“The Blessings of Justification"
Romans 5:1-21
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” [Romans 5:1]
This morning, we look at the wonderful blessings of Justification. Romans 5:1 highlights the first, peace with God, but Paul goes on to list several. But before we look at these blessings, we must remember how we got here.
Paul has brought us to a place of understanding our total depravity; “there is none righteous, no, not one” [Rom 3:11] … “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” [Rom 3:23] The remedy? “But now the righteousness of God apart from law is revealed…through faith in Jesus Christ.”
In Paul’s apologetic, because all have sinned, all need a Savior to justify them. This is true for the Old Testament saints, even Abraham [who lived before the Law] and King David [who lived during the Law]. Justification by faith spans time as well as people. It is a universal doctrine, not just one after the Cross.
Now that Paul has proven his case, Romans 5 begin to highlight the benefits of Justification. Firstly, there is peace with God. Notice that this is different from the peace of God. Peace with God is Justification; the peace of God is Sanctification. Justification is for us [a declaration of righteousness that happens instantaneously]; Sanctification is in us [a work of righteousness that goes on our entire earthly life]. It is in Justification that we have peace with God.
“This is not the peace of God spoken of in other places (such as Philippians 4:7). This is peace with God; the battle between God and our self is finished – and He won, winning us.
The Bible doesn’t say we have peace with the devil, peace with the world, peace with the flesh, or peace with sin. Life is still a battle for the Christian, but it is no longer a battle against God – it is fighting for Him.” [Guzik]
In short, we are now on God’s side, on His team, the winning team. We are for Him, no longer against Him.
There are other benefits of Justification that Paul lists. We have access to God [v.2]; hope [v.3]; power to persevere [vv.3-4]; and God’s love poured out into our hearts [v.5]. We are also saved from God’s wrath [v.9] and reconciled to Him [vv.10-11]. These are wonderful benefits of Justification that come by simply receiving Jesus as Lord.
