Romans 5:2

‘Through whom also we have had our introduction (access) by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.'

And through Him we not only have peace with God, but we also have introduction/access by faith into the powerful activity of the grace of God, that is, into the sphere of His continual activity of unmerited love towards us. For God's grace is not a kind of liquid which is poured on us and can be dispensed by a priest, but is God's active, unmerited love and compassion continually at work in our lives. And we are introduced into it by Jesus Christ. It is within this sphere of grace that we take up our stance and stand firmly by faith so that we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God which will be ours because of His gracious working. For it is by His grace active towards us that we are accounted as righteous (Romans 3:24; Romans 5:15). It is by His grace active towards us that we are made heirs of God (Romans 4:13; Romans 4:16; Romans 8:17). It is His grace which reigns through righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 5:21). It is by His active grace that we are saved (Ephesians 2:8). It is in accordance with the riches of His grace that we enjoy forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7). All is because we are in His loving hands. And now we learn that it is God's grace active towards us which will ensure that we enjoy the glory of God. This is the glory of God of which we had previously come short (Romans 3:23). Now we have the assurance that God will restore us to a state whereby we will truly know and experience that glory.

Some, however, read ‘this grace' as signifying ‘His gracious gift of justification' as previously described, in which we take our stand, thus having the confident certainty of the glory of God. But as that is but one of the gifts that spring from His wondrous activity of unmerited love towards us, although an extremely important one, and we are about to learn of the sanctifying experience taking place in our lives (Romans 5:3), we should probably see ‘this grace' as signifying His overall gracious activity towards us resulting in both justification (being reckoned as righteous) and sanctification (being seen as His in order to be transformed into His image).

‘In hope --.' Hope as spoken of by Paul is a certain and assured hope. Thus our ‘hope of the glory of God' is not a wistful longing, but a confident assurance. We know that we will one day be made like Him (Romans 8:29; 1 John 3:2). We know that we will be presented before Him holy and without blemish (Ephesians 5:27; Colossians 1:22) and will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). We know that we will one day experience the radiance of His presence (Revelation 21:23; Revelation 22:5). This is our continual hope and certainty as Romans 8:39 onwards will make clear.

‘Through Whom also we have had our access (or ‘introduction') --.' Compare ‘through Him we both (Jew and Gentile) have access by one Spirit to the Father' (Ephesians 2:18). ‘In Him we have boldness and access (to God) with confidence through faith in Him' (Ephesians 3:12). Our access is into the Father's presence through Jesus Christ by the Spirit (compare Romans 5:5) as we are introduced into the sphere of His unmerited love and compassion towards us through the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this not through any acceptability that we might have as a result of observing the Law or through any deserving that we might have, but solely through our Lord Jesus Christ and what He has done for us, and through His gift towards us of our ‘being accounted as in the right' (Romans 3:24). It ensures that we now stand firmly within the stream of His gracious activity, of His loving work towards us (Romans 5:6) and in us (Romans 8:1; Philippians 2:13), as He continually watches over us. We are now, therefore, sure of God's continual gracious working, even in tribulation, a working which works continually within us in order that we may ‘will and do of His good pleasure' (Philippians 2:13). We can now be sure that we will be confirmed to the end through His faithfulness (1 Corinthians 1:8), being confident of this very thing, that He Who has begun a good work within us will perform it until the Day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6). And we can therefore be sure that all the blessings of God (Matthew 5:3) will be poured upon us. We are ‘surrounded and caught up in His active GRACE (God's Riches At Christ's Expense)', that is into His totally unmerited compassion and mercy.

‘We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.' Those who are accounted righteous in Jesus Christ can rejoice in hope of the glory of God in at least three ways;

· Firstly we can rejoice in the hope of that glory because of the glory that Jesus Christ has given to us. As Jesus said, ‘the glory which You have given Me, I have given them' (John 17:22). And that glory which He has given us is ‘to be one with the Son and with the Father, just as the Son is one with the Father' (John 17:22). It is to participate in the glory of God. Here we should pause and consider what this means for us, for we can say it so glibly. ‘Being one with the Father and the Son'. Have we even begun to appreciate the wonder of what that signifies? It means that the Holy Father and the Eternal Son have come to dwell permanently within us (compare Joh 14:23; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 3:17). It means that we have died and that our lives are hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3). No wonder that we rejoice. And this is an experience into which we can enter more and more deeply as the years go by, as more and more we enter into and experience our oneness with Him (compare John 15:1), looking forwards to the day of final glory.

· Secondly we can rejoice in the glory into which we are being transformed. ‘Beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord' (2 Corinthians 3:18). Thus as we ‘grow in grace' (2 Peter 3:18), being transformed by His Spirit through His gracious working (Romans 5:5; Rom 8:9-11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Philippians 2:13), it is a constant reminder of the glory that will be ours.

· And thirdly and finally we can rejoice in the glory that will be ours (Romans 8:30) when we are taken to be with Him in glory at His glorious appearing (Titus 2:14), when He will ‘come to be glorified in His saints (His true people) and to be admired in all those who believe' (2 Thessalonians 1:10). For glory is our destiny (Romans 8:17; Romans 8:21; Romans 8:30). Then we will be with Him and will behold His glory, the glory which was His before the world was (John 17:5), and which is now His again as a result of the success of His saving work (John 17:24; Philippians 2:5). And what is more we know that we ourselves will be like Him, we will be ‘conformed to His image' (Romans 8:29), for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Thus because we have been ‘accounted as righteous', and because we enjoy eternal life, we will for ever enjoy glory, honour, peace and immortality (Romans 2:7; Romans 2:10; Romans 8:18; 1Co 15:43; 2 Corinthians 4:17; Ephesians 1:18). For when Christ Who is our life shall appear, then will we also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4).