Paul's Epistle to the Romans — page 17

[perseverance] the experience”. By enduring a trial with the Lord, the believer gains practical experience in the ways of God. “Experience” means “practical proof.” It refers to the learning process in the path of faith, through which we acquire practical knowledge of God and His ways. We prove by experience that He is as good as His Word. Each experience with God strengthens our confidence in Him. We learn in a practical way of His tender mercies and care, and we cherish these experiences and reflect on them, and one day we will take them with us to heaven. A young brother once asked an older brother: “How does a person obtain experience?” The older brother answered: “We obtain experience through experience; there is no other way.”

Paul adds a third thing: “and experience, hope”. These experiences with the Lord not only strengthen our faith and confidence in God; they also direct our hearts toward heaven – toward our “hope”. The result is that it shines more in our hearts and is more real to us, and so we live more in view of it. The “hope of glory” (v. 2) – the realization that our glorification is very near – gives us new energy to endure for “a little while” (Heb. 10:37). If we lose sight of that hope, in times of trial we will risk giving up instead of resisting. Paul says the believer is not “ashamed” of his hope, because – as a result of the believer’s faith being strengthened through the experience of trials – he knows that he is firm and secure.

1. 5 – The fourth link in this chain of Christian characteristics that

God forms in His people through trials is that they have a way of producing a deeper sense of the love of God in the soul. Paul says that through these things “the love of God is poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us”. Note, he is not speaking of our love for God, but of God’s love for us. It is God’s desire that we have a more intense and deeper sense of His love in our souls, and these experiences do that. Note also: Paul is not referring to the believer receiving the Holy Spirit – called the seal (Eph. 1:13, 4:30), or the anointing (1 John 2:20, 27), or the pledge (2 Cor. 5:5; Eph. 1:14), which occurs when a person believes the gospel (2 Cor. 1:22) – but of a new feeling of His love filling our hearts. This is what motivates the Christian life; we do what we do for the Lord because His love constrains us (2 Cor. 5:14-15).

Vs. 6-8 – Having spoken of the possession of the love of God in our hearts (v. 5), Paul continues speaking of the quality and character of that love. He compares the mighty love of God with the love of men. “For while we were still weak, Christ died at the right time for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will someone die; though perhaps for a good man someone might dare to die. But God proves His love for us in that Christ died for us while we were still sinners”. God demonstrated His astonishing love in the giving of His Son. His love is such that He loved us when there was nothing in us to love. In our lost state, we were “ungodly” (v. 6), “sinners” (v. 8) and even “enemies” of God (v. 10), but God loved us and gave His Son to redeem us! There could be no greater demonstration of love than that! By declaring that Christ died “for us”, Paul is focusing on the substitutionary side of His work on the cross – Christ taking our place under the judgment of God (1 Pet. 3:18 – “the just for the unjust”).

Comparing this great love of God with the love of men, Paul shows that the love of men needs a motive to act (Luke 6:32; John 15:19). In the thinking of the natural man, a person must show himself worthy of love. Paul gives some examples – a person must be a “righteous” man or at least a “good” man. On rare occasions, men will dare to die for such people, because they see in them something worthy of their love. However, men will not love or die for an ungodly murderer, etc. – such is the character of human love. Divine love, on the other hand, acts when there is nothing in its object that is lovable. And this was demonstrated in the fact that Christ “died at the right time for the ungodly” (v. 6). Thus, the love of God is incomparable to the love of men and is infinitely greater. Contemplating and meditating on this love will produce a transformation of character in our life from ungodliness to likeness to Christ (2 Cor. 3:18).

Thus, we see from these things that our education in the school of God is very different from our justification.

• Justification is something God does for us (vs. 1-2).

• Spiritual education has to do with our conformity to Christ and is something God does in us (vs. 3-8).

A FUTURE SALVATION FROM THE COMING WRATH (chap. 5:9)

Paul continues speaking of another benefit of justification – the certainty of being saved from the wrath that is coming upon this guilty world. He says: “Much more then, now being justified by [the power of] His blood, we shall be saved by Him from the wrath”. This is a future aspect of our salvation that will occur when the Lord comes. Christians who are on the earth at that moment will be “saved” from the judgment that will come upon the world, being taken out of it completely. Those who teach the Bible call this “the Rapture” (1 Thess. 4:15-17; Phil. 3:20-21). Christians who died before that moment, naturally, will not need this deliverance, because they will already be with the Lord.

Chapter 13:11 speaks of this future aspect of salvation as something that is drawing nearer to us each day: “for our salvation is now nearer to us than when we believed”. This is because God has appointed a day – which we believe to be at some time in the very near future – when He will send His Son to rapture the Christians who are living on the earth. No one knows when that day will be (Matt. 25:13). The coming “wrath” will be brought by Christ Himself (1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Thess. 1:9; Rev. 6:16, etc.). Therefore, the Lord Jesus is:

• The Savior from the coming wrath – for believers.

• The Executor of the coming wrath – upon unbelievers.

A PRESENT SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST ON HIGH (ch. 5:10)

Having spoken of a past salvation (v. 9a) and of a future salvation (v. 9b), Paul now speaks of a present salvation for the believer (v. 10). This is another great benefit of being justified by faith. He says: “For if, being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by the power of His life” (JND). To walk through a world that opposes God and His principles is for the believer like walking through a spiritual minefield. There are dangers everywhere, and much to attract and stimulate our fallen sinful nature (the flesh). The Lord fully understands this and is occupied in saving us from these dangers in a practical way, while we are on the way to heaven.

To produce this present salvation, the Lord does not help us by coming down from heaven literally; He remains in His place on high and is occupied in saving us from up there. He went on high to accomplish three things for this purpose:

• To send the Spirit, and thus give us the power of the resurrected life, which when lived out, neutralizes the activity of the flesh (this subject will be dealt with again in chapters 5:12-8:17).

• To be the Object of the believer's heart in a sphere totally outside the world and the flesh (John 17:19). To the extent that we are taken with Him and with His things to where He is, the world, the flesh and the devil lose their power of influence in our lives (1 John 5:4-5).

• To intercede for us in our path through the wilderness as our High Priest, by whom we are saved from the many spiritual dangers on the path of faith (Heb. 7:25).

THE JOY OF RECONCILIATION (ch. 5:10-11)

Paul mentions one last (but no less important) benefit resulting from being justified by faith – the joy of reconciliation. He says: “And not only this, but we also glory [rejoice] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation”. There has been a radical change in the believer's mind, by which he now has joy in his relationship with God and his nearness to Him.

One of the sad results of the entry of sin into this world is that there are strange relations between men and God. There are wrong thoughts and feelings in the heart and “understanding[mind]” of man toward God (Col. 1:21). Through sin, men in their fallen state have become “haters of God” (Rom. 1:30 – KJV), and so they have great “enmity against God” (Rom. 8:7). Thus, men are “alienated” (TB) from God and are “enemies” of God (Col. 1:21).

This condition of enmity is entirely on man's side. It is man who sinned and turned away from God. Even though man's heart has been corrupted toward God, God's disposition toward man has not changed. He is still favorably inclined toward His creatures, for He is the Unchanging God (Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8; James 1:17). Therefore, God is not the enemy of man, although man through the fall has become the enemy of God. There is, therefore, a great need for a change in man's heart, but not in God's, for He has always loved man. Thus, it is not God Who needs to be reconciled to man, but man to God.

Sometimes, when people are awakened to their need to be saved, they have the mistaken idea that, since they have sinned and are far from God, they need to do something to turn God's heart toward them. Some think they need to shed tears, while others think they need to clean up their lives and become religious. But this is a misunderstanding of God's heart and His unchanging character. The truth is that His heart has always been favorable to man, although man has sinned against Him. From the day sin entered creation, God has sought man's deliverance and blessing.