Have you noticed that almost everywhere you go online you need a password? You need one to log in to your bank’s web site. You need one to log on to sites such as Amazon or Facebook. If you forget your password, it can take some effort to create another one.
The people in ancient Rome were looking for the password that would give them access to God. Some thought that careful obedience to the Law of Moses was the key. Others thought that doing good deeds was the key. Others thought that deep philosophical knowledge would please God.
Paul claimed in Romans 5:1-11 that there is only one password that we need to remember: Jesus Christ. In Christ everyone has access to God’s grace, and the entire picture is reversed. Instead of us trying to reach God, God is trying to reach us through His grace. Bible scholars consider Romans 5:5-8 a central point of God’s love for humankind. It expands on John 3:16.
The Book of Romans begins with the desperate condition of lost humanity and ends triumphantly with the benefits of being reconciled to God. Just as it begins with and ends with the words, “through our Lord Jesus Christ”, so, too, is Christ first and last in the life of the believer.
In our lives we make such mistakes that we can’t buy our way out. We can’t wiggle our way out of them as we often try to do. We hurt others by our sins. We cannot pay God back for all of our sins. We can only stand before Him and ask for forgiveness and mercy. God pays the penalty for our sins. He takes the punishment. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins with His blood.
God promises His children that they will one day be clothed with Christ’s glory. The word “rejoice” means “to boast, in the sense of jubilation, exultant rejoicing-to shout about it!” It is quite natural to glory, or exult, in what is positive, but not in suffering and tribulations. In the Greek, the word “perseverance” means “to abide under or stay under pressure.” Suffering teaches believers to stay under pressure, like squeezing olives in a press to extract oil. This pressure results from the conflict of two truths: faith and its enduring benefits versus a fallen world under Satan’s influence.
Learning to stay calm under pressure produces character. Paul speaks of sterling character, character without impurities. One writer calls it “tried integrity”-the maturity of a veteran who lacks nothing, as opposed to the immaturity of a raw recruit.
The word “peace” does not mean a lack of negative experience or a euphoric feeling. But it closely approximates the word “shalom”, which describes a blessed and prosperous community, not an inner, psychological, or emotional peace. Peace refers not so much to an inward peace, but a relationship characterized by God’s peace toward the sinner. Paul has that inner wholeness in mind. Peace must be in the hearts of the people for there to be an outward, objective peace in the church in Rome.
When we are justified, God takes our sins and places them on Christ. He takes Christ’s righteousness and places it on us. Our sins are imputed to Christ, and His sinlessness is imputed to us. That doesn’t mean we are incapable of sinning. It means when God looks at us, He sees us wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus. We have become a new creation. God believes in us.
When people are justified, they have access by faith into this grace of God in which we stand. For each of its three uses in the New Testament, the word “access” refers to the believer’s access to God through Christ. Because we have access to God through Christ, we enter the presence of a king. We have the right to enter the inner chambers and speak directly with the king. The phrase “much more” means “from the heavier to the lighter.” God has done the harder thing in dying for people when they were enemies. Will He not do the easier thing in living for them now that they are His friends?
The doctrine of solidarity says all humanity is under the leadership of two men: Adam and Christ. Connection with Adam leads to death. Connection with Christ leads to life. Paul deals with sin as expressed in human life, and not with sin as the principle behind expressions of sin. The root of the problem is original sin, or universal depravity.
Satan was the original violator of the righteousness of God, but sin entered the world through Adam and death entered the world through sin. Sin continues to exercise its influence in our modern world, and suffering remains so acute that Paul states that it can’t separate us from God’s love. The life of the justified is mixed with peace, hope, suffering, and love.
Paul saw that through his suffering he grew closer to Jesus and God. Paul leads us through suffering to endurance, to character, and eventually to hope. Following Jesus brings us new life and reconciliation to God, but it does not mean that bad things will never happen to us. God allows hardships into our lives so that we will grow up spiritually.
There is a folk tale about a boy and a butterfly. The boy is given a butterfly cocoon but told not to open it. As the cocoon slowly twisted and shuddered in his hand, the boy could not resist using scissors to split it open so the butterfly inside could escape. Freed from the struggle the butterfly fell to the ground and died without ever flying. The boy prevented the butterfly from using the muscles needed to grow strong and fly.
When you were in school, did your teachers ever give you surprise quizzes? God does that too. He tests us to see if we have learned the material. Experience is life’s hardest teacher. It gives us the test first and then teaches us the lesson. We are so quick to tell others how to live. We are so quick to tell others to have faith and to pray about things. When trials and hardships come into our lives, we panic. God sometimes allows us to go through tests to make sure we really know what we say we know.
Problems drive us to rely more and more on God and so produce perseverance. Perseverance strengthens our character and strengthens our hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises. We survive weakness by growing in our hope, appreciating weaknesses for the real occurrences that they are. Our troubles can lead us to hope, which is founded on God’s love poured into us by His presence in and among us.
People like Nelson Mandela who have had to suffer for a worthy cause do not give up easily if at all. Progress in our world would not have come if suffering were to be a hindrance to future movement. Think of all the movements that have taken place in our society-things that have challenged discrimination in the form of ageism, racism, apartheid in South Africa, gender, religion, disability, marital status and sexual orientation. Each triumph allows for progress to be identified, each setback creates enough energy to keep going, and champions are created.
(An audio version of this message can be found at Have you noticed that almost everywhere you go online you need a password? You need one to log in to your bank’s web site. You need one to log on to sites such as Amazon or Facebook. If you forget your password, it can take some effort to create another one.
The people in ancient Rome were looking for the password that would give them access to God. Some thought that careful obedience to the Law of Moses was the key. Others thought that doing good deeds was the key. Others thought that deep philosophical knowledge would please God.
Paul claimed in Romans 5:1-11 that there is only one password that we need to remember: Jesus Christ. In Christ everyone has access to God’s grace, and the entire picture is reversed. Instead of us trying to reach God, God is trying to reach us through His grace. Bible scholars consider Romans 5:5-8 a central point of God’s love for humankind. It expands on John 3:16.
The Book of Romans begins with the desperate condition of lost humanity and ends triumphantly with the benefits of being reconciled to God. Just as it begins with and ends with the words, “through our Lord Jesus Christ”, so, too, is Christ first and last in the life of the believer.
In our lives we make such mistakes that we can’t buy our way out. We can’t wiggle our way out of them as we often try to do. We hurt others by our sins. We cannot pay God back for all of our sins. We can only stand before Him and ask for forgiveness and mercy. God pays the penalty for our sins. He takes the punishment. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins with His blood.
God promises His children that they will one day be clothed with Christ’s glory. The word “rejoice” means “to boast, in the sense of jubilation, exultant rejoicing-to shout about it!” It is quite natural to glory, or exult, in what is positive, but not in suffering and tribulations. In the Greek, the word “perseverance” means “to abide under or stay under pressure.” Suffering teaches believers to stay under pressure, like squeezing olives in a press to extract oil. This pressure results from the conflict of two truths: faith and its enduring benefits versus a fallen world under Satan’s influence.
Learning to stay calm under pressure produces character. Paul speaks of sterling character, character without impurities. One writer calls it “tried integrity”-the maturity of a veteran who lacks nothing, as opposed to the immaturity of a raw recruit.
The word “peace” does not mean a lack of negative experience or a euphoric feeling. But it closely approximates the word “shalom”, which describes a blessed and prosperous community, not an inner, psychological, or emotional peace. Peace refers not so much to an inward peace, but a relationship characterized by God’s peace toward the sinner. Paul has that inner wholeness in mind. Peace must be in the hearts of the people for there to be an outward, objective peace in the church in Rome.
When we are justified, God takes our sins and places them on Christ. He takes Christ’s righteousness and places it on us. Our sins are imputed to Christ, and His sinlessness is imputed to us. That doesn’t mean we are incapable of sinning. It means when God looks at us, He sees us wrapped in the righteousness of Jesus. We have become a new creation. God believes in us.
When people are justified, they have access by faith into this grace of God in which we stand. For each of its three uses in the New Testament, the word “access” refers to the believer’s access to God through Christ. Because we have access to God through Christ, we enter the presence of a king. We have the right to enter the inner chambers and speak directly with the king. The phrase “much more” means “from the heavier to the lighter.” God has done the harder thing in dying for people when they were enemies. Will He not do the easier thing in living for them now that they are His friends?
The doctrine of solidarity says all humanity is under the leadership of two men: Adam and Christ. Connection with Adam leads to death. Connection with Christ leads to life. Paul deals with sin as expressed in human life, and not with sin as the principle behind expressions of sin. The root of the problem is original sin, or universal depravity.
Satan was the original violator of the righteousness of God, but sin entered the world through Adam and death entered the world through sin. Sin continues to exercise its influence in our modern world, and suffering remains so acute that Paul states that it can’t separate us from God’s love. The life of the justified is mixed with peace, hope, suffering, and love.
Paul saw that through his suffering he grew closer to Jesus and God. Paul leads us through suffering to endurance, to character, and eventually to hope. Following Jesus brings us new life and reconciliation to God, but it does not mean that bad things will never happen to us. God allows hardships into our lives so that we will grow up spiritually.
There is a folk tale about a boy and a butterfly. The boy is given a butterfly cocoon but told not to open it. As the cocoon slowly twisted and shuddered in his hand, the boy could not resist using scissors to split it open so the butterfly inside could escape. Freed from the struggle the butterfly fell to the ground and died without ever flying. The boy prevented the butterfly from using the muscles needed to grow strong and fly.
When you were in school, did your teachers ever give you surprise quizzes? God does that too. He tests us to see if we have learned the material. Experience is life’s hardest teacher. It gives us the test first and then teaches us the lesson. We are so quick to tell others how to live. We are so quick to tell others to have faith and to pray about things. When trials and hardships come into our lives, we panic. God sometimes allows us to go through tests to make sure we really know what we say we know.
Problems drive us to rely more and more on God and so produce perseverance. Perseverance strengthens our character and strengthens our hope in the fulfillment of God’s promises. We survive weakness by growing in our hope, appreciating weaknesses for the real occurrences that they are. Our troubles can lead us to hope, which is founded on God’s love poured into us by His presence in and among us.
People like Nelson Mandela who have had to suffer for a worthy cause do not give up easily if at all. Progress in our world would not have come if suffering were to be a hindrance to future movement. Think of all the movements that have taken place in our society-things that have challenged discrimination in the form of ageism, racism, apartheid in South Africa, gender, religion, disability, marital status and sexual orientation. Each triumph allows for progress to be identified, each setback creates enough energy to keep going, and champions are created.
(An audio version of this message can be found at Romans 5 verses 1-11 The Password That Unlocks Eternal Life)
Bibliography
- Jeremiah, David: The Jeremiah Study Bible: New King James Version (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing; 2013; pp. 1549-1550)
- David Bartlett, “Commentary on Romans 5:1-8.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
- Mary Hinkle Shore, “Commentary on Romans 5:1-5.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
- Lucy Lind Hogan, “Commentary on Romans 5:1-11.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
- Sarah Henrich, “Commentary on Romans 5 verses 1-11.” Retrieved from www.workingpreacher.org
- The Rev. Charles L. Fischer III, “Suffering to Hope.” Retrieved from www.day1.org
- The Rev. Dr. William E. Flippin, Jr., “Blessed Assurances.” Retrieved from www.day1.org
- The Rev. Edward Markquart, “The Penalty is Too Great for me to Pay.” Retrieved from www.sermonsfromseattle,com
- Greg Laurie, “The Quality of Endurance.” Retrieved from greglaurie@harvestdirect.org
- Dr. David Jeremiah, “The Double Transaction.” Retrieved from TurningPoint@davidjeremiah.org
- Dr. Ed Young, “Persevere.” Retrieved form ministry@winningwalk.org
- Patricia Raybon, “Strength From Struggle.” Retrieved from no-reply@ourdailybread.ca
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