Rom 5:1-21, Faith is a better foundation than performance-based religion

REVIEW: We conclude chapter 4 with Abraham's example of hope and faith.  Abraham was justified by faith and not by what he did.  Paul now goes into the evidence for the results of justification by faith.


Rom 5:1-11 (NIV) Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.


6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.


• Note that the phrase "have been justified through faith" is in the past tense and looks back on an event that has happened, and not on something in the future that might happen.  Our position becomes a historical fact
• What are the results of justification through faith?
• Peace.  Why?  Justification by works would leave us wondering if we have ever done enough
• Access to God.  Why?  Our present position is the result of grace.  Paul says we stand in this grace.  It is an unmerited position, because quite frankly, we could never gain access to God if it depended on us
• Hope of Glory.  Why? Jesus did all the work for us.  Our hope is based upon him and not upon us
• Suffering has a positive impact.  Suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope.  Why? Because if we suffer, it is not because we are cursed (OT Law: failure resulted in curses), but because we are loved.  It is the result of a Father who loves his adopted children and wants to see their best
• Verse 6-8 describe those for who Christ died
• Powerless.  There was nothing we could do to change our situation
• Ungodly.  We lived in rebellion to God.  We violated his rules of life
• Not good enough to die for.  We weren't even good enough to die for
• Sinners.  We were opposed to God.  We were wicked
• Paul continues the benefits of justification
• We are saved from God's wrath to come.  I think this is eschatological and refers to the tribulation period when God's wrath is poured out on the world first and then Israel specifically.  This seems to be an allusion, in my opinion, to a pre-tribulation rapture
• Also, we were enemies, but we are now reconciled
• But reconciliation was the hard part according to verse 10-11.  What does it mean we shall be saved?
• This refers to sanctification (the process of becoming more like Christ) and to our final glorification (when we will have our new body like Christ)


Rom 5:12-14 (NIV) Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.


• Now Paul comes back to the fall, which is where all this started, and also shows how justification by faith redeems us from its effects
• Many commentators see the usage of Adam and Christ as federal heads of two groups of people
• A federal head acts as a representative of the people
• Examples might be a king or president, or even a parent
• Interestingly, Adam is the federal head, not Eve.  The scriptures say that Eve was deceived but Adam deliberately sinned
• Where does death come from?
• It is a result of Adam's sin
• Gen 3:19c . . . for dust you are and to dust you will return
• People die because of Adam's sin
• People are judged because of their own sin
• But, how can there be sin, since sin is not taken into account when there is no law
• Since there was sin, there was some knowledge of God's law
• Rom 2:14-15 (NIV) (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.)
• Gen 6:5-6 (NIV)  The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. 6 The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.
• You do not need the OT law to be guilty of sin


Rom 5:15-19 (NIV) But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16 Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.


18 Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.


• Rob Bell has made a lot of new lately with his book "Love Wins." I believe Bell makes two major mistakes
• He is preaching a false doctrine of "universalism"
• He has created an idol of what he thinks God should be like
• Twice the author make a the statement "the gift is not like the trespass."  So how is the gift not like and how are the same
• One man in both cases
• Sin brought both death and ultimately God's grace
• One resulted in judgment and condemnation, and the other results in grace and the gift of righteousness
• So, is the difference only in the results?
• No, because in one case, the results are earned
• In the other case, the results are a gift
• Verses 18-19 would seem to suggest through parallelism, that just as everyone was condemned to death, not everyone is justified to life, but that violates quite a few of Paul's arguments, including the statement repeated twice, "the gift is not like the trespass"
• The trespass earns death
• Rom 6:23 (NIV) For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• A gift is not earned nor is forced upon the individual, a gift must be received.  Only then is it fully the person's right
• John 1:12 (NIV) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God


Rom 5:20-21 (NIV) The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


• So why add the law, if the purpose of the law was to increase the number of sins?
• Our sin reveals our need for a savior
• Since the wages of sin is death, and the gift is eternal life, the more wages earned would seem to make a person more aware of their need
• The law reveals to us things we might not even think our sin.  What are some examples?
• Lust
• Covetous
• Filthy language
• Sexual sins (today's culture bears this out--"what's wrong with sex before marriage?" or "what's wrong with homosexuality?")
• APPLICATION:
• Not everyone will be saved
• Sin brings death, but sin also shows us how desperately we need a savior
• Faith changes our relationship with God from performance-based to a family-based love relationship