Title: The Justified / Romans 5:1-11
Content Justified (Romans 5:1-11)
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
Just because you believe doesn't mean you're a true believer.
In Luke 18:8, Jesus Himself said, "...will you find faith in the world when the Son of Man comes?" What does it mean? The closer the last days are, the more difficult it will be to find a person of true faith. Of course, the number of churches increases and the number of members increases. But among them, there will be few who can be justified by faith.
Not everyone who believes is justified. For example, the Jews believed in Jesus. He believed that he was the Son of God and the Savior. But I was wrong. They thought that they were saved because they were the chosen people, received the law from God, and were circumcised. They thought that in order to be saved, one had to have faith, be circumcised, and pay tithes. This is false belief.
It is only through faith that we are saved, and circumcision and tithing are only the proper lives of believers who have been saved through faith because they give thanks. That is why the Apostle Paul emphasizes in Romans 4:3 that Abraham was saved before he received the law and before he was circumcised, ‘believing in God…it was counted as righteousness’.
Justifying faith is nothing special. Because there are many sins, we cannot be justified, but because God does not accuse us of our sins and clothes us with the clothes of righteousness, it is a faith that we accept with “yes”. Because Jesus took all your sins, you just have to believe in the blood of Christ and come before the Lord, so it's just a faith that admits 'yes'. It is a belief that does not put forward any other conditions and does not even think about it.
In other words, when we accept God's word as it is, God is pleased and satisfied, and He counts it as righteousness. This is justification. Therefore, salvation is not achieved gradually, but is achieved at once with faith. The Christian life, however, grows gradually. From then on, the blessings that the saints should enjoy will gradually appear.
1. You will enjoy peace.
Verse 1 says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Before we believed in Jesus, we were in a position of enmity with God. In other words, they were under sin. They came under the law and the wrath of God. That's why I've been living in fear, fear, anxiety, and pain.
But now we have been justified by faith, all our sins have been completely washed away by the blood of Christ, and we have been completely removed from the wrath of God. So now, wrath and fear between God and us have disappeared, and we can enjoy the peace and joy that God has given us.
It happened on the island of Guam in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Guam also had a small cave on the beach. The Pacific War ended on August 15, 1945. However, there is a person who has been living in a burrow for 27 years, working hard and like a beast without even knowing that the war is over. That person is a Japanese soldier named Yoko. During that time, this man had lived 27 years in fear and fear, plucking the fruit of a tree, digging up the roots and eating it, relying on a worn-out gun handle and avoiding people's eyes. They lived unhappily, not knowing that the war had ended and peace had come. It is said that the gun and the clothes are now kept in the museum.
Ladies and gentlemen, the age of peace between God and us has been wide open because Jesus Christ died as a propitiation sacrifice for us. Through Jesus Christ, the age of hatred, fear, and anxiety has passed, and now the age of peace has come. Only those who come out by faith with this gospel message can come out of the cave of fear and fear and enjoy freedom and peace. The Lord has come to this world as the Prince of Peace. Therefore, only when we come before the Lord in faith can we enjoy true peace.
2. You get pleasure.
Verse 2 says, “And through him we also have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
①. We rejoice because we thank God for His grace.
We are justified by faith, and our sins are fully forgiven. However, the reason people are anxious because they cannot find peace and joy in their hearts is because there are too many sins in the past, because they are still sinning even though they have been justified in the present, and because they are not confident that they will not sin in the future.
However, one thing you need to know is that God justified us not because he saw that we had a hope that we would never think of sin and would never cry. You have to believe it. We fall, we fall, and we become weak at the slightest difficulty. But God will surely make us whole.
What did you say in verse 6? “As promised, while we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly.” And verse 8 says, “God demonstrates his love for us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
That's right. It's not because we see any hope. It's not about being a little better than someone else. It is said that “it was a time when we were still weak” and “while we were still sinners”.
He loved us unconditionally and chose us in this state, so there is nothing more to be grateful for. This is God's grace.
Therefore, we ourselves have nothing to see, nothing to believe, nothing to boast about, nothing to offer. There is no hope at all. Therefore, we can now look only at the cross of Jesus Christ, rely only on the cross, and come out boldly by faith before the throne of God's grace.
Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
That's right. All we have to rely on and look forward to is to look at the grace of God and the glory of God that will be fully revealed to us, and we should just be thankful and rejoice.
②. I am happy because I have hope.
It is said that believers who are justified by faith rejoice in tribulation. The reason is that we look to the hope of the kingdom of heaven with faith. Verse 3-4 says, “Not only this, but we also rejoice in our tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.” Here, “tribulation” is a word that means pressure, oppression, oppression, suffering, etc. Therefore, there is no one who rejoices and likes ‘tribulation’.
But why rejoice in “tribulation”?
① Because it is the tribulation that comes from believing in Jesus. Because we live according to righteousness and truth, it is a tribulation that comes from unrighteousness and the interference of Satan. In other words, the fact that Satan's trials and tribulations exist for those who live by faith is evidence that I am a child of God. Not only that, but the reward is great for those who handle it well.
In Matthew 5:11-12 we read, “Blessed are you when they curse and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven; the prophet who was before you. They persecuted them in this way,” said Jesus Himself.
② Because it is possible to cultivate a noble religious character.
Watson said, 'The troubles that come upon us are like rain leaking into the house. You don't know where the hole in the roof is until it rains and seeps into the house. In the same way, we can discover and correct our own weaknesses in the midst of suffering.” Indeed it is. Through tribulation, we can discover our weaknesses and fix them, so that we can develop a noble and good faith personality.
Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” God provides for us to go out to a better and perfect place through the valley of darkness of suffering and tribulation.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the benefits of tribulation in the text.
① Because tribulation produces perseverance.
Verse 3 says, “…we rejoice in our tribulation, for tribulation requires patience.” What all successful people have in common is perseverance. Without perseverance, no one has triumphed, and without perseverance, happiness and reward cannot be achieved.
② Because it forms a podium.
Verse 4 says, “Perseverance builds up refinement...”. 'Practice' means 'training'. The nuggets of gold from the mines are gold, but are of no value as gold because they contain a lot of impurities. So, it is melted and refined in a furnace to remove all impurities and to make pure and clean gold. The gold produced in this way becomes a precious metal that can be used with great value.
Tribulation produces perseverance, perseverance produces refinement, and through refinement, the character of faith is ennobled. In other words, you will grow up to be a mature believer. 1 Peter 1:7 says, “The trial of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes, even though it is tried by fire, may be found to be praise, glory, and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ.”
③ It is because the wish comes true.
Verse 4 says, “Patience produces character, and character produces hope.” Here, ‘hope’ means a future expectation that will be fulfilled and completed. Hope for good things is hope. No matter how good and wonderful the present is, it is meaningless if there is no hope. It is because they have hope that blue and young boys become treasures of the church and the country. So, even if a person possesses all knowledge and all possessions, a being without a vision is of no value. That's right. A person or a nation without dreams will eventually perish.
Both kinds of people can face the same tribulation. However, there are cases where a person cannot go through the process of tribulation and refinement. However, the other person will have patience in tribulation, and his own refinement in patience, and will eventually reach the hope of victory.
Our members will be able to see the bright hope hidden in the Lord clearly through tribulation and refinement. Therefore, the tribulation suffered by unbelievers and the tribulation suffered by the saints are not the same just because they are going through the same tribulation. It is qualitatively different.
The reason is that, from an eschatological point of view, the despair of hell awaits unbelievers, and the bright hope of heaven awaits believers.
The hope we have is not something we create, but the eternal inheritance of heaven that God has promised with love to those who persevere in faith and go out. Therefore, it is not a shameful hope that will never come true, but a proud and sure hope that will surely be fulfilled in the Lord. Verse 5 says, “hope does not put us to shame, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, which has been given to us.”
Dear saints, Words cannot describe how great it is to be justified by faith. Please believe in this promise. May your hearts be filled with peace and joy from above always, in the name of the Lord.