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So would you turn your Bibles with me to Romans Chapter 5? Romans Chapter 5. So we’ll read from verses 1 through 11. “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 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.”
Verse 6, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. One will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”
“For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”
Let’s pray. Father, we come once again and ask you that you’ll just bless our time together in your word. Open our eyes, open our ears that we might receive your word, understand it, and live it out, Lord. Bless us this morning. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
So we’ll be looking at verses 3 to 11 this morning and the sermon title is the blessings of justification, assurance and joy. Last time we saw three blessings of justification from verses 1 and 2. They are peace with God, standing in His grace, and hope of the glory of God.
In other words, reconciliation, installation, and anticipation. So those are the three things that we have seen last time. So today we’ll be looking at two things, assurance and joy as the blessing of justification. So we saw how Paul built his case from chapter 1 to chapter 3 that all have sinned, no matter where they are and what religion they may be in. All have sinned was Paul’s main point in those chapters. And then in the second half of chapter 3 and the rest of chapter 4, he talks about a particular righteousness that is not of the law, that is, which cannot be achieved by practicing the law, but can only be received by faith in Jesus Christ.
The righteousness that belongs to God Himself, which He is willing to share with those who trust in Him for their salvation. It is God who justifies those who trust him and shares his righteousness with them. So it is a borrowed righteousness that believers possess. In chapter 5, Paul starts off talking about the effects of that justification which a believer experiences in his or her life.
Romans 5:1–2, “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”
A justified person is reconciled to God in peaceful terms. God makes peace with the person, and that person is now admitted into the presence of this great Savior King God Almighty Himself. So this person stands or remains in that position by God’s grace, in the presence of God, in the state of justification. Though not yet physically present before God and his throne, he has a hope that one day he will be literally in God’s presence, beholding his glory and enjoying all his goodness and grace and love without any filters. That is indeed a glorious day which has no end, right? The sun will not go down, nor will there be darkness there.
But God’s radiance and glory shining brightly, and we will be lost in His glory, lost in the thoughts of God. Nothing bothers us there. Nothing hurts us there. Nothing dies. There will be only life, live to the fullest. It will be beautiful, wonderful and amazing. What our minds cannot grasp in this world, we will be able to grasp it there. What our eyes cannot see here, will be able to see them there, all the celestial things. What we cannot utter here with our mouths, we will speak and sing forever and ever and ever there.
What a glorious life it will be out there. We will rejoice there forever, forever. Thinking about that day, we even rejoice now on this side of that world of heaven the thought of it brings us great joy does it should right we rejoice in that hope that one day we will behold the glory of God not only that not only that Paul says we rejoice in our sufferings verse 3, we rejoice in our sufferings. If you look at three things from this passage today. First, we will see that we rejoice in our sufferings. Then we will see that we rejoice in our hope of assurance.
Lastly, we will see that we rejoice in our God. The three things, we rejoice in our sufferings, we rejoice in the hope of assurance, and we rejoice in our God. First, we rejoice in our sufferings. We rejoice in our sufferings. Paul is not saying that we should be glad about the sufferings that we are facing.
We do not glory in sufferings itself, but in the middle of those sufferings we rejoice for what God has done for us. Who can truly rejoice while suffering? Is it possible in the first place to rejoice in the suffering? So greatest example, our greatest example is our Lord Jesus himself. Luke chapter 22 verses 41 through 44.
It says, “And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.’ Appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.” Verse 44 of Luke 22, it says, “And being in agony, he prayed,” that is, Jesus prayed, “more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood, falling down to the ground.”
The author of Hebrews, in Hebrews 12, verse 1–2, it says, he says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.”
Now watch this. “Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” In Luke we see Jesus in agony and in Hebrews we see Jesus rejoicing. How do we understand that?
He is not rejoicing thinking about the sufferings on that cross. It is true that Jesus underwent pain and agony thinking about the suffering on the cross. But when he looked beyond the cross and saw what his death and resurrection would achieve for many, he rejoiced greatly. He hoped in God who raised him up again from the grave. That's why he was able to rejoice in his sufferings. Our Master has set an example for his followers.
After the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the apostles boldly proclaimed the gospel, calling people to repent of their sins. And as they did it, look what happened to them in Acts 5:17. “17, but the high priest was up and all who are with him, that is, a party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.” But an angel, we see there, but an angel helped them to escape the prison. So they go out and they kept preaching in the gospel. They keep preaching the gospel after going out of prison.
But in verse 27 of Acts 5, we see that they were arrested again and brought before the leaders. So Acts 5, 40 and 41, it says, “And when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.”
so beat them up by proclaiming the gospel so how did the apostles respond to that verse 41 and they left the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name for the name of Christ they were rejoicing after being beaten up who can do that in this world I think only Christians the apostles rejoiced in their sufferings even so the believers in the history of the church we will see some examples now ignatius of antioch he lived around 80 35 to 107 that's in the time of apostles ignatius was the bishop of antioch and was arrested during the
Emperor Trajan's reign, on his journey to Rome to be executed, he wrote several letters encouraging churches to remain faithful as he anticipated being thrown to the wild beasts. In those days Christians were killed like that, they were given to wild beasts to be eaten up, they killed. So as Ignatius was anticipating to be thrown to the wild beasts, he wrote, “Let me be food for the wild beasts, through whom it is possible to attain to God.” He also said, “Now I begin to be a disciple.”
Rather than pleading for rescue, Ignatius rejoiced that he would soon be with Christ. His joy came from the hope of resurrection and thought of union with Christ. So he rejoiced in his sufferings for Christ his Lord. Another example is Polycarp. Polycarp. He lived in around AD 69 to 155.
Polycarp was a disciple of Apostle John. And he was arrested in his old age. When ordered to deny Christ by the emperor, he famously replied, “86 years have I served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” This is my favorite quote. “86 years have I served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I
blaspheme my King who saved me.” And as he was burned at the stake, eyewitnesses reported that he prayed with thanksgiving and praise to God rather than fear. His final prayer ended with thanksgiving that God had counted him worthy to share the cup of Christ, the sufferings of Christ. He rejoiced in the sufferings for Christ his Lord.
Another example is John Hus, Jan Hus. John Hus, he lived around 1372 to 1415. So John Hus preached that Scripture is a supreme authority and criticized corruption within the medieval church. Condemned at the Council of Constance, alive. Witnesses record that he prayed and sang psalms while the flames surrounded him.
Among his last words were, “Lord Jesus Christ, I endure this cruel death for your sake with patience.” As he was burning, that was his prayer. He died trusting Christ rather than fearing death. His hope in Christ enabled him to rejoice despite sufferings. He rejoiced in his sufferings for Christ his Lord.
Some more examples. Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley. They lived in 1500s during the reign of Queen Mary I. Both Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were condemned to be burned for their Protestant faith. So the Catholic Queen Mary burned them because of their Protestant faith. So as the fire was lit, Latimer encouraged his friend Ridley with these words, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
By their lives, they were lighting a candle that will never be put out. These words display remarkable courage and confidence in God’s sovereign purposes, even while facing death. They rejoiced in their sufferings for Christ their Lord. Finally, William Tyndale. He lived in the 1400s and 1500s. Tyndale devoted his life to translating the Bible into English.
Before being strangled and burned, he prayed, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” That’s his famous prayer. While dying, he his repentance and for the spread of God’s word in England. Within a few years, English Bibles were officially permitted in England. All the churches were having English Bibles. Tyndale counted not his sufferings but rejoiced that the Bible is translated into English language.
He would have rejoiced even more to see it in the hands of every Englishman. So while he was alive, in a heated conversation with a clergyman who said to Tyndale, “We were better to be without God’s law than the Pope’s.” To that Tyndale replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws, and if God spare my life and in many years I will cause a boy the driver the plow shall know more of Scripture than.” What it’s challenged to a clergyman, and he openly defied Pope. That means he’s pronouncing a death sentence upon him himself.
So that was not just a dialogue, he gladly did what he said and what he said he would do, and during all suffering and persecution he had to flee England and suffer a lot to translate the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into English.
He rejoiced in his sufferings for Christ his Lord. The English Bible that we have today, it started with him. Most of the language that we see in our English Bibles is because of Tyndale. It’s kept like that. So Romans chapter 5 verse 3 to 5, “Not only that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. 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.”
While the world sees suffering as meaningless obstacles to joy and nothing but loss in life, the Bible gives a complete opposite picture of it. Paul here shows that all Christian suffering is meaningful and has a purpose to it. Look what Paul says in verse 3 and 4 that suffering produces endurance which in turn produces character which in turn produces hope.
Doesn’t James say the same thing in James chapter 1 verse 2 to 4? “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness, and let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
First, let us remember that suffering is God's will for us, and God will be pleased with us if we endure suffering in this life for his sake. Peter reminding Christian servants says in 1 Peter 2 verses 18 through 21. 1 Peter 2 verses 18 to 21.
“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.” Verse 21. Verse 21. “Also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his footsteps.” Secondly, let us remember that our sufferings are in God’s plan. Our sufferings are in God’s plan. He divinely ordains our sufferings. Paul, encouraging the believers in Philippi, says, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ, you should not only believe in him, but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”
Philippians chapter 1 verse 29 and 30. So what we see here is the biblical authors presenting sufferings as God’s will for us and God ordained it in our lives for us to face them. The purpose of these sufferings are to test our faith, to cultivate in us patience, endurance, and to shape our character into Christ’s likeness, and to give us hope.
Let us not forget that Jesus joyfully suffered for Christians, so that Christians, by joyfully enduring all sufferings, become more like Jesus, which gives them hope of heaven. We can only look at heaven through the cross. The way to heaven is through the cross.
Dear brothers and sisters, do you see that? Do you see that? Are you suffering? Then know for sure that you are on your way to heaven. We look beyond the cross and rejoice in the cross now. We come to the second point, that we rejoice in our hope of assurance.
Romans chapter 5, verse 5, “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts, through the Holy Spirit has been given to us.” This hope, as we have seen before, is not a wishful hope. When we say, “I hope it rains,” we are not saying that it will certainly rain today, but that it might rain today. We do not know for certain whether it rains or not. The hope of a Christian is not like that, but a certainty that we will see God’s glory one day. Paul says here that this hope does not put us to shame.
When you hope that you will pass the exam with flying colors, but then fail the exam. How do you feel about it? Shameful, right? When everybody knows around us that we have failed the exam, we go through shame. When what you hope does not come to pass, it will put you to shame, isn’t it? The hope that we Christians have will not put us to shame.
And that means that whatever God promised us will come to pass for sure. How will we know that? What assurance do we have to rejoice in our hope? So Paul gives us five reasons here in this text. From verse 6 onwards we see. So just quickly see those five reasons.
Number one, it’s because of God’s poured out love in our hearts. The end of verse five, “because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” So we see there are two points here. Because of God’s poured out love in our hearts. We have hope because we have experienced God’s love personally.
John Stott says, “The love of God is neither an abstract proposition nor a theological formula, but a reality which the Holy Spirit makes real in our experience.” This great truth is impressed on our hearts by God’s Spirit Himself. And by experience, we know it is true.
So because of the Holy Spirit who has given to us, we have this hope. That’s the second point. Who embraces truth in our hearts? The Holy Spirit. Where is He now? In us. In us. God gave us His Spirit to be in us. Paul writing to Ephesians church says in Ephesians chapter 1 verses 13 and 14, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with a promised Holy Spirit, who is a—who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Just like the engagement ring is a guarantee that the person will marry, or just like the 20% down payment on home loan for a home is a guarantee that the house will be sold to us, the Holy Spirit who lives in us is
God giving us guarantee that he will one day fully save us and take us to himself. So the reason, the reason for our hope is because of God’s demonstrated love for us. From verse 6 onwards we see that. To help us believe God’s promises deeply and to have a strong assurance, Paul takes a step back to explain about how God demonstrated his love for us.
God’s love for us is not just in word but in action. We can see his works of love everywhere in this universe. He is still upholding the earth for us because he loves us. He is still keeping the planet, stars, asteroids and even the sun away from the earth.
He is giving us sunlight and rain. He is providing us with food and clothing and shelter. He keeping us alive. All these are his demonstrations of love. There is a greater demonstration though that Paul is pointing us back to. That is his Son Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s love.
So God is showing us his love through his Son. How? By sending him into this world to die for us on that cross. So, number four reason for hope, because of Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. We can see God’s love clearly in God sending his Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. What more can he give? Just now we have sung, right? There’s nothing in heaven besides Him. He can give us. He already gave us His Son.
He gave us. He gave Himself up in His Son in one sense. When did God do that? Did He do that while we were adorable, lovable and admirable? No. Paul says here that while we were weak, ungodly, sinners and enemies—these are the four things that he used to describe us—while we were weak, ungodly, sinners and enemies, Christ died for us according to God’s plan, in God’s time. God’s love is demonstrated clearly here in the way he offered his Son on that cross while we were undeserving and unholy.
To magnify this great love, Paul contrasts it in verse 7. Look at verse 7. “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Paul is saying it is rare, it is rare, person but maybe someone will dare to die even if the person is good enough to die for. The point is, it’s — the point is, it sounds reasonable if someone offers their life for the sake of a good man, for the sake of a good one. But dying for an idiot or a wicked person makes no sense, right?
However, Jesus took that step when he died for us. That itself shows how much God loves us. God loves us greatly beyond our imagination. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. And the fifth reason why we have this hope of assurance is because of the salvation promised by Christ’s life.
Look at verses 9 through 10. 9 and 10. “Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.”
In these two verses, we see the words “much more” twice. Paul is comparing here our salvation to justification and reconciliation. Salvation means deliverance. Are Christians delivered or saved from their sins and Satan’s attacks? Yes and no. How can that be? In theology they say it, “already but not yet.” Already, but not yet.
We are already saved, but not yet in full essence. But not yet in full essence. So when it comes to our salvation, the Bible uses this language that we are saved. Titus 3:5. That we are being saved. 1 Corinthians 1:18. And that we will be saved. Matthew 24:13. So we are yet to experience the fullness of our salvation that happens when the Lord returns or when we go to Him.
Paul’s point is that if we are already justified, which already took place in a Christian life, and reconciled to God, which already happened. It’s a past experience that Christians face. It’s fully done. We are fully justified, fully reconciled, fully having peace with God.
So if we are already justified and reconciled to God, then He will for sure fully save us and make us partake in His glory forever. That will take place in future. That consummation of salvation is as certain as our justification and reconciliation. If God did this, then he will definitely do that, much more than this. That was Paul’s point. So be assured, says Paul, if God justified us by the blood of his son and reconciled us to himself by the death of his son, then much more will he save us by the life of his son. That is guaranteed. That’s our Christian hope, assurance. Dear brothers and sisters, do you believe that? Do you believe that? Do you have assurance that if you die now, today, you will be in heaven with God? Look to the cross and look into your hearts and see the work of God.
Believe him who promised you salvation, for he is faithful and just. There is more hope that we will be saved because God showed his love while we were still sinners. Recently Dion and I flew to Dehradun. I’m from Dehra-Mussoorie, but we flew to Dehradun on an IndiGo flight. So when we were getting close to the airport, the captain announced that the weather in Dehradun was bad and that there would be some turbulence.
I assumed it would be the usual light turbulence that most of us have experienced. As we descended, the plane was passing through dark grey clouds and heavy rain. Sitting by the window, I could see almost nothing but the stormy clouds surrounding us. The aircraft lurched up and down like a roller coaster.
Every sudden drop tightened my grip to my seat. For a moment I thought that this plane would go down. I wanted to cry out saying “Mayday, Mayday,” but it’s already June. It was one of the most frightening flights I have ever experienced in my… Eventually, the turbulence ended and we landed safely.
But over the next few days in the Horton, I found myself thinking less about my stay and more about the return flight. I was praying that there would be no turbulence like that again. So I was praying for a good weather on my return journey. The day I flew back, the sky was bright and clear.
And as the plane climbed smoothly above the clouds, I relaxed. So once it was above the clouds, I thought, “Okay, there’ll be no turbulence again until Hyderabad.” Then the captain made another announcement saying that they are expecting some bad weather ahead. Sure enough, we encountered turbulence again and again and again. The plane shook several times. But something was different this time. I did not panic like before, but was at peace. I was confident that just as before, this turbulence would pass and we would soon land safely in Hyderabad. One suffering trains us for the next, and we build confidence over time, and we’ll hope for the
best and believe that it will certainly happen. Another plane might not make a safe landing. But we will for sure reach heaven safely one day. God will make sure that will happen. So let us trust God for his promise. So finally we come to the third point. We rejoice in our God. We rejoice in our God. Verse 11. “More than that.
We also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have now received reconciliation.” Now Paul concludes in verse 11 with a superlative experience of joy. He says we rejoice in God. It is not in the blessings of justification alone we rejoice, but we rejoice in the justifier himself.
To give an illustration, imagine a wealthy man walking through the streets of a city. He notices a young beggar sitting on the curb, cold, hungry, and dressed in rags. Moved with compassion, the rich man buys him a hot meal. Instead of saying thank you, the boy throws the food on the ground and curses the man. The next day the rich man returns with warm clothes. The boy shouts insults, throws the clothes aside and tells him to leave. Most people would have walked away after that, right? If that’s how he responds, they would say he deserves nothing at all. But not this man. He continues to show kindness to the boy despite the boy’s rebellious attitude and hostility towards him. Then one day the rich man does something astonishing. He doesn’t simply offer another meal or another coat.
He takes the boy to the courthouse and legally adopts him as his own son. Now think about it. What can that boy have now? As a beggar, the boy hoped for a piece of bread. But now as a son, he has a place at his father’s table every day.
As a beggar, he hoped for an old coat, but now as a son, everything in his father’s wardrobe is available to him to wear. As a beggar, he slept on the streets. But as a son, he has a room in his father’s house now.
As a beggar, he wondered where his next meal would come from. As a son, he has an inheritance of his father waiting for him. But above all these things, though there are good things that he is enjoying, above all these things the greatest gift was that he gained a father.
What do we have as Christians, dear brothers and sisters? Yes, all the blessings of justification, blessings from the hand of God. But the question that we need to ask is, whom do we have in heaven? Our heavenly Father who loves us and reconciled us to himself through his son Jesus.
We also have his Spirit living in us. So our assurance and joy should be much more than what we have now. Dear brothers and sisters, knowing who is on our side, let us rejoice in our God our Father, and for his sake endure all the sufferings in this world to become more like his Son Jesus, till we meet him face to face. Shall we?