Romans 5:1-5

PRESENT PRIVILEGES OF THE JUSTIFIED

‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.… And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’

Romans 5:1

These five verses describe the present life of the justified believer, and teach the new position of those who are justified through faith. In the five verses there are five blessings described. Let us consider each of them.

I. Peace with God.—There is a clear distinction between peace with God and the peace of God, though they are so intimately connected that they are rarely if ever separated. Peace with God is reconciliation itself. It is the blessed fellowship between God and the sinner, when every barrier is removed, and the two, instead of being at variance, are at one. Thus it involves a double reconciliation, i.e. a reconciliation on both sides. On the one side, God is reconciled to the sinner, for, His law being satisfied, and His righteousness maintained, He is no longer called to shut him out from His presence, but can, without the compromise of His own holiness, give him a welcome to His home in all the fullness of parental love. And, on the other hand, the sinner is reconciled to God, for his hard heart is softened, his rebellion is at an end, his affections are changed, he hates that which he once loved, and loves that which he once hated, so that instead of being an enemy to God by wicked works, he loves Him, he delights in Him, he seeks Him, he follows Him; the joy of his heart is to do His will, and his great sorrow is that he cannot serve Him better.

II. The justified believer has a new standing-ground.—There are various standing-places on which men attempt to stand. Some are standing on their respectability. They are as good as others, and therefore, have no cause to fear. Some are endeavouring to stand on their really earnest religious painstaking. They are really striving to be religious, and they stand on their efforts. But as a general rule they stand very uncomfortably. But the justified believer stands on the rock, and he can stand there boldly, for he finds it firm, perfectly firm, under his feet. But what is this rock on which we stand, this new standing-ground on which we are placed when we are justified through faith? It is here described as ‘this grace.’ ‘By Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’ The grace here described is the same as that on which Abraham stood, a righteousness reckoned, or imputed, to him when he had none of his own. The justified believer is made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and that righteousness is the rock on which he stands. And this is a standing-ground which abides unshaken whatever happens. It does not vary with feelings, nor can it be shaken by misfortune. It is fixed and immovable in the unchanging righteousness of God, and whatever passes away, it never will.

III. But we do not want to be only standing still and safe. We want also to be looking forward and happy, and so if we pass on to the third in the cluster of blessings there is joy as well as safety, for we find it our privilege, if justified, to be rejoicing in hope. And what a hope! Nothing less than the glory of God. ‘We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’ The men of the world have nothing that can last. They have nothing of which they can say, ‘It shall abide.’ But you that are justified are soon to reign with Christ, and share His kingdom. Nothing can touch your life, for it is hid with Christ in God, and when He shall appear you will appear with Him in glory. You will then share His glory, and reign in His kingdom, for we are taught, ‘Whom He justified, them He also glorified,’ and is not such a hope as that enough to make us happy? enough to fill the whole soul with joyous thanksgiving?

IV. It seems easy enough to rejoice in the hope of glory, but it is a very different thing to glory, or rejoice (it is the same word as in Romans 5:2) in ‘tribulations also,’ or as it might be rendered, ‘even in tribulation,’ as we are told that we do in Romans 5:3. How can this be? Will sorrows cease to be sorrows? I do not see that in Holy Scripture. But what we do find is that sorrow changes its character, because a peaceful, thankful joy shines in the midst of it, and throws a glow of hallowed light over the whole. See how beautifully this is brought out in the passage. There is a golden chain here. Observe the three links. The first is patience. ‘Tribulation worketh patience,’ for people do not know what it is to be patient till they suffer. The next is experience. ‘Patience worketh experience,’ for if we are called patiently to suffer, we learn daily from personal experience fresh lessons of the tender lovingkindness of the Lord. The third link is hope. There is hope at the beginning, hope strong enough to make the soul happy, for ‘we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.’ These three links in the chain would be of no use whatever, if they were not attached to some sure fastening at the end. But they are, for ‘hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’

V. This leads us to the last blessing of the series.—The fastening of that chain is the fifth gift to the justified believer, and what a gift it is! ‘The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.’ This seems the crowning point of all. We began with peace, we now go on to love. There is not merely a legal reconciliation, but a tender, affectionate, parental love. He does not only pardon the sinner, but He actually loves him as His child.

—Rev. Canon Edward Hoare.