Romans 5:1-11

“Saved In Three Time Zones”

Romans 5:1-11 (Message #11)

March 27, 2016 (Easter Sunday in Sligo, Ireland)

INTRODUCTION:

When we traveled here to Ireland in January we started out in Portland, Oregon, which is located on the Pacific Northwest coast of the United States and is in the Pacific Standard Time Zone. Coming this direction, to the east of us they use Rocky Mountain Time. The middle of our country uses Central Time, and the easternmost states use Eastern Standard Time. By the time we flew into Dublin we were 8-hours out of synch with the city where we started. That means when we are starting our Sunday church service here in Sligo, our friends back in Portland are all still tucked in their beds and it is only 3 AM.

This means that our present here in Ireland is still their future because they haven’t lived Sunday morning yet.  In fact, their present and future are actually our past because we’ve already lived it. Somewhat mind boggling, isn’t it?

TRANSITION:

            This morning in our study of Romans we are going to hear our friend, Paul, explaining the work of salvation across three time zones—the past, the present, and the future. I have prepared a handout that I hope will be helpful for you in visualizing these verses. Let’s dive right in.  

MAIN BODY:

Verse 1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

• Paul is obviously addressing fellow believers in these verses. The “we” refers to all those who have already come by faith to receive Christ as Saviour and Lord. If you are “in Christ” then all this applies to you.
• “…since we have been justified by faith…” Paul uses the perfect tense here, which expresses a past action or event, the effects of which continue into the present. Only the genuine Christian can say, “I have been justified.”
• “Therefore…we have peace with God…through Christ.” What’s the time zone of this phrase? “We have” present tense, “peace with God.” Our peace with God is not something a Christian has to hope for, wish for, or pray for. Paul is not talking about a subjective feeling like peace of mind, but about a new kind of relationship with God. Previously we were His enemies but now we have been drawn near, made to be His friends. In fact, it’s even better than that! We have been adopted and made to be His children. We already have peace with God through what Jesus did for us and what the Father declared about us. He declared us “Not guilty” and in fact, “Innocent of all charges.” That is mind-boggling!

Verse 2: “Through Him [Jesus] we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”   

• We have obtained access because Jesus is the Door to salvation, freedom, mercy and grace! He said, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.” That happened in the past when we trusted in Christ.
• As we, by faith, stepped through the Door we were introduced to the grace of God in a very personal way.
• That grace allows us now to stand and to take a stand.
• Moreover, that grace causes us to exult in the hope of one day in the future seeing the glory of God revealed.

Verses 3-4: “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,”    

• Because of what happened at Calvary and the Tomb we can persevere in trials and suffering. Christ gives us His strength to do this. In fact, in the midst of tribulations we can even rejoice, knowing that suffering is not meaningless but it is part of God’s plan to produce Christ-like character in His children. Romans 8:28-29 tell us that the trials come to “conform us to the image of His Son.” 
• But notice that we exult not “because of” sufferings, but “in them.” There’s a big difference! We’re not masochists who just enjoy pain, but rather, we can rejoice in suffering because we know that life’s trials and tribulations are God’s way of making us strong. As we learn to persevere and rejoice in times of trouble our character is built up and made strong. We become more Christ-like through the things that we suffer. 
• Moreover, a hallmark of godly character is faith and hope in God. As we come to know Him and to grow strong in Him, it becomes much easier to trust Him and to have hope when everyone else around us is hopeless.

Verse 5: “…and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”    

• If we hope in something that is an unworthy object then sooner or later we will be left looking foolish and will be ashamed that we were so gullible as to believe a lie or a scam. Do you remember the Heaven’s Gate cult back in 1997 that trusted in the teaching of Marshall Applewhite who told them that the Hale-Bopp Comet was really the Mothership coming back to pick them up? All they had to do was to release their spirits and they would be caught up to everlasting bliss. So 39 of them dressed up in their cute little workout suits and runners and helped one another commit suicide in the hope that Applewhite was telling them the truth. But that “hope” led them to shame, and disappointment, and death. Whereas, having our hope placed securely on God will never leave us disappointed or put us to shame. Never! We’re not talking here about baseless optimism but about unshakable faith in God’s power, character, and proven track-record of keeping His promises.
• Why? Because “God’s love has been [perfect tense] poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been [perfect tense] given to us.” Remember, the perfect tense describes an action or event in the past, the consequences and benefits of which continue on into the present. With this in mind Paul is saying that because God’s love was poured out on us in the past in the person of the Holy Spirit we now have [present tense] God’s love, and we now have [present tense] God’s Holy Spirit. These are both present possessions.

Verses 6-8: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly [past tense]. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but God shows [present tense] His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us [past tense].”     

• Christ died for us in the past, once for all, the Just for the unjust. At the Cross Jesus said, “It is finished!” He had completed the work of redemption through the shedding of His blood on the Cross. He did all that while we were still weak because of our slavery to sin. He did all that while we were His enemies.
• Notice, “…at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” God’s timing is always perfect. Paul expresses it this way in Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” Jesus came at just the right time to carry out the work of redemption.
• In verse 7 while contemplating this scenario Paul admits his amazement that anyone would do such a thing. He can imagine a person possibly giving up his life to save a really good person, but he can’t fathom that anyone would do that for a sinner like he.
• But look closely at verse 8: “But God shows [present tense] His love for us…” People often misquote this verse. It’s true that the sacrifice took place in the past but God continues in this present time to show it to people. The Cross still stands, and God is constantly pointing us back to it. The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse sinners of all unrighteousness. God is continuing to demonstrate His love for lost people.

Verse 9: “Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.”     

• So now we live in a state of having already been justified by Christ’s blood. This is the sphere of grace in which we live and move and have our being. Justification is the air that we breathe, the medium in which we live. If you have come to Him by faith you are “in Christ” and in Him there is no more condemnation, just grace and mercy.
• And because of what we have in Christ and who we are in Christ, we “shall be [future tense] saved by Him from the wrath of God.” And don’t kid yourself; the wrath of God is coming! One of these days God will rend the heavens and descend with His holy angels and the Day of Grace will be over; the Day of Reckoning will have begun. Judgement Day will come and only those who are “in Christ” will be able to stand on that day. I Thessalonians 1:9-10 puts it this way: “For they themselves [i.e. the believers in Macedonia and Achaia] report about us what kind of a reception we had with you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from Heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who rescues us from the wrath to come.” But even better than just surviving that day, Paul tells us up in verse 2 that we can look forward with hope and joyful expectancy to that day when the glory and majesty of God will be revealed. The Day of Judgement holds no fear for the true child of God because our sins were taken care of back at the Cross.   

Verse 10: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son [and we were],much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.”     

• This, in Greek, is what’s called a 1^st Class Conditional statement. It could just as well be translated, “Even though while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son…” There is no element of doubt or negativity here even though it uses the word “if.” Notice that even though there was enmity between Man and God because of Man’s sin, God was never at war with us. In fact, He took the initiative to reconcile us to Himself through the blood of Jesus. That can only be explained by His love for us.
• Notice, too, that this verse crosses all three time-zones.
• In the past, though we were warring against Him, God reconciled us to Himself through the death of His Son, Jesus.
• Now, in the present, having been reconciled to the Father with that as our present reality…
• In the future we shall be saved by Christ’s life. The resurrected Christ is alive today and He continually intercedes for us, and we will be eternally saved because He lives to keep us. Hebrews 7:25 tells us: “Therefore He [Jesus] is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Verse 11: “More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”     

• “More than that…” as if it weren’t enough that we have already received so much, God gives us yet more.
• “…we have now received reconciliation.” As is the case with justification, reconciliation is a present reality for the Christian, and it gives us great cause for rejoicing.

CONCLUSION:

Today is Resurrection Sunday, the day that we commemorate the empty tomb and the Risen Christ. It is the most important day of the year for the Christian, and really for the whole world, because it is a reminder that Jesus is not dead, His bones lying somewhere in a musty grave. No, because on the third day after He was crucified the Father raised Him to life again. He came forth from that tomb the Victor over death and the grave.

In I Corinthians 15 Paul explains in detail the ramifications of the Resurrection and correctly points out that without Christ’s bodily Resurrection our faith would be baseless. We would be purveyors of a lie, and nothing more than silly babblers, and those down through the years who died believing in the Risen Saviour are to be pitied as gullible fools.

However, all of Scripture as well as the historical record proves that Jesus rose from the dead and that He is alive today, and will soon return to take His Church to be with Him forever. If you have not yet stepped across the line to put your faith and trust in Jesus as your Saviour and Lord, I beg you, do it today while you still have this opportunity. Don’t put it off. Don’t hesitate. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Ask Him to forgive you and to take over the control of your life. Surrender to Him today. You’ll never regret it.