October 15, 2023
Evening Service

Peace with God Through Faith

Romans 5:1  Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 

Romans 5:2  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

Romans 5:3  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 

Romans 5:4  and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 

Romans 5:5  Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

There is a sense of unimaginable peace that resides in our hearts when we become a true believer in our Lord Jesus as our Redeemer! Our whole makeup changes for the better because we no longer live for ourselves, but die to ourselves and live for our Savior. It is our faith in Jesus and the work He has done on the cross for us that justifies us as sinners. This faith in Jesus is what gives us the peace that surpasses all understanding. God is Holy and the only way a sinner can be in His presence is through the righteous blood of Jesus being worn on the sinner as a garment, then our Holy God will see the blood of Jesus when he looks upon us and we will be justified through our faith in the Son of God!  Sin leaves a guilt on the sinner that cannot be taken away by any other means than that of Jesus’ blood. Being justified through our faith in Jesus is what takes the guilt of sin away and gives way to peace! Jesus’ work on Calvary makes Him our Mediator and Peacemaker between God and man. Moreover, the believers in Jesus have a state of happiness from the grace of Christ. Verse 2 says that we have access into this grace through faith in Jesus and this tells us we are not born into grace, it does require the action of believing in Jesus and the expression of that belief is faith. This is plain to say that we could not have found grace on our own or by our own actions; we are led into it by the calling of Jesus to be redeemed and repent of our sins. Any of us humans are no more than sinners who have received a pardon through Jesus; we are guilty of our sins and have received grace. Paul tells us to glory in our tribulations because they produce perseverance, that in turn produces character, and character produces hope and hope does not disappoint. Why? Because we have hope through the Holy Spirit given to us by God to reside in our hearts!  Dealing with trials create patience in us and not by the trials alone, but through God working in us and dealing with the trials we face. As we keep God on the forefront when trials come and we wait upon the Lord for His Divine works, we grow in our Lord through faith. This hoping in the Lord for help and being patient to wait upon Him does not disappoint because He has sealed us with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love. The Holy Spirit works within us to receive the love of God in our hearts and to trust Him for the outcome of all trials. When we correctly wear the grace of God, it gives us the sense of proper love for God and for our neighbor. We will not be ashamed or our hope or sufferings endured for lifting up His Name.

Romans 5:6  For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 

Romans 5:7  For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

Romans 5:9  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 

Romans 5:10  For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 

Romans 5:11  And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Jesus died on the cross for all sinners, not only those who tried to do right and failed, but to those who were outright hateful and resisted God. This latter group would be among those whose destruction would serve as glory to the justice of God. Jesus gave His life on Calvary to save our lives, not to remain in our sins, but to save us from sin, yet He died for us while we were still in our sins having no regrets or sense of repentance. The mind of man is a carnal mind (focusing by nature to the fleshly lusts), the human mind is and enemy to God and actually enmity or hostility toward God.

Romans 8:7  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 

            God had a plan from the beginning to deliver us from sin and to work in us a great and fantastic change for the better. If we stay in the sinful state with an unrepentant heart, God hates the sinner and the sinner hates God. Now to imagine for these hateful and unrepentant souls that Jesus died to save them is a mystery, no other love has ever been known and stands alone. Our hope is to spend eternity with our Lord and Savior to treasure and wonder at this love.

Colossians 1:21  And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 

Paul stated here that it would be rare for one to die for a righteous man, and again that someone might dare to die for a good man. Even at this, it was said that it was a thing that might be, not something, that actually happens. So what does this imply? It is if a person would give their life for another, it would somehow release from some bondage the person the life was intended to benefit. Saying this, what bondage are believers in Jesus released from by His death on the cross? The release from bondage for the believer is not from death in the body, because all of us are appointed to die unless the Lord comes before our time. It must then be that the evil we are delivered from through Jesus must be worse than the physical natural death. The only thing that can be more dreadful than physical death is the spiritual death that comes from sin and the wrath of punishment from God because of His perfect justice. When we repent and accept Grace, we are justified by the blood of Jesus and having faith in His atonement. Our fate of falling under the power of sin, Satan, and departing from God due to our sins was atoned by Jesus who died and rose again to reign victorious. Our Lord who is alive in Heaven will complete the work on Calvary by saving all true believers in Him with eternal life. Salvation is promised in the love of God through His Son Jesus and this gives us hope of having Heaven as our home. This is why the apostle Paul says there is even hope in the trials we face, when they are for the sake of Christ. God does not change and it is our portion through Grace to have a friend in Jesus as our Lord and Redeemer.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 

Romans 5:13  (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 

Romans 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 

The Divine plan was evident from the beginning when God created man. We are to lift up Jesus as Lord with respects to the blessings he has secured for us by comparing them with the evil that followed the fall of man in the garden. These blessings go way beyond the removal of these evils, but also with promises for obedient faith. When Adam sinned, his natural order became guilty and tarnished by choice, and then imparted to his children. Therefore, in and through Adam, all have sinned and death comes by sin because these are the wages of sin. From this first choice of disobedience comes the hardships and trials that are part of the due abandonment of sin; life is temporal, not spiritually aligned, and eternal death. If Adam had not sinned, he would not have died; but a sentence of death was passed on him, as it would be for a criminal. So as a result, it passed through all men just like a severe plague that nobody could escape. All men had a union with Adam in the act of sin and as a record; sin was prevalent in the world for many years before the giving of the law by Moses. In addition, death reigned over adults who willfully sinned and great numbers of infants, this showed they had fallen into condemnation under Adam and extended to all after him. Adam was a type of Him that was to come, and as sin was extended, the saving power of Christ is extended to those who love and serve Him as Lord and Savior. 

Romans 5:15  But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 

Romans 5:16  And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 

Romans 5:17  For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) 

Romans 5:18  Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 

Romans 5:19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.

Through the one man of Adam, all of mankind are defenseless to eternal condemnation. However, God, through mercy and grace has given us the gift of salvation through Jesus as a man. God has brought mankind to an exalted state and a sanctuary away from where we had fallen to with Adam. This free gift did not put mankind into a new place of trials and more trouble, but made way for a state of being justified, as Adam would have been through obedience to God. Regardless of the differences, there is a strong resemblance. With Adam, the transgression of one, sin and death became widespread to the condemnation of all men. With Jesus, the righteousness of one, grace became established to the justification of all believing in Christ by faith. Through the grace of God, the gift by grace has become plentiful to many through Christ. However, there are still many who choose to remain under the bondage of sin and death, rather than to repent and receive the gospel of grace into their hearts. Christ came into the world to save all so that none will perish and He will not turn away any who are willing to come to Him.

Romans 5:20  Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 

Romans 5:21  so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Here is something we can take to the bank, through the righteousness of Christ Jesus; we have more and greater privileges than we lost by the wrongdoings of Adam. When the Law of Moses came on the scene, it was witness that thoughts, words, temperaments, and deeds were sinful and therefore, the transgressions became more abundant. The law was not to make sinfulness abound more, but to define what the sinful acts are as fact. It is like looking into a room that is not well lit and thinking it is very clean, then when the light is let into the room, the filth and the dustiness become visible which were not so seen beforehand. The sin of Adam in the garden, and the effect of deception in us, are the abundance of that offence which appeared at the coming of the law. In addition, the hardships of the law and the demands of it make the gospel comforts even more sweet. Therefore, The Holy Spirit has, by the preaching of the apostle, given to us in writing, a most important truth suited to our needs as sinners. Whatever one person may hold over another, every man is a sinner against God; stands condemned by the law, and is need of a pardon. Righteousness that is pure and sinless to justify cannot be made up of a mixture of sin and holiness. There can be no expectation to an eternal reward without a pure and spotless righteousness. This is why we need the righteousness of Christ Jesus that is pure, holy, and able to be justified.