Romans 5:1-11 - The Climactic Conclusion
You have what you're looking for: peace with God.
Romans 5:1–11 (NASB95)
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Heidelberg Catechism
Q&A 60
Q. How are you right with God?
A. Only by true faith in Jesus Christ.
Even though my conscience accuses me
of having grievously sinned against all God’s
commandments
and of never having kept any of them,
and even though I am still inclined toward all evil,
nevertheless,
without my deserving it at all,
out of sheer grace,
God grants and credits to me
the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ,
as if I had never sinned nor been a sinner,
as if I had been as perfectly obedient
as Christ was obedient for me.
Summary
This is it. This is the climactic conclusion to the grand narrative we've been working our way through this year, one short passage every weekday. Our Story began in the Garden, where Adam rebelled from His Creator's covenant and was driven out of the LORD's presence. He was barred from returning by one of God's mightiest angels wielding a flaming sword.
The Story continued through generation after generation of people, called by God into a new covenant, codified on stone tablets that were broken to bits before they ever made it down the mountain. Provisions were made in the form a tabernacle and later a grand temple in which the atonement that sin required could be symbolized through the shedding of blood by sacrificial animals.
Although the people's faithfulness ebbed and flowed throughout the ages, God remained rock solid to the covenant He'd obligated Himself to. He providentially cared for His rebellious people, as a Shepherd does for His sheep. People certainly enjoyed God's blessing, but through it all they never really had what they so desperately longed for: shalom - the peace that comes when everything is the way it's supposed to be; a comprehensive peace predicated upon, first and foremost, having peace with God - a peace that proved impossible to achieve on our own.
And so it is that I consider the opening words of Romans 5 to be the most important words ever written, that having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, all because while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. In this way, God demonstrates His own love toward is, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Dig Deeper
It seems pretty early to be reaching the Bible's 'climactic conclusion'. After all, we still have two months of reading before we make it to the end! And all you need to do is to look around you and notice that although we now have peace with God, things are nowhere near the way they're supposed to be.
For we still live in the midst of tribulations - a word that doesn't get used very much anymore, but one that best translates the idea Paul immediately shifts to after announcing our new found peace. Even though we've already have been fully reconciled to God through Christ, we've not yet begun to realized the full benefits of it here and now.
But your knowledge of this peace - that is, your theology - enables you to exult in the midst of the tribulations you continue to face. You can glory, boast and even rejoice (words used by various other translations) in your tribulation because as you do so, it ultimately strengthens the hope you have because the love of God has been poured out within your heart.
Although we've already learned so much as we've read through the Bible together this year, in many ways the best is still yet to come as we unpack the glorious details of this tremendous peace with God that we've been given. And the more you come to understand it, the more you will fully experience this peace, even as tribulations roar all around you.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who has poured His love out through the Holy Spirit who was given to us;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you'll come to deeply understand this all encompassing peace, so that you will be able to exult in your tribulations;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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