Romans 5:1-11
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
HOW DECISIVE IS HOPE?
Picture two people. The first is cheerful, joyful, hardworking, resilient, mobilized, and pressing forward. The second is disappointed, despairing, depressed, listless; he has no desire to live and no wish for anything at all. Which of these two looks like a person who has hope? Which of them is in the better position? The first — the one who has hope.
As someone once said, “Hope keeps a person going.” Some take that with a touch of irony, but the truth is that hope really does have a decisive bearing on our condition and our conduct. It is defining. It gives us strength both in life and in death. This can be seen with special clarity at the funeral of true believers. When someone dies, believers and unbelievers react differently. The funerals of believers are different from those of unbelievers. Why? Because we have hope. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13 we read:
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
You see, believers and unbelievers grieve differently. What sets them apart from one another? That the one group has hope and the other does not. And notice, right at the outset, that this is not about some empty hopes or illusions. It is about serious things — the glory of God and the resurrection from the dead.
THE MEANINGS OF THE WORD “HOPE”
Two main meanings of the word “hope” can be distinguished — a secular one and a biblical one.
i. The secular meaning
In the world, the word “hope” is better defined as “wish.” When someone desperately wants something to happen to him, he says, “I hope it works out.” Secular hope carries within it an element of uncertainty; it is wrapped in a ring of doubt and usually leads to disappointment and despair.
Take a university admissions campaign as an example. Fifty people apply for one place. All of them “hope” to get into the school. After the first round of admissions, however, most of them say, “Nothing is left for me but to hope for the second round.” And after the second round some of them may say, “I’m a failure. I’ll never apply again.” What became of the hope of being accepted that these applicants had at the start? It evaporated together with their desire to be accepted. Was their hope well founded and reasonable? No — they simply had an enormous desire to become students and were largely relying on chance. They were hoping for “luck.” On a few, “fortune smiled,” but for most, “their hope evaporated.”
ii. The biblical meaning
In the Bible, however, things are not like this. Here “hope” is something that will happen with absolute certainty. It brings comfort and joy; it awakens faith and trust. It is more like a money order than an admissions campaign. When someone sends you a money order, you receive notice of it. You do not yet have the money, but you are absolutely certain that you will receive it. So you take your identification and go to the post office in faith to collect it.
The hope that God gives us is not secular, not merely human, and not something manufactured by ourselves. It is not, as the saying goes, wishful daydreaming. It is a biblical hope — a hope in which there is not the slightest trace of doubt. A hope that is firm and unshakable like an anchor set securely on the seabed, as mentioned in Hebrews 6:18-19:
18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, (Hebrews 6:18-19)
These two unchangeable things are God’s promise and His oath. And there is one thing that is impossible for God, and it is this — to lie! We have hope. Even the Christian teaching itself is called “hope.” In 1 Peter 3:15 we read:
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)
What is our hope? In the Letter to the Romans 5:1-11 we can find the answers to four questions about our hope:
- What is our hope?
- What is the ground of our hope?
- What is the guarantee of our hope?
- How do we arrive at the fulfillment of our hope?
Let us look at their answers.
I. THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR HOPE — THE RESURRECTION OF OUR BODIES (v.2)
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
What does our hope consist of? Verse 2 tells us plainly — we boast in “the hope of the glory of God.” What is this hope “of the glory of God”? The glory of God was revealed to Moses. He was the first who, in Exodus 33:18, prayed with the words, “Now show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). And God allowed him to see part of it. That same glory of God was seen on the mount of transfiguration, in the redemptive work of Christ, and in His resurrection. That same glory of God descended in the person of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But all these displays of God’s glory are no longer hope; they are fact. They have already happened. Our souls have already been redeemed, the Holy Spirit is in us — but what still remains to take place so that we may see the fullness of the glory of God? What remains to happen is that our bodies be raised at the coming of Christ. (Oh, how I long for that moment when, in the twinkling of an eye, my body will be changed and will become like Jesus’ resurrection body — it will truly be glorious!)
The Christian hope consists of two inseparably linked events — the second coming and the resurrection of the dead.
1. The second coming.
In the Letter to Titus 2:13 we read about the second coming: “while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). Our hope is blessed, first because of what it is, and second because it is certain. Our hope is in the glorious appearing of our Lord! Before He went to the cross, He told us (John 14:1-3):
1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. (John 14:1-3)
Jesus promised to return for us! Remember also the words of the angels in Acts 1:11, who after His ascension said to the disciples:
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)
The glory of God will indeed appear in fullness at the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what good is that to us? Precisely then we too will experience the glory of God! How? By being raised.
2. The resurrection of the dead.
The blessed Christian hope is not only in the second coming but also in the resurrection of the dead. It is made very clear in Paul’s cry before the Sanhedrin, which Luke records for us in Acts 23:6:
6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” (Acts 23:6)
The teaching on the resurrection of the dead was one of the things that distinguished the Pharisees from the Sadducees. But that same teaching was fully embraced by Christians as well. In the Letter to the Romans 8:18-25, the apostle Paul tells us very clearly that the glory of God will appear in fullness at the resurrection of the sons of God.
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. (Romans 8:18-19)
The glory that is to be revealed in us will be seen when we are revealed as children of God. When will this happen? At the resurrection from the dead — when we will be freed from the “bondage to decay.” Then it will become clear who are the children of God and who are not.
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21)
Notice that the deliverance from death is called “glory.”
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8:22-23)
We must understand that our salvation takes place in three stages:
i. At our believing, we were justified and our souls were redeemed.
ii. While we are on this earth we must, as Philippians 2:12 says, “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”
iii. One day our salvation will be fully and finally completed with the salvation of our bodies from the bondage to decay — that is, when we are raised.
24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. (Romans 8:24-25)
And so, what does our hope consist of? In this: that the glory of God will appear in fullness at our resurrection, when our redemption will be fully completed at the coming of Christ.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:16 the apostle Paul wonderfully combines these two events — the coming of Christ and the resurrection from the dead — into one:
16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)
This is our hope.
II. THE FOUNDATION OF OUR HOPE — PEACE WITH GOD (vv.1,11)
We have hope. But what is our ground for accepting this hope as our own? Why can we have this hope? The answer to this question lies in verses 1 and 11 of our text — because of the reconciliation, because of the peace with God that Jesus Christ brought us.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:1)
11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:11)
Through Him we are reconciled to God. Before, we were at enmity. Verse 10 tells us that we were enemies of God — “while we were God’s enemies.” How much hope is there for one who opposes God? Such a person has no hope. God’s Word confirms this for us in Ephesians 2:12:
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. (Ephesians 2:12)
Before Jesus Christ came, there was no hope for us at all. But now, after His work of propitiation — after His self-sacrifice on the cross of Golgotha — we “have peace with God” and can “boast in the hope of the glory of God” (v.2).
Peace with God — this is the precondition required for us to have hope — and it has already been met through Jesus Christ. The resurrection of our Lord proves it. He brought our hope to life. With His resurrection, it too rose again. On this account, in 1 Peter 1:3 the apostle Peter calls our hope “living”:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (1 Peter 1:3)
Before Christ rose, there was no hope for our resurrection either. But now — our hope is alive! A living Lord — a living hope!
III. THE GUARANTEE OF OUR HOPE — IF GOD HAS GIVEN US THE GREATER, HE WILL SURELY GIVE US THE LESSER (vv.5-10)
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:5-10)
We have the hope of the glory of God. And we can have it because we are not at enmity but “have peace with God.” But what is the guarantee that our hope will be fulfilled? Is it not perhaps merely a nice wish? How sure can we be of it?
The guarantee of our hope consists mainly of two things — the resurrection of Christ and the things God has already done for us. He has already given us most of what He promised to give us.
1. The resurrection of Christ.
Without and before His resurrection, to speak of a resurrection of the dead and to hope for such a thing would have been unthinkable. Besides, how would Jesus come again if He were still in the trap of death? And here we are speaking not merely of some spiritual or soulish resurrection, but of the resurrection of a dead and decaying body. But since Jesus has been raised, then there is hope for us as well. This is the apostle Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 15:12-23:
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? (1 Corinthians 15:12)
The Corinthians were not denying the resurrection as a concept altogether; rather, they held that it was only spiritual and had already occurred. They thought they had already been raised and that at death they would simply be rid of their sinful bodies. To them a future bodily resurrection of the dead was too materialistic to be true. So they said, “There is no resurrection of the dead.” Under the influence of Greek philosophy, they viewed the body as something evil and bad, and death as a means by which to be rid of our bodies and to live in the higher, immaterial, spiritual world. In this chapter, however, Paul corrects them, telling them that when Christians speak of resurrection, they mean not only a spiritual but also a material, bodily resurrection.
The biblical understanding of the human being is not that he has two separate, independent natures. He is not a ghost or a spirit that has for a moment lodged itself in some body but could just as well exist without it. His spirit, soul, and body were made together as one whole; as Job says, “Your hands shaped me and made me” (Job 10:8). The body of a person is no less important than his soul.
When a person dies, his physical body returns to the dust, and he ceases to exist on this earth. Nevertheless, in another state he goes on living, beginning a fuller life of communion with Christ. A person’s life is not less real but more real after his death. Death does not make him less human.
The disembodied state of a person, however, may be called extraordinary. His normal and natural state is the bodily one. Death is like a journey with the Lord. But this journey is not endless. At its end, at the resurrection from the dead, we arrive in a better country where we will live with our redeemed and glorified, resurrected bodies.
13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20 But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Corinthians 15:13-23)
The resurrection of Christ is the first and fundamental guarantee of our resurrection, but are there others? Thankfully, yes. And the apostle Paul speaks of exactly these in our text from Romans 5:1-11. According to him:
2. If God has done the greater, then He will do the lesser as well.
In verses 6-10, put in mathematical terms, the apostle Paul speaks of two inequalities:
- Saving a sinner > Saving a righteous person
- Saving through death > Saving through life
To these, taking verse 5 into account, a third may be added. And it is this:
- Giving the Son and the Spirit > Giving resurrection bodies
It is precisely the doing of the greater things in these three inequalities — our salvation as sinners through the death of His Son and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon us — that is the guarantee that the lesser will also be done: our salvation as righteous ones through the life of His Son and the resurrection of our bodies. Let us look at them in more detail.
1) Saving a sinner > Saving a righteous person
Which is the greater — to save some repulsive person, or to give your life for a good one? According to verses 6-8, to save the bad one, because it is easier to love the good person than him.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)
And if this is so — and it is — and God saved our souls while we were still ungodly, that is, He did the greater, then how much more will He save our bodies now that we are justified?! In verse 9 the apostle Paul answers — “how much more”!
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! (Romans 5:9)
2) Saving through death > Saving through life
Which is the greater — to save someone from certain death without having to sacrifice yourself for him, or to save him at the cost of your own life? Of course the second. But in this too is our hope — if God saved our souls through the death of His Son, then how much more will He save our bodies through the life of His Son?! In verse 10 the apostle Paul exclaims:
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:10)
Death is a symbol of weakness. Life is a symbol of strength. If God saved us by His weakness — the death of Jesus — since, according to 1 Corinthians 1:25, “the weakness of God is stronger than human strength,” then how much more will He save us by His strength — by the life of His Son!
3) Giving the Son and the Spirit > Giving resurrection bodies
If God has given us the greater — His only begotten Son and His Holy Spirit — then He will surely give us the lesser as well: glorified resurrection bodies.
Concerning the Son, the apostle Paul says in Romans 8:32:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
And concerning the Spirit, in 2 Corinthians 5:5 he expressly notes that He is a “deposit” guaranteeing our resurrection:
Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 5:5)
Is it not astonishing that the deposit for our resurrection is so great? God surely wants us to live with hope. Otherwise He would not have given us such enormous guarantees of it. Is there anything more precious than the Son of God and the Spirit of God in the whole universe? They are far more than a few resurrection bodies. And if God has already given us them, then He will surely not go back on the fulfillment of the promise of eternal life that He has made to us.
Conclusion: The guarantees God has already given us are immeasurably greater than what He is yet to give us. We have already received the greater part, and the lesser is what remains for us!
Therefore we can boldly say that in the New Testament the word “hope” does not suggest uncertainty about the future. On the contrary, it points to a sure and guaranteed future. It will not disappoint us or put us to shame. As it says in verse 5 of our text, “hope does not put us to shame”! Such a hope produces joy. That is why “we boast in the hope of the glory of God” (v.2).
IV. REACHING OUR HOPE — THROUGH PERSEVERANCE, ENDURANCE, DILIGENCE, LABOR, AND CHARACTER, WHICH FLOW FROM OUR FAITH (vv.3,4)
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
We have hope. But how do we arrive at its fulfillment? Does having hope mean we can lie flat on our backs and do nothing? Absolutely NOT.
According to the apostle John, if we have the hope of the glory of God, we will purify ourselves (1 John 3:2-3):
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)
The hope of the glory of God does not produce passivity; it prompts us to action. It is active and mobilizing. It produces a desire for holiness and faith. And we need precisely holiness and faith if we want to reach the glory. Because the road to it passes through suffering.
1. The road to glory passes through suffering (v.3).
“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings…” (Romans 5:3)
In Romans 8:18 the apostle Paul says:
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18)
Persecutions for the sake of the gospel, sorrows, and many trials are on our path. In Acts 14:22 we read how the apostles taught the new disciples that “we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
Before we reach the glory, our character will be tested. We see this principle in the lives of the biblical heroes as well. God gave Joseph a dream by which He showed him that He would raise him above his brothers and parents, but he had to endure the test of rejection — he was betrayed by his own brothers before he saw the fulfillment of his dream.
God promised Abraham a son in his old age, but he had to pass through the test of time — he waited 25 years before Isaac was born to him. And what test must you pass through?
No cross, no crown! What is your “cross”? What are the sufferings you must endure in order to reach the glory?
The road to the resurrection passes through death and the grave.
2. To pass through the sufferings we need perseverance (v.4).
perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:4)
According to James 1:6-8, the wavering, the inconstant, the doubting, and the fearful will receive nothing from the Lord.
the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:6-8)
This perseverance, which produces “character,” is called “persevering” in Hebrews 10:36:
You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:36)
And in Hebrews 6:11-12 it is called “patience”:
We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:11-12)
Tested character is the Christlike character we need in order to enter the glory. In fact, it is the only thing we can take with us from this world into eternity.
According to James 1:4, it is precisely perseverance — this resolve not to be separated from Christ — that lies at the foundation of the building of our character. He says:
Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4)
As our text says, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope.
And so, here we arrive at a cycle of the refining of our character, through which we must pass in order to reach the fulfillment of our hope.
- To reach the glory, we must pass through the sufferings.
- To pass through them we need perseverance.
- And perseverance itself is born precisely in them.
So our sorrows do not distance us from the glory; they draw us nearer to it. That is exactly why we glory even in them (v.3).
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)
In the first chapter of his book, verses 2-3, the apostle James says the same thing in other words:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. (James 1:2-3)
THE CYCLE OF FAITH
Here, in the sufferings, is the place of faith. On it depends whether the trials will crush us or will strengthen us.
Faith is like gold. Imagine we have two lumps of gold ore. In one of them there is gold, and in the other — none. If we throw both into the furnace of refining, from the one only rubbish will remain, while from the other the dross will be separated and only the gold will be left. It is the same with people. When they collide with sorrows, those who have no faith melt away and are crushed by them. But those who have faith gain perseverance and tested character precisely in the fiery trial.
On our faith depends whether the sorrows will strengthen us or destroy us. Joseph and Abraham endured their tests because they had faith.
Whatever state we may find ourselves in, if we have faith, it will bring us out of it and lead us into the glory.
And faith, in turn, is a product of hope. We will have faith if we have true hope. For faith is in fact the expectation of the fulfillment of our hope.
According to Romans 10:17, both our faith and our hope come from the word of Christ:
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ. (Romans 10:17)
So this is a cycle. To reach our hope, we need faith. And faith, in turn, is born from hope itself. And all of it is from God.
The word of Christ speaks to us about hope:
- Hope for the resurrection from the dead;
- Hope grounded on our peace with God;
- Hope guaranteed to us by the Holy Spirit;
- Hope that is fully assured; that does not put us to shame; that overcomes;
- Hope that gives us joy even in our sorrow!
This hope transforms us and leads us into the glory. It itself helps us to reach it. With it in our hearts, at the second coming we will rise from the dead and will live forever in the presence of God.
Let us rejoice in the Lord and thank Him for the great hope He has given us. Amen!