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Romans 5:1-11

Peace with God Through Faith

5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 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.

The blessings of justification [Romans 5:1-11] (ESV Literary Study Bible):

The word therefore at the beginning of this section signals that what comes next follows logically from the doctrine that Paul has just been defending. In being justified by faith in the blood of Christ, the believer gains many further benefits: peace with God, access to grace, the hope of glory, joy in suffering, reconciliation with God, salvation from wrath, and the love of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Here’s Martin Luther comments on Romans 5:

In chapter 5, St. Paul comes to the fruits and works of faith, namely: joy, peace, love for God and for all people; in addition: assurance, steadfastness, confidence, courage, and hope in sorrow and suffering. All of these follow where faith is genuine, because of the overflowing good will that God has shown in Christ: he had him die for us before we could ask him for it, yes, even while we were still his enemies. Thus we have established that faith, without any good works, makes just. It does not follow from that, however, that we should not do good works; rather it means that morally upright works do not remain lacking. About such works the “works-holy” people know nothing; they invent for themselves their own works in which are neither peace nor joy nor assurance nor love nor hope nor steadfastness nor any kind of genuine Christian works or faith.

Grace Church San Diego–home to Drew Shirley, lead guitarist for Switchfoot–has a very informative page on their website that outlines what makes their church distinct.  I must admit that it is comprehensive and concise in its content and brevity.  Very interesting… have a look for yourself–here it is in full:

We think the Gospel changes everything.

There are hundreds of churches - even dozens with the same name. Grace Church can be described in many ways. Here is one of the simplest ways we say this: we want to build a church that is characterized by passionate, Gospel-centered orthodoxy.

Now that may not have answered the question too well - it may make you more confused - so let’s take a moment to explain.

We are Gospel-centered. The Gospel is a story — the story of God’s action to redeem people from sin by becoming man and being put to death. In the greatest act of human evil, the crucifixion of Jesus, God brought about the ultimate end to all evil as Jesus died for sinners. Three days later Jesus emerged triumphantly from death. He offers forgiveness to any who will trust in Him. His resurrection is a promise of a new day when all the sin and evil of the world will be purged and Jesus will rule over his people.

When we say Gospel-centered we mean that the Christian life is, from beginning to end, a response to Jesus death for us. It is not self-help or self-improvement. It is God doing everything to save us from sin. It is the good news of God’s appointed Savior for all of us - Jesus. He is the Gospel.

We think orthodoxy is a wonderful thing. The doctrines of the Bible are not boring; they are astounding. They are astounding because they tell us of the most wonderful being in all of the cosmos - the true God. No one in the Bible ever met with the true God and walked away with a yawn.

We also think that passion is a good thing. Passion is expressed in worship. We celebrate the Good News in worship. Passion drives us to the application of truth to life. We seek to experience the Gospel by working it into the details of life. Passion involves power - as the Holy Spirit works in our lives and relationships to make us like Jesus.

It is one thing to talk about passionate, Gospel-centered orthodoxy, it is quite another to work that out in the details. If the Gospel is the truth and the most important message in history - what values grow out of that message? Here is a short list:

1. Encouragement - the story of God’s saving grace for us in Jesus should lead us to be encouragers of each other. Being overly-serious is not the fruit of the good news.  Because of Christ, God is now for us and will spare nothing to finish the work he has begun in us.

2. Humility - nothing seems to be more opposed to the Gospel than pride. Ee could do nothing to rescue ourselves from sin.  God has done it all, even when we deserved judgment.  How can we be proud?

3. Authenticity - becoming a Christian means admitting we that are far worse than we have ever thought.  Therefore we do not need to work so hard at impressing others.  We can be real.

4. Community - the Gospel informs me that I am not able to save myself.  God must do it all.  It also says I cannot grow as a Christian alone. I need the help of others in the church.  The Gospel should lead us to community. The Gospel creates communities where the relationships demonstrate the beauty of Christ.

5. Service - the God who made us stooped to become a man, and a slave, even to the point of dying the most shameful death imaginable.  So, we should not be people who seek the highest place or bring our self-importance and ambitions into the church.

6. Mission - the Gospel is designed to increase. Churches are to multiply. We do not think we are called to get comfortable in this life. We are here on the same redemptive mission as Jesus.

2 Peter 1:3-9

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to  his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

Hebrews 10:19-31

19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Hebrews 3:12-13

12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;
fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,
over the man who carries out evil devices!

Psalm 37:1-7

I’ve known of many girls who struggle with beauty and self-image. It is an issue that seems to pervade much of the young women in modern western society, even within the church. The need for the approval of man –or rather, men — saturates their heart and mind beyond the approval that God provides. Being seen by God as beautiful, precious, and valuable sometimes just isn’t enough. (I would also partly attribute the rise of the “princess” mentality to this problem of self-image)

However, there are also those who have struggled through and are winning the battle — they are embracing their identity in Christ, being convinced that they are the image of God, and that no external beauty can change that. One such women is Bethany Dillon, one of my favorite Christian singers as you probably know already. She wrote a song a few years ago, titled “Beautiful“, that speaks to the heart of these issues of beauty and self-image.

I was so unique, now I feel skin deep
I count on the make-up to cover it all
Crying myself to sleep cause I cannot keep their attention
I thought I could be strong but it’s killing me

Does someone hear my cry? I’m dying for new life

[Chorus]
I want to be beautiful, make you stand in awe
Look inside my heart, and be amazed
I want to hear you say who I am is quite enough
Just want to be worthy of love,
And beautiful

Sometimes I wish I was someone other than me
Fighting to make the mirror happy
Trying to find whatever is missing
Won’t you help me back to glory

[Chorus]

You make me beautiful
You make me stand in awe
You step inside my heart, and I am amazed
I love to hear You say
Who I am is quite enough
You make me worthy of love and beautiful

Our substitute, then, who took our place and died our death on the cross, was neither Christ alone (since that would make him a third party thrust in between God and us), nor God alone (since that would undermine the historical incarnation), but God in Christ, who was truly and fully both God and man and who on that account was uniquely qualified to represent both God and man and to mediate between them.  If we speak only of Christ suffering and dying, we overlook the initiative of the Father.  If we speak only of God suffering and dying, we overlook the mediation of the Son.  The New Testament authors never attribute the atonement either to Christ in such a way as to disassociate him from the Father, or to God in such a way as to dispense with Christ, but rather to God and Christ, or to God acting in and through Christ with his whole-hearted concurrence.

John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1986, 2006), p. 156.