GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS FOR MAN FROM START TO FINISH

Part III: God's Righteousness Imputed To Man, Romans 3:21-5:21

C. The Rich Benefits Of God's Imputed Righteousness

(Romans 5:1-11)

I. Introduction

A. Being justified by God's grace through faith "is no sterile doctrine, but a source of blessing in one's life," Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Romans 5:1-11.

B. Paul clarified the rich benefits of God's imputed righteousness that lead to such blessing in Romans 5:1-11, what we view for our insight and edification (as follows):

II. The Rich Benefits Of God's Imputed Righteousness, Romans 5:1-11.

A. Having been pronounced righteous by God through faith in Christ as a gift (Romans 3:24), Paul directed his readers, "Let us have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," Romans 5:1. The KJV reading "we have peace" is inferior via manuscript evidence to the "Let us have peace" reading, B. K. C., N. T., p. 456).

B. Paul thus urged his readers to keep enjoying their positional peace with God, and he clarified how in v. 2-11:

1. Justified believers have gained the "privilege of approach" to One of high rank, to God Himself, v. 2a; Ibid. Thus, they should avail themselves of this accessibility by praying often to the Lord, 1 Thess. 5:17.

2. Justified believers have reason to keep on rejoicing (Ibid.) because they have hope of sharing in the great glory of the Lord Jesus at the rapture, Romans 5:2b; Ibid.

3. Justified believers have reason also to joy even in their sufferings (Romans 5:3a), for this produces a string of cause-effect issues in the believer's experience that greatly edify in God's grace, Romans 5:3b-4:

a. God uses sufferings in the lives of justified believers to produce perseverance, "the ability to remain under difficulties without giving in," Romans 5:3b; Ibid.

b. God then uses that perseverance in justified believers to produce "proven character," Romans 5:4a; Ibid.

c. Finally, God uses that "proven character" to produce confident hope that God will bring him through his trials in life, Romans 5:4b; Ibid.

4. That hope, being centered in God, does not "'put to shame because of disappointment' in unfulfilled promises" of God, either (Romans 5:5a; Ibid.), for God has poured out His love into the believer's heart through the Holy Spirit Whom He has given to him, Romans 5:5b; Ibid. "The reality of God's love in a believer's heart gives the assurance, even the guarantee, that the believer's hope in God and His promise of glory is not misplaced and will not fail," Ibid.

5. Paul expanded on the depth of that divine love to report that when the believer was lost and powerless, at the right time, Christ died in behalf of even sinners unlike what men would do for other men, Rom. 5:6-8.

6. Thus, having been justified through Christ's death, the believer will yet be saved from God's wrath through Christ, Romans 5:9. Believers can rejoice that they "will never be condemned to hell (John 5:24; Rom. 8:1) nor will they be the objects of God's coming Tribulation wrath (1 Thess. 1:10; 5:9)," Ibid., p. 457.

7. Expanding on the believer's deliverance from God's wrath, Paul added that if God reconciled the believer to Himself by the death of His Son when he was an enemy of God, much more will the believer, once reconciled, be saved by Christ's life, namely, by His intercessory work in the believer's behalf that keeps him saved, Hebrews 7:25; Ibid., Ryrie, ftn. to Romans 5:10.

8. Not only does the believer possess this deliverance from the loss of eternal salvation security, but he also has cause to rejoice in God through the Lord Jesus Christ by Whom he has received the reconciliation, Romans 5:11. [The KJV word "atonement" is literally "reconciliation" (Ibid., ftn. to Romans 5:11).] Reconciliation involves a change in relationship to God from being at enmity with Him to being accepted in the Beloved One, the Beloved Son of God, Ibid., ftn. to 2 Corinthians 5:18; Ephesians 1:6.

Lesson: Once justified, the believer should have peace with God by (1) going to Him in prayer, (2) rejoicing in his hope of sharing in Christ's glory and (3) rejoicing even in sufferings that produce perseverance, proven character and confident hope that does not disappoint since the Holy Spirit's love poured out in his heart assures him of the reality of that hope. (4) He should realize that God's love expressed to him even when he was God's enemy assures him of escaping God's wrath in the Great Tribulation or losing his salvation now since Christ is interceding for him, all due to the change in relationship he has from being God's enemy to being accepted in God's Beloved Son.

Application: May we enjoy the riches of our justification status in Christ by joyfully living in light of them.