace (1b)
[Announce the Text]
Please open your Bibles to Romans
5:1
[The Title of Today’s Message is]
How to Be Right with God – (Part 12)
Today’s Truth is:
Justification produces
benefits for the believer
Prayer for illumination & understanding
Our gracious Father, help us as we
hear your holy Word read and taught to truly understand; and with our understanding,
that we might believe and believing, we might be in all things faithful and
obedient.
So Father we ask you, through your
Holy Spirit to open our hearts and our minds for the sake, the honor, and the
glory of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that as the Scriptures are read
and your Word explained, we may hear with joy what you say to us today.
We ask you Father to show us all
that Christ is and what He has done for us by His atoning work on the cross of
Calvary.
Father, will you enable me to
clearly communicate the word of God to your people, I ask you for power and
unction to preach your word. Amen.
Re-announce and read the text
Our text for today is Romans 5:1
[Main Introduction]
Attention Getter
In The Grace of Giving, Stephen Olford tells of a Baptist pastor
during the American Revolution, named Peter Miller, who lived in Ephrata,
Pennsylvania. Pastor Miller also happened to be a friend of General George
Washington.
Michael Wittman also lived in
Ephrata. Wittman was a tavern owner, who was an evil-minded person who did all
he could to oppose and humiliate the pastor. One day Michael Wittman was
arrested for treason and sentenced to die. Peter Miller traveled seventy miles
on foot to Philadelphia to plead for the life of the traitor. (Mainly because
Wittman was a great patriot.)
"No, Peter," General Washington
said. "I cannot grant you the life of your friend." "My
friend!" exclaimed the old preacher. "He's the bitterest enemy I
have." "What?" cried Washington? "You've walked seventy
miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in different light.
I'll grant your pardon."
And he did. Peter Miller took
Michael Wittman back home to Ephrata--no longer an enemy but a
friend.
Orient
the Text: (CPT) Justification produces benefits for the
believer
This
morning I want to speak to you about the benefits that now belong to the
genuine believer which were made possible by justification. Even more
specifically, I want to speak to you about the confidence that permeates the
believer as they come to know all that justification provides for them. The
person who has experienced the justifying activity of God has the confidence
that they are indeed acquitted of all charges of sin against them. The believer
who was once an enemy of God, a traitor, even a God-hater is now, pardoned,
forgiven, justified, and is now a friend of God.
The
justified believer discovers that the justifying activity of God becomes the
impetus for dedicated Christian living, service, and the means to face the
trials experienced in life.
And so
I urge you to celebrate these fantastic benefits that God extends to you as being
justified. You are not just “acquitted” of sin and charges in a legal sense,
but justification puts you into a completely different and new setting – this
new setting includes both the present time and in the future. Justification
removes the enmity that had existed.
Martyn
Lloyd-Jones speaking of the importance of chapter five said this, “…is in many ways the key to understanding
the rest of the letter. At the same time is contains comforting and exhilarating
teaching of the highest order. It therefore demands careful and detailed
study.”[1]
Justification produces benefits for the believer
Raise a Need: (POS)
There
is no doubt that life in general can be very difficult, traumatic, and painful.
Most of us have lived with or at the least experienced fear, disillusionment,
doubt, discomfort, pain, and maybe even hopelessness. There may have been times
when you have been made or have become extremely ashamed. Many people,
regardless of their religious persuasion and knowledge live in fear of the
anger or judgment of God. Even believers can slip into a mindset where they
also fear the wrath of God.
So, we
have to ask ourselves, what are the benefits to me specifically of being
justified by God through faith? In our daily life and in our service to God we
need confidence, especially in this day and age. I maintain that…
Justification produces benefits for the believer
State the Purpose
My purpose today
is prove that your
justification has tremendous benefits that when realized gives to each genuine
believer great confidence which serves as an anchor for your faith particularly
when the storms of life blow on our lives. Blow they will!
Justification produces benefits for the believer
[Sub Introduction]
Announce the text under consideration
Paul speaks about
the magnificent benefits that are the results of being justified by faith by
God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in Romans 5:1-5. So,
join me as we continue to answer the question, How to be right with God?
Review current sermon series
We are in a series that is
currently examining The Provision of Righteousness. We have looked at the Introduction
of Righteousness, we have looked at the Illustration of Righteousness.
Today we are continuing to looking at or examining the Implication of Righteousness
as we consider Romans 5:1
Background to the text
Historical Background – Remember,
Paul wrote Romans in the spring of AD 57 as he waited in Corinth for a ship
that would sail Jerusalem. He gave this letter to Phoebe and she was able to
find a ship that was sailing to Rome. He had never visited this church,
however, he wanted to visit them in order to gain support and assistance for his
plans to travel to Spain. Paul purpose to give this church a complete
understanding of salvation, particularly the doctrine of justification by faith
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Textual Background –
Let’s note a few things in
relationship to the background of
this passage:
·
First of all – chapter five is a very key chapter in
Paul’s argument. This chapter is pivotal. It cannot be lightly passed over. It
must be studied in detail.
·
Second – understanding this chapter is essential to
understanding chapters 6-8. This chapter is crucial in order to understand all
that Paul will lay out for this church in Rome and for you and me today.
·
Third – most scholars and theologians admit that it is
a very difficult chapter to understand, especially vss. 12-21. Paul delves deep
into great mysteries as he tries to explain how the human race fell into sin
through Adam and how believers gain spiritual and eternal life through Christ.
I think the
majority of the problems that believes face as Christians come from a lack of
or from a misunderstanding of what they were in Adam and what they are now in
Christ. Too many believers seem to be stuck or content to live as if they are
in Adam when they are now in Christ. It is difficult to see that at conversion
we die in Adam and we are made alive in Christ. I hope that when we get to that
section I can help make it clear for each one of us.
·
Fourth – there are two great themes in this chapter;
first, assurance of salvation, and second, the believer’s union with Christ.
Some scholars and commentators want to try to divide this chapter and section
up into two sections; justification and sanctification.
Don’t make that mistake. This is not the case and I hope that you will see this
as we move along. Paul continues to deal with the topic of justification.
·
Fifth – Paul is enlarging on the intense happiness or
joy of the person who has been justified, especially when they understand the
assurance of God’s love for them and their future blessedness.
Since the
genuine believer has been declared and treated by God as righteous, Paul
provides for the believer some of the most obvious of blessings or benefits of
having been justified by faith. All of these benefits or blessings have been
made possible by the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
causes the believer to rejoice and experience great joy.
There is
nothing more sad and tragic than to see believers live miserably just inches
away from a life of great joy. Justification is the grounds, the basis, and the
means of great joy for the believer!
·
Sixth thing to note – and I hesitate to bring this up,
but I do think it is important. We have a textual challenge here in verse 1. I
think that it is important to at least briefly touch on any textual challenges
because as interpreters of Scripture, each one of us is responsible to
thoroughly understand the text as we read it and study it.
There is a
tremendous disagreement on one letter in the Greek alphabet in this verse. The
problem in a nutshell is which word did Paul actually use in his original
letter? Was it ecomen
or was it ecwmen?
What is the
difference? Well, first, it is one letter – either omicron or omega. In English
a long o or a short o.
If it is a short
o then we translate the verb as “we have” peace with God
If it is a
long o then we translate the verb as “let us have” peace with God
Many
manuscripts have the verb with the long o, or the omega. Some translations then
have the verb as let us have peace with God.
I think it
is properly translated in the KJV and NKJV and the Revised Version as, “we have
peace”
Let won’t
labor this point or stay very long here but let me give you a few reasons why I
think our translators did a good job with a difficult reading:
·
The context that we are dealing with right now is
didactic, or teaching. It is informative. It contains statements of fact or
doctrinal in nature. This passage has to do with a believers standing before
God.
·
As a result, it would be contradictory to Paul’s
practice to introduce an exhortation or a command before he has finished the
doctrine that he is teaching. Paul teaches then exhorts. All of his letters
attest to this; propositional then practical, doctrine then duty, information
then implementation.
·
The translation “we have” is more in line with the
idea of justification, where the “let us have” is more in line with
sanctification. Paul is not dealing with sanctification in this passage – he
will deal with it later on, but not at this point.
·
“We have” is more of a legal standing which fits with
our context, where “let us have” is a work of the HS
·
This is important for you to note – the first, “we
have” is something that every believer has immediately and for all time, the
second, “let us have” is something that not every believer has all of the time.
Sometimes we don’t have peace of God when we are out of fellowship
·
“We have” is in the passive voice – this means the
action was done to the believer. This doesn’t fit with an exhortation which
would be an active voice where the believer is to do something
·
Finally, it doesn’t seem to make sense to tell
believers to have or to get something they already have?
And so I am quite satisfied with
the translation that we have, even when it seems that manuscript evidence would
support the long o, that the proper translation and meaning is “we
have” peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon series background
Last week we studied about the first
implication of having been made righteous and that was the fact that it is procurable by all men who believe.
IOW, justification is not limited
to the Jews only, but it is extended to all men, including all Gentiles who
believe that God raised Christ from the dead in Romans 4:23-25.
This week we are continuing our
studies on the implication of righteousness – and we will study on the
fact that it is productive for all men who believe.
Preview the body structure
Our text, Romans 5:1 divides itself
into a conclusion or summary and then a statement. The first part of verse one
provides a conclusion or Paul’s summary and the latter part of verse one is a
statement that provides the first benefit for the genuine
believer.
[And so we now move to the second implication of
justification which is that…]
2B …it is
productive for all men who believe (Vss. 1-5)
Our theme
today is - Justification produces
benefits for the believer
It is produces the types or kinds of
benefits that enable genuine believers to live in the face of the world today.
Interrogatory Sentence: We
have to ask ourselves then, what are the benefits provided for genuine
believers by justification through faith in Jesus Christ that inspires the
confidence that is needed in order to live faithfully and obediently in this
world today?
Transitional Statement:
The passage of scripture before us reveals at least four (4) benefits
produced by justification by faith, peace with God, access into grace, hope of
future glory, and the strength to face the trials of life.
[And so we begin with the first benefit that justification
produces which is …]
1C Peace with God (1)
The believer has peace with God. God
has made peace with the believer. God has reconciled the believer to Himself
ending hostility.
[First of all, in order to see this, we need to examine…]
1D The Basis for Peace (Vs. 1a)
[We see the basis of our peace in the
first part of verse one…]
diakaiwqentes oun ek pistews...
“Therefore, having been justified by faith…”
With verse 1 Paul is making a
transition. He is summing up what he has been teaching in chapters 1 through 4.
Paul is going to present justification as a benefit experienced by the genuine
believer.
Paul believers his readers have, or
at least should have accepted his argument for justification by faith and he
now shifts from an argumentative style of presenting his teachings to a more
confessional style. Paul switches from the third person to a 1st
person means of presentation.
And at this turning point he becomes
more explanatory rather than conformational. And so he says that:
--all believers are declared to be
innocent and acquitted of all charges that were, mind you, justly, rightly, or properly brought against all believers who have
trusted Christ.
--Remember those sobering words that
he wrote in 3:23 – “for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God.”
And so, “…having been justified…” this
sums up all that Paul explained and proven in this section 3:21-4:25.
What has Paul proven
in chapters 1 -4?
Paul has proven at least five major
truths:
·
All
men are under condemnation for sin - this is very serious. Men are condemned
and this is from birth. So, all men are living under condemnation.
·
This
condemnation extended to both Jews & Gentiles. There are no exceptions. The
Jews are not exempt. This was a shock to them – but it applies to both Jews and
Gentiles
·
There
is no escape, except by pardon by grace. No one can escape this condemnation by
their own efforts or works. Race, rituals, nor religion will secure relief.
Justification cannot be earned, merited, or obtain by any human effort.
·
This
plan is fully revealed in the gospel of Jesus X. God has chosen to reveal His
plan of redemption in the gospel of Jesus Christ and nowhere else. The gospel
is exclusive, it is a very narrow path.
·
This
is not a new teaching. It is in harmony w/the NT. Paul made it clear that this
is not a new doctrine that he has made up. The Jews should have known this and
could have confirmed it by examining their own writings.
Having said these things take care notice that the verb
“having been…” Justification is already possessed by the genuine believer.
Justification in not future, although it continues through the future and into
eternity. It is a right now experience of all genuine believers.
There are many blessings that await our future glorification,
but justification is not one of them. It is a fact! It is a fact right now!
This blessing, this benefit takes us back to 4:8 – “Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall
not impute sin.”
And so, Paul finishes chapter 4 with these great truths on
justification. He finishes his argument of how God justifies the sinner who
believes. Now he provides the blessings
provided by justification by faith. Sadly, not every believer enjoys these
blessings to their fullest extent.
Remember, these benefits or blessings cannot be obtained by chores (works), by circumcision, or by commandments
(keeping the Law), they can only be obtained by faith, by believing or by
trusting in Jesus Christ and His atoning work.
[So, since we now have and continue to have or to be
justified by faith, what are the implications? There are several implications,
at least four given here in verses 1-5. They are in a nutshell, peace,
access, hope, and strength.
Let me say, at this
point, that the benefits of justification are taught in chapters 5-8. In each
chapter Paul makes it a huge point and each chapter presents the benefits
through the Lord Jesus Christ.
So the basis that determined our peace with God is the
justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
So let’s now move to…]
2D The Beauty of Peace (1b)
Peace with God is a wonderful, gracious,
and even beautiful benefit to the genuine believer. This second portion of
verse one tell us about that beauty and its source.
eirnhn ecomen pros
ton qeon dia tou kuriou hmwn ihsou cristou
“…we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ…”
The word for peace in our verse is eirnhn. Our word comes from a root word which means “to bind together that which has been
separated.”
Jesus made peace through the blood of His
cross (Col 1:20) in the sense that through His atoning work Jesus binds
together again, those who by their sin in Adam have been separated from God but
who now through faith in Christ are bound together again with God, who by the
way is the last Adam.
It is also the Greek equivalent of
the Hebrew word Shalom.
It does not mean merely or simply
“the cessation of hostility or conflict.” This word actually refers to the
total wellbeing, the prosperity, and even the overall salvation of an individual.
[For example, we see this encapsulated in Numbers 6:26:]
“The LORD bless you and keep you; the
LORD make his fact to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up
His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Why is this necessary?
Why is peace a
benefit and why is it listed first?
What makes peace so
beautiful for the genuine believer?
[Well, first of all you need to remember…]
There is a state of hostility against the unbeliever by God.
God is at war with the unbeliever.
·
Psalms
7:11 says – “God is a just judge, and God
is angry with the wicked every day.”
Every day of the unbeliever’s life
God is angry with them. You and I were no different, every day we lived apart
from Christ, God was angry with us. He was actually hostile towards us. There
is an active warfare between God and the lost.
·
Romans
1:18 says – “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Remember, although it seems like a
long time ago, we studied this principle in depth. God is not only angry at
sinners, He has even revealed his anger, his wrath against all men who
suppress, restrain or hinder the Word of God.
·
Ephesians
5:6 warns us – “Let no one deceive you
with empty words, for because of these things, (what things – fornication,
uncleanness, covetousness, idolatry) the wrath of God comes upon the sons of
disobedience.”
First – most sinners are unaware that
God is angry with them. They aren’t even aware it seems that God gets angry or
mad.
Second – they seem to be oblivious of
the fact that God is angry at them and actually displays his anger. But listen,
earthquakes, floods, drought, war, disease, and other disasters are God’s means
of displaying His anger.
God’s wrath has come upon many “sons
of disobedience” through the floods in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. These
are not merely the works of Mother Nature.
·
Ephesians
2:14-14 tells us – “For He Himself is our
peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of
separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity – “hatred-anger” …thus
making peace.”
We don’t use enmity much in our daily
language, but you should study this word. It contains with in it the idea of
hatred. God has a holy, because He is Holy, hatred and anger against sin and
sinners.
·
Romans
8:7 – “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.”
The mind, the inner being of those
who are lost are hostile to God. It is difficult to understand and more
difficult to admit, but prior to coming to Christ men are God-haters. They are
hostile to God and God is hostile to them.
If don’t think men are hostile toward
God, look around, read the paper, or watch the TV news. Men hate and are
hostile toward Christians, and towards the Word of God. They hate and want to
tear down or destroy crosses, nativity scenes, statues or depictions of the Ten
Commandments, morality, and anything even remotely related to God.
·
Romans
1:30 contains the phrase – “…haters of God…” pre-Christ all men
are haters of God. I know that I have already said it, but men are haters of
God. Why? Why do men hate God so vehemently? It is because God reminds them of
their sin, of their darkness, and of their guilt. God exposes the sin and
darkness of men and they hate him for it.
·
James
4:4 makes it clear – “Adulterers and
adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore
wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”
There is no middle or neutral ground.
A person is either a friend of the world and God’s enemy, or you are the
world’s enemy and God’s friend. It is hard to think about what it means and
what is involved in being an enemy of God. Can you?
·
Ephesians
2:16 tell us – “…and that He might
reconcile then both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to
death the enmity.”
Only through the death of Jesus
Christ did God reconcile some sinners to Himself. This reconciliation killed or
put to death the hatred/hostility between God and the sinner. It is such a
serious and egregious thing to try to justify oneself by good works, or human
efforts. It took the death of Christ to put this hostility to death.
[For the record let me say a few words about “enmity…]
This word enmity is a very serious word. It means hatred,
hostility. God isn’t just peeved, or ticked off, or a little unhappy with non-believers.
God hates them and is at war with them. And so he was with you until He
regenerated you by the HS who in giving you spiritual life enabled you to
repent and turn to Him in faith.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that God loves the sinner
and hates the sin. That is not even a biblical concept. It was uttered by a
godless Hindu that rejected the God of the bible. It was God who said, “Jacob I
have loved but Esau I have hated.”
[So, having said these things about the existing state
between God and sinners prior to being justified let’s take a brief look at
this first benefit produced by justification by faith that we know as “peace
with God.”
What is peace?
·
First
of all, from a negative perspective, Paul is not referring to an inner sense of
wellbeing. This is not a reference to feeling good and restful inside.
Almost all men seek this inner sense
of peace or wellbeing. Many people subscribe to various programs, philosophies,
exercises and ideologies in hoping to achieve and maintain some level of inner
wellbeing.
Men are plagued with fear, with doubts,
or inner struggles. So they look to marital arts, yoga, pills, booze, or mind-altering
exercises, all in the hopes of putting down the voices and demons that haunt
them. They want to calm the raging storm inside of them.
But Paul is not talking about that
type of inner peace or security in this passage.
·
Second
– the idea of peace occurs at least 10 times with the word “reconciliation.”
We only are able to enjoy this cessation of hostility with God when we have
been reconciled to God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
·
Peace
is a means of God’s great goodness to His people. There is no doubt that
mankind needs to have peace with God. Without this peace with God men are lost,
they are condemned, and doomed to an eternal hell which was prepared for the
Devil and his angels.
·
Peace
is available to all Jews and all Gentiles who believe in Christ’s death and
resurrection. Peace is the reconciliation of God to the believer through the
death of His own dear and unique Son. It implies the removal of the divine
wrath against the sinner
·
This
reference to peace is to an outward situation of being in a state or
relationship of peace with God. It is a reference to the cessation of warfare,
hostility, and even hatred by God toward the unbeliever. This peace comes out
of the hostility that exists between God and the sinner. Prior to Christ we
were enemies of God.
·
This
word and idea of peace is very closely related to its cousin, reconciliation. I
have already mentioned this but we need to see these two words together.
·
This
peace that Paul is speaking of comes only through Jesus Christ – it is what Douglas
Moo in his commentary called, “the wrath
averting work of Christ.” [2]
·
By
the way, this peace, this reconciliation with God is ours at the exact instant
that we place our faith or trust in Christ. Hostility, warfare, and anger
ceases the instant a sinner repents and believes in Christ’s death and
resurrection. War is over! We are no longer the object of God’s wrath. His
favor was propitiated by the death of His Son. God’s wrath is removed from the
genuine believer.
So what is peace?
It is an outcome of justification by faith. Justification is
not merely limited to forgiveness, it is far richer than that. Justification
deals with a new position, and new relationship of a restored sinner.
Justification takes care of the past and the future because it produces a peace
with God because through Christ God has ended all hostilities with a believing
sinner. Peace is an end of hatred, hostility, and warfare with God.
Our
theme today is – Justification produces benefits for the believer
My purpose today was to provide you with the confidence that
justification safely secures the believer from condemnation because God has
made peace with the genuine believer ending all hostilities with the believer.
[What do
you say we wrap this up?]
[CONCLUSION]
Let me conclude with a passage
written by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossian Church:
“He is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in
heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in
him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be
preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated
and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of
flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above
reproach before him, 23if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and
steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been
proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a
minister. (Colossians 1:15-22, ESV)
Amen.
Let’s pray! J
2 comments:
I love Sundays as I know I can relax a while and read your post.
Thanks again Gregg for a wonderful read.
Yvonne.
fantastic post, thank you
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