The “How To” of Justification

Romans 5

 

Introduction:

Ø      We have the “therefore” of condemnation in Romans 3:20

Ø      justification in Romans 5:1

Ø      no condemnation in Romans 8:1

Ø      dedication in Romans 12:1

1.      Because of Christ’s resurrection, we know that our justification has taken place (4:25)

2.      We are now going to answer two questions: So what? and How?  What does it matter or what benefit is it that I am justified and how could a righteous God justify a wicked sinner?

 

I.        Results of Justification

A.    Peace with God

1.      “we have” is present tense, something we have now, not something we will get in the future

2.      Objective, not subjective peace; fact, not feeling

3.      Illus.  Two countries signing a peace treaty have objective peace, even if the “feelings” of peace are yet to be present.

4.      Before salvation we are at war with God. 

a)     Many would not characterize themselves this way.  They consider themselves neutral.  At least they are not actively opposing God.

b)     However, you are either for or against, there is no Switzerland that remains neutral in the conflict between good and evil.

5.      The peace treaty has been offered and signed by Christ’s blood.  The only terms are God’s

a)     His way is the only way not just because He says so

b)     Because it was THE only way possible.

(1)   If there had been some other way, it might have been done
(2)   Jesus asked the Father to remove the cup from Him if it were possible

B.     Direct access to God for Jew and Gentile

1.      OT tabernacle and temple had boundaries:

a)     Gentiles

b)     Jews

c)      Women

d)     Men

e)     Priests

f)        High Priest

2.      All have direct access to Christ through Jesus Christ

a)     Heb. 4

b)     The veil of the temple was rent in two from top to bottom signifying that it was God Himself who made the access for us

C.    Stand in grace

1.      This has to do with position, the realm of grace.

2.      God has always operated by grace

a)     Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

b)     The Law was a temporary addition for Israel. 

c)      Men died in sin and lived by grace before the Law was given. 

D.    Tribulations

1.      Translates “qlipsiV” and refers to pressing olives or grapes in a press.

2.      Faith (5:1), hope (5:2), love (5:5) help the believer through trials.

a)     Cp. 2 Cor. 4:17.  Tribulations work for us a greater eternal reward.  Cp. Hebrews 11.

b)     Our English word “tribulation” comes from a Latin word tribulum.

c)      Illustration

In Paul’s day, a tribulum was a heavy piece of timber with spikes in it, used for threshing the grain. The tribulum was drawn over the grain and it separated the wheat from the chaff. As we go through tribulations, and depend on God’s grace, the trials only purify us and help to get rid of the chaff.

3.      upomenh = perseverance

4.      dokimh = experience = “proven character”

a)     Used in reference to testing the purity of precious metals

b)      Cp. 1 Cor. 3

E.     The great love of God

1.      Seen in salvation by sending His Son

a)     He sent Him to die for His enemies

b)     He sent His only Son

2.      After salvation as seen in this analogy: If he loved us so much when we were sinners, just think how much He loves us now that we are His sons and no longer His enemy.

II.      The “How To” of Justification

A.    Preliminary Considerations

1.      Question:  How could what one man did at one time in history have such an effect on all mankind?

a)     Answers this by contrasting Adam and Christ

b)     The key to the analogy is what one man can do for many men.

2.      Note Key phrases

a)     The repetition of the little word one. It is used eleven times. The key idea here is our identification with Adam and with Christ.

b)     Second, note the repetition of the word reign which is used five times. Paul saw two men—Adam and Christ—each of them reigning over a kingdom.

c)      Third, note that the phrase much more is repeated five times. This means that in Jesus Christ we have gained much more than we ever lost in Adam!

3.      The meaning of 5:12 “for all have sinned”

a)     In theology class this was a much-debated issue.

b)     Does this mean that we have all sinned or does it mean that we all somehow sinned in Adam when he sinned?

c)      Answer:  We sinned in Adam as a race.  We will detail this more as we go on.

d)      How do we know that we are racially united to Adam?

e)     The answer is in Romans 5:12-14, and the argument runs like this:

(1)   We know that all men die. But death is the result of disobeying the Law. There was no Law from Adam to Moses, but men still died.
(2)   A general result demands a general cause. What is that cause? It can be only one thing: the disobedience of Adam. When Adam sinned, he ultimately died. All of his descendants died (Gen. 5), yet the Law had not yet been given.
(3)   Conclusion: they died because of Adam’s sin. “For that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12) means “all have sinned in Adam’s sin.”
(4)   Men do not die because of their own acts of sin; otherwise, babies would not die (Rom. 9:11). Men die because they are united racially to Adam, and “in Adam all men die” (1 Cor. 15:22).

B.     Questions Answered

1.      Skeptics sometimes ask, “Was it fair for God to condemn the whole world just because of one man’s disobedience?”

a)     The answer, of course, is that it was not only fair; but it was also wise and gracious.

b)     To begin with, if God had tested each human being individually, the result would have been the same: disobedience.

c)      But even more important, by condemning the human race through one man (Adam), God was then able to save the human race through one Man (Jesus Christ)!

d)     Each of us is racially united to Adam, so that his deed affects us. (See Heb. 7:9-10 for an example of this racial headship.)

e)     The fallen angels cannot be saved because they are not a race.

(1)   They sinned individually and were judged individually.
(2)   There can be no representative to take their judgment for them and save them.

f)        But because you and I were lost in Adam, our racial head, we can be saved in Christ, the Head of the new creation.

2.      Objection:  “I did not sin in Adam.  I did not exist!”

a)     Answer:  We were not physically present when Christ died either!  If we weren’t all dead in Adam, then we also can’t all be alive in Christ.

b)     When Adam sinned, he sinned not only as a man, but as man.  We all sinned in Adam, not just that we all have sinned (though this is also true). 

c)      Explain the sin nature and its relation to death. 

(1)   Adam passed his nature to all men. 
(2)   The result was death for all men. 
(3)   Men die because of their sin natures, not because of their sinful acts. 
(4)   That is why babies who have not committed actual sins can still die.
(5)   As we will see later, men died even before the Law was given because of their sin natures.

3.      Objection:  “It’s not fair to be born guilty of Adam’s sin.  We didn’t ask to be born.”

a)     Answer:  Not fair for Jesus to die for us on the cross

b)     If tested individually, we would have still sinned

c)      Only way to have one die for all is for all to be dead in one man

d)     Angels are not a race and therefore one angel could not save them

e)     Death occurred prior to the Law (5:13-14).  This demonstrates that men died because of sin nature, not because of sinful acts.

 

Adam

Christ

Tempted in garden

Tempted in wilderness

Came from the earth

Came from heaven

Adam was a thief and cast out of Paradise

Jesus came from Paradise and invited the thief to come with Him

OT is the book of the generations of Adam (Gen. 5:1) and ends with a curse (Malachi 4:6)

NT is the book of the generations of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1) and ends with “no more curse.” (Rev. 22:3)

 

C.    Free Gift

1.       It is not like the transgression in the following ways

a)     In one death came to all men, salvation is to the many that believe

b)     Death was one dimensional, life could “abound” into many dimensions. 

(1)   Christ’s death not only gave us life, but the very life of God.
(2)   Christ’s death gave us “more” than Adam’s death took from us

c)      One transgression by Adam brought God’s judgment.  God’s grace arose because of all or every transgression

d)     Sin made us less like God though its intent for Eve was to make her life like God.  Christ’s death makes us more like God.

D.    Two Great Truths

1.      God hates sin so much that it took only one sin to condemn the entire race

2.      God loves man so much that He is willing to forgive all men of every sin.