By: Curtis Baker
As we move into chapter five in our study of Romans, we begin a new section of teaching. Through the opening four chapters of the letter, Paul has lead us through two major sections of thought. With the primary theme behind all of this being God’s righteous purposes for his creation (otherwise known as “the gospel”), Paul has shown how there is a great problem that has served as a threat to God’s purposes. Once he established that threat in 1:18-3:20, Paul then takes it upon himself to show how God has answered that dilemma by providing a solution to the problem (3:21-4:25).
To sum it up, the story unfolds in the following way: God had a plan for his creation that he intended to execute through human beings as his divine representatives. This plan included populating the earth, and working with God in order to govern the earth in such a way that it would flourish and thrive. That plan was thwarted when humans, in their sin and rebellion, decided to worship and honor what was created rather than the creator himself (1:18-2:16). Even the people of Israel, whom God had called out to be his own people, took part in this rebellion and sin though they had God’s laws that counseled against it (2:17-3:8). With both of these things being true, God’s righteous purposes for creation seemed hopelessly lost (3:9-20). However, beginning in 3:21 and going all the way through chapter 4, Paul shows how God has answered this seemingly hopeless problem. By sending his own Son to live the life God always intended for human beings, and offering him up as a sacrifice for the sins of mankind, God provided a way to be both faithful to his intended purposes, as well as to his own just nature. Paul calls this solution to the problem “justification” (4:25).
Justification simply means that based on the faithfulness of his son Jesus, and his willingness to sacrifice himself on our behalf, God is prepared to “justify” all those who put their faith in what God has done in Jesus. To be “justified” literally means to be “declared in the right.” What this boils down to is that God has willingly made a way for us to be in covenant relationship with him. Unlike the old covenant that God had made with Israel, this covenant was not based on the law, or on distinctive practices like circumcision. Instead, the distinctive element of this covenant is “faith.”
With all of that being said, in the first 11 verses of chapter 5, Paul now prepares his readers to move on to the next phase of his argument. If the first four chapters has shown how God has made a way to justify those who were sinful and rebellious people, in chapters 5-8 Paul is now going to show how the rest of the story will play out. God is not simply content to justify sinful people; that is only the beginning stage of a much larger process. God’s intention for human beings is not merely to declare them “in the right,” he intends to actually “make them right.”
So in 5:1-11, Paul gives us a preview of how he will lay this out in the next three chapters of Romans. The argument goes like this: If God has already done the hard work of providing a way of justification by sacrificing his son on the cross, will God not go ahead and do the easy part by finishing the process he started? The answer is, “Of course he will!” This is part of the good news that makes up the gospel story. In biblical language it is called the process of “glorification.” Our great hope is that we will eventually regain the glory God always intended to share with us.
So, with that in mind, Paul says we have a lot to rejoice over. First, we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. Second, we have a great hope in front of us because God has saved us from his wrath and will finish his good work in us. But finally, even in the midst of the sufferings of life, Paul says we can rejoice, because we know our suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance sharpens our character, and our character points us toward the hope that will ultimately be ours. This is what God is up to in the world. Have you committed yourself to be a part of it?
(Don’t forget to join me for A Message From the Heart radio program Sunday evening at 8:00pm on KJAK 92.7FM, or streaming live at www.kjak.com)
