JUSTIFICATION AND RECONCILIATION

ROMANS 5:1-11.

In this section at the beginning of chapter 5, Paul concludes his explanation of justification through faith. In verses one through nine, he sets forth the effects of justification through faith. Then in verses 10 and 11, he introduces a new concept, reconciliation, to explain justification through faith.


5:1. Being therefore set right by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
2. through whom also we have had our access by faith
into this grace in which we stand,
and we boast about the hope of the glory of God.
3. And not only so, but we also boast in tribulation:
knowing that tribulation works endurance;
4. and endurance, approvedness; and approvedness, hope;
5. and hope does not put to shame;
because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which was given to us;
6. for while we were yet weak,
at the right time Christ died on the behalf of the ungodly.
7. For scarcely on the behalf of a righteous man will one die:
for perhaps on the behalf of a good man
some one would even dare to die.
8. But God proves his own love to us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died on our behalf.
9. Much more then, being set right by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10. For if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved in his life;
11. and not only so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

5:1. Being therefore set right by faith,
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
In this verse, Paul gives the first and chief effect of justification through faith: peace with God. This is the answer to the need set forth in chapter one, verse 18. The need for justification through faith is the wrath of God which is God's opposition to man's sin of trusting in a false god. Christ's death was a propitiation, that is, it turns away God's wrath, when faith is placed in Christ's death as a sacrifice for sin ("through faith in his blood", Rom. 3:25). This faith is reckoned as righteousness and the believing sinner is justified through faith. Now instead of wrath there is peace with God. Now the believing sinner instead of trusting in a false god or gods is trusting in the true God. His sin has been taken away and, since there is no sin for God's wrath to oppose, the wrath is turned away. There is now no wrath, no condemnation (see also Rom. 8:1). No sin, no wrath.
"We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 5:1).
"We are saved from wrath through him" (Rom. 5:9).

5:2. through whom also we have had our access by faith
into this grace in which we stand,
and we boast about the hope of the glory of God.
Now the next effect of justification through faith follows immediately from the first: "through whom we also have access into the grace in which we stand." Grace is love in action (see comments on Rom. 3:24). God's grace is God acting in his love to save us. "By grace are you saved" (Eph. 2:5). Paul here says two things about us in relationship to His grace:
(1) we have a standing in grace, and
(2) we access into this grace.
First, this standing is not a legal or forensic standing with God, but a standing in His grace ("in which [grace] we stand"). This is a standing in His love, not a standing before the justice of God. It is not a legal right, but the position of a son. We are accepted in the Beloved, God's Son (Eph. 1:6). As Jesus said to his disciples, "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love" (John 15:9).
Second, we have access into this grace in which we stand. That is, this standing in His grace give us an approach, a way of access into the presence of God, to God Himself (see Heb. 4:16). And this is through our Lord Jesus Christ ("through whom"). He opened up the way to the Father and He Himself is the way (John 14:6-7; Heb. 10:19-20).
In the second half of this verse, Paul sets forth another effect or benefit of justification through faith: "boasting in the hope of glory of God." Boasting in ourselves is excluded, because justification is not by meritorious works for which we can take credit and boast in, but is through faith, faith in God (Rom. 3:27). But all boasting is not bad or excluded; boasting in the Lord and what He has done is all right; yes, even encouraged: "Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord" (I Cor. 1:31; Jer. 9:23-24). Here the boasting in the Lord is boasting in what He is going to do. Hope refers to the future and to what we do not yet possess (Rom. 8:24-25). We do not yet possess or share in the glory of God. We hope for the glory of God. But this hope is not just longing or desire but a certain expectation because God has promised it. We shall have the glory of God, that is, we shall be in the very presence of God. Again the glory of God is that which we had need of ( Rom. 3:23) and that which we will have because of justification through faith. For the right relationship into which we have been put through faith implies the future fulfillment of that relationship in the presence of God.

5:3. And not only so, but we also boast in tribulation:
knowing that tribulation works endurance;
But our boasting is not only directed toward the future but also toward the present. "And not only so, but we also boast in tribulations." Before the future glory, there is now tribulation. Paul here is not talking about sufferings -- he will discuss that later ( Rom. 8:18-23) -- but tribulation. The Greek word (thlipsis), translated "tribulation," means pressure and comes from the verb thlibo which means "to press." Hence, the noun refers to affliction, distress, trial, oppression. Jesus said, "In the world you have tribulation; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Paul not only tells them to cheer up, but to boast in tribulation. Why? In a series of five statements Paul gives the reason for boasting in tribulation.
The first statement is at the end of this verse: "Knowing that tribulation works endurance." The Greek word (hupomone), translated "endurance," comes from a verb which means "to stay under." Faith in God produces endurance because faith looks to God for deliverance from the trial and patience to wait for the deliverance to come. God does not keep us from tribulation but keeps us through tribulation.

5:4. and endurance, approvedness;
and approvedness, hope;
In this verse, Paul gives the next two statements in the series of statements which gives the reason we boast in tribulation. "And endurance [works] approvedness." The Greek word dokime, translated "approvedness," may mean
(1) the process of trial, "proving, test" or
(2) the result of a trial, "approval, approvedness, proof."
The latter seems to fit here. God gives His approval to the endurance of faith under trial. "And approvedness [works] hope." This is the hope of faith that sees God bringing the trial to an end.

5:5. and hope does not put to shame;
because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
through the Holy Spirit which was given to us;
In this verse, Paul gives the next two and last statement in the series of statements which gives the reason we boast in tribulation. "And hope does not put to shame," or disappoint. Hope in God is never disappointed; God will and does deliver from the trial. "Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame" (Isa. 28:16; Rom. 9:33; 10:11). Then Paul gives the reason that hope will not be disappointed; it grounded in the love of God, both experienced by the believer into whose heart it is poured through the Holy Spirit who is given unto him, and also demonstrated before him in the death of Christ. Every believer has the Holy Spirit given to him. And the Holy Spirit makes the love of God personally real to the believer. In the midst of the trial, the believer can be filled with the love of God because God will pour His love into his heart through the Holy Spirit. To be filled with Holy Spirit is to be filled with the love of God.

5:6-8.
6. for while we were yet weak,
at the right time Christ died on the behalf of the ungodly.
7. For scarcely on the behalf of a righteous man will one die:
for perhaps on the behalf of a good man
some one would even dare to die.
8. But God proves his own love to us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died on our behalf.
In these next three verses, Paul explains how the love of God is demonstrated objectively in the death of Christ. The true character of God's love is made clear in the death of Christ by the kind of people Christ died for. They are weak (v. 6), ungodly (v. 6), sinners (v. 8), and enemies ( v. 10). God does not just love the loveable but the unlovable. This is brought out verse 7: "For scarcely on the behalf of a righteous man will one die: though perhaps on the behalf of good man someone would even dare to die." Paul is not here repeating himself; there is a difference between a righteous and a good man. A righteous man is a man who is morally correct but lacks those qualities that makes a good man loveable and liked. Scarcely for the righteous man will one die; there is not any thing in his character which would motivate one to die for him. A good man has those qualities of character such as generosity which would motivate someone to dare to die for him. But God's love is not motivated by such qualities in man's character or the lack of them. God did not die for the weak, helpless, ungodly or sinners because they were unlovable but because He choose to love them and they were the ones who needed the death of Christ on their behalf. Note that the Greek preposition huper does not mean "instead of" but "on the behalf of." Nowhere does Paul teach that Christ died as our substitute, in our place, but as our representative, on our behalf. He never uses the Greek preposition anti, which means "instead of," to describe Christ death for us.

5:9. Much more then, being set right by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him.
In this verse, Paul returns again to the thought with which he began the chapter. "Much more then, being set right by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." The opening phrase "much more then" ties the thought in this verse to the previous verse, but indicates something more. In the previous verse, Paul says that Christ died on the behalf of sinners. In this verse and the next verse, he will indicate just what more that death for sinners involved. Here he indicates that it is salvation from wrath, being justified or set right by his blood, that is, by his propitiatory death by which the wrath of God is turned away from the sinner who puts his faith in Christ's sacrificial death. Propitiation is that aspect of salvation by which one is saved from the wrath of God to peace with God. See Rom. 3:25.

5:10. For if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved in his life;
In this verse, Paul introduces in this letter for the first time the concept of reconciliation. The Greek word (katallageo) translated "to reconcile" means "to change completely." It does not mean "a restoration to a former condition" as our English word means, but rather "a complete change of relationship." As this verse indicates, this complete change of relationship is between God and those who are enemies. But the change is on the part of man, "while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God." Paul does not say that God was reconciled; God did not need to be reconciled to man; God loved His enemies and sent His Son to die for them. But we who were His enemies needed to be reconciled to Him; we needed to be change from enemies to friends. (God calls Abraham "my friend" in Isa. 41:8. See also II Chron. 20:7 and James 2:23, where James seems to indicate that Abraham is the friend of God because of his faith.) Paul says that "we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son" but he does not say how that was done. But in the last part of this verse he tells the result of this reconciliation.
"Much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved in his life."
This is not some future event but a present actuality as Paul states in the next verse:
"through whom [Christ] we have now received the reconciliation."
Here, in the last statement of this verse 10, Paul is drawing out the logical inference from the concept of reconciliation as a complete change of relationship between man and God. He is saying that reconciliation involves being saved from death to life; and now that we are reconciled to God, we are alive to God in Christ. We are saved in His life, in His resurrected life, not in His earthly life which He gave up in physical death on the cross. That reconciliation is salvation from death to life is also shown in the other passage in Paul's writings that deals with this subject: II Cor. 5:17-18. In that II Cor. passage, Paul links reconciliation to being new creatures in Christ.
"17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature;
the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.
18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself
and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation."
The old creation is under the reign of death; in the new creation we who have received "the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ." ( Rom. 5:17). We were made new creatures in Christ, when we were made alive to God, when we who were spiritually dead to God were raised from the dead with Christ (Eph. 2:5). And since reconciliation is a complete change of relationship between man and God in which a person comes into a new relationship to God, in which he is made alive to God, reconciliation should be understood as that aspect of salvation in which man is saved from death to life by the death and resurrection of Christ. We will see in the next section of this chapter and in chapter six just how this was done by the death and resurrection of Christ.

5:11. and not only so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
In this verse, Paul gives a third thing to boast about in God (see verse 2b and 3a above.). "Through our Lord Jesus Christ we have now received the reconciliation." Paul here is making it clear that reconciliation is not some future event but a present reality which we have now received from God. See comments on the previous verse.