Peace, Purpose and Provision (Romans 5:1-5)

Paul often says several things in a few sentences when he writes about Christian experience. In this set of verses, he mentions how to become a Christian and then what happens to a Christian. Of course, regarding that second matter, he could have referred to much more than what he lists here. Still, he deals with very important issues. We can summarise the experience here as peace, purpose and provision. 

Peace

What is everyone looking for today? Among the most popular answers would be peace, whether peace between nations or peace within societies. Few would think that peace with God should have the priority. But Paul speaks about that peace in this set of verses.

 

A Christian is a person who has been justified by faith. Justified has various meanings today. It can be an action one does with the text of a document on a computer, where everything appears in a frame of perfect straight lines. The word can have a negative meaning when someone says that you are justifying yourself. Here it refers to the God-given standing a person receives upon believing in Jesus.

 

We are familiar with the basis of justification – the perfect life of Jesus reckoned to the account in heaven of those who believe in Jesus, who are also forgiven through the atoning death of Jesus. We are familiar with the means by which we become justified, which is faith in Jesus. When a sinner trusts in Jesus, he receives immediately full pardon and is accepted in the sight of God. 

 

He now has peace with God, which refers not to a sense of inner tranquillity, but to the state of reconciliation he now has with God. This peace is not an experience of the inner life – that will come later. Rather it is the removal of hostilities between us and God and the acceptance by him of sinners into his presence. Every Christian has the same status because there is no other way of justification. Every saved person is as equally justified as any other saved person. One may have more Bible knowledge that the other, but they are equally justified. One may pray more than the other, but they are equally justified. One may have been a believer a lot longer that the other, but they are equally justified.

 

Paul describes this position of peace as ‘this grace in which we stand’. He also describes it as ‘access by faith’. Access to where – the answer is to the presence of God. His idea is that we have this position permanently. He is using as an illustration the custom of a special official who could grant access to a person who wanted to speak to a ruler. He was a friend at court. If that official gave permission, no other authority could keep the person out. Jesus is like the special official who gives access in that he gives his people constant access to the Father. The position is unchangeable. Paul uses the perfect tense to show that believers never leave this position – they live in the presence of God.  

 

Another illustration of this role is mentioned by Matthew Henry when he uses the action of Barnabas introducing Saul of Tarsus to the apostles who were afraid of him. But having been introduced by such a prominent and competent person as Barnabas, the apostles accepted that the persecutor had been changed. Jesus takes the worst of sinners and brings them into the presence of God because they have been justified. 

 

The outcome is that a Christian can be described as belonging to those who ‘rejoice in hope of the glory of God’. Hope is a forward-looking grace that enables a believer to appreciate the amazing destiny that he will have when Jesus returns. Their response is to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. The glory of God is the ultimate place of divine blessing for saved sinners. There are different ways of describing it. New heavens and new earth highlight that it is a divine creation. Glory of God indicates the nature of them – it is where God’s glory will be revealed through endless ages.

 

Purpose

One of the conundrums of life is why believers suffer. Another conundrum is that believers are said to rejoice in their sufferings. It is easy to understand how we can rejoice in hope of the glory of God, but it is not so easy to say that we can rejoice in difficulties and painful experiences. Paul does not say that his readers should rejoice in the sufferings, he says that they and he are rejoicing in them. He and they are examples of his exhortation to rejoice in the Lord always.

 

There is a story told of a man who went to see his elder about developing a Christian character. The elder offered to pray about it, and no doubt the enquirer was pleased. But he became perplexed when instead of asking God to give the other person a Christian character, the elder prayed that God would send lots of suffering into the individual’s life. We can understand why the man would have been puzzled and would ask why his elder had prayed in that manner. The answer to his request was a reference to this verse, to the divine order of suffering, endurance and character.

 

Usually, when Paul refers to sufferings, he has persecution in mind. He himself had experienced various kinds of sufferings for the faith. Indeed, Jesus had told Paul when he called him at his conversion that he would suffer as a Christian. We would not be surprised though if Paul had said that we rejoice in sufferings now because one day we will be in heaven. He did say elsewhere that the sufferings of this present time are producing for us an eternal weight of glory. But that is not all that Paul says. Instead, he also says that we rejoice in our sufferings because they are means of our sanctification. Jesus told his disciples that they should rejoice when they were persecuted because they still possessed all the resources of the heavenly kingdom. God takes our troubles and transforms us in them and by them.

 

Endurance is the ability to stick at something until the end. What marks Christian perseverance? It involves dependence on God certainly. It also requires taking one step at a time consciously. An athlete, when the race gets tough, feels the pain of every stride. But he keeps going because of his confidence that he will receive an award. In a far higher sense, a Christian depends on God, is conscious of much pain, but is confident that God will yet welcome him into heaven.

 

This verse is challenging when we think of prayer for deliverance from persecution. How can we know that we will endure unless we are put into situations in which endurance is necessary? A Christian may be personally persecuted now, but Paul reminds us of the benefit that follows on from suffering and endurance, and that benefit is what he describes as character, although it can also be translated as experience, pointing to maturity. A person who has endured suffering for the sake of Jesus has an authenticity that others can see. 

 

The outcome of the sequence is hope. Hope in this sense is not a vague desire for something good to happen. Rather it is a conviction, a longing, about a future that is certain. Hope possesses long vision and can see away into the future, right to the day when Jesus will return. Suffering has weaned those with this hope from the earth and its temporary joys and made them willing to endure their experience because they know that there is glory ahead for them. They live for the eternal world, where the effects of sin, including suffering, will be no more. As we sail through the storms of life, we must keep our eyes on the harbour of peace to which we are sailing. 

 

Provision

Paul mentions that this hope does not put Christians to shame because something happens to believers that convinces them that the destiny is real. People may say to them, ‘How do you know that your hope will be realised?’ What answer be given to such a question? Paul would say to a true Christian, ‘Tell them of your experience, tell them that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us”.’

 

It is important to note what Paul says. He does not say that ‘God’s love is being poured’ because that could imply occasional experiences of the Holy Spirit. Rather he says that ‘God’s love has been poured out’ at some point in the past. He uses the perfect passive tense to indicate this reality, and that indicates that the experience of the love of God conveyed by the Holy Spirit began then and has continued since then. The moment of receiving the Holy Spirit was at conversion.

 

Paul is saying that the role of the Holy Spirit, the role of the Comforter, is to give to his people blessings that are connected to the love of the Father. The blessings are given in big amounts – they are poured. At the same time, the imagery of pouring suggests that the process is under the control of the Spirit. While a believer receives many blessings, they come in a suitable manner for his spiritual growth. And whatever comes from God, it is an expression of his love personally delivered by the Holy Spirit.

 

I suppose we have to ask what element is being poured in the illustration. Initially we may think of water, and the effect of water is refreshment, even when in a desert. But since Paul is not specific, we could think of other elements. Spurgeon, in a sermon, suggests that it is perfume that is poured forth, and in that use of the illustration fragrance is the outcome. As far as our souls are concerned, the water reaches everywhere within us and so does the fragrance.

 

What is included in this range of loving divine blessings? Many features. Among them there will be a willingness to confess our sins to the Father and to ask for divine cleansing through the blood of Jesus. There will be an increasing hatred of personal sin because it is offensive to God. The Word of God will become increasingly precious, and we will become like the person described in Psalm 1 who meditated on God’s Word and became a strong, consistent believer. There will be a spirit of prayer in our hearts, of speaking to the Father about everything. The Spirit will remind them of their responsibilities such as redeeming the time. They will love other Christians because they belong to the same family and long to spend time with them. There will be the blessing of assurance of salvation. Sooner or later, they will realise that the blessings of God’s love are connected to the things that he loves.

 

Application

The first application is that grace brings about an obligation. Who are we obligated to? The Father who loves us, the Son who introduces us to the state of grace, and the Spirit who sheds abroad the love of God in our hearts. Spurgeon describes a proper response to the Spirit for this activity: ‘Oh, see, then, how much we are indebted to the third Person of the blessed Trinity! With what reverence should we always speak of Him! With what rapture should we love Him! With what devotion should we adore Him!’ Surely, we are obligated to accept from him what he desires to give us, to enjoy them as coming from his gracious hand. In fulfilling our obligation, we should check to see how much of the heavenly provision we have received from the Holy Spirit.

 

Grace brings about the opposite

A second application is to recognise that grace brings about the opposite effect from the world. The world is not surprised when troubles bring resentment and rebellion against God. They become impatient with their circumstances. In contrast, grace enables believers to be patient. Worldly wisdom would suggest that troubles hide God from view, but grace can use such times to reveal the love of God in our hearts.

 

Grace brings about overflowing

Jesus used a powerful comparison when he said that sinful parents know how to give good gifts to their children, so how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him. What do we expect the Holy Spirit to do in our hearts? It was not difficult for him at the beginning to make the whole world fertile. So what can he do in our hearts?