Romans Chapter 5

THE BASICS AND BLESSINGS OF OUR JUSTIFICATION

 

I sincerely hope that as we look at the first eleven verses of chapter 5, you will find yourself rejoicing in the finality of your salvation. Now this is a subject that has been hotly debated in theological circles over the years. There are those who have maintained that a person could lose their salvation once they received it. Some of you, based on your backgrounds, may believe that a Christian can lose his or her salvation. Sometimes we hear the term, “backslide” applied to such people. The term “backslide” is also used to describe a person who still believes but does not live a Christian life. But the belief that one can lose their salvation makes a person’s salvation conditional. In other words your salvation is only good as long as you satisfy the requirements to maintain it, and if at any point you fail to live up to the standard, God snatches it back.

Such a belief fits into what we could categorize as a works righteousness perspective. In other words we have to do good works in order to keep our salvation. If we do bad things, it is taken from us. Now we have just learned in chapters 3 and 4 that salvation comes by God’s grace through our faith, and that faith is all that is necessary to receive eternal salvation. Now the doctrine of salvation by faith is quite new to the Jews to whom Paul is writing in Romans. They have been brought up from childhood to believe in a works righteousness perspective, that by doing good works they get the favor of God. This is exactly how all world religions outside of Christianity are structured, on the goodness of humankind, people living up to some religious code or standard.

So when Paul tells them that salvation is a free gift that is given by God’s grace which is unearned and undeserved, and that this grace is given a person when they have faith in God and Jesus Christ, and on that faith alone, people find that very difficult to understand. It Is difficult to understand because people are works oriented, are we not? People are into human achievement, they are into self-righteousness, lifting themselves up by their own bootstraps. This leads most people to the personal philosophy which says, “I am a good person, I am religious, I do my best, I believe, I even go to church a few times a year. God would never send me to Hell.” If I was the wagering type, I would give you odds that you have heard that statement any number of times.

It is very hard for people who have been brought up and taught to understand that they get into God’s kingdom, or Heaven, by being good, or ethical, or moral, to hear someone teach that getting in is only a matter of faith. I will guarantee you that someone will ask the question: “Does that mean that you can become a Christian and then just do anything you want. Doesn’t your salvation at least somewhat depend on your obedience?” That is exactly the issue Paul addresses in Romans 5. After we study the first eleven verses of this chapter, you will be assured that if you have truly come to Jesus as your Savior, you will belong to Him forever. Let us now take a look at verse 1 of Romans 5 NLT:

The first reality that affirms to me as a believer that I am eternally secure in my salvation is that I am at peace with God. When you come to believe in Jesus, you are saved, and having entered into that salvation you are brought into an eternity filled with blessings. One of those blessings is that we are secure in that relationship because we have peace with God through what Jesus has done for us.

The word translated, “peace,” in this verse does not refer to a feeling but to a relationship. Now if we have peace with God because of our salvation, what did we have before we were saved? We had conflict, or one might even say war with God. Jesus has dramatically changed our relationship to God. God was our enemy, and we were His enemy. But because of our justification by faith, the war or conflict between God and us is simply over.

Now you will hear people argue over this because they miss the point of the verse. They will say, “Hey, I’ve never been at war with God. I like God. I am religious. I don’t have anything against God. I believe in God. I am concerned about what He thinks and I certainly don’t see myself as His enemy. I don’t see myself as striking blows against God’s kingdom. I don’t see myself as opposed to His divine plan, purpose, or will. How can you say I am at war with God?”  But the Bible tells us that before you come to Jesus, you are at war with God.

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth.
19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
20 Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made. So they are without excuse.

God does not look kindly on those who reject His Son and pursue other gods, and other gods can refer to other religions or to such things as money, sex, power, clothes, pride, or whatever other desires we put in first place in our lives ahead of God. We might look at a couple of other passages to see how God feels about those who reject or disobey him.

Joshua 23:16 NLT:
If you break the covenant of the Lord your God by worshiping and serving other gods, his anger will burn against you, and you will quickly be wiped out from the good land he has given you.”

Isaiah 13:9-13 NLT:
For see, the day of the Lord is coming—the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be destroyed and all the sinners with it.
10 The heavens will be black above them. No light will shine from stars or sun or moon.

That is a prediction of what is going to happen in the end times. And in Ephesians 5:3-6 NLT, Paul writes:

3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
4 Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you. Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.
5 You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God. For a greedy person is really an idolater who worships the things of this world.
6 Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible anger of God comes upon all those who disobey him.

The Bible has no shortage of passages expressing God’s feelings about sin and those who embrace it. There are many more passages that can be found in Isaiah and Jeremiah, and if you are still not convinced, read the book of Nahum. But believers can have peace with God. If you have not yet accepted Christ as your Savior, there is no way of softening the terror that awaits you, unless it is the reality that you can come to acceptance of Jesus at any time. But do not forget, none of us know when we are going to die and then it is too late. But for the believer God’s wrath has been satisfied.

That is why it says in Colossians 1:20-23 NLT:

20 By him (Jesus) God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions,

23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it.

When you receive Jesus as Savior and are justified or saved, several things happen:

• RECONCILIATION with God occurs immediately
• SANCTIFICATION begins its lifetime process to make you more like Jesus, which will lead to
• GLORIFICATION in eternity or Heaven with Christ.

 

Jesus has not only reconciled us to God initially, but He maintains that reconciliation, and that is His high priestly work according to 1 John 1:7 NLT:

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.                 ®®®®®®®®®®®®®®®­
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This is a promise of continual cleansing of our sins. Once we are saved, we are still going to sin occasionally, but that is not counted against us because Jesus is our advocate before God and His blood keeps washing away any record of our sins in Heaven’s ledger. We are at peace with God forever because every sin we ever committed or will commit has already been paid for by Christ. So there is nothing that can take away our salvation once we believe, as is confirmed in 1 John 2:1 NLT:

My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if you do sin, there is someone to plead for you before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who pleases God completely.

There is a connection here that also makes a lot of sense. When you love Jesus, you really do invite a relationship of peace with His Father. If you want to get on my good side, love my children. When we love the Son we gain the love of the Father. We are now a friend of God, a son or daughter of God, a brother or sister of Jesus. We are in the family and God is at peace with us. Hebrews 10:17 NLT reads:

Then he adds, “I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds.”

(It is Jesus)[fn] through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.

We do not move in and out of God’s grace. The verb tense of “stand” is present and continuous. We are standing in it and will continue to stand in it. A believer is firmly fixed in an environment of grace. In Romans 5:3,4 NLT, Paul writes:

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure.
4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.

The believer is even able to rejoice in the trials he/she must endure in their daily lives. Why? Because we know that no matter what happens, it cannot take away our promised glory. It can never take away our hope for eternity and it can never take away the joy that goes with it. So, when trials come, we do not curse God like other people do, but instead we can rejoice even in those trials because dealing with such trials will produce patience within us. When you go through trouble you learn to persevere to endure, and that perseverance produces proven character. So when a person goes through trouble they have the opportunity to develop proven character. That means that many of the flaws in our character are squeezed out. We learn to trust God when we are under trials, stress, and pain. Now you might be asking, “How do I do that? What does it look like?” One way, not the only way, is to actually say “Thank you” to God when something goes wrong. “Thank you, Lord, for the flat tire.” “Thank you, Lord, that the washing machine just broke.” “Thank you, God, that the traffic is so heavy.” Now, why should we do this? What are we actually thanking God for? That He is in control of every detail of our lives,  and that He can make good come out of these things. It is also a joy to learn of God’s sustaining power in the middle of suffering. It increases our faith and strengthens us. It builds our level of holiness. James speaks of this in James 1:12: NLT

God blesses the people who patiently endure testing. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.

Salvation does not change a person’s character. If a bitter, angry, and mean person is saved, then they are a bitter, angry, and mean Christian. What salvation does do is to plant within the person the capacity to be perfected. It is after one is saved that the purging process begins. God uses trials and tribulations for this process. So when troubles come into your life you should rejoice. Why? Because they have been sent to develop proven character within you. They are sent to improve you as a person. For there to be genuine salvation there must be moral progress in a person because salvation is deliverance from sin. Christ once and for all offered to God the obedience God requested (Romans 5:19), but that obedience must be reproduced in His followers in the kind of life that glorifies God, a life of discipline, effort, and a steady advance toward perfection.[fn] So Satan can hit us with all the troubles he wants, but they will do nothing but strengthen us, because they develop our character if we trust in God. Romans 5:5 NLT:

You will never be disappointed when you trust in God. You will never have to say, “You know, I put all my faith in that God, in that Jesus Christ, and He deceived me. He never came through and I lost everything. What a deceiver. I am sorry I ever trusted Him.” Why? Because hope will produce the promised glory. Because we stand in grace, we have a promised future glory. That is our hope. We should say unashamedly to anybody on the face of the earth that we are going to be in Heaven someday with Jesus, reflecting the eternal glory of God throughout Heaven. That is our destiny if we have received Christ as our Savior. That is where we are going. If you put your hope in Jesus Christ, you will never be disappointed. We read in Hebrews 10:23 NLT:

Without wavering, let us hold tightly to the hope we say we have, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.

13 And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

The Holy Spirit produces in us an awareness of the love of God. This speaks of a personal, intimate ministry of God through the Holy Spirit in our lives. God is assuring our hearts that we belong to Him and that He loves us by pouring out that love. Romans 8:14 NLT:

14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15 So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God’s very own children, adopted into his family—calling him “Father, dear Father.”

Beginning in Romans 5:6, Paul begins to define the nature of this love that God has for all people. Let us see what he says in verses 6-8 NLT:

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

In verse 6 Paul says that we were helpless. Helpless to do what? Helpless to do anything that pleased God. There was no way that we could overcome sin on our own. Look at what Paul says a little bit later in this letter in Romans 8:7,8 NLT:

For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.
8 that is why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

Is it not amazing that God, who is absolutely pure and holy, could look at people that are repulsive to His holy nature and love them? A theologian by the name of Charles Hodge once said:

“If God loved us because we love Him, He would love us only so long as we loved Him, and on that condition. Then our salvation would depend on the constancy of our treacherous hearts. But as God loved us as sinners, and as Christ died for us as ungodly, our salvation depends not on our loveliness, but on the constancy of God’s love.”

You see God does not love us because we are loveable. He did not look down on us and say, “Oh they’re just so irresistible?” God’s love is not like human love. We basically love because something about someone or something attracts us.

At the proper moment in history, Christ appeared on earth so that He could cover our sin by sacrificing Himself, and the marvel of it all is that He died with the same love for us in His nature because He was and is God. He died loving the unlovely Godless people. Now that is really unusual for anyone to do as Paul goes on to explain in Romans 5:7 NLT:

Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good.

People would rarely be willing to die for a righteous person. Sometimes a person might give their life to save a really good person. But I do not know of anyone that would be willing to die for a bad person. Nobody that is but God, as we see in Romans 5:8 NLT:

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

The word, “showed,” in verse 8, means that God proved the depth of His love for us because Christ died for us while we were still sinners. If God can love us while we are still sinners, if He can love us enough to have His Son die for us to save us from that sin while we are still sinners, will He not love us enough to keep us secure in our salvation once we are saved? There can be no doubt.

And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment.

Because we were made right with God by the blood of Jesus, we will be saved from the wrath of God to come. The wrath to come is the Lake of Fire, which you can read about in Revelation chapter 20, the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, and where those who have not received Jesus Christ as their Savior are sent forever. When we put our faith in Jesus the wrath of God is born by Jesus’ death on the cross and we no longer have to face it as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 NLT:

And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. He is the one who has rescued us from the terrors of the coming judgment.

For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. 

If God saved us while we were His enemies, do you not think He will keep us when we become His friends? If a dead Savior on the cross can save us, certainly a living Savior can keep us. Our living Savior sitting at the right hand of God will keep us in that salvation by the authority that God has given Him to do so. All of these blessings come to us because of what Christ has done for us. Let us just take a quick review of Romans 5:1-10 NLT. In verse 1 we have peace with God through Jesus:

1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

In verse 2, it is because of Jesus that we have access to God:

2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.

In verses 3 and 4, we see we can rejoice even during difficult times:

3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to endure.
4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation.

In verse 5, we find that we can be confident of God’s love for us:

5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

We see in verses 6-8, that Christ died for us even when we were not worthy:

6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
7 Now, no one is likely to die for a good person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Verse 9 lets us know that we are not only redeemed of our sins but also saved from God’s wrath by Christ’s blood:

9 And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment.

In verse 10, we are reconciled to God through the death of Christ and our salvation is assured by His life:

10 For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.

Then in verse 11 we see that we will find joy in God through Jesus Christ. You see everything comes through Christ. God never loved us because we were loveable. We were not loveable. He saved us in the midst of our sin and did it to show what a glorious, gracious, merciful, loving God He is. He did it so that He might put Himself on display for all eternity and let everyone see that there is no other God comparable to Him. I challenge anyone to name me a god in any other religion that even approaches Jehovah God in love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, and blessing. I would also challenge anyone to name me a God that performed the incredible miracles of Jehovah God, as well as having a perfect record for prophesying what would occur in the future. There is not a single prophecy of God that has been in error. There are no gods in any other religion that can match Jehovah God. And finally I will not even challenge you on this one because I know you will not be able to come up with anything. All gods of all other religions are still in their graves. Jesus Christ is the only God who ever rose from the grave to eternal life. No one else has ever shown the way to overcome death for his followers. It is only Jesus, and that is why He is the only way to salvation and eternal life, and if you do not come to believe and accept that, you are going to be in for one big shock the moment you die. We were God’s enemies and He offered us the free gift of His friendship. If you have not reached out and accepted that gift, why not do it today? Listen to this marvelous passage from 2 Corinthians 5:20,21 NLT:

And we cannot move on to Romans 5:11, without first looking at Hebrews 7:25 NLT:

Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save everyone who comes to God through him. He (Jesus)[fn] lives forever to plead with God on their behalf.

Jesus is our advocate (attorney) in Heaven. He stands before God and says something like this: “Father, those are your children, Ed, Kathryn, Dallas, and Mike down there in Village Church. I’ve taken away their sin. I’ve taken away judgment on them, and I’ve accepted your wrath in their place. They are to be forgiven.” Jesus continually intercedes day after day for us before God, and that is why the salvation of anyone who believes is secure for all eternity. Now we can take a look at Romans 5:11 NLT:

So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God—all because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us in making us friends of God.

Here is another reason we know we belong to God. Because He fills our heart with joy. Salvation is not just a future benefit that awaits us, it is also a present and abundant joy.
The concept here is to be thrilled over this newly established relationship with God. It is that sense of inner joy produced by the Holy Spirit. That is why in the midst of death or disaster we do not lose our perspective, because we take joy in our God who cares for His own. Thus we do not boast in ourselves. We do not say how wonderful we are because we are so religious. We are not the kind of religious people who pat ourselves on the back over how good we are. We take joy in God through Jesus Christ by whom we were given this great gift of reconciliation and salvation. This realization should allow us to endure any situation knowing that whatever happens we have hope for a perfect future in Heaven for eternity. The earth is not our home, but believers can be joyful while here if for no other reason than the great hope that awaits us.

If you consider yourself to be a believing Christian and you do not have this sense of security and joy in your salvation, it may be that you have lost that internal witness of the Holy Spirit because of some recurrent sin, something that you want to hold on to rather than confess it and turn it over to God. The Holy Spirit has not left, you are the one that is shutting Him out by not calling on His help. Perhaps you see it only as a small sin. It may be something that does not appear to be a glaring evil to the whole world. But even a small sin that recurs over and over again can choke out your sense of assurance. If that could be the case in your life, I encourage you to confess that sin to God and ask the Spirit of God to search your heart, help you to overcome it, and give you that full sense of God’s love and joy in the Spirit. Let us now transition over to the verses of Romans 5:12-21 NLT:

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.
13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given,
14 they all died anyway—even though they did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come!
15 And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift.
16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.

Many people believe this to be the most difficult passage in the book of Romans, and having just read it you might agree with them. One thing we see clearly in this passage is that because of sin in the world, death reigns over every human being; death is king. we are exposed to death at all times. The last time I checked the mortality rate ( the proportion of death to population) in the world was still 100%. In fact there is a Washington, D.C. undertaker that signs his correspondence, “Eventually Yours.” The painful reality of death touches our lives continually. Thomas Gray wrote:

“The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth ere gave
Await alike the inevitable hour;
The paths of glory lead but to the grave.”[fn]

Death is the ultimate king in this world. But why is that so? Why must everyone die? Well the answer lies in verses 12-14 of Romans 5. The main lesson Paul wants to teach in Romans 5:12-21 is that one person’s actions can affect many. Because of Adam all people were alienated from God and because of Jesus all people can be reconciled to God. Adam reigns over the kingdom of sin and death. Christ reigns over the kingdom of righteousness and life. In the process of saying this, Paul answers the question regarding where death comes from.

Do you want to know why the world is like it is? Well, you are going to find out right now because it is all here in these 10 verses. Here lies the key to understanding all of history. It tells us why people are the way they are. It tells us why death is the dominant monarch. So let us get right into it beginning in Romans 5:12 NLT:

When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Notice that this verse does not say that Adam and Eve originated sin. Sin had already appeared prior to Adam and Eve, for Satan was the original sinner, and of course he was the one that then tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God. Adam and Eve merely introduced it into the human race as we see confirmed in 1 John 3:8 NLT:

But when people keep on sinning, it shows they belong to the Devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the Devil.

Just as Adam and Eve passed on to their descendants a nose, eyes, ears, arms, and legs, they also passed on the corrupting character of sin. Sin became a part of the human stream. When Adam and Eve sinned they comprised the whole human race. They were all of humanity sinning. Within them now was the seed that would be a part of every human life after them. So it is as we read in 1 Corinthians 15:22 NLT:

Everyone dies because all of us are related to Adam, the first man. But all who are related to Christ, the other man, will be given new life.

God warned Adam in Genesis 2:15-17 NLT:

15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and care for it.
16 But the Lord God gave him this warning: “You may freely eat any fruit in the garden
17 except fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat of its fruit, you will surely die.”

You may find it interesting that God never intended for us to die. It is not natural for creatures that are created in the image of God to die. Death came as a penalty for disobedience to the command of God, a penalty for sin. Humankind was never made for death, and neither was Hell created for human beings. God created Hell for Satan and his angels, not for us, as Jesus said in Matthew 25:41:[fn]

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons!

If Adam had not sinned, people would not have died and the world would have had a much different history. Death comes not because we sin but because we have within us a sin nature.

Now just what kind of death are we talking about here? First, it is spiritual death. When Adam and Eve sinned, did they die on the spot physically? No, but they did die spiritually. Spiritual death is separation from God. Physical death is separation from the living, and eternal death is separation from God forever. Paul does a good job of describing spiritual death in Ephesians 4:18 NLT:

Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him.

The folks Paul is describing here just do not have any spiritual life.

The second kind of death is physical death. Physical death is that great enemy that everyone will be introduced to personally at some point in their lives. Most people fear physical death when they really should fear spiritual death a whole lot more. Jesus said in Matthew 10:28:

Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill you. They can only kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better.

Then there is the third kind of death, eternal death, which is simply first your physical death and then your spiritual death, being separated from God forever in the place the Bible calls Hell.

Now I know a lot of people who simply discard this truth because they want to believe that human beings are naturally good and come into the world sinless. Well, let me ask you a question. When a baby comes into this world, do his/her parents have to teach him/her to disobey? No, you use discipline to teach the child to obey. If you were to just let toddlers and young children go it on their own according to their natural design, they would be in prison by the time they were eight. Psalm 51:5 speaks to this truth:

For I was born a sinner— yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.

We were in Adam when he first sinned and believers are now in Christ. Somehow we were in Adam when he did what he did. Somehow believers were in Christ when He did what He did. If we cannot understand that, it simply means that God has a mind beyond and above our minds, not that it cannot be understood or that it is in error. It simply means that our minds are unable to comprehend things at that level. And that fact should not be difficult to accept. After all God created all things out of nothing and has provided for the daily needs of humanity throughout history (Isaiah 42:5; 45:8,12; Ephesians 3:9; Revelation 10:6). There are any number of passages in Scripture that speak of this. Isaiah 45:6-12 NLT is just one example:

6 so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I am the one who creates the light and makes the darkness. I am the one who sends good times and bad times. I, the Lord, am the one who does these things.
8 Open up, O heavens, and pour out your righteousness. Let the earth open wide so salvation and righteousness can sprout up together. I, the Lord, created them.
9 “Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you are doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be!’
10 How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father and mother, ‘Why was I born? Why did you make me this way?’ ”
11 This is what the Lord, the Creator and Holy One of Israel, says: “Do you question what I do? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands?
12 I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the millions of stars are at my command.

Would you expect the God who did these things to be on an equal level with you and your friends? Would you want God to be on an equal level with you or your friends? Would you want God, who determines where you will spend eternity to base His judgments on the same mood swings and prejudices of you and your friends? I know I certainly would not. I want my God to be perfect. I want my God to be unconditionally loving and just and I think you do as well. We simply do not have any where near the capability of understanding God completely. In the Bible He gives all that we need to know and some of it we just need to accept by faith because we will never fully understand it until we are with Him in Heaven. No human mind, on its own, could have written the Bible. No human mind, on its own, is capable of conceiving such things. No other religious writing can compare to the splendor and perfect continuity of the Bible. Some may make you feel all warm and fuzzy and others may seem to make some sense to the human mind. But only the Bible of the one and only God can transcend the ability of the human mind to comprehend such magnificent perfection. If you do not believe us, you might want to take the next five years or so to study the literary works of the major religions and compare them with the Bible and then come back and give us a report.

It would therefore follow that we cannot always understand what God is doing and why He is doing it. We wonder how God could allow thousands of people to die in an earthquake. We wonder why God would allow a baby or young child to die. The reason many of these things happen is far beyond the human mind’s ability to understand, and  these things happen simply because God is by far more intelligent, powerful, loving, and merciful than any human being could ever be. And let us not forget that God, among other things we are not capable of, knows the future. He knows the end result of all things that have happened, are happening, and will happen in the world.

Let me give you an example. Some people become livid with anger toward God at the death of a baby or young child. Understandably, for a parent, losing a child is probably the most devastating loss that can occur in anyone’s life. Sometimes the pain of such a loss lingers for years and years. Some people who claim to have been Christians before such a loss, turn against and even hate God for what they think He did to them. We share the grief of anyone in such a situation and the sense of loss is simply overwhelming.

But let me offer you a possible view of this situation if we fast forward 30 years from the tragic event. Is it not possible that the child could have been raised in a dysfunctional home where there was serious physical, mental, or sexual abuse, and consequently may never have made the decision to believe in Christ? In such a case, if the child had grown to maturity, he/she may never have seen Heaven. However, any baby or young child is immediately taken to Heaven at their death. We see that fact confirmed in the Bible in 2 Samuel 12:23 where David’s 7-day old baby boy had just died, and David says:

But why should I fast when he is dead? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him one day, but he cannot return to me.  (NLT)

Because of David’s close, intimate relationship with God, God had let David know that the baby was with Him in Heaven and that David would one day join his son there. We cannot know the mind of God and if you do not mind taking a slight diversion here from the book of Romans, perhaps we can get a better understanding of this reality if we go to the book of Habakkuk. In chapter 1, Habakkuk looks at a situation and he cannot understand it either; it just does not seem to make any sense to him. We will read selected portions from the chapter. So let us look at chapter 1, beginning at verse 1of Habakkuk NLT:

1 This is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received from the Lord in a vision.
2 How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence!” I cry, but you do not come to save.
3 Must I forever see this sin and misery all around me? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.

Have you ever felt like that?

4 The law has become paralyzed and useless, and there is no justice given in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, and justice is perverted with bribes and trickery.
5 The Lord replied, “Look at the nations and be amazed! Watch and be astounded at what I will do! For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn’t believe even if someone told you about it.
6 I am raising up the Babylonians to be a new power on the world scene. They are a cruel and violent nation who will march across the world and conquer it.
7 They are notorious for their cruelty. They do as they like, and no one can stop them.

Habakkuk responds:
12 O Lord my God, my Holy One, you who are eternal—is your plan in all of this to wipe us out? Surely not! O Lord our Rock, you have decreed the rise of these Babylonians to punish and correct us for our terrible sins.
13 You are perfectly just in this. But will you, who cannot allow sin in any form, stand idly by while they swallow us up? Should you be silent while the wicked destroy people who are more righteous than they?
17 Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

How many of us have thought these same thoughts? How could a good God allow a man like Hitler to come to power? How could He allow a plague to kill millions of people? How could He allow a small child to be killed by a drunk driver? We get these questions all the time from people who do not want to believe in God and who must think that God needs their opinions in order to do the right thing. Let us continue now to see what happens in Habakkuk 2 NLT, as Habakkuk says:

1 I will climb up into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint.
2 Then the Lord said to me,

God answers Habakkuk:
3 “Write my answer in large, clear letters on a tablet, so that a runner can read it and tell everyone else.

5 Wealth is treacherous, and the arrogant are never at rest. They range far and wide, with their mouths opened as wide as death, but they are never satisfied. In their greed they have gathered up many nations and peoples.
6 But the time is coming when all their captives will taunt them, saying, ‘You thieves! At last justice has caught up with you! Now you will get what you deserve for your oppression and extortion!’
8 You have plundered many nations; now they will plunder you. You murderers! You have filled the countryside with violence and all the cities, too.
9 “How terrible it will be for you who get rich by unjust means! You believe your wealth will buy security.
12 “How terrible it will be for you who build cities with money gained by murder and corruption!
13 Has not the Lord Almighty promised that the wealth of nations will turn to ashes? They work so hard, but all in vain!

 15 “How terrible it will be for you who make your neighbors drunk! You force your cup on them so that you can gloat over their nakedness and shame.
16 But soon it will be your turn! Come, drink and be exposed! Drink from the cup of the Lord’s judgment, and all your glory will be turned to shame.
18 “What have you gained by worshiping all your man-made idols? How foolish to trust in something made by your own hands! What fools you are to believe such lies!
19 How terrible it will be for you who beg lifeless wooden idols to save you. You ask speechless stone images to tell you what to do. Can an idol speak for God? They may be overlaid with gold and silver, but they are lifeless inside.

Sounds like, in God’s good time, there will be judgment for those who do evil , does it not?

Then Habakkuk replies in chapter 3 NLT:

2 I have heard all about you, Lord, and I am filled with awe by the amazing things you have done. In this time of our deep need, begin again to help us, as you did in years gone by. Show us your power to save us. And in your anger, remember your mercy.
3 I see God, the Holy One, moving across the deserts from Edom and Mount Paran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise! What a wonderful God he is!
4 Rays of brilliant light flash from his hands. He rejoices in his awesome power.
12 You marched across the land in awesome anger and trampled the nations in your fury.
13 You went out to rescue your chosen people, to save your anointed ones. You crushed the heads of the wicked and laid bare their bones from head to toe.
14 With their own weapons, you destroyed those who rushed out like a whirlwind, thinking Israel would be easy prey.
15 You trampled the sea with your horses, and the mighty waters piled high.
16 I trembled inside when I heard all this; my lips quivered with fear. My legs gave way beneath me, and I shook in terror. I will wait quietly for the coming day when disaster will strike the people who invade us.
17 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation.

I like what Eugene Peterson does with this verse in the contemporary translation, The Message. I would not vouch for it being taken directly from the original Hebrew text, but I do think it gives us the same feeling in contemporary language that a reader in Habakkuk’s day would have felt. He translates the just read verse 19 to read:

I am counting on God’s rule to prevail, I take heart and gain strength. I run like a deer. I feel like I am king of the mountain.

There is a praise song that relates to this verse and it goes like this:

“When you don’t understand,
When you cannot trust His hand,
Trust His heart.”

In other words Habakkuk is saying that when you cannot understand things with your human mind, you can simply trust in the character of God. Is God just? Yes. Is God wise? Yes. Therefore, we should be comforted in the character of God and understand that we will never be able to understand the how and why of the way He thinks, at least not in this life.

If we see a tragedy occur, such as people starving around the world, good people dying young, or any of so many other countless tragedies, many of us simply cannot understand it. We cannot understand how a good and loving God could allow such things to happen. We may not understand but God does. There are times when it may be necessary for God to use tragedy to bring about good. It may be necessary for God to break people in one way or another before they will turn to Him. We cannot possibly explain or understand the infinite mind of God. Why? Because we are not God. We simply need to trust in His divine will.

I must admit that I have nothing but pity for people who say things like, “God wouldn’t do this,” or “God wouldn’t do that,” or “I cannot accept a God who would allow such things to happen to good people.” They are diminishing who God is. They are rejecting God because He does not think like they do. Why would anyone want God to be like them, with the same hidden weaknesses and inability to make things perfect? I thank God that He does not think like me. If God thought like me, He would be as messed up as I can be, and what do you think that would mean for you? Well, I will tell you what it would mean. One day I could love you and the next day I might hate you. One day I might trust you and the next day I might distrust you. One day I may want you around me and the next day I might not want you around me. So you had better hope that you die on one of the days you are favorable in my sight or I might just have you shipped off to Hell because I am in a bad mood. You too should be grateful that God does not think like you or me or any other human being. Because God is God and thinks the way He does, He can be perfectly consistent, perfectly fair, perfectly loving, perfectly merciful, and perfectly just. No one can even begin to approach these characteristics of God, and because of who He is we should trust Him completely. One other thing these people are forgetting is that Satan and the presence of sin in the world are the cause of many of those “bad things” that happen. These people are blaming God for things Satan is doing.

There is a story about a young boy who was working a jigsaw puzzle on the floor with his father sitting next to him in a chair reading. After about 15 minutes of being frustrated with the puzzle, the boy looked up at his father and said, “Daddy, I just cannot do it. The pieces just don’t fit together.” His father moved down next to him on the floor and within a few minutes was able to put the entire puzzle together. The boy looked at the puzzle and then looked at his father and said, “Daddy, how did you do that?” The father said, “Son, the difference is that I see the whole picture and you can only see the pieces.”

That is exactly what we need to realize. With our finite minds we can only see the pieces of the puzzle of our lives. God sees the whole picture, that which is best for us in the long run. If people turn away from God, God may have to do something drastic to get that person to seek after Him. That is what He had to do to me. When I had all the money I could ever want I never had any use for God. In fact I was an atheist. He had to break me, take everything that I valued away from me before I fell on my knees in total despair and begged for His help. He gave it and we can save that story for another message. But at the time I could not understand why such terrible things had happened to me. Now I know it was the only thing that could have turned me toward God and Jesus Christ, and now that I have that personal relationship with Christ, I would not trade it for all the money and/or power in the world. Now I have true wealth and power because my riches are in my heavenly bank account, and because I am one with Christ I have all the power of God available to me if I am faithful to His will for my life. That is all I need and in fact it is all anyone needs.

Now we have diverted from where we were in Romans 5:12 for some time and we need to get back to Adam and original sin. God had some options when Adam and Eve sinned. He could have just killed them. “that is it, I’ve had enough from you, WHACK, you’re dead.” But if God had done that we would not be here, would we? God could have said, “I’ve tried it with 2 human beings and that was two too many.” But God did not do that and we believe He did not do that because God is God. His characteristics include grace, mercy, and forgiveness. So it was just natural for God to have a “plan B” in place to cover the possibility that Adam and Eve would not pass the obedience test. And when that happened, God set about to prevent human beings from going to Hell in a state of sin, because Adam and Eve were just the first human beings to disobey God. People continued to disobey God all through the Old Testament times from Adam and Eve on. And God continued to provide for the forgiveness of their sin right up to the point where Jeremiah wrote the following in Jeremiah 8:15-9:5 NLT:

15 We hoped for peace, but no peace came. We hoped for a time of healing, but found only terror.
16 The snorting of the enemies’ warhorses can be heard all the way from the land of Dan in the north! The whole land trembles at the approach of the terrible army, for it is coming to devour the land and everything in it—cities and people alike.’
17 “I will send these enemy troops among you like poisonous snakes you cannot charm,” says the Lord. “No matter what you do, they will bite you, and you will die.”
18 My grief is beyond healing; my heart is broken.
19 Listen to the weeping of my people; it can be heard all across the land. “Has the Lord abandoned Jerusalem?” the people ask. “Is her King no longer there?” “Oh, why have they angered me with their carved idols and worthless gods?” asks the Lord.
20 “The harvest is finished, and the summer is gone,” the people cry, “yet we are not saved!”
21 I weep for the hurt of my people. I am stunned and silent, mute with grief.
22 Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?

2 Oh, that I could go away and forget them and live in a shack in the desert, for they are all adulterous and treacherous.
3 “My people bend their tongues like bows to shoot lies. They refuse to stand up for the truth. And they only go from bad to worse! They care nothing for me,” says the Lord.
4 “Beware of your neighbor! Beware of your brother! They all take advantage of one another and spread their slanderous lies.
5 They all fool and defraud each other; no one tells the truth. With practiced tongues they tell lies; they wear themselves out with all their sinning.

This is Israel that God and Jeremiah are speaking of, God’s chosen people in the Old Testament. What a sinful people. It was necessary to punish the people for their disobedience as any good parent does who knows what is best for their children. But does God get so angry with them that He takes away their opportunity for repentance and salvation? No, that is always possible for them. In fact, Peter says it so well in 2 Peter 3:9 NLT:

The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent.

God is like a grieving parent whose child is self-destructing on drugs. He is saddened by what is happening to His children (Hosea 11), but always providing the opportunity for a way back if the person will only choose it and hoping that everyone will. Then Paul goes on in Romans 5:13,14 to say the following:

13 Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. And though there was no law to break, since it had not yet been given,
14 they all died anyway—even though they did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. What a contrast between Adam and Christ, who was yet to come!

Now we do not believe it is necessary to spend much time here because verse 13 simply illustrates that before the Law of God was given to Moses, before specific rules were given for obedience, people still died. Therefore, people did not die because they broke one of God’s rules. They died because of the sin nature within them. So we can gather from that, that God does not punish us for individual sins that we commit, He punishes us for the sin nature that we possess as human beings. And if we do not get rid of that sin nature through faith in Jesus Christ, then we carry it with us to our death and there is no way anyone with a sin nature is going to get into Heaven. So guess what the remaining alternative location might be? And God does not want anyone to have to go there, but the choice is ours alone.

Verse 14 is a reminder that Adam was a type of Christ in that one man’s act affected all people. Because Adam and Eve disobeyed God, death is inevitable. It awaits us all. You can fear it or you can anticipate it. It can be the beginning of an even worse death in Hell without God, or it can be the beginning of eternal bliss in the presence of the living God and those who live in His presence. The choice is yours.

The idea that death came into the world through one man’s sin, according to Romans 5:12, apparently presents a difficulty for the modern mind to understand. Our world has a real problem realizing that before they sinned, Adam and Eve were immortal, which means of course that they would not have died. But the point that Paul is so rightly emphasizing is that for the human race, with its desire to live forever, and having been made in God’s image to enjoy everlasting fellowship with Him, death can never be just a physical event, that is, just an end to a living body, the cessation of life. Sin separates the human race from God and death is the final separation. Once a person dies their chance to be reconciled with God is no longer a possibility (Hebrews 9:27). That is why Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:56 that “the sting of death is sin.”

Now let us move on to Romans 5:15-21 NLT:

15 And what a difference between our sin and God’s generous gift of forgiveness. For this one man, Adam, brought death to many through his sin. But this other man, Jesus Christ, brought forgiveness to many through God’s bountiful gift.
16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but we have the free gift of being accepted by God, even though we are guilty of many sins.
17 The sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over us, but all who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.
18 Yes, Adam’s one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness makes all people right in God’s sight and gives them life.
19 Because one person disobeyed God, many people became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many people will be made right in God’s sight.
20 God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.
21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Death came to Adam and through Adam it came to all people. But death’s power can be broken and Christ can break it. Christ can break the power of sin according to 2 Timothy 1:10:

And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life through the Good News.

Now unless you plan on preparing a theological paper on Romans 5, we need not spend a whole lot of time on verses 15-19. The important thing here is that you get the basic concept that God’s grace and the work of Jesus overpowers the consequence of sin. God is a transformer of human life. Are you not glad to know that in Jesus Christ you can become something different from what you are? Are you not glad that salvation can produce a total change in you? It turns a pauper into a prince and a slave into a king; a dead person into a living person.

Verses 20 and 21, however, need a bit of clarifying. Verse 20 says:  “God’s law was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful kindness became more abundant.”  You might be thinking, “Wait a minute. Are you saying that God gave the Law so that sin would increase?” That is right. God gave specific laws to identify specific transgressions. He wanted to give the sin nature a place to operate because He wanted to make it very clear to all of humanity that they were sinners. The Law, and basically for our purposes when we refer to the Law we are referring to the Ten Commandments, made evident how desperately we all need God’s forgiveness. Not only does the Law identify specific sins against which people see themselves as sinners, but the Law even stimulates sin. Imagine a child walking down the street and seeing a sign on a neighbor’s lawn that says, “DO NOT PICK THE FLOWERS.” That little kid would not have thought of picking the flowers until he saw the sign.

I am also reminded of the little old lady who went to the board of elders of the church objecting to the pastor reading the Ten Commandments in church because it puts so many ideas into peoples’ minds. The Law showed people that they were sinners and if they still did not get it, it even stimulated sin, so that people would see that they are sinners. I am sure none of you are like me but perhaps you can relate to this. When my parents told me I could not do something it was usually the very next thing that I did. If Betty tells me I cannot do something I usually do it anyhow but hope that she does not find out. And in all fairness, if I tell Betty she cannot do something, that shows me a side of Betty that I do not often see. It is not uncommon for rules and laws to stimulate people to do things that those rules and laws dictate they not do.

Sin reigned in death; grace reigns in new life. Grace met sin head on and defeated it. Grace becomes the dominant power. Notice how the chapter ends: through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is all there in Him. And it is why the apostle, Peter, can say in Acts 4:12:

What is the practical consideration in Romans chapter 5? God has dealt with sin in all people, that sin which was initiated by Adam and Eve and picked up by every member of the human race, and He has dealt with it all in Jesus Christ alone. Jesus has made it possible for all people to be free of sin and death.

Christ identified Himself with all of us by coming to earth in the form of a human being. He suffered many of the things we suffer so that He might understand and relate to our condition. As a matter of fact he suffered much more than most people do. By doing so and living a life without sin, He became the perfect sacrifice that God required for sin. No one else who has ever lived has lived a perfect life without sin. Jesus therefore died the death that we deserve to die because of our sins. Therefore, those who believe through faith in what He did will never experience spiritual death, because we are now free to be identified as being one with Christ in the new life resulting from His resurrection. We have been raised to new life through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So, in effect, we who believe have died to a life of sin and death because Christ died bearing our sin and death, and now we are free to be part of a new life in the Kingdom of God forever. Those who place their faith in the work of Christ are now free to be identified with Him in a new life. It is as if we died with Christ and rose with Him to a new life. We know that our old self was crucified with Christ, for the destruction of our sinful self, so that we no longer have to be slaves to sin (Romans 6:6). Paul is not trying to make us believe that Christians cannot do anything wrong, but simply that they have been placed in a new situation where the old self no longer controls a person’s pattern of life.[fn]

Every one of us should kneel before God in humble admission that we are sinners worthy of death. Every one of us should realize that apart from the work of Jesus Christ we would be doomed to Hell forever. Where there was a dominance of death, God came with His grace and overpowered it. Death is overruled by life for all who believe in the work of Jesus Christ. If you have not already done so, why not grab on to it, right now?

Isaiah

John

Romans

1 Peter


© Ron Teed - Used by permission. All rights Reserved.