Paul was not only an apostle, he was also a teacher (1 Timothy 2:7 and 2 Timothy 1:11). When spoken of, Paul is most commonly noted for his apostleship, being referred to as “Paul the Apostle.” We elevate his apostleship because he did so himself. Paul referred to himself as an apostle quite emphatically and more frequently than any other office he held. While Paul was sent forward by Christ to uncharted areas, we see him as he goes forward in the role of an apostle as a hearld, a preacher of the gospel. But throughout the Scripture what is captured of his life is Paul’s full, broad perspective of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His understanding of the gospel is the heavenly bank vault from which he taught tirelessly. A storehouse of understanding that is readily acknowledged and can be captured for ourselves as we read his writings.
We all need to be taught. It stands to fact that those who are in Christ Jesus are all “taught of God” under this newly arrived covenant of grace (1 Thessalonians 4:9, 1 John 2:20, Isaiah 54:13 and Hebrews 8:11). God has still set in our midst teachers and preserved for us the written teaching of some of the best who have ever lived since Christ’s ascension into heaven. As we read through this section of Romans 5:1-11, let us approach this text considering Paul as a teacher.
Romans 5:1 and 2:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
We are to boast in the hope that one day we will share in the glory of God through Jesus Christ. This hope is ours. This is all made possible because through the Lord Jesus Christ we have access to grace, we are justified by faith, and therefore, we have peace with God. What was done that was so great that all of mankind can now have peace with God through faith? How were we justified and set free from guilt before God’s judgment?
Romans 4:24 and 25:
But for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,
Who was handed over to death for our trespasses and was raised for our justification.
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is where we find our justification and
a future hope of resurrection. The fourth chapter of the book of Romans depicts Abraham, the father of the nation of Israel, being called of God while he was still uncircumcised. Abraham was called by God in Genesis chapter 12. It was not until chapter 17 that Abraham is given the covenant token of circumcision. Paul is bringing Abraham to the table in the book of Romans to show the Jews and the Gentiles that even Abraham was called of God outside of the token of circumcision. In the church at Rome there was a conflict between the Jewish people who had accepted Jesus as the Messiah and the Gentiles who had also been included in the blessing of Jesus the Messiah. Paul introduces Abraham to make the point that in the reading of the story of Abraham and circumcision there was a previously hidden understanding. This hidden understanding was a mystery, the understanding that the Gentiles, the nations of the world, would be included fully in the call of God through Jesus the Messiah.
This is why in Romans 4:24 that Paul points to this story being written for us (Gentiles included) who believe in God who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead. It is because Jesus was handed over to death, blotting out and canceling the effects of our trespasses, and in the following resurrection we were made right in the sight of God. Paul will later move into chapter 5 of the book of Romans to show how this salvation goes all the way back to Adam, not just Abraham. That this Jesus the Messiah’s saving work goes all the way back to the sin of Adam, expanding God’s salvation through justification for all of mankind. But before Paul gets into the details of Adam, human sin, and redemption beginning in Romans 5:12, we have to deal with the section of teaching in Romans 5:1-11.
Romans 5:1 and 2:
Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
This “peace” is a state of resolve. A dispute had to be handled. This peace is a state of reconciliation based on atonement. Peace has now been put into effect where there was separation and strife before between God and man. The concept of “atonement” will be mentioned later in Romans 5:11. You can also see Ephesians chapter 2 for this concept of “peace” as a dispute being settled. In Ephesians chapter 2 the reconciliation is between the nations of the world and Israel, Jews and Gentiles. In Ephesians 2 as well as Romans 5 the peacemaker is the Lord Jesus Christ. For our understanding of having peace with God, we must keep in mind that justification by faith is an act of grace. The salvation that has appeared to us through our Lord Jesus Christ was an act of God. It was God who made peace with us through sending His Son Jesus Christ. The obedience of Jesus as he gave his life, cancelling the effects of our tresspasses in the shedding of his blood, has made this all possible. This justification “through his blood” will also be mentioned later in Romans 5:9, a most unique usage of words.
Some argue that we were justified at the time of the resurrection of Christ based on a reading of Romans 4:32. Some even would point to this and state it enthusiastically. What about Romans 5:9 where it says that we were justified by his blood? Can we truly delineate our justification in this way? In other portions of teaching, Paul even points to our justification being realized in its totality only at a future time in resurrection and judgment. All three of these aspects must be held tightly together, all being valid and bringing to light different facets of justification. It is in grace that we stand before God, now and in the future. We are to boast in what He has done (Romans 4:1-9). It is for this reason alone that we can anticipate sharing in the glory of God.
Romans 5:3:
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance.
Here Paul does something unpredictable. From the heights of a future sharing in the glory of God, we are now faced with human suffering in the here and now. Paul says that we boast in hope of glory, but we also boast in our sufferings. It is not one or the other. While we boast of a future sharing in the glory of God we are also to boast in our sufferings now. As we will see in Romans 5:4, we boast in these present human sufferings because these sufferings produce hope itself. Watch it develop.
In verses 3 and 4, Paul will lay out a series of experiences that are stacked one on top of the other. First, that suffering produces endurance. This is a fact that we are to know, to be aware of, and to not only acknowledge but appreciate. While we suffer, we boast in suffering and troublesome times because this same suffering we experience will produce in us endurance. This logic, or illogic from a human, natural perspective, is exactly what the kingdom of God looks like in so many different categories.
The kingdom of God is not what we expect it to be. The kingdom of God is many times the opposite of what we would anticipate. The rules of the kingdom demand of us that we act in a way completely different from how we would react naturally. How a human would normally react is fundamentally in opposition to the teachings of Christ in almost every way. From a cursory reading of The Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5-7, we can clearly see this surprising perspective held in the kingdom of God. But should it surprise us that God’s ways are not our ways? That His ways are higher than our ways? It should not.
2 Corinthians 4:17:
For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
Here in the second letter to the church at Corinth we see Paul make a similar move in his teaching of the gospel. This verse, like our verses of focus in Romans 5:3 and 4, is drawing a strong contrast. Here in 2 Corinthians 4:17, “slight” is being compared with “weight,” “momentary” is being compared with “eternal,” and “affliction” is being compared with “glory.” While we can observe these comparisons, what interests me the most in the words that sit in-between these compared phrases. The words “is preparing us for” show us that while we are encountering affliction, that pressure and suffering that we feel is actually the feeling of preparation for eternal glory beyond all measure. You can read previously in chapter 4 of the second letter to Corinth the perplexing hardship faced by these men. We know that Paul does not mean that the suffering isn’t real from what is stated earlier in this chapter. The pain, the pressure, whatever form our struggles are coming in is very real; it is tangible. What Paul is saying is that there is a greater reality in play here. When we suffer, what we are actually experiencing is preparation. The suffering may feel like an incredible burden, but it is declared to be “slight” because Paul has in mind a future weight of glory that will be laid upon us. The suffering may truly feel like it is unrelenting and will never cease, but for Paul, he calls the suffering we face as momentary, for Paul has in mind the eternal quality of the glory in store for us.
Romans 5:3-5:
And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
And endurance produces character, and character produces hope.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
The character that is developing from enduring hardships produces hope. Endurance through suffering builds within us a resolve, it changes the way we process life itself and produces within us a colorful view of a future glory. While suffering may be disappointing, hope does not disappoint us. God’s love has been poured into our hearts, a love that Paul will now describe in Romans 5:6-8. There must be a connection between our hope and the love of God that has been poured into our hearts. Why else would Paul transition into love from what was such a clear line of thought concerning hope? This love must be specifically calibrated to show us the hope of a glorious future that will never be a disappointment to us.
Romans 5:6-8:
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.
This love given to us shows us that our hope in God will not be a disappointment. Our hope in God goes beyond our weaknesses and shortcomings. The love that was poured out into our hearts is based on Christ’s death for the undeserving. The emphasis in these two verses is on the death of Christ as the expression of God’s love. Our hope despite suffering, our hope that we will share in the future glory of God, is equally as undeserving as the giving of Christ’s life. Our hope is based on the same factors as our salvation. We were not righteous, worthy, or exceptional, and yet Christ died for us. This same love is why we can endure suffering and have hope, standing in the grace of God.
Romans 5:9 and 10:
Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God.
For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life.
Now that we have been justified through the blood of Jesus Christ, made right with God and given peace in our relation to Him as a holy God and we as sinful men (Romans chapters 1-3), how much more now that we have been justified can we have hope? Now that we have been justified even though we were enemies with God, now that we are reconciled and in a better relation to God, can we not believe that He will save us from wrath? If the death of His Son Jesus Christ saved us, will not the living Lord Jesus Christ also save us?
Romans 5:11:
But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
More than our hope and sufferings, we are to boast in the act of God and our reconciliation. Paul brings our mind into sharp focus on boasting in God for His redemptive work. Just as Paul told us in Romans 5:2 that we are to boast in our hope, just as we are told in Romans 5:3 that we are to boast in suffering, more than all of this we are to boast in God. More than boasting in hope itself we are to boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. God redeemed us when we were His enemies in His great love. We have received reconciliation. There are three reasons for boasting in Romans 5:1-11: future hope, present suffering, and God Himself for His redemptive work. While we can boast in suffering because we know it produces hope, nothing compares to the praises and confessing the greatness of God as to His act of love in sending His Son to atone for us, even when we were completely undeserving.
Psalms 150:6:
Let everything that breathes praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
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