Reading Romans

Hey Parents!

Well this past Sunday was a little different for our youth up in The Attic.  We were pleased to have Terry Burkeen share with the students to open things up before they headed to their classes.  It was great to hear from him about the ministry taking place with Club 180 Ministries in Lynch, KY.  We are excited about planning a trip for our students to head up there in the months to come to help with this great ministry!  But let's get started with our Romans Recap for this week:

Last week we finished up Chapters 3 and 4, so this week we dove into Chapter 5 and we found some really encouraging things presented by Paul!

We Have Peace with God (Romans 5:1)
Paul starts out chapter 5 by summarizing in one word, therefore, the totality of his previous arguments make in 1:18-4:25.  The only reasonable conclusion to draw (and what God had revealed to Paul) was that believers are declared righteous by faith.  Righteousness cannot be earned by any amount or duration of good works; it is received only as a gift through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul pouts out that the first bit of joy or "gift" that he feels he's received through this realization is the gift of peace with God.  Let's break this down a bit:

First, peace through Christ brings an end to the divine wrath we faced because of our sins.  Second, peace through Christ refers to the effective restoration of a loving relationship with our Creator.  Third, peace through Christ enables a new relationship among believers.  In Christ all barriers to unity and fellowship are effectively removed.  Fourth, peace through Christ empowers believers to become agents of genuine peace in a strife-filled world.

Paul declares that this peace of God comes to believers through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the agent through whom we receive this amazing benefit!  We belong to God through Jesus!

We Have Christian Hope (Romans 5:2-5)
In addition to receiving peace with God through Christ, believers gain genuine hope that can withstand even the darkest times of trouble and affliction.  In Christ, we have obtained access into this grace in which we stand.

Paul declares that believers receive a complete supply of God's grace at conversion, yet its benefits keep on working in full force throughout our lives and in whatever situations we find ourselves.  It helps us stand strong in faith when we face life's trials.  Its is sufficient  to help us stand without fear before our Lord when He returns to claim His people.

God's continuing grace gives us cause to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Because His loving grace is permanent - not fleeting - the promises of redemption and glory cause us to rejoice.

We always seem to have little difficulty feeling happy when life is rosy and everything seems to be going our way.  Those feelings of happiness, however, are not what Paul meant when he spoke of Christians' ability to rejoice.  Christian joy runs deep and endures because its source is the ever-flowing stream of God's grace.  That's why Paul could state that we as believers also rejoice in our afflictions.

This doesn't mean that we somehow have to enjoy suffering.  Rather it means we have confidence that God will use even our afflictions to bring about His good purposes in our lives.  The more we live faithfully amid afflictions, the more we build endurance.  As our endurance keeps growing, it produces proven character.  As we display this proven character time after time in diverse situations, we build an unquenchable hope.

This Christian hope that emerges from the nourishing flow of God's grace in our lives will not disappoint us.  Hope in God is hope that endures forever.  We know we can trust that God will fulfill His promises to the end.

A Christian can also live with enduring hope because of the Holy Spirit who was given to us!  The Holy Spirit is our indwelling Witness who testifies that God loves us!

We Have God's Love (Romans 5:6-11)
A third benefit of salvation is introduced by Paul - we have God's love.  He describes the vast gulf between diving love and human love.  This was revolutionary at the time because Jews were of the mindset at the time that they should bestow benefits only on people who deserve them.  Dying on behalf of another was not a consideration.  Paul is about to flip the script though!

Paul sets the stage by first stating that as a basic fact of the Gospel that while we were still helpless, at the appointed moment, Christ died for the ungodly.  Paul wanted his readers to clearly understand the nature of God's love!

First, God loves us when we were helpless.  This means that apart from Christ, we were completely unable to make any positive move toward God.  We could do nothing to save ourselves.

Second, Christ died for us when we were ungodly.  We could claim no moral goodness so as to make the case that we might be worthy of His death.

Third, Christ gave His life for us at the appointed time.  God's demonstration of His love for us through Jesus was no accident of history.

See, human love has its limits.  Paul could imagine a rare scenario in which someone might be willing to die on behalf of a just person or a good person.  We can imagine a parent willingly giving their lives for the life of a child.  However, the greatest imaginable case of human love cannot begin to compare to divine love in which while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

I don't know about you, but for me this is both a humbling chapter and also and encouraging one all at the same time!  Hopefully you will be encourage by the gifts that we find for us in Romans chapter 5!  Next week we'll tackle Chapter 6!

Heffe