Paul Shouts that Faith in Christ Overcomes all
Trouble
Romans
5:1-5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this
grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that,
but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces
perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does
not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by
the Holy Spirit who was given to us. NKJV
Everything Paul has said in all of the other
Chapters of this Book of Romans has led up to this dramatic climax here in Romans 5:1. Paul now shouts (not
literally or maybe he did) the greatest truth to our death with Christ Jesus
our Lord and our resurrection from the death of sin with Him is peace with God.
We are no longer the enemy of God or at war with Him in willful sin and
rebellion (James 4:4). The world has
been crucified unto us and we crucified unto the world solely due to our union
with Jesus Christ our Lord (Galatians
6:14). The gospel of Christ death, burial, and resurrection from the dead
is a peace offering or treaty presented to every sinner (Ephesians 6:15).
I can testify personally that for many years as I
lived in sin and rebellion I was as worldly as a person could be. I drew a lot
of my opinions and conclusions on certain main stream issues by what the
popular culture viewed as correct. For example, I was a staunch advocate of
pro-choice. I was convinced that God did not view abortion as the taking or
killing a human life. My heart and mind was made up and I firmly felt that it
was every individual woman’s right to do with her own body what she saw as
right. When I received my Lord Jesus Christ, that false, fake, and fraudulent
view was smashed, shattered, and suffocated by His Glorious truth in the
Scripture (Jeremiah 1:4-5). It is
God who forms the child inside the mother’s womb; the husband and wife are just
the instruments by which He does this great miracle. It is God alone who makes
or creates new human life and it is He alone who determines when it ends, not
any human being.
It was my acquittal from my sin through my Lord
Jesus Christ that radically changed my heart and entire life to see the entire
world through His lenses and no longer through my clouded lenses fogged up by
my sin (Colossians 1:20). As Paul so
eloquently stated to the brothers and sisters in Philippi we can rest in this
rock solid truth, Philippians 1:6 Being
confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will
complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. NKJV This is the reality
that brings the peace of God to the former sinner’s heart that passes all
understanding. As I exclaimed in a recent study, as Paul also declares again here,
that this justification (acquittal or pardon) gives me and every born again son
or daughter access to grace that changes everything about us (Titus 2:11-14).
It is by my Lord Jesus’ grace that I was taught
through His Word that abortion is indeed murder of a child and never ever His
Will, no matter how the child was conceived. Being saved by God without doing
anything good to earn your salvation removes any boasting or strutting by the
guilty sinner and as the Psalmist says, Psalms
34:2 “My soul shall make its boast in the LORD.” NKJV Paul declares that it
is our trouble the pressure of being a twice born person in a world full of
once born people receiving often times persecution and affliction from them as
the enemy uses them as weapons against us that keeps us constant in our faith
and trust in the Lord Jesus enabling us to endure to the end walking and living
in the love of the truth in our Lord (Matthew
5:11-12 & 2 Corinthians 4:17 & James 1:3). All twice born people
suffer anguish and burdens for those we know and love who do not have this
blessed hope in them (regeneration and new birth) bringing us continually to
and on our knees interceding for their souls before our Lord Jesus Christ
daily. This too serves to keep us constant, fervent, and enduring to the end of
our sojourn and pilgrimage on this earth as we are away from the One we love
and long to be with forever, our Lord Jesus Christ.
As we persevere and endure despite all opposition
our character becomes approved character before God. This blessed hope of
Christ in us the hope of glory keeps us always with our eyes on the prize of
the high calling in Him. It motivates us by grace to walk and live worthy of
such a high calling by purifying ourselves from the sins that stain us and so
easily beset us because we know our Lord Jesus is Pure. We are driven to look
into His face (by looking into His Word daily) to have Him wash our souls in
the water of His Word that we may always strive to have a clean or clear
conscience before men and our Lord Jesus. Everything that is new in our beliefs
and our daily lives can all be due to the love we have for our Lord Jesus
Christ that He poured into us by the Holy Spirit when we were born again of incorruptible
seed. The greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all your heart, with
all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and this is
impossible until we are acquitted of the sins we have so grievously and
willfully committed against God the Father. This love we have received by grace
through faith is a Divine Love, a Heavenly Love, A Foreign Love that we will
spend all eternity in Christ presence just basking, bowing, and bathing in this
love we do not deserve at all, as we are finally and forever away from
everything that is evil (1 Peter 1:8-9
& 1 John 3:1-3).
Psalms
84:11-12 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace
and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
O LORD of hosts, Blessed is the man who trusts in You! NKJV
Psalms
85:10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed
each other. NKJV
Isaiah
32:17 The work of righteousness will be peace, And the effect of righteousness,
quietness and assurance forever. NKJV
James
1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been
approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to
those who love Him. NKJV
“We have peace, hope, love, and power over sin, the
sum of the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth chapters. These are the fruits of
justifying faith: where these are not, that faith is not.” John Wesley on Romans 5:1
“This hope will not disappoint us, because it is
sealed with the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of love. It is the gracious work of the
blessed Spirit to shed abroad the love of God in the hearts of all the saints. The
love of God, that is, the sense of God’s love to us, drawing out love in us
to Him again.” “The ground of all our comfort and holiness, and perseverance in
both, is laid in the shedding abroad of the love of God in our hearts;
it is this which constrains us, (2
Corinthians 5:14). Thus are we drawn and held by the bonds of love. Sense
of God’s love to us will make us not ashamed, either of our hope in Him or our
sufferings for Him.” Matthew Henry
If you do not
know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your
heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus,
I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You
shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead
proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my
sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my
life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...Sincerely in Christ,
Author
of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and
Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into
Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s
Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod,
Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners,
Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
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