Introduction
Up to now, Paul has been pursuing an
argument. Here are the central elements of that argument:
All
people (both the pagans and the religious) are justly under God's judgment because
of our true moral guilt (chapters 1,2).
God offers to all people the gift
of justification--offered by grace alone, accomplished through Christ's death
alone, and received by our faith alone (chapter 3).
This is not a New Testament
innovation. The Old Testament provided pictures and predictions of Christ's death,
and people were justified by faith, not by works (chapter 4).
This is the
heart of the gospel, and Christians need to understand this message well enough
to be able to communicate it effectively to others.
But the
gospel is not just a thesis to be argued; it is also a precious, life-changing
gift to be experienced and enjoyed. That's why Paul now turns from arguing to
rejoicing. In this passage, he rejoices in three specific benefits of justification.
1:
Peace with God
Read 5:1. The first great benefit is peace with God.
The moment you put your faith in Christ, the war between you and God is permanently
over. Your moral guilt before God, which created a barrier of enmity between you
and God, and which sent Jesus to the cross, is removed once and for all when you
receive his gift of justification. Read 5:9--God has signed the peace treaty with
the blood of his own Son, and he will never renege on his word (read Col. 2:14).
Therefore,
you never need worry again that God will reject you, or condemn you, or be hostile
toward you. How wonderful it is to know this! When you receive Christ, you can
sigh a huge sigh of relief and simply thank God that this is a settled issue.
But
this peace is more than merely the absence of enmity. It is an invitation from
God to come into his presence and enjoy relational closeness with him. Justification
has a proper legal dimension, but its purpose is personal reconciliation (read
5:10,11). Yes, God is a holy Judge whose righteousness and justice must be satisfied.
But he is also a loving Father who wants to have close personal fellowship with
you.
Paul uses a beautiful picture to describe this benefit in 5:2a (read).
The "introduction" is a technical term referring to royal protocol.
It refers to what people needed in the ancient world in order to come into the
presence of a royal ruler. You couldn’t just waltz into a king's presence.
To do this would invite death. You had to have an introduction--a signal from
the king that he desired to see you.
The story of Esther in the Old Testament
contains a beautiful illustration of this idea. Esther desires to plead with King
Ahasuerus for the safety of her Jewish countrymen. But she knows what can happen
if she goes into his presence without an introduction (read Esther 4:11). Esther
risked her life by doing this, not knowing beforehand whether Ahasuerus would
grant her an "introduction." Fortunately for her, he granted her grace.
This
is probably what Paul is alluding to in Rom. 5:2a. God is a far greater King than
Ahasuerus, because he is perfect and holy. The gap between us and him is far greater,
because we are sinful and guilty. He has already warned us that to waltz into
his presence without an introduction is to invite death (Jer. 20:31). But
because of what Jesus Christ has done, we each receive a standing invitation to
come into his presence at any time and bask in his grace. You can draw near with
confidence that God will receive you gladly--not because you've been good lately,
but because Jesus is your introduction (read Heb. 10:19-22).
What
would be the proof that you really believe this? That you continue to draw near
to God even (and especially) when you feel unworthy. Most of us have no problem
coming into God's presence when we've been doing well following him. But what
about after you've had a nice fit of road rage, or pornographic lust, or a drunk?
When this happens, don’t you feel like you need to at least put some time
between that and your next conversation with God? Isn't it easier to believe that
God wants some penance than to believe that he is just as delighted to talk you
as he was after you had a good day? If so, doesn't this mean you're basing your
acceptability with God on your works and worthiness? We are never qualified to
enter into God's presence by our own good works--but we're always qualified to
do so by Christ's finished work.
"If you believe and teach that, people
will take God for granted and sin all over the place." That has certainly
not been my experience, either in my own life or in working with others. If you
relate to God based on your own worthiness, you either stay honest about your
sin and avoid God more and more--or you start to lie to yourself about how good
you are and become a self-righteous hypocrite. But when you choose to draw near
to God by faith in his grace, you become more honest with yourself and God and
you become more motivated by his love and empowered by his Spirit to follow him.
2:
A guaranteed glorious future
As cool as this benefit is, Paul adds another
one. We not only have peace with God in the present; we also have the guarantee
of a glorious future with him (read 5:2b).
"The glory
of God" refers to the majesty and greatness of God's presence. Even in our
most intimate moments with him in this life, we experience only small fragment
of this. Those who experience even his reflected glory by coming into contact
with one of his angels are completely undone. But the day is coming (when Jesus
returns) when we will experience the glory of God to the fullest measure possible.
Scripture speaks of three different ways we will experience the glory of God:
We
will see God in all his glory (Rev. 22:4,5).
We will be transformed
to reflect his glory (Col. 3:4).
We will live in a world filled with
God's glory (Rom. 8:21).
Why do I say we have a guarantee
of this? Because "hope" does not mean a fond wish or a good probability.
It means a confident expectation, a certainty. This day is certainly coming because
the God who has fulfilled all the promises he makes through scripture has promised
this as well. And if you've received Christ, you can be certain that you'll get
in on this because Jesus Christ fully paid your ticket. You may make many mistakes
between now and then that cost you some joy and fruitfulness in this life--but
nothing will cancel your admission to the big show!
3: Productive
suffering
Here is a third great benefit (read 5:3a)--the ability to rejoice
in the midst of our sufferings. Even if Paul stopped here, we could understand
how this is true because of the two benefits he has already described.
Personal
access to God is a tremendous source of comfort during personal suffering. To
be able to draw near to God in times of trouble and experience his peace guarding
my heart and mind (Phil. 4:6,7) is more wonderful than words can describe.
Realizing
that one day all this suffering will be ended and replaced with the glory of God's
perfection has a wonderfully fortifying effect (VACATION PRINCIPLE).
But
Paul means more than this. The reason why we can rejoice in the midst of our tribulations
is not just that God fortifies us in the midst of them, or that he will one day
remove them--but that he somehow makes these suffering productive (read
5:3-5). When you receive Christ, God doesn't remove you from all suffering in
this life. In fact, he warns you that you will have more suffering in this life
(ME NOW). But he promises to work through those very sufferings to shape and mold
and strengthen and mature you. He doesn't cause the sufferings, but he somehow
customizes them to develop your character. Paul mentions three character results
that God brings about uniquely through suffering.
He will produce
perseverance--literally, the ability to "hang in there." This
is the ability to keep going in spite of the pain, not deviating from the path,
fulfilling your responsibility no matter what the cost. It's what Tom Hanks had
in "Saving Private Ryan" that was so inspiring to me that I wept both
times I saw it. This is the opposite of being soft, overwhelmed by suffering so
that you cave in and quit and adopt the miserable goal of just avoiding pain.
If you know Christ, God is like a STRENGTH COACH--overseeing every suffering that
comes into your life to build perseverance.
He will produce proven character.
This is the word used to describe gold after it had been smelted until the dross
had been burned away. This is spiritual depth, spiritual reality that comes through
unmistakably and deeply impacts people for Christ. When they talk about Christ
and following him, you sense they are not spouting memorized platitudes--but that
they know what it means. They have the ability to inspire you to give your life
to Christ. Do you know what I have discovered about these people? They have suffered
deeply, and this suffering has produced this depth and reality. If you are committed
to avoiding pain as your first priority, you won’t really succeed--but you
will succeed in remaining a superficial person.
He will produce hope.
This "hope" is different from the hope mentioned in 5:2. It refers to
confidence in God's goodness and faithfulness in this life. It is the opposite
of being fearful and doubtful and cynical about whether God will really take care
of you. This is one of the great benefits of walking with God over a period of
years. You accumulate your own precious track-record of God's faithfulness, and
this builds an increasing confidence that God will come through and enable you
to handle and grow through whatever life throws at you.
This
is why one of the most amazing things you hear walking Christians saying is that
they are actually glad that God permitted them to suffer in certain ways, because
the value of these results so far outweigh the pain they have experienced. Let's
look at a real-life example of how God does this (VIDEO) . . .
GOSPEL:
If you have never asked Christ to come into your life, I appeal to you to do so
now. What good reason do you have for rejecting his offer to give you peace with
God, a guaranteed future, and productive suffering? Why not tell him you are ready
to receive this gift?
Copyright
1999 Gary DeLashmutt