No-one should doubt that righteousness is a major concern for everyone. In simple terms, we all want to be right. A child is indignant if its idea of right is crossed. Old men and women want to be sure their legacy is rightly recorded. From cradle to grave, righteousness is high on our agenda.
But here, in Romans, God is saying to us, ‘You can only be right by trusting in me—in my Son’. All our protests that we are right are husks flying in the wind. We are subject to God’s judgement. And Paul is bringing this to light so we have opportunity to get things truly right. Or rather, for God to get things truly right.
Paul describes two things in this chapter. First, the astonishing benefits that are given to believers in Christ (vv. 1-11). Second, the astonishing Christ who creates these benefits (vv. 12-21). We’ll just look at the first of these at the moment.
So, what are the benefits that come to us because we are justified by faith?
First, we don’t have to fight the idea of there being a God we must answer to[i]. We don’t have to spend our life avoiding God. Rather, we know him and are at peace with him.
Behind all the crises we have in this life there hangs the nagging thought that we don’t deserve anything better. We’re always uneasy. But then, knowing we are justified changes everything. He’s not counting our sins against us. He’s deciding how to bless us. We are at peace with God because he’s at peace with us.
This doesn’t mean we always feel peaceful. There’s lots of circumstances and thoughts that can make us uneasy. But we are starting from having a secure place in the Father’s affections.
Second, we have constant access to God’s grace.
Every day, we are needing forgiveness, direction, strength and courage. And we can find that the Lord is gracious—every day. He’s not calculating or tardy. So, it’s a relief and a pleasure to come to him. Jesus is our way of access to all that the Father is eager to provide.
Third, we exult, or have joy, or boast because of the promise that we will share God’s glory. We have seen God’s glory in Christ and what he has done. But now, we are told that we will share in being like him—glorious,[ii] and participate in the glory of the new heavens and earth.
This word translated ‘rejoice’ has recurred four times already in this letter, and been translated as ‘boasting’. Without Christ, our exulting has been false—because it’s all been based on us. But now, it’s based on Christ and looking forward to the world God is making. So, our exulting is real. Our hubris is replaced with humility.
Fourth, this confidence is so substantial, that our troubles take on a different character. Without justification, we had been seeing them as threats to our ego. Now, they help us learn patience.
If we’re honest, we know that impatience exposes our selfishness. Now, we’ve got a chance to change—to develop some character[iii].
We’re learning to hope in what God has promised—to actually live by faith. This is what Paul raised when he first started talking about justification[iv]. We begin with faith, and this faith must grow to encompass the widening circles of our life.
Fifth, none of this fails! While life, and other people, and the devil suggest we give up, God’s love—poured into our hears by the Holy Spirit—keeps us looking to the peace we have, and our access to grace, and to Jesus himself. We’re really exulting! And it’s all flowing from the fact that we are loved by God.
Let’s dwell on this love—as Paul now does.
Why does God love us? It’s got nothing to do with our nature or performance. In fact, we’ve been weak—unable to get up and be who God called us to be. We’ve been ungodly—thinking about ourselves instead of him. We’ve been sinners—missing what God expects of us all the time. We’ve actually been God’s enemies. And all this time, he’s been loving us!
If we don’t understand this, we haven’t been hearing what Paul is saying. God is good—to people who are not! He’s giving us everything we need. We now have a life filled with his Spirit—with his loving.
So, move over! Let it happen! Keep yourselves in the love of God![v]
Perhaps we can imagine being present when Jesus is nailed to his cross. We hear him say, ‘Father forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.’ Here is love—overflowing! And the gospel Paul preaches in this letter shows that what Jesus said then is now being said to us.
The death of Jesus, and his resurrection, have secured our justification. We’re all set up to rejoice, not just in our experience of salvation, but in God himself.
As Paul will say later, God’s reign is all about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit[vi]. This is not natural. It’s not explainable. It’s from God who loves us. It springs up within us. It’s real and it’s eternal. And, as we must now see, it’s all because of one man. And it’s for everybody. His grace, his giving and his obedience dwarf anything else that’s ever happened.
[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.
[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59
[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4
[iv] Rom. 1:17
[v] Jude 21
[vi] Rom. 14;17.
[i] This may well be the major reason why people refuse to believe in God.
[ii] This will arise later in chapter 8, verses 23-25; also 1 Cor. 15:59
[iii] In a similar way, James tells us to let patience have its full effect—James 1:4
[iv] Rom. 1:17
[v] Jude 21
[vi] Rom. 14:17
Simply True 