Romans 5:1-21 Page 1
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Romans 5:1-21 Page 1 - Read Romans 5:1-21. - Romans chapter 5 is the concluding piece of the first major cornerstone (the first of 4) for our foundational edification and education as believers in Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:15-5:21) I. FIRST CORNERSTONE: Establishment in the doctrine of our justification by grace through faith. (Romans 6:1-8:39) II. SECOND CORNERSTONE: Establishment in the doctrine of our sanctification by grace through faith - complete knowledge of our sanctified standing before God “in Christ” which enables us to “live unto God.” (Romans 9:1-11:36) III. THIRD CORNERSTONE: Establishment in the doctrine of the dispensation of gentile grace now in effect. (Romans 12:1-16:20) IV. FOURTH CORNERSTONE: Establishment in the doctrine of walking consistent with and worthy of who we are now as justified, sanctified, members of God’s “new creation” in this new dispensation. - Therefore, it comes as no surprise to find that the things stated in this final section that concludes the first cornerstone of our edification will make connections with a great deal of what has already been set forth. - Now that the entire doctrine concerning Justification Unto Eternal Life has been fully set forth, Paul knows (and God knows) that there is one more thing that must be understood in connection with that justification you now possess. - For the first time in the book of Romans, (or at least the first major time), having now been sufficiently educated in the doctrine of Justification Unto Eternal Life - for the first major time you are now going to be called upon to draw on what you have learned, and connect it with this final thing that will fully & flawlessly establish you in the doctrine of justification unto eternal life. - By the time you get to the beginning of Romans chapter 5, all of the evidence and all of the doctrine dealing with the reality of justification unto eternal life really being by grace through faith without works has now fully and finally been presented, and the reality of it and the exhortation has been made for the final time at the end of chapter 4 to believe on Him who “raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” Page 2 Romans 5:1-21 - And Paul is assuming that, at the end of chapter 4, everybody that he is dealing with has heard the gospel of Jesus Christ; has gone through the evidence that God justifies on the basis of faith, and faith alone, and that they have now responded positively to that gospel. - If someone is not going to believe the gospel of Christ after all that, they will put the letter down and won’t read any further. - So, anybody who is going to continue on now has believed the gospel of Christ and are now justified unto eternal life. - And now Paul is going to come along and tell you what the results are of your belief. - And, as you would expect, you will be told that you got justified, because that is what that gospel told you that you would get if you believed.... but that’s not the only thing you got ... and in the first 2 verses, Paul gives you the complete statement concerning what you have now got having believed that gospel! - And it’s in that naturally progressive, logical context, in which the sense and sequence of things have brought you to the point that you have got to be told some things concerning what you do now possess, that, for one thing, you’ve got “peace with God” - for another you’ve got “access into this grace wherein we stand,” and you’ve got “hope of the glory of God” to rejoice in. And all three of these issues are now supposed to be understood and appreciated by you in connection with being justified unto eternal life! - So we need to bring all that we have been told in all three parts of the gospel of Christ with us, and what we have presented to us in chapter 5 is to be understood to be a logical and expected thing - and especially in the first two verses, those things found there, and told to you there are things that you should expect to take place. - So, because of what you have already been told (and what God has already said to you) you should expect to hear something about “peace” and about “access” and about “hope of the glory of God.” - For instance, you have already been told some things back in the parts of the gospel of Christ that made “access” impossible for you before you believed the gospel of Christ - and now having believed it, the restrictions that were originally placed on “access” would no longer be there, even though the word “access” was never used yet, the concept was. - You have now been sufficiently taught all the issues connected with being justified unto eternal life - and not just taught the doctrinal issues, but also at the same time you have been educated how to present that information to somebody else: Romans 5:1-21 Page 3 - To be able to skillfully deal with any and all possible objections to the issues of God-consciousness, wrath-consciousness and the need for salvation (1st Part of the Gospel); - Note: God has established His own ‘Evangelism Training and Outreach Program’ in these first 5 chapters of Romans, but most Christians are totally oblivious to it! - In fact, because of being fully aware of the doctrine sitting in that first part of the gospel, God has made us aware that He has done all of the prep work with all unjustified people. (ex., Rom. 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;) - This means that God has given us all the advantage! The light of God-consciousness has already been at work in everyone we meet! (Not even the threat of Darwinian Evolution can thwart God’s prep work!) - God has already set the stage for us - we do not have to come up with a catchy opening line to steer someone in the right direction and get them in a ‘spiritual mood’ so we can present the gospel to them!!! - We can just simply and directly address the unsaved with a particular issue and truth that they have already thought about - that is already resident in their minds - and is something to which they have already responded to in one of two ways -- and then off we go! - We should then have the skills necessary to deal with any and all self-defense tactics (2nd Part of the Gospel - including the doctrine of the self-opposer), - And we should have the skill to be able to present a clear and plain gospel message (according to the 3rd Part of the Gospel) and deal with any challenges to justification being only and always BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH WITHOUT WORKS. (this takes us from Rom. 1:15-4:25) - But there is one more thing that remains in God’s training program that the ambassador for Christ must be fully educated in: THE DOCTRINE OF THE ETERNALLY SECURE EXISTENCE OF OUR JUSTIFICATION. Page 4 Romans 5:1-21 - Note that we are NOT going to be studying the doctrine of Eternal Security (as it is commonly called) from any kind of a systematic theology approach (which will fail to guard all the flanks against attack) - but we are going to understand it as God, Himself understands it! - Suggested Outline (from the Romans Outline booklet): D. Description of our present judicial standing before God being now justified, and the doctrine of its eternally secure existence. 1. Romans 5:1-2 - Our present 3-fold judicial standing before God being now justified. a. (:1) Peace with God’s Justice - no more wrath. b. (:2a) Access - complete personal acceptance with every aspect of God’s character and essence. c. (:2b) Certain future Hope of the glory of God. 2. Romans 5:3-21 - Doctrines designed to provide complete assurance concerning the eternal security of our justified standing. a. (:3-4) Troubling challenges to our confidence work to produce increased, abounding hope. b. (:5-10) The doctrine of God’s much more love for us now that we are justified. c. (:11-21) The doctrine of the irrevocable reconciliation we received being justified. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - As always, close attention must be paid to the words of logic throughout these verses, plus a close attention to the details of punctuation will help us understand the packages of doctrine that are to be thought of as going together to bring us along in God’s thinking process concerning our eternally secure justified standing. - Examples: - “Therefore” (:1) - “Wherefore” (:12) - “And not only so” (:3 and :11) - “much more” (:9, :10, :15, :17, and :20) - Note the progression of :18-21 - “Therefore” - “For as by” - “Moreover” - “That as” Romans 5:1-21 Page 5 - Punctuation: The first package of doctrine is fairly easy to group together - (:1-2) - for you have a colon at the end of (:1) and the finishing of the thought in (:2) with a period. - At times, a colon functions as a double period. And it is a break that is not quite as full as a period break. - A comma is your weakest break, a semicolon is the next strongest break, then the colon is the next strongest break, leading up to the period which is the strongest break - as far as the sequence of individual thoughts are set forth.