We have seen in our previous studies of these verses that there are three aspects of salvation:
First there is Justification {1-2} - We have been saved from wrath; By a sovereign act of God we have been declared not guilty! This is a one time event. Saved from the penalty of sin.
Then there is Sancification {3-8} - We are being saved; a lifetime process. We have the wonderful realization that we do not have to sin. Do we sin? Yes, but we can overcome sin! Bosom sins are forsaken; a spiritual war is engaged. We are being saved from the power of sin;
Sanctification necessarily follows justification. Here is where many go astray. We are not improved {sanctified} so that God may save us; that is the essense of works salvation.
Finally there is Glorification {9-11} - we will be saved! Not only saved from the penalty of sin and the power of sin; but praise God - finally we will be saved from the presence of sin!
At verse 3, we saw that as great a realization that we have been justified is, there is something even more startling, “And not only that....” , our character is being changed to an “approvedness.” Instead of whining and complaining and accusing God of not knowing how to run His business; He gives us the grace to “glory in tribulations...”
At verse 5, we are introduced for the first time in the Bppk of Romans to the Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, through Whom the love of God has been poured out, resulting in the sure hope that not disappoint or make ashamed. This is the key to the life of perseverance and hope: the Holy Spirit poured out in our hearts!
We saw that when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly {6};
that while we were still sinners Christ died for us {8}.
Oh, the infinite love of God to care for “such a worm as I.”
Psalm 8:3-4
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Just as there is a “And not only that...” {3} ; there is a “Much more then...” {9}!
Our text for this study; Verses 9- 10- 11, reveals the assurance of final and complete salvation - Glorification!
Our text contrasts:
1. Present justification and future salvation {9}.
2. Former hostility and present reconciliation {10}.
We are then encouraged with another, “And not only that...” {11}!
The blood of Christ which brings our justification; and the life of Christ which secures our final and complete salvation. (Cf. Hebrews 7:25)
Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them
The Gospel is only understood correctly when we realize that it was the love of God the Father, demonstrated in the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus Christ, for those given to Him before the foundation of the world. And in time, those given to the Son by the Father are quickened {made alive} by the Holy Spirit.
It is God who takes the initiative because His people were among the fallen race who were “without strength” and destitute of any claim on the love of God.
We were Guilty! Holding down the truth in unrighteousness!
“Without strength,” but thinking we were strong; religious but ungodly {indifferent};
by nature and by practice “sinners.”
If someone says, “Well, that is not how I think of myself.” They have excluded themselves from any interest in the Gospel!
While we were in that low condition, “without strength,” Christ did for us what we could not do with any merit towards God; He died for us!
“Much more then...” vs 9 The best is yet to come! “... having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
Paul took great pains to describe the awful truth of wrath of God in order that when we have been justified, we will also know that we shall be saved from wrath through Him!
We live in an age when it is not “Politically Correct” to think of God as having an attribute of wrath. Many people were upset when it was suggested that the September 11th Attack on America just might be linked to God’s judgement.
It was a mistake for a well known TV preacher to name specific groups as a basis for God to bring judgement. The groups he named are not greater sinners than the rest of us.
But it is entirely possible probable that God is giving America a last opportunity to repent.
The same mind set that cannot accept the fact of America’s culpability probably will not accept a charge of personal guilt. Many people do not believe that God would send anyone to hell. Some even deny that there is a hell.
If there is no personal guilt; if there is no wrath of God; if there is no judgement; then verses 9 - 10 - 11 are empty of any meaning!
9 “Much more then having now been justified by His blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of
His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Verses 9 & 10 should be considered together.
Verse 9 regards our legal standing before God. Justified and saved from wrath while Verse 10 reveals our personal relationship to God. Enemies are reconciled; God has not changed, but our nature and character has been forever changed and will continue to be made into the image of Christ until we are in glory!
We have been positionally changed from a state of condemnation to a state of being justified.
The underlying argument is that if God can do the greater, i.e., justify the guilty; will He not surely do the lesser, i.e., save us from wrath.
What does it mean to be “saved from wrath?” {discuss Day of Judgement}
John 5:19-24
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
It is because, “... having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
“by His blood.” We are carried back to 3:25. Justification is not based on a mere “wink” of forgiveness; an “Oh, never mind,” it is “by His blood!”
Why blood and not just the death of Christ?
You must understand the Sacrifice of Christ in the context of the O.T. sacrificial system. Christ did not go to the cross only to be a public spectacle.
Christ went to the cross as the fulfillment of everything that the law demanded.
Acts 20:28 Here Paul is saying farewell to the elders of the church at Ephesus:
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
There is one way, and only one way, of salvation in both the O.T. & N.T.
Abraham was justified by faith; Jesus: “Abraham saw My day....”
Abraham is the father of the faithful;
Christians are justified by faith in the same Christ that Abraham trusted.
Ephesians 1:7 “In Him we have redemption through His blood...”
Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ.”
Hebrews 9:12 “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctfies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ,...?”
All the sacrifices that were offered before Christ was delivered up were types. A type in Scripture stands for the real thing.
What happens? Hands placed on the head; sin is imputed to an innocent substitute... the sacrifice is killed.
The satisfaction of the O.T. sacrificial system demanded the blood of a sufficient sacrifice. But types are not sufficient to serve the purpose of propitiating the wrath of God.
That is what is so wrong with the teaching that God could or would save anyone other than through the Gospel of redemption in the blood of Christ.
The teaching that God saved the Jews by the law in O.T. times is exactly what Paul has proved to be impossible:
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” {3:20}
The popular “politically correct” notion that God recognizes Islam, Hinduism, or any other religion is an affront and insult to Jesus Christ! To allow that Jesus is a prophet but not God is to not honor the Son and therefore to not honor the Father!
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus as He came away from the temptation in the wilderness, and what did John say?
John did not say, “Here is one of the options available,” he said,
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29
{“world” Jew and Gentile, not the human race.}
“Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” That immediately takes us to the O.T. sacrificial system.
What can that mean other than the fulfillment of all the types has come. The O.T. Levitical system is fulfilled “by His blood.”
“Justified by His blood...” Do you see it?
“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3: 3
We will take the Lord’s Supper today. The wine represents the blood of Christ.
“... this is the blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
God justifies the ungodly {4:5]
It is not our faith that justifies us, faith is a gift; It is not even our new birth {regeneration} that justifies us, we are passive; it is not our good works that justifies us, good works follow justification; and it is not our sanctification that justifies us; while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“Justified by His blood...”
As previously stated:
Verse 9 regards our legal standing before God. Justified and saved from wrath while Verse 10 reveals our personal relationship to God. Enemies are reconciled
This brings up the issue of the two extremes of how the Gospel is understood and how it is to be presented.
Some months ago I wrote an article about “Reformed Baptists.”
What is it to be reformed? We believe the Bible is the Word of God: Every part of it, not just the parts that we find agreeable to our preconceived notions. Our doctrine must conform, or be continually “reformed” to the Scriptures.
We believe in the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We strive to hold these two truths in balance and in no way find them to be a contradiction of thought.
There are those who stress the sovereignty of God to the exclusion of the use of means in the salvation of sinners. They do not believe that God uses the preaching of the Gospel to save lost people. They believe a twisted view of election that says that God’s elect will finally be saved in heaven whether or not they profess faith in Christ in this life. That is not what the doctrine of election teaches! This denies man’s responsibility.
At the other extreme are those who stress the responsibility of man. They teach that God is, in effect, a bystander who waits to see if man will do something that will allow God to save him. This is “decisionism.” They teach that salvation is a proposition. That is, God has offered a “proposition,” and will save anyone who agrees to the proposition. They invest in man the ability to “decide” to allow God to save them. The response to this proposition takes the form of raising your hand while everyone has their head bowed, walking an aisle, making a decision, getting baptized or some other act that closes the deal. At the root of this concept of salvation is that God will save you when you agree to allow Him to do so. This denies God’s sovereignty.
The truth is that God is sovereign. The Holy Spirit gives the new birth to those who were given to the Son by the Father. Saving faith is a gift from God. When a person is born again, then they have the ability to respond to the Gospel. Then they may publicly profess faith in Christ. Then they submit to believers baptism. You see, those who are born again make a decision to trust Christ, but only when they are given the ability by the Holy Spirit.
The truth is that man is responsible. All men are justly condemned by a Holy God. If a man goes to hell, it is because he deserves to be in hell, not because he didn’t have a “chance” to hear the Gospel! When a person hears the Gospel with ears of faith: Ah, that is grace!
But the most important distinction of a Reformed Baptist preacher is that he must preach Jesus Christ.
It seems that Paul stops every so often and shouts, “there’s more, there’s more!”
Verse 3 “And not only that...”
Vs 9 “Much more...”
Vs 11 “And not only that...”
11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Let me suggest some things that may hinder you from rejoicing in God:
First, Have you fully grasped the significance of being justified by faith alone? Is there still some small thought that you must have had some part in God choosing you? Here is one extreme:
“Strong-willed Strategies,” Cynthia Tobias, The Alabama Baptist, October 4, 2001.
“God is the only one who can force you to obey against your free will, but He never has. You have the final say whether you give the control to God or whether you keep it and perish.”
But I want God to break my stubborn will! “Your people shall be willing in the day of Your power!” (Psalm 110:3)
This woman is not a theologian, but she is repeating what her preacher has taught her. Compare what she wrote with what the Bible teaches:
Ephesians 1:3-12
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth--in Him.
11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
In the second place, something that may hinder you from rejoicing in God.
Some truly see their personal guilt and unworthiness. But don’t dwell on that. Don’t be captured by the trap of introspection? Do you look inward and see sin?
Of course you do! But you will not find any comfort looking at your thoughts and errors? Look to Jesus and His perfect satisfaction of the law’s demands. Look to the positive in verses 3-5; be encouraged!
And thirdly, something that may hinder you from rejoicing in God.
There are those who, after receiving the grace of God, have the idea that then they must add something. Craig’s statement: “Subtraction by addition.”
Don’t subtract from the sufficiency of the work of Christ by adding your own good works for the purpose of merit.
Galatians 3:1-3
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
Oh, you made a decision? You were baptized? That’s all well and good.
Now, how is your life characterized? Indifference to God and to the church?
Don’t be led into false security based on something that occurred in the past.
If you have been justified, you will be in the process of being sanctified!
There is always the danger that when free and sovereign grace is preached, that someone will begin to think, “ If I have nothing to do with my being saved, then my personal behavior must not matter.” That is why verses 3-5 are so vital. If these verse do not describe your life and motive then you have no basis for assurance, that you have been justified.
Right now, even in the face of tribulation, we exult in God, we boast in God,
we rejoice in God! Through our Lord Jesus Christ!
Why? An enemy of God has been given peace.
In conclusion, we have seen in verses 1-11 that there are three aspects of being saved:
Read 5:1-11
Justification {1-2} - We have been saved; Saved from the penalty of sin.
Sancification {3-8} - we are being saved; a lifetime process; the wonderful realization that we do not have to sin; being saved from the power of sin.
and Glorification {9-11} - finally we will be saved! Not only saved from the penalty of sin and the power of sin; but praise God - we will be finally saved from the presence of sin!
At this very moment we are “Blessed”:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not {not ever} impute {reckon} sin.”
(Psalm 32:1-2)
Can you say that you are so blessed?
Amen
