The Believer’s Benefits Package – Part 2

Sermon Transcript

I’m going to read the text, and then we’re going to go back. I want to back up into verse 1. It says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”—the believer’s hope in the glory of heaven that one day we’ll be with God. Verse 3, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed”—notice the repetition of the word ‘hope,’ it’s all about the believer’s hope that we have through the gospel by being justified through faith. “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy [Spirit] which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth”—or displayed or demonstrated—“his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement”—or a better rendering of the Greek word there would be reconciliation, and many modern translations render that reconciliation.

Romans 3:28 says, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” That is a summary of Paul to that point in the book of Romans, and the book of Romans in its entirety is about one subject—how God saves sinners, how does God justify the unjust and still maintain His righteousness. It’s an unfolding of the passage in Habakkuk that, “ . . . the just shall live by . . . faith.” This is the book that started the Protestant Reformation that began a fire in the heart of Martin Luther and set the world on fire, the changing of the church getting back to the simple gospel of preaching of the truth of Jesus Christ. Romans is all about the subject of being justified by faith in Jesus Christ. I pointed out last time we were together two weeks ago that we have been justified by faith, verse 1 of our text, we have been “ . . . justified by faith.” This is what we now have as those who are justified. So, know this, Romans 5:1-11 give us the blessings or the benefits of being a child of God—being a Christian, being justified, these are the blessings.

Now, it’s not exhaustive by any means, and I think the list of blessings are either seven or eight, I’m going to throw in the eighth at the end of my study tonight, and it’s kind of hard to determine whether you should make them seven or eight, it doesn’t matter, we’ll look at it. These blessings are true of all individuals. It’s talking about those that are justified, and I pointed out two weeks ago something very important that justification is our standing, our position in Christ, as being declared righteous. Justification is the act of God where He declares the believing sinner to be righteous based on the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. You can’t grow in your justification. You don’t become more justified. The moment you trust Jesus Christ, God declares you righteous, and you are fit for heaven. We grow in what we call sanctification, which is being made into the image of Jesus Christ; which, by the way, Romans 8 is what God is doing for our good and for His glory, making us more like Jesus. But we all as believers equally share in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us in our standing before God. You must understand that you, as a believer, stand righteous, justified before God; and that righteousness that you possess is not your own, it’s an imputed righteousness given to you through faith and the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

I’ll just mention them. Last time we were together, verse 1, we saw that we all as believers have peace with God. This is not the peace of God, that’s a subjective experience of the believer as you trust God. This is actually peace with God in your relationship. Secondly, verse 2, we have access to God’s grace. We can come boldly into the presence of God by grace. We have access. Thirdly, we have “ . . . rejoice in the hope of the glory of God,” which we actually come back to in verse 11 that we rejoice in God. This is the rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God which seems to be that future phase of glorification. So, we’ve been justified, being sanctified, and we will be glorified.

So, first, peace with God; second, access to God’s grace; thirdly, “ . . . rejoice in hope of the glory of God;” fourthly, verses 3-4, rejoicing in our tribulations. This is the one we don’t understand. How do we rejoice in our tribulations? He tells us how we can rejoice in our tribulations. He says, “ . . . knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”—verse 3—“And patience”—brings—“experience; and experience”—brings—“hope.” So, it’s for our good and for God’s glory as He works in our life to make us more like Jesus Christ.

Again, we do know that this joy will not be dissolved or not disappear, we won’t lose that joy, so Paul wants to give us more to encourage us that the salvation that we have and the blessings we possess cannot be lost and they won’t be disappointed.

There are at least three more, maybe four, but three more. If you’re taking notes, you want to write them down, which will total seven, or as I said, eight. The first is God’s love is poured into our hearts. The moment we are justified, the moment we are saved, we have the love of God being poured into our hearts. He says, verse 5, “And hope maketh not ashamed.” That word “ashamed” is the idea of will not disappoint. Have you ever had disappointed hopes? You hoped that you would have something, it didn’t come through and you were disappointed? No Christian will be disappointed when it comes to the hope of salvation. Jesus said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” “ . . . he which hath begun a good work in you will”—complete—“it until the day of Jesus Christ.” He will not disappoint you. You will not be ashamed because experientially, “ . . . the love of God is shed abroad,”—the idea is it’s poured out—“in our hearts by the Holy [Spirit] which is given unto us. 6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God”—displays or demonstrates or shows—“his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

My first point, verses 5-8, is that we as the justified have God’s love being poured out into our hearts. Again, he makes it clear that we will not be disappointed, “And hope maketh not ashamed”—or disappointed. If He begins with grace in your heart, you will end in glory in the presence of God. But the believer’s hope is sure. How can we be sure? We can know for sure because let me give you two reasons that you can have a sure hope, God’s love. The word “love” in this whole text is the Greek word agápē. It’s talking about God’s divine love. God’s agápē love is poured out into “ . . . our hearts by the Holy [Spirit] which is given unto us.” This is the first mention of the love of God and the Spirit of God in the book of Romans. I find that interesting, the first time God is mentioned is love, and the first time the Holy Spirit is mentioned, and I think the two are linked together, that the love of God is our experience through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, who is the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Godhead. Now, I know that may freak some people out, “What do you mean, Godhead, third Person?” The Bible actually teaches there’s one God. Make no mistake about it, the Bible teaches there is one God, only one true eternal God. But God is triune in His nature. The Bible teaches there’s a Father who is God, there is a Son who is God, and there’s a Spirit who is God. You say, “Well, you just have three Gods.” No, three Persons, one divine being—one in essence, three in Persons. There’s a Father who’s God; there’s a Son, who is divine or God; and there’s the third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, who is God. All of them are equally divine, they’re one in essence, but they’re three in Persons. So, we use the term to describe that “Trinity” or “triunity.” Again, this is essential doctrine of Christianity. You’ll never understand Christianity or the Bible without understanding the triune nature of God. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit who is a Person, who is divine, who is eternal, has all the same divine attributes as the Father and the Son. The moment you believe and trust in Jesus Christ, you get the gift of the Holy Spirit. God’s Spirit, God’s gift, is given to all believers.

Now, I know sometimes Christians are being told to pray for the Holy Spirit, and when you use that terminology it can create confusion. They think, Well, didn’t I get the Holy Spirit when I was saved? Yes, you did. If you didn’t get the Holy Spirit when you were saved, then you’re not saved; you’re none of His. They might be thinking of a subsequent experience of being filled or empowered. Sometimes they say, “Baptized,” a subsequent experience, which I believe all Christians have the moment they are saved, but there’s no question about this, every believer has the Holy Spirit. How much of the Spirit? All of it. The question is not whether you have the Spirit, the question is whether the Spirit has you. Have you surrendered to Him? That’s what it means to be filled with the Spirit. It means that you are controlled by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, regenerates us, gives us new live, He indwells us, and then He seals us unto the day of redemption, and He baptizes us into Christ, which is our position, our standing, and we are justified; and then He fills us and empowers us, and He also produces His fruit in our lives. Read Galatians 5 on the fruit of the Spirit, and that’s what the Spirit does within our hearts and lives.

Don’t ever let anybody tell you that you can be a Christian, but not have the Holy Spirit. That’s not true. You can’t be a Christian without the Holy Spirit. You can’t be saved without the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has promised never to leave you or forsake you. In Ephesians, you are “ . . . sealed unto the day of redemption.” That’s the day of being in heaven, so that’s the completed deal.

Now, having been given to us one of the Holy Spirit’s distinctive in His ministries to us is to pour God’s love into our hearts. I don’t want to spend more time on this than I should or need to, but when you get saved, here’s one of the things that you first experience, you first come to an experience and a realization, God actually loves me. I believe that this reference to His Spirit in our hearts the love of God is poured, it’s God’s love for us, not our love for God. It’s God’s love for us, not our love for God. And, God loves us first, that’s why we love Him. But what happens when you get born again and regenerated, one of the first things that you become conscious of or aware of is God loves me! Not just God so loved the world, but God loves me—little ol’ me—personally and intimately and He knows me, and you have a relationship with Him. What a blessing that is and the joy that it brings to realize, I am loved by God. No Christian should ever doubt the love of God for them, and we’re going to see in this passage so powerfully the love of God displayed and demonstrated. But it’s poured in our…

I remember I grew up in church. I went to Sunday school as a boy, raised in a Christian home, but it wasn’t until I was born again that I came to the realization that God actually loves me, and I began to experience that love through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The second way that we can be sure that God loves us, that is, the objective fact of Christ’s death on the cross. So, experientially He pours His love into us and we sense and realize and experience His love. In Romans 8 it says, “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God . . . .” “ . . . whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” But now we see, objectively in history, the cross, the death of Jesus on the cross, is a proof that God loves us and that God would not spare His own Son but freely give Him to us on the cross, “ . . . how shall he not”—by Him and through Him and—“with him . . . give us all things?”

Look at verses 6-8 with me, “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” That is us, all people. Again, I don’t want to get sidetracked, but I don’t believe in what’s called limited atonement. I believe that Christ died for all people, and this would include unbelievers and those who are unsaved, ungodly. Verse 7, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.” Here’s the point, verse 8, “But God,”—he paints the picture of God and takes it to a new level—“commendeth”—or displays or demonstrates—“his”—agápē—“love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Amen? This is a demonstration of God’s great love, so you never have to doubt God’s love for you, look at the cross. The cross is God speaking, “I love you.” It’s Christ saying, “I love you. I gave My life for you. I died for you on the cross.” So, he sees the cross as the demonstration or better proof of God’s love.

Remember, the essence of loving is giving, John 3:16, “For God so loved . . . he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He gave His Son. Why? To die on the cross to demonstrate His love, to atone for our sin. Galatians 2:20, “ . . . the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” So, the cross of Christ is a demonstration for once and for all time of the love of God.

Notice it’s amplified by Paul pointing out, who Christ died for. First of all, verse 6, He died for the powerless, “For when we were yet without strength,” look at that. It means that we were unable to save ourselves. This verse makes it very clear that no one in their own strength, their own ability, or the merits of their own good life can save themselves. Our goodness are like filthy rags before holy God. So, we were without strength. It means that we were helpless to save or rescue ourselves. It’s an unconditional impossibility, man cannot save himself. You can’t save yourself by rites or rituals or religion or baptism or Communion or church affiliation. We can’t save ourselves. We were utterly without strength.

Notice we are also referred to as “ungodly” in verse 6, “ . . . in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” We were unlike God, rebellious toward Him. We did not want God ruling over our lives. We were running from Him, at war with Him.

Notice thirdly, we were sinners, verse 8. Sinners describes those who have fallen short of the glory or standards of God where Romans, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” “There is none righteous, no, not one.” This is for whom Christ died.

Fourthly, if you peek at verse 10, “ . . . we were enemies,” of God. I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but I wanted you to see that, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God . . . .” So, we were without strength, verse 6; we were sinners; we were actually, verse 10, enemies and we needed to be reconciled. This is who Christ died for on the cross. So, against this dark background of man’s unworthiness, we see how truly we should appreciate the beauty and the glory of God’s love demonstrated in the cross. I love that idea of the “theater of the cross.” The cross is not just a work, the cross is a word. It is God speaking saying, “I love you,” and we see the glory of God, the mercy of God, and the grace of God in the cross of Jesus Christ.

Now, if we think that we deserve God’s love, then we will not fully appreciate His love. None of us deserve God’s love, and if we think that we deserve God’s love, we will never be really secure in God’s love. If you think you deserve God’s love, you’re always going to think, I need to be better. I need to perform better. I need to do better. It’s not about you. You were without strength. You were a sinner. You were ungodly. You were an enemy. You were actually at war with God. You were at enmity with God, and God had to come after you. You weren’t seeking God. If you were seeking God, it was because He first started seeking you. You say, “I don’t know how that works,” but that’s what happened. We’re running from God, and He runs after us.

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

The love of God, amazing to think of, but it was all for us who were ungodly.

Verse 6, God’s love is unconditional, God’s love is undeserving; verses 7-8, God’s love is incomparable. Now, some might die for a man who is righteous, “ . . . yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God,”—He didn’t die for a righteous man, He didn’t die for a good man, He died for rebellious sinners who were at war with Him. God displayed, verse 8, demonstrated “ . . . his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So, how can we doubt the love of God. Objectively in history, God proved His love on the cross. Subjectively in experience, “ . . . the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy [Spirit] . . . .”

Let’s move to the second blessing that we have in our text tonight, verses 9-10. He starts with that phrase, “Much more.” Jesus used the same kind of phrase where He would say, “How much more will your heavenly Father feed you or take care of you.” It’s an argument from the lesser to the greater. Verses 9-10, we’re saved from the wrath of God. That’s a blessing that we have as believers, “Much more then, being now justified”—there it is again, we are justified—“by his blood,”—through the work of the cross—“we shall be saved from wrath through him.” I think that this has the future aspect of when we die, we won’t go to hell; and in the future we won’t experience God’s wrath. That, “from wrath” means completely removed from and not touched by. It’s not out of wrath, but “ . . . from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son,”—here’s the phrase again—“much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

How marvelous that God’s wrath is not going to be poured out upon the believer. Why? Because Jesus paid it all, right? All to Him we owe. Jesus took our place on the cross. By the way, I think that this supports the idea of what’s called a pretribulational rapture. The tribulation is a time of God’s wrath poured out upon the world, and we’re not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation. God isn’t going to pour out His wrath upon believers. We’ve been justified. We’ve been reconciled. Jesus paid our wrath on the cross when He bore our sins and died in our place. So, we’re “ . . . saved from wrath,” verse 9; positively, too, we’ll be saved by His life, verse 10, “ . . . when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.”

Remember, salvation has three tenses: past, present, and future—been saved, being saved, will be saved; justified, sanctified, glorified. We are saved from the future wrath, we won’t go to hell. So, we can rejoice in God that we’re not going to experience God’s wrath. Jesus paid it for me on the cross. That’s a blessing that we possess as believers.

Write down Hebrews 7:25 where it says, “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” So, we’re saved from wrath by His death, we’re saved from wrath by His life as He lives and intercedes for us.

Here’s the third blessing of the believer, verse 11, that is, rejoicing in God. This will be blessing seven, and I’ll squeak in number eight, and I’ll show it to you in that verse as well. Notice in verse 11, rejoicing in God. This is how it’s all summed up and wrapped up, “And not only so, but we also joy in God.” I love that. Christians have joy in God, not in your circumstances, but in God. Your joy is in the Lord. Paul says in Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” We have “ . . . joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement,” and I pointed out that the word there in context in light of verses 9-10 should be rendered that we are reconciled or reconciliation.

What do we have? We have peace with God, we have access to God, we have hope in the glory of God, we have joy in the tribulations of our lives, we have the love of God poured into our hearts, and now we rejoice or we exalt in God. What a blessing that is. Before we were justified, we had none of these blessings. Now that we are justified, we have all these blessings. We have reconciliation as well. We also have exaltation.

You know, the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism is, what is the chief end of man? The answer: Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. You don’t have to take a philosophy class to learn the purpose and meaning of life, you just need to open your Bible. Amen? Why are we here? Why was I created? To know God and to glorify Him forever. That’s the purpose of man—to know God, to glory in God, and to rejoice in God. I love this wrap up in verse 11 where all our joy, all our blessings are found in God and through Jesus Christ.

Let me wrap this up. We see in the cross of Jesus Christ and we rejoice in God in God’s wisdom at the cross, God’s wisdom at the cross. The wisdom of God…Paul comes to the end of Romans 11, the doctrinal section, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” There are depths of wisdom in the cross of Christ that on this side of heaven we could never plumb, comprehend, or understand. I believe that through all eternity, God’s going to be unfolding to us the wisdom of the cross and the glories of the cross in our redemption. The theme of most of our songs as indicated from the book of Revelation when we get to heaven are going to be redemption and giving glory to God. We glorify God for His redemption.

Secondly, we see that God’s grace is displayed at the cross. We have experienced God’s grace. Someone said, “God’s grace is God’s riches at Christ’s expense.” So, God has given us undeserved favor through the cross in the work of Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, we glory in not only God’s wisdom at the cross, God’s grace displayed at the cross, but God’s power at the cross and in the cross and through the cross. How marvelous! God triumphed over sin and Satan and redeemed fallen man to the power of the cross. Fourthly, God’s love, as we saw in verse 8, “But God”—displayed—“his love”—His agápē love—“toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I want you to take these eleven verses, make a marker in your Bible, and just read them over again and meditate on them. You say, “Well, what about the eighth blessing? We haven’t talked about that eighth blessing.” It’s at the end of verse 11, we have reconciliation. It’s tied in there with the glory and the joying in God, but we are reconciled. We were estranged from God, and through the cross God reconciles us unto Himself. We can’t reconcile God to us, God reconciles us to Him. So, we’re no longer estranged from God. We have peace, we have access, we have joy, we have hope, we have the glory of God, and we rejoice in God’s work. Amen?