- Introduction 1:1-17 (includes purpose, 8-15; and theme, 16-17)
- The Need for God's Righteousness 1:18-3:20
- The Need for All People 1:18-32
- The Need of Good People 2:1-3:8
- The Guilt of All Humanity 3:9-20
- The Imputation of God's Righteousness 3:21-5:21
- The description of justification 3:21-26
- The defense of justification by faith alone 3:27-31
- The proof of justification by faith from the law 4:1-25
- The benefits of justification 5:1-11
- The restorative effects of justification 5:12-21
- The benefits of justification 5:1-11
- 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
- Greek for hope is a different idea than in English. It is to anticipate or to have an expectation (see BLB, G1680)
- A different view of suffering
- 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, NIV, Weak ESV. There was nothing we could do to change our situation
- Ungodly. We lived in rebellion to God (this is everybody). We violated his rules of life. It started at the garden, but everyone of us has rebelled from God in some way
- Not good enough to die for. We weren't even good enough to die for
- Very interesting thought. Listening to a Christian Human Rights advocate. He says that HR is based on dignity or worth, and yet it is very hard to define in secular terms. He says that our worth is defined, not by being made in the image of God, but rather by the relationship--Jesus' willingness to die for us. That is what gives us dignity and worth
- Sinners. We were opposed to God. We were wicked
- Next group of verses adds the term "enemies"
- Paul continues the benefits of justification (verses 9-11)
- 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)
- The restorative effects of justification 5:12-21
- 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 (vs 14) 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. Why?
- The scriptures say that Eve was deceived but Adam deliberately sinned (2 Cor 11:3)
- 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
- [No longer fits context] Rob Bell has made a lot of new adherents lately with his book "Love Wins." I believe Bell makes two major mistakes
- He preaches 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 (see BLB, Bibles -- NLT, KJV)
- 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, now 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"
- What does the trespass do? 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.
- How is a gift different? 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
- 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 (so those who had the law would have more recognition of the sin problem)
- 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
- Gluttony
- Sexual sins (today's culture bears this out--"what's wrong with sex before marriage?" or "what's wrong with homosexuality?")
- Certain sins are wrong because God says they are wrong
- 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
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 (ESV) Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained
access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of
the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's
love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been
given to us.
6 For
while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For
one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person
one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been
justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of
God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Rom
5:12-14 (ESV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and
death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for
sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted
where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over
those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of
the one who was to come.
Rom
5:15-19 (ESV) But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died
through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift
by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free
gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following
one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses
brought justification. 17 If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned
through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus
Christ.
18
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of
righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the
one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's
obedience the many will be made righteous.
Rom
5:20-21 (ESV) Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin
increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death,
grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
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