Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 16

The Greek word “prosagoge” translated as “access” in this verse (in the KJV) gives the idea of introducing a person into something. Here in this passage it has to do with the formal introduction of the believer into a new position of “favor” before God. J. N. Darby observed that this place of favor in which we find ourselves is “our acceptance in the grace, which He has freely granted us in the Beloved.” Thus, it is the same position that Christ Himself has before God, for we are “pleasing [accepted

• JND] to Himself in the Beloved” (Eph. 1:6). Paul says that this new position in which

all believers stand is entered “by faith” in the Lord Jesus Christ – that is, when a person receives salvation. It is a once-for-all thing resulting from being “justified in Christ” (Gal. 2:17).

This “access”, therefore, is not a matter of Christian practice – that is, entering into the presence of God through daily communion, prayer and worship, as declared in Ephesians 2:18 and 3:12, etc. – but rather, the initial entrance of the believer into his new position before God when he is saved. In Greek, the word (“access”) is in the perfect tense, indicating that Christ has obtained a complete and permanent access for us into the presence of God by His entrance there. This new position of favor before God, which Christ accessed for us, is perfect, permanent and inviolable, because it is measured by the perfect and permanent acceptance of Christ. It is something positional; it has nothing to do with our walk or with our personal faithfulness. Whether we are the youngest or the oldest Christian, a devoted Christian or a careless Christian, we all equally have this position before God. Our state of soul (Phil. 2:20), on the other hand, fluctuates depending on whether we walk according to the Spirit or according to the flesh. At times our spiritual state may be good and at other times it may be bad, but our position never changes.

A HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD (ch. 5:2b)

Paul moves on to another result of justification: “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God”. As mentioned earlier, this has to do with the future glorification of the believer. Being justified by faith, Christians have a “hope” of being glorified as Christ (ch. 8:30). When that happens, we will be perfected – spirit, soul and body. The fallen sinful nature will be eradicated from our beings and we will be physically transformed to be like Christ (Phil. 3:21). This will happen to all Christians, whether they know much or little about their glorious future. Paul is not talking about whether believers are living in the joy and anticipation of this glorious future, but simply that we have a glorious future.

“Hope”, in the sense in which it is used in the Scriptures, is a deferred certainty. It is expectation with certainty. In the modern use of the word, we speak of hope as something we would like to see happen, but we have no guarantee that it will happen. That is not how the Scriptures use the word; in the Scriptures, hope is always a thing of conviction. “The hope of the glory of God” that Paul is speaking of here is something that will definitely happen – we simply do not know when. Glorification is the wonderful culmination of God's work in us and with us. Before grace reached us, we were sinners “falling short... of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Now, being justified by His grace, we have the hope of being glorified as Christ. It is a deferred certainty, seen as a completed thing in the purpose and counsel of God: “those whom He justified, He also glorified” (Rom. 8:30). Glorification will occur at the rapture: “we await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our body of humiliation, to be like the body of His glory [according to His body of glory – JND]” (Rom. 8:17; Phil. 3:21). Revelation 21:11 sees the Church at the end (during the millennium) reigning with Christ, “having the glory of God” (TB). Today, we have this glorious end as a hope. When we believe the gospel and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are placed in the hope of our final glorification. Paul refers to this later in the epistle, stating that “in hope we are saved” (Rom. 8:24). Our glorification is an “integral part” of our salvation, being its final phase (Rom. 13:11).

We see from this that our future is bright and secure. In view of this wonderful prospect, it is appropriate for believers to “exult [glory]”.

SPIRITUAL EDUCATION IN GOD'S SCHOOL (ch. 5:3-8)

As mentioned earlier, the first three things Paul addressed in chapter 5 have to do with the position and prospect of believers. Now in verses 3-8, he goes on to speak of things that have to do with our pilgrimage and the path.

Paul says: “And not only this, but we also glory in tribulations; knowing that tribulation produces patience [perseverance – ARA], And patience [perseverance – ARA] experience, and experience hope. And hope does not bring confusion, because the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”. In these verses, the believer is seen passing through trials and tribulations on the path of faith, and drawing spiritual profit from these experiences. This shows that after we are justified by faith, God enrolls us in His school, where divine lessons are taught to us through life's experiences. Being intensely interested in the moral and spiritual development of His children, immediately after we are saved, God begins a work in us to conform us to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). His love is such that He does not leave us in the state in which He finds us, but commits Himself to carry out a moral renewal of our being, using the external pressure of trials and tribulations in life to accomplish it. This is another benefit resulting from being justified by faith.

The aspect of spiritual teaching in view here is not the intellectual side of the truth – what we might call “book learning.” Although the written ministry is valuable and useful for building up the saints in the most holy faith (Jude 20), these spiritual lessons are not learned by that means. These lessons have to do with the development of Christian character, and they can only be learned through the “tribulations” (trials) of life. J. N. Darby observed that “trials cannot of themselves confer grace, but under the hand of God they can break the will and detect hidden and unsuspected evils, which, if judged, the new life will be more fully developed and God will have a greater place in the heart. Furthermore, through tribulation humble dependence is taught and, as a result, there is less confidence in oneself and in the flesh, and an awareness that the world is nothing, and what is eternally true and divine has a greater place in the soul.” Thus, tribulations (trials) have a way of disconnecting us from our material resources and positions in life, and connecting us more consciously with what is spiritual and eternal. Through trials, we learn valuable lessons about ourselves and about our great God; we learn about our own insufficiency and about His All-Sufficiency. And these things lead us to a deeper appreciation of God's love and to a more intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

The journey of the children (teknon) of Israel in the wilderness typifies this aspect of our spiritual education. Indeed, these verses in Romans 5 have often been called “The Christian's Journey in the Wilderness.” At the Red Sea, the Lord took Israel out of Egypt, but in the wilderness, He took Egypt out of Israel – or at least that was His desire. The first is an act; the second is a process. Likewise, when the Lord takes us and saves us, He has much to do in us in the sense of removing things that are inconsistent with His character (Ps. 139:3; Prov. 25:4). Often there are worldly motives and principles in us that we may not be aware of, which He commits Himself, with divine care and precision, to remove through the pressure of trials. God did not bring sin, sorrow and trouble into the world, but now that these things are here, He uses them to teach us important lessons in His school – lessons of obedience, dependence, etc.

In the wilderness God will teach you That God you have found, Patient, gracious, powerful, holy, All His grace will abound.

Hymn The Little Flock. No. 76

1. 3 – Paul, therefore, declares: “we glory

[boast/rejoice] in tribulations”. This is faith speaking from the perspective of what characterizes normal Christian experience. In reality, our state may be poor, and we may complain instead of rejoicing when trials come our way, but he is not speaking here of an abnormal Christian state. Paul says: “we glory”, not because Christians like trials, but because we know that such trials and tribulations work toward our growth and spiritual progress. (Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 4:17; Ps. 4:1). Under His divine teaching, we are able to benefit from the experiences we go through in life, and that is why Christians can rejoice in such occasions (James 1:2). Therefore, knowing that these things were allowed by God for our spiritual profit, when we encounter trials, instead of saying: “How can I escape this?” we should be saying: “What can I learn from this?” God wants us to be exercised about the trials that occur in our lives and to draw spiritual profit from them.

Paul then speaks of a chain of positive things that result when trials are accepted properly from God's hands in faith. He says: “Tribulation produces patience [perseverance– JND]”. Perseverance brings the idea of constancy in the path of faith – that is, being able to continue, even in the face of opposition. Since everything in Christianity is contrary to the course of the world, the Christian must live his life against the current, and the important quality of “perseverance” or steadfastness is necessary. Trials have a way of intensifying our convictions in what we believe and thus preparing us mentally to resist the opposition related to them.

1. 4 – Paul adds a second thing – “And patience