Romans 5

Romans 5:1

By embracing the simple fact that Jesus died for our sins and rose again, we have peace with God. Why, then, do so many Christians still fight Him? It was in 1972 that the last Imperial Japanese soldier was discovered on a South Sea island. Because he was living in complete isolation, he hadn’t heard the news that World War II was over. So there he wasstill building fortifications, ready to hold off the American invasion of his little atoll. “What a waste,” you say. “He could have been enjoying the Japanese economic boom, but instead he was stuck on an island, fighting malariaall because he didn’t hear that a peace treaty had been signed.” Yet, it’s amazing how many of us do the same thing. I hope the Lord doesn’t come down on me for this, or get mad at me for that, we think. He must be really upset with me. I better hide here in the jungle. We don’t get it! The war is over! We have peace with God. The sin that separated us from God is forgiven and forgotten because of what Jesus Christ did for us. Gang, whether you’ve prayed for three hours today, or you haven’t prayed in three months, the war is still over. If you are a believer in what God the Father did for you in sending Jesus Christ to die in your place, you are righteousjustified by faith. We have a tendency to fall back into thinking we have to earn something or prove something to the Father. Not so. We can relax in our relationship with Him, talk to Him freely, and fellowship with Him continually because we have peace with Him eternally.

Romans 5:2

We not only have peace with God, but access to God. Notice the word “stand.” Paul didn’t say we have access by faith into this grace wherein we sneak in, or hurriedly race through before we get zapped. No, he said we can standwe can plant ourselves in the presence of God and enjoy Him as long as we want, anytime we wish. The story is told that a young boy cried outside Buckingham Palace after a beefeater refused his request to talk to the Queen. Twenty-year-old Prince Charles, observing the scene, approached the boy, took him by the hand, and said, “Come on, son. If you want to talk to the Queen, come with me.” So, too, we can talk to the King continually when we take the hand of the Son. I can rejoice in the absolute certainty that the glory of God will be made manifest in me. From God’s perspective, I am already glorified. But from my perspective, locked in the time/space continuum as I am, I know He is at work, being confident that He who has begun a good work in me shall complete it (Php_1:6).

Romans 5:3

“Tribulations,” or thlipsis in Greek, means “crushings"a word that describes the process of crushing an olive with heavy rocks in order to extract oil. Paul says we glory not only in what we’re going to be, or who we are positionally, but also in the tribulations which happen constantly. Why should we glory in times of crushing tribulations? Because it is during those times that we realize we can do nothing. You see, concerning a bad situation, as long as I can pull it out, I’ll try to. If there’s any way I can “finesse” a trial, I’ll attempt to. My flesh is so present that if I can work anything out on my own, that’s what I’ll seek to do. But when trials arise wherein I can’t do a thing, when the crushing rock is too great for me to bear, when I can’t pull it off or work it out, that’s true tribulation. Nowhere was thlipsis more clearly illustrated than at Gethsemane, or literally, “the place of the olive press,” where Jesus Christ was pressed so heavily that He sweat great drops of blood. Unable to do anything else, He said, “Father, if it be possible, take this cup from Me, but Your will be done. I submit to You completely” (Mat_26:39-42). Why are tribulations good? Because pressing and crushing works patience. They make me say, “Okay, Lord, I’ve tried to pull it out. I’ve tried to think it through. I’ve tried to make it happenbut now I just wait on You.” And what does God say? “Good. I’ve been waiting for you to get to this point for some time. Now you’ll see what I can do.” Glorying in Tribulation A Topical Study of Rom_5:3 The apostle Paul’s middle name could well have been “trouble.” Wherever he went, whatever he said caused difficulty and controversy. Think you had a tough time this week? Think about Paul. From the time he became a minister of the gospel, he was: put to hard labor, beaten, imprisoned, given thirty-nine lashes five times, stoned, shipwrecked three times, stranded a day and a night in the open ocean, and left for dead. When Paul talked about difficulties, he knew from whence he spoke. Yet he said we are not only to rejoice in coming glory, but in present tribulations. Why? Because tribulation is the catalyst God uses to bring about patience, experience, and hope. We see this principle in nature. The Seventeen-Mile Drive on the Monterey Peninsula is world famous for, among other things, the beautiful cypress trees that abound in that region. Because of their beauty, these cypress trees are photographed, painted, and sculpted by artists from all over the world. The beauty of the cypress tree is due to the wind that blows them constantly. And the wind that produces their outer beauty also develops their inner strength. You see, the root system of the cypress tree sinks proportionately deeper than that of any other tree in the state. This is especially interesting considering the mighty Redwood also makes California its home. “Lord, I want to be an object of beauty,” we say. “All right,” He saysand proceeds to send winds of adversity, not to blow us out, but to make us beautiful; not to sink us, but to strengthen us. The cold winds of adversity, the hot winds of tribulation cause us to sink our root systems deeper in the soil of Scripture, to ground and root us in faith. That’s why Paul says we are to rejoice in tribulation. Tribulation and testing are what God uses to take the dings and dents out of our bodyboth corporately and individually. God takes us into His body shop. He starts pounding away, pulling out dents, and doing some grinding. It’s not during the party times when strength is developed, when beauty is born. It’s when the wind is howling and the sander humming that God is doing His finishing work. Ask Johann Sebastian Bach… This man, who was one of the most prolific composers in history, locked himself in a room day after day, where he put pen to paper and scored the glorious compositions he heard in his mind. Why did he lock himself in the confines of a single room? He had twenty kids. You would lock yourself in a room too if twenty kids were running around your house! Yet from his own times of testing, tribulation, and challenge came beautiful music. Paul makes the same point, saying, “Don’t only rejoice in your peace with God, your access to God, or your hope in God. Rejoice also in your present difficulty because it’s working in you something of beauty.” “I know that,” you say. “Everyone knows we’re to count it all joy when we fall into various trials. I already understand that concept.” Do you? The prophet Jeremiah was a man who knew the Lord, but he struggled with something the Lord had told him prophetically and which he observed personally. That is, the Babylonians would soon march on Jerusalem. When Jeremiah asked why, God told him to do something very interesting. “Arise,” He said. “Go down to the potter’s house and I will cause you to hear My words” (see Jer_18:2). So Jeremiah went to the potter’s house, wherein he observed clay on a potter’s wheel. The most common of all substances, clay typifies you and me. Psalms 103 declares that as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on us. He remembers our frames and knows that we are but dust, earth, and clay. God is not mad at us, disappointed in us, or tired of us. Knowing we’re nothing more than lumps of clay, He has chosen to work on us. That is why Jeremiah saw not only the clay. He saw the Master Potter as wellpumping the pedal that caused the wheel to turn. “The problem with life,” said one philosopher, “is that it’s so daily.” Maybe you can relate to that. If you’re in school, it’s geometry, history, English, and lunch. Then it’s science, study hall, and P.E. You go home, have a Twinkie, watch TV, do homework, go to bedand get up the next morning to begin the same cycle all over again. If you work, it’s the same old people, same old problems, same old struggles every morning. Round and round you go, day after day. That’s how the clay felt. And sometimes we become so tired of the routine of our lives that we say, “I’m getting off this wheel.” What, then, does the Master Potter do? Even as Jeremiah observed, he picks us uplumps of clay that we arekneads us a bit, and puts us right back on the wheel. All of us are aware of the circuitousness, the sameness of daily life. But it’s all part of the plan of the Potter. And if I try to escape, I will only be crushed in the process and end up right back where I started. The storm raged. The disciples rowed and complained. Then they saw Jesus walking on the water. “Lord! If that’s You, bid me to come,” Peter criedperhaps not so much an act of faith as a plea to get away from the disciples. “Okay. Come on, Peter,” Jesus said (see Mat_14:29). Peter got out of the boat and started walking to Jesus. But when he took his eyes off the Lord and focused on the storm, what happened to him is the same thing that happens to us: He began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he cried. So Jesus lifted Peter, the giant fisherman, out of the water with a one-armed curl and put him where? Right back in the boat. God puts us in fixes to fix us. Therefore, if I try to fix the fix God put me in, He’s sure to put me in another fix to fix the fix He wanted to fix in the first place. As a result, slowly but surely, I learn to be content in the boat, to remain on the wheel. Yet no sooner do I accept the confines and routine of my situation than I feel the hand of the Master Potter suddenly and unexpectedly poking me, pinching me, shaping me. And if I’m not careful, I will jump off the wheel once morethis time not because of predictability, but because of pressure. If I do, I’ll find myself facedown on the floor before I feel the hand of my Master Potter picking me up and plopping me on the wheel once again. This process may go on over and over againuntil I finally give up and lie still on the wheel. But when I do, if I catch my reflection in the window, I’ll see myself taking shape as the Potter forms me into something useful. Far out! I think as the wheel comes to a stop. Then I feel the hands of the Potter under me and I think, This is great! Now He’s going to put me on the top shelf, in a place where everyone can see me. But instead, He walks right by the top shelf and keeps going until I hear the sound of a door opening. It’s the kiln. In I go. The door closes behind me. The temperature rises. And I start sweating. “What now, Lord?” I cry. “Why am I in this place? What in the world is going on?” And He answers, “It takes not only pressure points but also fiery trials to produce in you a solidity that will keep you from cracking up or flaking out.” This process continues until the Potter takes me out and carries me to His shop. Now, according to Rom_9:21, the Lord makes some vessels to honor and some to dishonor. This means He makes some people beautiful vases to hold flowers. But others He makes spittoons. “Wait a minute!” I protest. “Let me get this straight. I should rejoice in tribulation because tribulation works patience that produces experience, which produces hope, which makes me unashamed. But what if He’s making me a spittoon? The daily-ness of my job, the boringness of my career, the sameness of my school, the pressure financially, relationally, emotionallywhen all is said and done, am I going to end up a spittoon? Is that what it’s all about, Lord?” But wait. Look again at the Master Potter. In the feet pumping the pedal that causes the wheel to turn so routinely, you will see holes where a nail pierced them for the sake of the clay. Look at the hands putting pressure on the clay. See the holes in each palm, and realize the Master Potter is the Wonderful Counselor, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, your Savior, Jesus Christ. If He loves you so much He was willing to be pinned to the Cross, you can trust that the repetitiveness of your schedule and the pressure in your life are meant to make you into something wonderful. Not only does He love you that much nowbut when you were a sinner, when you were ungodly, when you were an enemy, He was in love with you (Rom_5:8). Suppose my wife, Tammy, and I go house shopping and find a house for five thousand dollars. The roof is caving in. The wires are hanging out. The floors are sagging. The foundation is gone. But Tammy loves it anyway, so we buy it. Then, unbeknownst to her, I call fifteen master carpenters and craftsmen and pay them five hundred thousand dollars to replace the roof, rewire, and rework the entire house from top to bottom. When I take Tammy back to the house, she’s sure to say, “This is fabulous. I loved it when it was a shack, but now look at it!” So, too, God loved you when you were a shack. He said, “I see there’s no foundation under your life, no covering over your life, no wiring in your life. But I love you just the way you are.” And because He was in love with you at your worst, you can be assured that for the rest of your lifeespecially now that you’re beginning to be reworked, rewired, and rebuiltyou’ll never have to doubt His love, not even for a moment. Why am I sharing this? Because I know bunches of us understand with our minds the value of tribulation and trials. But even though we embrace the understanding theologically, we struggle with it internally and we start sniveling. “If God loves me,” we murmur, “why isn’t He doing this or working out the other?” Something big was about to happen. The mother of James and John could sense the excitement in the air. Indeed, in a few hours, the city would be crying, “Hosanna! Hosanna! Blessed is the King of Israel who cometh in the name of the Lord!” So it was that Salome came to Jesus and worshiped Him right before His triumphal entry (Mat_20:20). Fully aware that she was worshipping Him not out of love, but in order to manipulate Him and get what she wanted, Jesus lovingly looked at her and said, “Woman what do you want?” “Well, now that You ask, Lord,” she answered, “when You come into Your kingdom, can my two boys be on your right hand and on your left?” Jesus looked at her and answered very cryptically when He said, “Are you able to drink from the cup I’m to drink from and be baptized with the baptism with which I’m about to be baptized?” Salome must have wondered about such a strange answer to such a simple question. And Jesus probably smiled and said no more. He went into Jerusalem, and you know the story. It wasn’t too many days later that the same Salome would stand with three other women on a hill right outside the Holy City. Seeing Jesus pinned to a Cross with two other men, one on His right, one on His left, hanging beside Him on the day He entered His kingdom, the foolishness of her request must have hit her like a ton of bricks. What I am asking of the Lord right now can be just as dumb. “But, Lord,” I cry, “this is a great idea. Bless it, Lord.” And He lovingly says to me, “You don’t know what you’re asking. You don’t see the whole story. I loved you enough to die on the Cross. Therefore, if I’m not doing what you’re begging me to do, what you’re naming and claiming, trust Me. And like Salome, in retrospect, you’ll be thankful I didn’t respond to your request and do your bidding.” That’s the argument Paul makes. Rejoice in tribulation. Because God fell in love with you and proved His love to you even when you were a sinner, you never have to wonder why the wheel is so dizzying, the pressure so painful, and the kiln so hot. And on the basis not of what you feel emotionally, nor of what you ascribe to theologically, but on His love for you unconditionally, you can trust Him to come through totally.

Romans 5:4

What does patience work? Experience. Why? Because when you can’t pull something off or bring it about, you’re patient before the Lord and you experience His love for you in ways you never would have otherwise. What does experience work? Hope. Why? So that the next time a trial comes my way, I can look back to the previous experience and rejoice, knowing God came through for me before.

Romans 5:5

Hope being the absolute expectation of coming good, the times in my life of which I am most ashamed are the times that, because I have lost hope, I’ve done or said things I wish I hadn’t. I’ve embarrassed myself so many times because panic and sweat, anxiety and negativity have overcome me whenever I have lost hope that God was at work, that His timing was right, that He was in control. Why did I lose hope? Because I didn’t have experience. Why didn’t I have experience? Because I hadn’t allowed the crushing times of trial and tribulation to produce patience in me. So now when the crushing times come, my prayer is to see the divine design and to say, “Okay, Lord. I get it: Tribulation works patience, patience gives me experience, experience gives me hope, and hope makes me not ashamed so I won’t say and do things I’ll later on regret.” It’s a beautiful pattern.

Romans 5:6

Our atonement is based completely on the work of one Man, at one time, in one event when Jesus Christ died two thousand years ago on Calvary. One Man, at one time in one event paid the price totally. Although we know this theoretically, when it truly clicks, when we really understand it, we can enjoy our relationship with the Father and celebrate our salvation. There are those who, at this point in the discussion, say, “Can a single occurrence truly have repercussions two thousand years later for all of humanity? Can one act done by one Man in one place really alter world history?” In answer to that, I think of another event that altered world history. On August 6, 1945, one man, Harry Truman, ordered the atom bomb dropped over Hiroshima. And the death, the devastation, and the destruction that followed were unparalleled in history. The atom bomb changed the entire course of geo-political events, as every building within 4.7 miles of the epicenter was leveled instantly, as ninety-three thousand people died immediately, as three hundred thousand died eventually from the fall-out. One event, at one moment, ordered by one man resulted in devastation and destruction beyond comprehension. But that is not the atom bomb Paul was talking about. No, he wrote not of the atom bomb that fell in Hiroshima in 1945, but of the Adam bomb that fell when Adam bombed out in the Garden of Eden at the beginning of historyfor when Adam bombed out, the fallout and aftershocks affected all of humanity even to this day.

Romans 5:12

In the remainder of chapter 5, Paul draws our attention to four consequences of Adam’s sin, the first one addressed here in verse Rom_5:12: First, because of Adam’s failure, sin entered the world. Adam ushered in sin, which brought with it sorrow, suffering, and sickness. “Thanks a lot, Adam,” you say. “It’s not fair that we should feel the repercussions of your rebellion.” But when Adam represented us in the Garden of Eden, he did better than we would have done. He was our champion. Think of it this way… Suppose we send our country’s finest power-lifting team to the World Games. If these guys of immense strength, who have dedicated their lives to lifting weights, go to the Games and get beaten badly by the Russians, which of us would say, “The Russians didn’t really win. After all, they didn’t beat me”? That would be absurd. If we send our champions and they are defeated, we all lose because they are our best. So, too, Adam was the best humanity had to offer. But he got beat in the Garden of Eden. He represented us, and we would have done no better. “I don’t know about that,” you say. Well, I dare you to go one week without sinning. Go seven days without thinking a bad thought, without having a rotten attitude, without saying an unkind word, without doing anything wrong. And if you can go one week without sinning, come and talk to me. I want to meet you! Second, because of Adam’s failure, death entered the world. Death came because of Adam’s sinand death is the dictator to which every man must bow. People can say they think Adam is a myth, or that the Bible is full of baloney. But they cannot deny the fact that people die. “Give me one more hour, and I will give you everything I own,” said the atheistic French philosopher Voltaire to his physician. But if you cannot give me one more hour, then go to hell.” The reason he wanted one more hour is reportedly because earlier that morning he had seen Hell in a vision and was terrified by what he saw. Spiritual death, physical death, and eternal death came because of Adam’s sin. Paul didn’t say, “The wages of sins are death.” No, he said, “The wages of sin is death,” referring to Adam’s sin (Rom_6:23). The reason we are dying physically and the reason we would have been damned eternally is because Adam failed. And Adam’s sin brought death to all.

Romans 5:13

Read Old Testament genealogy, and you’ll see that, with the exception of Enoch, every man who came on the scene died. Did they die because of their sin, because they broke the law? No. For many of them, there was no law. If you took your new BMW for a drive on the interstate, at ninety miles per hour, it wouldn’t be long before you’d see flashing lights in your rearview mirror. But if you drove the same car ninety miles per hour on the German Autobahn, it would be perfectly acceptable. Why? Because where there is no law, you can’t be arrested. Thus, Paul said, “Because men died even before the law was given, it had to be Adam’s sin that caused death to come for everyone.”

Romans 5:15

Not only did Jesus Christ come through for us, but He came bringing gifts to us. It is the wise man, the intelligent woman who understands that, although Adam caused problems and pain, sin and deathJesus heaps unmerited, undeserved, unearned favor of God upon us. The first Adam let us down, but the Last Adamour Hero, our Champion, Jesus Christrains grace upon us.

Romans 5:16

Third, because of Adam’s failure, condemnation entered the world. Again, you protest that it’s illogical that one man’s decision should bring this kind of condemnation. But if our president ill-advisedly gave the signal to launch nuclear missiles toward another country, which, in turn, caused their computers to kick into action, sending their missiles toward usthere would be massive destruction, and billions of people would be destroyed because of one man’s foolishnesswhich is exactly what happened when Adam bombed.

Romans 5:18

Adam polluted us. Jesus purifies us. Adam washed out. Jesus washes us clean.

Romans 5:19

Finally, because of Adam’s failure, sin continually enters the world. Like the babies tragically born addicted to crack/cocaine because of the sin of their mothers, we have been condemned because of Adam’s sin and continue sinning as a result. “You’re being pretty tough on Adam,” you say, “by placing the rap for all of the sin in the world, all of the death of mankind, all of the junk in my own life on him.” Perhapsbut that’s the very point Paul is making. Why? Because if all of this negativity happened because one man bombed out, how much good can happen because of one Man coming through? Who is that Man? The Second Man (1Co_15:47), the Last Adam (1Co_15:45), Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:20

Everything wrong with the world today, everything wrong with you, your family, and the people you work with is all due to Adam’s failure. Knowing this allows me to see people in an entirely different light. I realize that whether a man is a sly entrepreneur who cheats his way into money he shouldn’t have by cutting deals he shouldn’t make, or whether he’s as obvious and gross in his sin as Charles MansonI am no less a sinner than he. And it’s all because of Adam. No wonder Jesus could look at the multitudes and have compassion on themnot crusade against them, march to get rid of them, or mobilize to neutralize them. He looked at the multitudes and in every instance He had compassion. You see, when it finally sinks in that by one Man righteousness, justification, and grace cameI stop striving and struggling to prove I’m a notch or two above you, and I stop feeling bad if I’m a notch or two below you. I’m not the issue at all. He is. When I understand this, I stop being a worker and become a worshiper. Do I find myself trying to earn blessings by intensive prayer or Bible study? Do I try to prove I’m saved by street witnessing, or by ministering in Mexico? If I fall into that trap, my Christian experience will always be one of analyzing, scrutinizing, and condemning myself as well as others. Salvation is not based upon my knowledge, my deep study, or my twenty-four-hour prayer chain. It’s based upon one thing only: the grace and goodness of God in sending One Man, the Last AdamJesus Christ.