Bh – The Blessing of Justification 5: 1-2

The Blessing of Justification
5: 1-2

The blessing of justification DIG: What does the unsaved person think about his relationship with God? What are the first three of five promises that ADONAI makes in Chapter Five? What is their common misconception? Paraphrase what it means to be “justified by faith.” Why is it important to know that you are eternally secure in Yeshua Messiah?

REFLECT: Do you fear the prospect of facing an angry God, knowing that He is holy and you are sinful? The enemy wants to keep you in bondage. You don’t need to feel that way. Once you are saved, you have already been justified, perfect in the sight of God. What is your spiritual battle? How can you overcome it, knowing that you are secure, and have eternal peace with God?

You have peace with God, access to His grace, and the sure hope of your coming glory.

Most unsaved people do not think of themselves as enemies of YHVH. Because they have no conscious feelings of hatred for Him and do not actively oppose His work, or contradict His Word, they consider themselves, at worst, to be “neutral” concerning ADONAI. But no such neutrality is possible. The mind of every unsaved person is “at peace” only with the things of the flesh.¹⁰⁷ For the mind controlled by the old nature is hostile to God, because it does not submit itself to God’s Torah – indeed, it cannot (8:7). More than that, whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy (James 4:4).

There are five promises, in this and the next several files. They are definite statements of fact, and are highly doctrinal in nature. These promises have to do with our positional standing before YHVH. Not our experience. Being justified means that we have shalom with God, His anger (1:18) is no longer a threat. This was not a change in our feelings, but in God’s relationship with us. The first, is that we have peace with God. The word therefore reaches back to the contents of Chapter Four – therefore being justified, not by works (4:1-8), not by circumcision (4:9-17), and not by legalism (4:18-25), but by faith, we have peace with God.

Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You for being such a loving Father to offer Yeshua as the Lamb of God (John 1:29), the Jewish Messiah for the world, and thereby offering peace to both Jews and Gentiles. But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. For He is our shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation (Ephesians 2:13-14b). We love and thank You greatly for all that You were willing to suffer – the shame and pain so that we could be justified by Your paying our sin’s penalty of death.

Praise you that You did not leave us as orphans but You promised: I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper so He may be with you forever – the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him. You know Him, because He abides with you and will be in you (John 14:16-17). How wonderful that You live within those who love You. Yeshua answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our dwelling with him (John 14:23). Someday soon I will be with You in heaven, where I will eternally praise You for being so loving and awesome! In the name of Your Holy Son Yeshua and the power of His resurrection. Amen

There is a difference between having shalom with God and having the Shalom of God in the heart. The Shalom with God has to do with justification and every believer has that peace which is the result of a static legal standing that never fluctuates. This is what Paul is talking about here in Romans 5. The shalom of God has to do with sanctification that changes from hour to hour as the Ruach Ha’Kodesh works to purify each believer. Paul will discuss the subject of sanctification later (to see link click Bl – Midrash on Adam).

The final aspect of the Romans Road to salvation is the results of salvation. Romans 5:1 has this wonderful message, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Yeshua Messiah.” Through Messiah alone we can have a relationship of peace with God. Romans 8:1 teaches us: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Messiah Yeshua. Because of Yeshua’s death on our behalf, we will never be condemned for our sins. Finally, we have this precious promise of God from Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

Would you like to follow the Romans Road to salvation? If so, here is a simple prayer you can pray to God. Saying this prayer is a way to declare to God that you are relying on Yeshua Messiah for your salvation. The words themselves will not save you. Only faith in Messiah can provide salvation! “God, I know that I have sinned against you and am deserving of punishment. But Yeshua took the punishment that I deserve so that through faith in Him I could be forgiven. With your help, I place my trust in You for salvation. Thank You for Your wonderful grace and forgiveness – the gift of eternal life! Amen!”

Therefore, since we have come to be considered righteous, once-and-for-all justified by God because of our faith/trust/belief, let us continue to have shalom with God through our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah (5:1). The Greek word for shalom is eirene. The verb is eiro, meaning to bind together that which has been separated. Our Lord made peace through the blood of the cross, “For it pleased God to have His full being live in His Son, and through His Son to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace through Him, through having His Son shed His blood by being executed on a stake” (Colossians 1:20). In that sense Messiah, through His atonement, binds together again those, who by reason of their standing in the First Adam had been separated from God, and who now, through faith in Him, are bound again to YHVH with their new standing in the Last Adam. This is justification. The Greek word with is pros, meaning facing. That is, a justified sinner has peace facing God. He stands in the presence of Ha’Shem, guiltless, uncondemned, and righteous in a righteousness which ADONAI accepts, the Lord Yeshua Messiah.¹⁰⁸

The shalom that the believer has in the knowledge that he is secure forever in Messiah (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Ms – The Eternal Security of the Believer), not only strengthens his faith, but it also strengthens his service. The knowledge that we are eternally at peace with ADONAI prepares us to wage effective spiritual warfare on Messiah’s behalf and in His power. When engaged in battle, the Roman soldier wore boots with spikes on the bottom to give him a firm footing while fighting. Because we, as believers, wear on our feet the readiness that comes from the Good News of shalom (Ephesians 6:15), we have the confidence to stand firm for Messiah without spiritual slipping or emotional sliding that uncertainty about our salvation would inevitably bring, knowing God is on our side!¹⁰⁹

The second, is that we have access to God’s grace. Also, through Him and on the ground of our trust, we have gained permanent access to this grace in which we stand (5:2a). The word stand carries the idea of permanence, of standing firm and immovable. Although faith is necessary for salvation, it is God’s grace, not the believer’s faith, that has the power to save and keep the believer saved. We are not saved by divine grace and then preserved by human effort. That would be a mockery of God’s grace, meaning what God begins in us He is either unwilling or unable to sustain and complete. Paul unequivocally declared to the Philippian believers: I am sure of this, that the One who began a good work among you will keep it growing until it is completed on the Day of the Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 1:6). Emphasizing the same inspiring truth, Jude speaks of our Lord as Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy (Jude 24 NASB). We do not begin in the Spirit only to be perfected in the flesh (Galatians 3:3).

Believers will often fall into sin, but their sin is not more powerful than God’s grace. They are the very sins for which Yeshua paid the penalty. If no sin a person commits before salvation is too great for Messiah’s atoning death to cover, surely no sin he commits after his salvation is too great to be covered. Later, in this same chapter, Paul declares: For if we were reconciled with God through His Son’s death when we were His enemies (James 4:4), how much more will we be delivered by His life, now that we are reconciled (5:10)! If a dying Savior could bring us to God’s grace, surely a living Savior can keep us in His grace. Still later in this chapter, Paul affirms this truth again: The Torah was given so that all people could see how sinful they were. But as people sinned more and more, God’s wonderful grace became more abundant (5:20 NLT). Standing in grace, we are in the sphere of constant forgiveness.¹¹⁰

The third, is that we have the sure hope of our coming glory. So, let us boast about the hope of experiencing God’s glory (Romans 5:2b; Isaiah 54:17). Since every aspect of our justification is accomplished solely by YHVH (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Bw – What God Does for Us at the Moment of Faith), salvation cannot possibly be lost. And in the end, every believer is glorified in Yeshua Messiah. Those whom God foreknew, He also determined in advance would be conformed to the pattern of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He thus determined in advance, He also called; and those whom He called, He also caused to be considered righteous, and those whom He caused to be considered righteous, He also glorified (Romans 8:29-30).

Paul has already established that salvation is anchored in the past because Messiah has made peace with God for all those who trust in Him (5:1). It is anchored in the present because, by Messiah’s continual intercession (Hebrews 7:5), every believer stands secure in Messiah’s grace (5:2a). Next, he proclaims that salvation is also anchored in the future, because ADONAI gives every one of His children the unchangeable promise that one day we will be clothed with the glory of His own Son.¹¹¹

And since we are children, then we are also heirs, heirs of God and joint-heirs with the Messiah (8:17a). The moment you were spiritually born into God’s family, you were given some astounding gifts: the family name, the family likeness, family privileges, family intimate access, and the family inheritance. The Bible says: Since you are His child, everything He has belongs to you (8:17 NLT). The B’rit Chadashah gives great emphasis on our rich inheritance. It tells us: God will fill every need of yours according to His glorious wealth, in union with the Messiah Yeshua (Philippians 4:19). As children of God, we get to share in the family fortune. Here on earth, we are given the riches . . . glory . . . wisdom . . . power . . . and mercy (Romans 2:4, 9:23, 11:33; Ephesians 1:7, 2:4, 3:16). Paul said: I want you to realize what a rich and glorious inheritance has been given to His people (Ephesians 1:18b NLT).

What exactly does that inheritance include? First, we will be with ADONAI forever: Then we who are left still alive will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and thus, we will always be with the Lord (First Thessalonians 4:17). Second, we will be completely, changed to be like Messiah, “So all of us, with faces unveiled, see as in a mirror the glory of the Lord; and we are being changed into His very image, a new creation, from one degree of glory to the next, by ADONAI the Spirit (Second Corinthians 3:18, 5:17). Third, we will be freed from all pain, death, and suffering: God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will no longer be any death; and there will no longer be any mourning, crying or pain; because the old order has passed away (Revelation 21:4). Fourth, we will be rewarded and reassigned positions of service: Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your Master’s happiness (Matthew 25:23). And fifth, we will get to share in God’s glory, provided we are suffering with Him in order also to be glorified with Him (8:17b). What an inheritance! You are far richer than you realize.¹¹²