Focus Verse

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

Outline

• Reconciliation’s Hope – Romans 5:1-5
• Reconciliation’s Blessings – Romans 5:6-11

Engage

Mired in sin, our fallen world lacks security while complex questions abound. Where can we find lasting peace? Why do so many endure great suffering? In the blink of an eye, life’s joys can turn to tragedy. A loved one’s sudden heart attack, a satisfying career’s surprise ending, the tragic onset of a natural disaster, or an outbreak of war can leave us without hope or peace. Whatever situation we face—heartache, loss, physical illness, emotional pain, persecution, or even death—God enters our world with His heavenly solution—His Son, Jesus Christ.

In Romans 5, Paul continues to unpack God’s justification of sinners. Through Jesus Christ, believers are reconciled to God. No longer at war with God because of sin, His people receive and enjoy His remarkable gift of genuine peace. God holds no hostility against those He justifies. He sets believers free to live in settled security with Him forever. Even so, God’s people are not exempt from dark days and difficult circumstances while on earth. Instead of crumbling beneath despair, believers can stand in God’s grace through challenging situations and trying times. Believers have peace with God and hope in all circumstances.

Reconciliation’s Hope – Romans 5:1-5

Having established God’s gracious gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ in Romans 3–4, Paul opened chapter 5 by explaining a justified believer’s position before God. An unstoppable future awaits believers—eternal life with God in glory. Paul’s exposition of layered, interwoven, and compounding gospel truths in the book of Romans lays important groundwork for God’s people. The gospel provides believers a way of salvation and a path of bright hope. Though daily ups and downs may cause stress and pain, God provides a firm foundation when life tosses us about. Paul confirms that when God justifies a believer, future glory is assured.

Firm Foundation – 5:1

Paul raises our thoughts to embrace the first great blessing of justification—peace with God. He has already thoroughly explained that God actively reveals and stores up His wrath for the wicked and unrepentant.1 Despite people’s objections to the truth of God's wrath and judgment, no one is at peace with God until He justifies them. Jesus presented two responsibilities for all humanity when He said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and “love your neighbor as yourself.”2 These all-encompassing commandments shatter the thin outer shell of human morality and reveal our basic inability to please God. Without a new heart, no one can keep these commands.3

Until God bestows His gift of new life in Christ to a justified believer, rebellious, sin-stained hearts refuse to love God or live for Him. By nature, even seemingly good people sin. While Jesus lived on earth, the most pious people opposed Him and sought His death. Jesus’s cross—so costly to God—satisfied God’s wrath and leads straight to peace with Him. Only God changes rebels into surrendered, loving children. When God justifies people through faith, their personal warfare with Him ceases forever and lasting peace results. God Himself accomplished this peace on behalf of sinners. And what God accomplishes, no one can undo.

Steadfast Security – 5:2

Paul unpacked the security God’s justified people possess with four powerful words—“access,” “faith,” “grace,” and “stand.” He further promised the hope of God’s glory for all believers. What an incredible, awe-inspiring gift! God’s glory, lost to humanity when sin entered the world, will one day be fully restored for all eternity.

A Believer’s Standing (Romans 5:2a) – Let us grasp the wonder of a believer’s security in Christ. As we seek to comprehend and appreciate what God has done for us, we can explore Paul’s statement in verse 2. He develops our understanding with these four words:

• “Access” means introduction to or the right or freedom to enter. Through Jesus, God’s people access the depths of His grace. This access gained in the past also takes place in the present. Paul said, “we have gained access” to reveal that access to God is granted, not due to any human work. Through God’s work of justification, believers gain unhindered access to Him. They can pray to God, find Him in His Word, and come near to Him in worship. Because of Jesus, the Holy Spirit lives within God’s children, providing constant access to God, who is ever present with His people.4
• Responding in “faith” means believing God is who He says He is. Faith takes God at His word in demonstrable ways. As we serve God, we live out our faith in our actions. Most importantly, faith rests on whom we believe; God Himself is the object of our faith. In verse 2, Paul links faith to grace. By grace through faith, justification is received as God’s gift for a believer.
• “Grace” is usually defined as God’s unmerited favor to those deserving His wrath. God’s entire plan of salvation rests upon His grace. In the context of Romans 5, this grace refers to the ongoing state of justification that believers exclusively enjoy. More specifically, standing in this grace means we formerly lived under the law’s crushing condemnation but now live permanently under God’s protective forgiveness.
• “Stand” is the final key word Paul used. God did not leave us cowering alone before Him as children of wrath. Through grace in Christ, justified believers stand before God as His eternally secure and beloved children.

A Believer’s Destiny (Romans 5:2b) – Paul offered further proof that salvation is secure for those who believe in Jesus. He tells us that believers boast in the hope of the glory of God. How can this be? In chapter 3, Paul resolutely stated that every human falls short of God’s glory.5 How can any sinful human have hope of attaining God’s glory?

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God replied that Moses could neither see His face nor His glory. No one could see God’s glory and live. But as God’s glory passed by, God lovingly covered Moses with His hand.6 God equated Moses seeing His face with beholding His glory. Paul points to the goal and climax of the Christian faith: to see God and His beautiful face. God, who does not lie, guarantees that every believer will see Him in glory.7

Paul had previously discussed the foolishness of boasting.8 For what can any person take credit? No one contributes anything to salvation except desperate need; no one merits God’s grace. So, why does Paul now tell us to boast? Redeemed believers can readily boast in God and all that He has done. Through grace, God justified us, and through faith, He sanctifies us. God alone gives us a future with Him in heaven. Because glory is our destiny, we boast in the hope of God’s glory!

Purpose in Suffering – 5:3-5

Peace with God incorporates more than pleasant thoughts. Because of Christ’s work on their behalf, believers’ sense of peace need not be dictated by circumstances. God brings His children transforming peace and joy that transcends challenging situations and dreadful suffering. Times of trial can become pathways to spiritual growth and maturity.

Suffering’s Value (5:3a) – Many wonder why a loving God allows people to suffer.9 Paul explained the value in suffering, especially for believers. Paul’s conclusion may feel startling. Not only do we boast, or put confidence, in our hope of God’s glory, but we also glory, or rejoice, in our sufferings.10 Rejoicing feels distant when we suffer. However, there is nowhere suffering can take us that God does not also go. Amid despair and devastation, God remains present with His children and makes Himself known. This is where God’s glory lies.

Suffering’s Fruit (5:3b-5) – Paul argued that glory in suffering exists because believers know suffering is not futile or hopeless, but productive. We often cannot know God’s hidden purpose in specific times of hardship.11 But God’s people know Him. God asks us to trust Him and His Word. God works through the suffering in our lives to bear fruit of lasting value—perseverance, character, and hope.12

• Perseverance: To persevere means to persist with continued effort despite difficulty, failure, or opposition. Believers persevere, not in their own strength, but by trusting God and His strength. Scripture warns that fiery trials should not surprise us.13 Rather than seeking to avoid or escape difficulties through sin or disobedience, God calls us to simple trust in Him.14 God promises to provide a way to endure through whatever temptation seeks to overtake us.15
• Character: The Greek word translated as “character,” dokime, was used in the ancient marketplace to mean tested or approved. Because ancient coins had no standardized sizes, unscrupulous people could trim off bits of gold or silver for themselves. Wise merchants weighed coins before approving them for payment. Suffering and pain bring loss as grief seems to trim away at our wounded hearts.16 However, God adds weight to a believer’s character through suffering. Perseverance sets in and character results. God cannot learn anything He does not already know about us, but we find our growing faith tested and genuine as we walk with God through trials.17
• Hope: Paul spoke earlier of our sure hope of glory. Suffering produces certain hope. A believer’s suffering is not without meaning because, in God’s hands, suffering leads to perseverance and weighty character. And tested, proven character leads to steadfast hope. Believers often describe times of suffering that have drawn them closer to God. As we share in Christ’s sufferings and endure as He did, our hope will not be put to shame18 because God pours His love into our hearts through His Holy Spirit. What better evidence of God’s love than that of Jesus, our Savior, who suffered on our behalf and now holds us securely in His nail-pierced hands?

Peace that Endures

The Doctrine of Reconciliation

Through Jesus, God made complete peace between Himself and sinful humanity possible. Through faith in Christ, every believer is reconciled to God. In human terms, reconciliation takes place when people at odds are brought back together, settle their differences, or agree to peace. When applied to salvation, God’s gift of reconciliation is first established on the fact that sin separates humanity from God and places all people under His just wrath. Apart from Christ, we face condemnation. But God made perfect peace possible for sinful humans. He does not merely meet us halfway. Holy God, in great mercy, took incomprehensible measures on behalf of all humanity to make full reconciliation with Him possible.

Jesus’s work on the cross satisfied sin’s deserved penalty of death. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice are delivered from God’s wrath and judgment. No longer at odds with God, believers enjoy complete security and peace with Him. Through Jesus’s sacrificial death, God abolished the estrangement from Him caused by our sin. Jesus won back personal fellowship with God for all who trust in Him—for all eternity.1 Rescued from wrath and restored to God, believers become ambassadors of God’s reconciliation and share the greatest news of all time with others as we embody it with our lives.2

Those who do not accept Christ through faith reject God’s gift of reconciliation and live apart from God and the perfect peace only He can provide. Without peace with God, true or lasting peace in any other area of life remains out of reach now and forever. When life’s trials come, God seems distant as fear or doubt arises. Persisting in unbelief brings the devastating eternal result of God’s judgment and wrath. Knowing this, believers realize the urgency of sharing the gospel with those who do not know Christ.

Receiving God’s gift of reconciliation brings peace with God that covers us like a warm blanket on a cold day. Trials still come, but God holds and guides us through hard times. Unmistakable peace can envelop our hearts even amid unspeakably horrible situations. How can this be? As God’s reconciled people, we have direct access to Him. We may not understand the difficulties we face or escape challenges ahead. However, we know and trust the God who has proven His love for us. Knowing that we have been delivered from God’s wrath and await eternal glory with Him gives us confidence in every situation. God, who sacrificed His own Son to reconcile us to Himself, surely walks with us and works through every situation we face on earth.

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1. 1. Reconciled: Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:19-20

2. 2. Embodying reconciliation: 2 Corinthians 5:18-20; Ephesians 2:11-16

Why Believers Suffer

Believers suffer in every way—physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.1 The suffering of Job, a blameless and upright man,2 warns against assuming the reason for another’s suffering. Job’s friends mistakenly thought a secret sin had caused his deep suffering. They maligned God’s character and only added to Job’s misery.3 We may inflict similar damage by concluding that someone who suffers is living outside of God’s will.

The Bible gives many reasons why God’s people suffer.

• Suffering is common to all in a sin-cursed world. (Job 5:7; Romans 5:12)
• Suffering brings correction. (Psalm 119:67; 2 Corinthians 1:9)
• Suffering offers an opportunity to bring Christ glory. (John 9:3)
• Suffering for Christ is a privilege for those who believe. (Acts 5:41; Philippians 1:29)
• Suffering shows angels and demons the rightness of God’s ways. (Job 1–2)
• Suffering builds Christlike character in the Church. (Romans 5:3-4; 8:29; Acts 8:1-3)
• Suffering prepares believers to comfort others who suffer. (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
• Suffering refocuses our desires toward God and heaven. (Psalm 73:21-28; Acts 7:54-59)

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1. 1. Believers suffer: 2 Corinthians 11:16–12:10; Hebrews 5:8; 11:35-38

2. 2. Suffering of Job: Job 1:8, 22; 2:3, 10

3. 3. Job’s misery: Job 11:1-5; 13:4-5; 16:1-5

Reconciliation’s Blessings – Romans 5:6-11

Paul first mentioned God’s great love in verse 5 and now expresses its extent. God’s reach to save sinners goes further and deeper than the human mind can grasp. God’s immeasurable love brings great joy to sinners.

God’s Love for Sinners – 5:6-8

In these verses, Paul used three words to portray people God saves: “powerless,” “ungodly,” and “sinners.” These words depict all of humanity apart from Christ.19 Every person needs God’s rescue from sin.

• Powerless: Jesus died on our behalf when we were helpless to save ourselves. With no strength of our own, we can do nothing to achieve our salvation. No change in circumstances will enable us to please God. We cannot see or enter God’s kingdom and lack the capability to understand spiritual truths. We are born spiritually dead in our sin.20 A dead body is entirely unresponsive. In this spiritually dead state, every human lacks the desire or ability to seek God. We need an entirely new heart and life.21
• Ungodly: Earlier in his letter, Paul ripped away every excuse for sin, revealing the ugly reality of human rebellion and ungodliness. God’s wrath comes against all the wickedness of people who suppress the truth.22 Without God’s intervention through Christ, all people are ungodly. They oppose God’s sovereignty, refuse to accept Him as Creator, reject His holiness, despise His perfect knowledge, and deny His unchangeable nature. They pursue self-centered desires, define their own identity, live in willful independence, and fiercely persist in their sinful ways.
• Sinners: An outrage to God, sin defines humanity’s inborn resistance to God’s will. Sin harms us in ways we cannot see or imagine. All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory. All sin deserves God’s unending wrath.23 But God intervened. He sent Jesus, who took sin’s deserved wrath upon Himself.24 God frees all who believe in Christ to live under grace with a desire to live for God25 and praise Him for their new identity in Christ.26 Sin remains a perilous foe, but Christ sets His people free from sin’s condemnation.27 We can turn to Christ for mercy, grace, timely help, forgiveness, and power to live the life to which He calls us.28

Against the darkness of humanity’s sin and helplessness, Paul reveals the brightness of God’s love. God demonstrates His great love for us in this—while we were still powerless sinners, Christ died for us, the ungodly.

An Assured Future – 5:9-11

Having proclaimed humanity’s helplessness and God’s great love, Paul continued to prove our security in Christ. God justifies believers and has reconciled us to Himself through the blood of Christ, poured out on the cross. Jesus died for us while we lived as God’s enemies, not as promising people. No greater assurance can be given to any human. God established eternal peace between sinful humanity and Himself by sending Christ to die on the cross. He reconciled believers to Himself. Through Christ’s death, believers receive certain salvation, based not on their contribution but solely on Christ’s righteousness.

Powerless, ungodly sinners stand as God’s enemies. Steeped in sin and opposed to God in every way,29 we violated His law and lived at war with the only source of goodness, light, and life. Satan wants us to ignore God and refuse His rightful claim upon our lives—to banish God from His universe and take His place as ruler. God found us in our state of enmity with Him and made us His own. Through Jesus, God reconciled believers to Himself. What great love the Father has lavished on us!30

Sinners reconciled to God can boast only in Him—the one who brings us to glory. What could be better than rejoicing in God, who created all people to find their highest purpose in Him forever? In every circumstance, including challenges, struggles, or even outright suffering, God enables believers to rejoice31 and give Him glory. Believers have peace with God and hope in all circumstances. One day, believers will live in God’s presence forever, experiencing true glory without the hindrance of sin. We are great sinners, but we are deeply loved by our great God!

Take to Heart

Hold Fast

Paul’s words bring news of peace that sinful people long to hear. After dwelling on our sinfulness and great need for God’s righteousness, Paul explained how—through Christ—our holy, righteous God established peace with unrighteous humans. Paul expounded upon the overflowing benefits of justification. God’s reconciled people have lasting access to God and enjoy peace with Him. Neither suffering nor our sinful past can shake our security in Christ. We find rest for our souls in Him alone.

Because of Christ, we have certain hope in God’s glory. Believers stand before God in complete peace because God has accomplished our salvation. What He has done cannot be undone. Against the deep darkness of human sin, God’s love shines brightly. God’s great, unchangeable love brings sweet peace and joy in life’s every circumstance. God pours His love into our hearts through His Holy Spirit, giving us certain hope that we will not be put to shame. Because God justified us in Christ while we were His enemies, He will certainly see us through until we are safely home with Him in heaven. And there we will enjoy His perfect peace forever.

Apply It

By grace through faith in Jesus Christ, believers have peace with God. Through Christ’s blood shed on the cross, God made peace with us. He will never be at war with believers again. This foundational peace allows us to experience a new measure of personal peace that permeates our lives. Enduring peace with God envelops believers when they face turmoil on earth. Where do you look for peace? While another person, self-help books, or self-care may bring a fleeting feeling of peace, God’s peace never leaves. What helps you recognize all that comes your way through peace with God? How might peace with God help you experience peace from God in your most trying circumstances? With our biggest battle won through Christ, we can relish the present and eternal benefits of true, unfading peace with God.

God’s people are not exempt from suffering. Throughout Scripture, we find evidence of the ways people suffer. Suffering causes real pain—physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Perhaps you find yourself in a deep place of suffering today. Are you tempted to cry out against God? He begs you to turn toward Him instead. God loves you with an everlasting love and will never leave or forsake you.32 As God meets us in our despair, we see His glory in specific and personal ways. God understands us better than we understand ourselves. Why would we waste the fruitfulness God intends through our suffering by failing to seek Him? God makes a believer’s suffering productive. Suffering produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope—hope in God and His certain glory. God is ever present. He sees your suffering. Trust Him.

God’s reconciliation with every believer offers peace and hope for today and eternity. What prevents enduring peace from flowing into your heart? What doubts cloud your certain hope in Christ? Peace on earth can feel elusive as we witness sin’s prevalence and suffering’s toll. We can feel hopeless and overwhelmed by grief, sorrow, fear, and dismay as we encounter this world’s troubles. How can we combat inner turmoil? Start with prayer, thanksgiving, and pondering God’s Word. Focus on specific ways you have experienced God’s mercy and grace. In what situation will you ask for God’s specific help? How will God’s great love, evidenced by His gift of justification and reconciliation to Himself by faith alone, steady and uphold you? This very week, God may call you to purposely seek His peace and hope in a specific situation. In Christ, lasting reconciliation, overpowering peace, and certain hope are available to every believer.

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1. 1. Wrath present and future: Romans 1:18-20; 2:5

2. 2. Greatest Commandment: Matthew 22:34-40

3. 3. No one righteous: Romans 3:10

4. 4. Holy Spirit: Galatians 3:13-14; Ephesians 2:18

5. 5. All fall short: Romans 3:23

6. 6. God’s glory: Exodus 33:18-23

7. 7. Seeing God: Psalm 17:15; Matthew 5:8; John 17:24; 1 John 3:2; Revelation 22:3-4

8. 8. Boasting: Romans 3:27; 4:2; Ephesians 2:8-9

9. 9. Suffering: Psalms 10:1; 22:1; 42:9; 43:2; 44:23-24; 74:1, 11; 80:12; 88:14; Matthew 27:46

10. 10. Glory in suffering: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

11. 11. God’s hidden purpose: Deuteronomy 29:29

12. 12. Lasting value: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

13. 13. Trials: 1 Peter 4:12

14. 14. Trusting the Father’s care: Psalms 56:3-4; 116:10; 143:8; Proverbs 3:5-6; Isaiah 26:3; Matthew 6:25-33; 10:29-31; Romans 15:13

15. 15. Endure temptation: 1 Corinthians 10:13

16. 16. Loss and pain: John 15:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Peter 1:6

17. 17. Tested and approved: Job 23:10; 42:5; 1 Peter 1:7

18. 18. Share in Christ’s sufferings: Matthew 26:38-39, 42; John 18:11; Romans 8:17; Philippians 3:10; Hebrews 5:8-9; 1 Peter 4:13

19. 19. Apart from Christ: Titus 3:3-7

20. 20. Dead in sin: John 3:3, 5; Romans 3:11; 1 Corinthians 2:14; Ephesians 2:1

21. 21. New life: Ezekiel 36:26; John 5:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17

22. 22. Suppress truth: Romans 1:18

23. 23. Sin’s comprehensive impact: 1 Kings 8:46; Romans 3:9, 23; 7:18

24. 24. Savior: Romans 3:24-26

25. 25. Living for God: John 8:34-36; Romans 5:21–6:14; Hebrews 2:14-15; 1 John 3:1-11

26. 26. New identity: 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

27. 27. Battling sin in God’s power: Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5; 1 Peter 5:8-9

28. 28. Life in the Spirit: Romans 8:1-17

29. 29. Opposing God: Psalm 14:1-5

30. 30. Amazing love: 1 John 3:1

31. 31. Rejoice in the Lord always: Philippians 4:4-8

32. 32. God’s love: Isaiah 43:4; Jeremiah 31:3; Hebrews 13:5

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