Hello Friends!
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
Welcome Back! Let’s continue our journey through the book of Romans – “The Romans Road to Righteousness.”
The Roman’s Road to Righteousness (Chapter 5:1-11)
This week we will begin reading chapter 5 verses 1-11 as we study these first eleven verses we’re going to find ourselves rejoicing in the tremendous security of our salvation. This is a great passage!
This is a subject that through the years has been very hotly debated in theology. There have always been those who have affirmed that you can lose your salvation and those who have affirmed that you cannot lose your salvation – the battle rages on. The issue of eternal security or the perseverance of the saints or the “once saved, always saved” doctrine is very important. In many churches today it is believed that a Christian can indeed lose his or her salvation. We often hear about those who "backslide" and fall away from Jesus Christ. This particular doctrine that says one can lose their salvation renders salvation conditional. In other words, long as you meet the “conditions of maintenance” you are safe. This view is nothing less than works righteousness...
Here in chapter five, the Apostle Paul presents six “links” in a chain – so to speak – that ties a true believer eternally to the Savior. This chain is so secure, that after grasping these passages, we're going to know full well that if we are truly in Jesus Christ we will belong to Him forever – eternal security. That's a marvelous thing to know!
First link: “peace
with God”
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ – Romans 5:1
It
isn't so much that we were hostile against God as it was that God was hostile
against us – angry about our sin. In fact, the Bible says God is “angry with the wicked every day”:
God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day – Psalm 7:11
However,
true Christian believers are secure because they are at “peace with God” and His anger and
wrath are satisfied in the death of our “Lord Jesus Christ.” For how long do
Christians have “peace with
God”? For as long as Jesus Christ lives – Forever!
When a person embraces Jesus Christ by faith, the spotless Son of God makes
that person one with God – Forever!
Second link: “standing
in grace”
through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand – Romans 5:2a
Grace
is God's undeserved favor toward sinners. Grace operates where there is sin. If
we “stand” in “grace” but sin, God’s “grace” operates. By “whom” do we have “access by faith?” Through “our Lord Jesus Christ”
– Everything is because of Him!
We aren't moving in and out of “grace”
– we “stand” in it. We're not
coming and going through it, we're “standing”
in it!
Third link: “hope of
glory”
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God – Romans 5:2b
He
also brings us to the “hope
of the glory of God” in Jesus Christ! So far we see that
the security of the believer is first of all predestined in the past – Jesus
Christ made “peace with God.”
The security of the believer is anchored and maintained in the present – we
are “standing in grace.” The
security of the believer is anchored in the future – our “hope of
glory.” We have been saved. We are being saved. We
shall yet be saved. We wait for the full salvation – the redemption of
our bodies – the full and ultimate glorification. Therefore, past, present
& future all comes
together to secure the believer!
Fourth link: “love of
God”
And not only that, but we also rejoice in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us – Romans 5:3-5
Here
the Apostle Paul says we rejoice even in our “tribulations.”
The Greek word tribulation is thlipsis which means “pressure” and refers
to the squeezing of olives to get the oil or the squeezing of grapes to get the
wine. Tribulation works “perseverance.”
The Greek word hupomoneit means “patient endurance.” We go through
trouble and learn to endure – the more trouble, the more we learn to endure.
And what happens? Our “perseverance”
produces Dokimenis the Greek word that means to be “put to the test” for
the purpose of approving someone. The same way gold or silver is tested for
impurities to make sure it's pure. The believer not only rejoices in the “glory” to come but he even rejoices in the
“tribulations” now. Why?
Because the “tribulations” now
“produces” the kind of “perseverance”
and “character”
that has a greater capacity to “rejoice”
about the future. Wonderful!
Therefore,
when we experience “tribulations”
it produces “perseverance”
– proven “character” – and “hope” which “does not disappoint” because “the love of God has been poured
out in our hearts” as we await the promised anticipated
glory by the “Holy Spirit
who was given to us.” The truth is that God's love for us
has been deposited in our hearts by the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Practically speaking, the Holy Spirit gives the true believer the sense that
God loves Him.
The
Apostle James also speaks to this promise which “produces
patience”:
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing – James 1:2-4
However,
we will forfeit this sense that comes by the Holy Spirit ministering to us if
we live in willful disobedience, an unrighteous life or habitual unconfessed
sin. By disobedience we grieve the Holy Spirit and will cause Him to bear no
fruit in our lives. Therefore, if a Christian goes through a period when he
loses this sense of God loving him, it is because he has quenched the ministry
of the Holy Spirit of God. Although our salvation is indeed secure, we can in
fact hinder His work in our lives and lose the sense of God’s love. Beware!
Fifth link: “saved
from wrath”
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when 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 – Romans 5:6-10
What
does Paul mean when he says we were “still without strength?” As
unbelievers we were without strength to do anything that pleased God.
Without strength to overcome sin, Satan, the world, the flesh, death, hell, the
ability to live a righteous life or to save ourselves when we were literally
paralyzed by our sin – unable to do anything about it. We had no moral
ability at all. We were “enemies”
of Holy God and powerless to please Him. Therefore, if there was nothing in us
to make Him love us, what could there be in us to make Him stop loving us? Nothing!
Can you see the point Paul is making?
Jesus
Christ died for us “while we
were still sinners” – ungodly, impotent, ugly sinners.
God hates every sin, evil deed, evil thought, evil word – He despises them with
the fury of all of heaven. The fact that He could reach out and love ungodly
sinners is the all-surpassing nature of His divine love. If God could love us “when we were enemies”
of His, is it going to be any problem for Him to love us now “through the death of His Son”
as believers? No! We were “justified by His blood” and we will
be “saved from wrath through
Him” that is to come. That transaction – “having been reconciled”
– covers the past, present and future. If He could save us
through the “death of His
Son” then He can certainly keep us “saved by His life” – This is a great truth!
Sixth link: “rejoice
in God”
And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation – Romans 5:11
The
final “link” that anchors us to
our blessed Lord God is that we “rejoice in God” through “our Lord Jesus Christ” by whom we
sinners – believers – have “received the reconciliation” with
our Holy God. We are secure in Him. What a “hope”
great we have!
In
closing:
One
of the things that Satan does in attacking a Christian is to attack him at the
point of his assurance of salvation. Satan likes to make us doubt our
redemption. That's why when we put on the armor of God outlined by the Apostle
Paul in Ephesians 6, he tells us to put on the helmet of salvation. Paul again
writing to the Thessalonians further defined it by referring to it as the “helmet of the hope of salvation.” Why?
Because Satan wants to deal devastating blows to our head in the area of doubt
– we’re saved, redeemed and belong to God. To believe that somehow, someway we
forfeited our redemption. Satan therefore blasts away, attempting to make us
feel insecure and intimidated. And so we must wear the helmet of the hope and
hold to the confidence that we’re really eternally redeemed!
Sadly,
some believe God has indeed saved them, but as long as they continue to match
up with His standard, they can “hold on” to their salvation. But if at any
point they fail to live up to His standard – they lose it. However, it doesn't
take much Biblical insight to realize that this is a works-righteous
perspective. Because what this false belief is really saying is that
salvation is conditional in the sense that our works have to stay
up to standard or we forfeit our salvation. This distorts salvation into
a self-effort work based on human ability. I do not believe the Scriptures
teach this and neither did the Apostle Paul! This is exactly the issue to which
Paul speaks here in this section to the Romans.
It
actually fascinates me that in many treatments of the subject of the security
of the believer, Romans 5 is rarely even discussed. In fact, of all the
passages in the New Testament, these are the most absolutely definitive text
ever written on the security of our salvation!
Don’t
forget, the Apostle John also says that we can “know
that you have eternal life”:
These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God – 1 John 5:13
The
Apostle Peter also boldly states:
who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time – 1 Peter 1:5
The
reason we as believers are secure is because God has given us the “hope” that is built into our salvation and
“kept by the power of God
through faith for salvation” that we are saved unto
glory. He doesn't lose the people He redeems to glory! The hope of the
glory of God is a confident assurance that in the future we will partake of the
divine glory through His suffering. Oh, what a
great and wonderful reality!
We are not guaranteed tomorrow – tomorrow may be too late! If you haven't yet made that most important decision of your life, won't you make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior today - before it's too late? Today is the day of Salvation!
If you have been blessed by this message or have a specific question, prayer request or testimony, please send me a note to: encouragingconcepts@live.com
I love hearing from you. Keep reading Encouraging Concepts!
Blessings!
Shane K. Morin <><
Encouraging Concepts
Truth for Today
"Living Life From a Biblical Worldview"Lighthouse Publications <><
