ROMANS 6:1-7 Can we continue in sin, so that Grace may increase?

 

 

                           

As we now come to Romans 6 we find that the apostle Paul continues a thought begun in Chapter 5. There we learned something about the extensive consequences of the fall: In Adam’s fall we sinned all! Adam’s one disobedience affected us all.

To be human is to share in Adam’s fallen nature. This constitutes the doctrine of original sin.

We also learned that the one act obedience of Jesus brought about a right standing with God (justification) for many – i.e. all who believe in Him.

And now we want to focus on the connecting thought which leads us into the 6^th chapter. Paul has shown us the consequences of Adam’s fall as a result of one man’s disobedience. Adam trespassed against the only law given by His Creator in Genesis 2:17. The trespass of that law caused death and spiritual alienation from God. The breaking of that one law had devastating consequences for all of us.

That was long before Moses received the law from God.

But now in 5:20 Paul adds this thought, “the law came in to increase the trespass“. This is the law of Moses which came afterwards and which was much more detailed and specific in terms of what God’s will for His people is.  It makes us much more aware of the depth of sin, and in that sense, it increases the trespass – our sense of guilt.

And then Paul makes this astonishing statement: “…but where sin increased grace abounded all the more” … etc.     The light breaks through into our darkness!

Paul says that grace is greater than all our sin.

The work of Christ is greater than that which Adam and Adam’s race did.  

 1.  6:1-7   THE  DILEMMA BETWEEN  SIN AND GRACE

Paul now imagines some people saying, What do you mean, Paul? You hear their minds ticking and you hear them saying in Romans 6:1, “If you say that where sin increases, grace will increase all the more … well then, let us continue in sin so that grace may increase! “The thought goes, “if what Paul says is true …surely the more sin there is, the more grace or forgiveness there is.  The more sin there is, the greater the act of forgiveness will look like!”  Do you see that line of reasoning? This would open the door to careless living and indifference to holiness! This is where grace teaching potentially opens the door to rampant sinning.

This is the conclusion that Paul anticipates from some weak minds, and to this he now responds.   

 6:2 Paul’s answer: "May it never be!" 

Paul immediately takes such a thought captive: By no means! We cannot possibly entertain the thought that we continue in sin so that grace might increase!” 

Why not?   

He gives   3 answers in 6:1-7

 (i)   6:1-2  You cannot go on sinning so that grace may increase because you have died to sin.  What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

To be a Christian means to be dead to sin.  That means that if you should choose to continue in sin that would be a contradiction of who you are.  Why did Christ die?   He died because of sin! If this is true then we cannot use sin to make God’s grace look greater.  That is twisted thinking.  So, put this thought out of your mind.   

 (ii)   6:3-4 You cannot go on sinning that grace may increase because of the implications of your baptism into Christ. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”. 

Baptism is a powerful illustration. In baptism we illustrate our identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection.  Those three words are used in 6:3-4.  In our baptism we tell the world that we have died with Christ, who died for sin. Our sin lies buried with Christ in the grave. His holy death broke the power of my sin, and not my sin only, but the sin of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what baptism signifies.  

In my baptism I have   declared that I have died with Christ to sin!   So then, how can I sin so that grace may increase? I can’t!  I am saved from my former life of sin  and I am saved to walk in the newness of life (6:4).  

 (iii) 6:5-7 You cannot   go on sinning so that grace may increase because of the decisive change brought about in your life by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self  was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin”.

Here Paul reminds us that our lives do not simply end with a death to the old things. There is more! Christ did not only die. He rose!  He did not only die for our sins, but He rose to give us life!  He rose to give us present power to live victoriously.  So, Paul is here not only speaking about the resurrection to come. He is speaking about resurrection power NOW. This means that we are no longer enslaved to sin. We have  power to overcome sin.  And the question comes back to us one more time: “Are we to continue in sin that grace may be abound? “And again, the answer is NO! It is contrary to your new nature. 

Being a recipient of grace does not give us a license to sin. Paul makes it clear that we cannot make God’s grace more glorious by continuing to sin. In a nutshell: You can’t go on sinning because 

(i) you have died to sin 

(ii) Your baptism shows it 

(iii) the power of the resurrection at work in you will refute that.   

So that argument is dead!

In what sense then  is   God’s grace  made abundant  to us  in a world where we are so very aware of sin around us and in us ?

 2. 6: 8-13   THE RESURRECTION POWER AT WORK IN YOU DOES THIS ….

We have seen that our union with Christ in His death is linked to a resurrection which gives us new life, not only in the future when He comes again, but right now. That is very encouraging!  

Our resurrection in Christ begins at the new birth, not only at the second coming. New life in Christ starts the moment you have been born again. God is working His grace in us right now. Paul’s strong point here is that our old nature has been crucified with Christ, and not only crucified, but also raised with Christ (see also Col. 2:12-15). The direct result is that we are no longer slaves to sin. We live in the presence of sin, but we are no longer under the slavish power of sin.  This does not mean that Christians cannot sin, but it does mean that we have been set free from the power of sin; we now have the power to say “no!” to ungodliness (Titus 2:12).

With that in mind and with God’s power at work within us we now must take note of the following in 6:11-13:

“So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Here are four commands (imperatives) which we are able to obey, because of Christ’s resurrection power and grace are at work in us:   

a.      6:11 Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.   Why does he say this? He knows that Christians do struggle with sin (see Romans 7).  But they also need to know that they are not slaves to sin (6:6). We must remember whose children we are, and what power is at work within us to overcome that sin. 

b.      6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body. Here is the second imperative – this is who you are (6:11) – now behave like who you claim to be! Take charge of your thought life, and your emotions and your passions and rule over them in the power that God has given you.  Our thoughts (which come out of the desires of our heart) ultimately determine our actions. That is why Paul in 2 Cor. 10:5 speaks about taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ. Remember  again - You are not under the dominion of sin. Your life is not characterized by the addictive, controlling bondage of the desires of sin. It does not mean that you do not struggle with sin, but if you do, you have been given grace / power to overcome! 

c.       6:13a  Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness.  This is an extension of the last point.  Don’t let any part of your body be used as a tool for sin. Watch your body – your eyes, your ears, your hands, your feet – these can lead you to all sorts of sins: jealousy, covetousness, adultery, hate etc.

d.      6:13b Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life.  Here is a positive command. Give your body to God.  The best way to deal with negative habits is to substitute them with positive habits. See Ephesians 5:22-29 as  an example!

3. 6:14  AN ENCOURAGEMENT - LIVE BY GRACE

“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Paul is  saying this one more time:  The law does not have the power to enable you to do  to be righteous and to live righteously. That does not make the law bad. It remains God’s holy law. But the problem is that you do not have the power to keep it. The law tells you what you should do, but it doesn’t have the power to help you to do what you should do.

But grace is different.  Grace is God’s gift to you. And in every trial and temptation He says to you, Do not look to the law to help you. Ask me to give you grace for your moments of trial.  This is a strong invitation  to trust God  in every situation  you encounter

This is the power of your justification

This is the resurrection power of Christ’s finished work in you

Rejoice and believe. Trust Him to help you !

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Romans 5:12-21 "One Man Makes The Difference!"

 

We are talking about the doctrine of justification and the incredible difference of  knowing that you are right with God makes in your daily experience. 

When God justifies you, you have  experiential peace with God. 

You have access to Him. 

You rejoice in what is awaiting you. 

Even your sufferings cannot diminish your joy. Quite on the contrary, even your sufferings are producing pleasant fruit:  endurance- character – hope! 

To crown it all the experience of being justified floods your heart with God’s love. This is the work of the Holy Spirit (5:1-5).

What is even more amazing is that all this comes to us when we are weak and ungodly (5:6). It comes to us while we were sinners (5:8) - when we were enemies (5:10).

The Bible leaves no room for thinking that we can be justified by virtue of our own goodness or merits. Not at all! Our salvation is unmerited.  We are saved by Grace alone, through Faith alone, in Christ alone. The Bible is explicit: “We have been justified by His blood!”  (5:9). We are justified by Jesus’s merits alone.   

As we come to our text, we shall find that great word, justification (Gr. dikaioō) again in 5:16,18.  That word has followed us since 3:24. 

Paul teaches us that being a Christian makes a real difference. You are never the same once you have become a Christian. It is a real experience. Listen to Paul as he reflects on his own experience in his first letter to Timothy:

12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. (1 Tim 1:12-14)

This is the language of a converted man! Paul experienced God’s strength, mercy, and overflowing grace along with faith and love.   Paul loves a ‘felt’ Christ, even in  his experience of suffering for the sake of the gospel. He feels the love of God poured into his heart by the Holy Spirit. He knows that God has done this to him, despite the fact that he does not deserve such kindness.  He feels the relief of having escaped the great wrath of God. All this fills him with great joy (5:2,11).

 5:12 “Therefore….”

If Romans 5:1-11 was a testimony to the great experience of having been justified by faith, Romans 5:12-21 deals with two of the key figures in the drama of our redemption and justification:  Adam and Christ! 

The first man, Adam, is the biological father of the human race. As such he is also the federal head of the human race. He is our first representative before God.  In Genesis 3 we read of how Adam’s sin has such a profound effect upon us all- so profound that we can say, “in Adam’s fall, sinned we all.”[1] The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). That is bad news. 

Thankfully death is not the final word for God’s people. Enter the Gospel! Where sin abounds, Paul says, grace super-abounds[2]  (5:20). Enter the second Adam !  This grace comes to us through Jesus, the second Adam. He is the living head and representative of all whom He justifies – all those whom the Father had chosen in Christ before the beginning of time (John 17:2,6,9,10,24).

In Romans 5:12-21 the central idea is that people are saved in precisely the same manner in which they were lost - through the act of   another. Follow the logic of the Bible.  

Just as Adam, by his one sin brought condemnation to all connected with him, so Christ by His one act of righteousness - that is, His sinless life and His substitutionary death, brings justification to all connected to Him (i.e. given to Him by the Father – read Jesus’ prayer in John 17 carefully). 

All people of this world, past, present and future stand in relationship to these two men.

The actions of these two men determine the eternal destiny of all who belong to them.

Every person is either in Adam or in Christ, whatever race or religion they may find themselves.  There is no third option. Thomas Goodwin (1600-1680), an English Puritan theologian and preacher put it like this, 

“In God’s sight, there are two men—Adam and Jesus Christ—and these two men have all other men hanging at their girdle strings.

Girdle strings …This is an image that needs to be explained. In the days of Thomas Goodwin a bird hunter hung the birds he had hunted from his girdle – a thick leather belt.  All of humanity’s spiritual fate is tied to either Adam, through whom sin entered the world, or to Christ, through whom salvation and righteousness are offered to believers. All of us are either trophies of sin or trophies of grace. Keep this picture in mind as we work though this passage. 

 1. 5:12-14: ADAM, BY HIS SIN BROUGHT SIN AND DEATH ON THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE

 (i)  5:12  “...sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned”. The whole human race descended from Adam became contaminated by Adam's one sin! If that seems unfair, we just have to think how many people die in wars begun by one man. Sin is far more devastating in its extent or effects than Aids or War.  With respect to sin the death spoken of here not only leads to physical death but also eternal spiritual separation from God. 

(NB. 5:13 - 17 form a parenthesis (a break in thought) between  5:12 -18).

(ii)  5:13,14  makes the point that sin existed before the law of Moses was given. Normally you can’t judge something to be sinful if there is no law to measure it by. This raises a vital question : On what basis were the  people from Adam to Moses then judged?

5:14a provides the answer. They were judged on the basis of ADAM'S ONE SIN. Adam who was created for immortal fellowship with God died as a result of  his sin. Death is a judgement. And everyone after Adam dies.  This idea is repeatedly   emphasized in 5: 15 - 19. The point is here that all men are guilty as the result of ONE MAN'S SIN, and not simply as a result of many personal sins!

What happened? Adam’s guilt was imputed/ transferred to every subsequent human being. Adam’s original sin became ours.  This is the result of the choice he made, and we in turn reflect that choice in our sinful beings.   Here is something to think about: WE ARE NOT SINNERS BECAUSE WE SIN; BUT WE SIN BECAUSE WE ARE SINNERS! We do not become sinners when we sin. We are  constituted sinners.

5:14b speaks of Adam as a "type” (figure) of   the One to come. This "One" is Christ. But in what sense is Adam a pattern of Christ who is   the "One to come"?

Answer:  Just as Adam is the head and representative of the human race, who have been affected by his fall, so Christ is the head and representative of His people who are redeemed by His saving work. As the sin of one was the ground of our condemnation, so the   righteousness of the Other is the ground of our justification.

 2. 5:15 - 17: BEFORE COMPARING THE WORK OF CHRIST AND THE WORK OF ADAM, PAUL SHOWS ONE OUTSTANDING ASPECT IN WHICH THE TWO DIFFER

The free gift (of Jesus) is not like the trespass (of Adam) (5:15) …. the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin (5:16a).

Where is the difference?  The difference is found in 5:16b:  the judgement as a result of Adam’s one trespass brought condemnation (death), but the free gift (through Christ) following many trespasses brings justification.

The works of the two differ in that Christ did much more for His people than just to remove the imputed guilt of Adam's one sin.  Christ made complete atonement for Adam's sin and also for all our many trespasses- past, present and future.

Moreover, Jesus gives His people an abundance of grace, and also His perfect righteousness as a free gift, so that they are even triumphant in this life (5:17). In the cross of Christ ALL His people’s sins are taken up. Romans 8:1 is a wonderful affirmation of this fact.

 3. 5:18,19 PAUL RESUMES HIS POINT MADE IN  5:12. THE PARALLEL BETWEEN THE CONDEMNING WORK OF ADAM AND THE SAVING WORK OF CHRIST IS COMPLETED

 The point is simply made: Men were condemned on the ground of the imputed sin of Adam; and they are justified on the ground of the imputed righteousness of Christ.

 QUESTION ANTICIPATED: Is this passage teaching us that, just as all have been condemned in Adam, so now all are justified in Christ - so that everyone is actually now saved (i.e.  the teaching of UNIVERSALISM)?

 ANSWER: Clearly not!

(i) Plain observation shows that. Clearly, not all people are converted.

(ii) The Bible teaches consistently that God's people are an elect/chosen/predestined/ set apart people.

The ALL of scripture refers to ALL God’s elect or chosen people. These constitute a people from every tribe, nation and tongue. So we see that:

·       Adam is the head and representative of the Human Race

·       Christ is the Head and Representative of God's elect people

4. 5:20,21 THE LAW OF MOSES WAS ADDED LATER. IT DID IN FACT INCREASE MAN'S SIN-BURDEN; HOWEVER, WHERE SIN INCREASED, THE GRACE OF GOD ALSO INCREASES, BY BRINGING RIGHTEOUSNESS AND LIFE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

5:20a : The law of Moses was added by God for the express purpose of making man’s guilt even greater. Many people think that God gave the law so that they could, through the keeping of the law save   themselves. This is a wrong idea, because the law was never designed by God   to do this. In fact, the law shows that it is impossible for us to keep it. Therefore, the law increases guilt (see 5:20).

5:20b,21: But where sin increased (as a result of breaking the law) grace increased all the more. When God gave us Jesus,  He gave us a real  and lasting solution.

Thanks be to God for Christ’s superior work!

Can you see why the Christian church worships with gladness and joy?  

Such understanding of theology produces deep-seated joy and assurance of salvation. 

This is what we need  to know  in order to be healthy and productive Christians.  

 

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[1] By Benjamin Harris (1673-1716). He published the New England Primer, the first textbook in British America

[2]  Greek: Huperperisseuō – to superabound, abundantly full, overflow

ROMANS 5:5-11 THE LOVE OF GOD

 

 Romans  5  expounds the wonderful  results  of having been justified by grace through faith: 

• 5:1 Peace with God;  
• 5:2a Access into God’s presence by faith through Grace;   
• 5:2b Rejoicing in  the hope of the glory of God –  knowing what the future holds, beyond this life; 
• 5:3-4 he ability to bear  all sorts of trials  with joy, because those trials are not senseless, but God-sent,  for  the building up of our character, making our future hope even more sure.

Today’s text  from 5:5-11  draws us into the profoundest aspect of  our experience of God’s Being: God’s love. 

I John 4:8 says, “God is love”.   Love is not simply an attribute of God. It is His very nature. This is what He is.  And since God is an infinite Being, His love is an inexhaustible fountain.  

Here follows then another proof of assurance, by which we may know the reality of our standing with God. It is the outpouring of God’s nature into our hearts.  

Love is a communicable attribute of God. When you are converted, the love of God is communicated to your own heart. This is the  “cherry on the top” of our Christian experience of justification - the real experience of God’s love in our hearts.  Note how Paul mentions the three pillars of the Christian faith:  faith (5:1,2) … hope…  (5:2,4,5) love… (2:5,8). In 1 Cor. 13:8 we read that love is the greatest of these.  Heaven will have no need of faith or hope.  But heaven will be a world of love (Jonathan Edwards). How we should look forward to that world!

Let us then  follow the logic of this text:

1.      God’s Love Is Poured Into Our Hearts Through The Holy Spirit Whom He Has Given Us (5:5) 

a.       Consider that the subject is the love of God for us – not our love for Him.  This text does not talk about our love for God.  God’s love is always prior. “In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be  the propitiation for our sins (1 Jn. 4:10). We only love, “because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19)  

b.      Consider that this love of God is poured out into our hearts. The same phrase, “poured out” is also used in Acts 2:17,18 (quoting Joel 2:28-32) and in Acts 2:33 in connection with the outpoured Spirit at Pentecost. This is not a measured, controlled pouring as one pours carefully to fill a cup. This is a lavish pouring and the cup overflows!  The picture here is that God pours His love overflowingly into the heart of the Christian believer. The heart refers to the centre of our being. It includes the mind, will and emotions – the whole person. 

c.       Consider that this love is poured out by the agency of the outpoured Holy Spirit. It is a knowledge that surpasses academic knowledge.

·       The Holy Spirit applies this love via His inspired Word. We must read  and meditate  on the Bible for all its worth – see Paul’s desire  “...that I may know Him...” (Phil. 3:10)  “... the surpassing worth of knowing  Christ Jesus my Lord...” (Phil. 3:8) ... this knowledge comes to those  who worship by the Spirit of God  (Phil. 3:3)

·       The understanding of the love of God grows with time and understanding, which involves learning.  Paul’s prayer  in  Eph.3:14-19  expresses a desire that  Christians  “may have strength to comprehend the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the  love of Christ that surpasses knowledge…”. Seeking to understand the love of God requires comprehension or knowledge.  It is a process which involves the mind. You will never grow in the knowledge of God if you do not read the Bible.

·       The understanding of the love of God grows with trials (hence Romans 5:3,4). This includes understanding that the love of God also comes to us via His discipline, for God disciplines the one he loves (Hebr. 12:6-11)

A QUESTION

If this is so, then why is it that many professing Christians see or feel so little evidence of the love of God in their own experience?  

Let’s engage in some pastoral wrestling:

(i)                Perhaps, there is no genuine new birth.  If this is so the love of God cannot be seen or felt.

(ii)               Perhaps a person is backslidden.  You may have “lost your first love“ (Rev. 2:4,5).  Although this is written to the church at Ephesus, the church is made up of individuals. In this regard please note  that it  is possible for entire churches to grow lukewarm (e.g. Rev. 3:16 – the church at Laodicea). 

It is possible to grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph.4:30). 

It is possible to let bitterness, wrath, anger, unforgiveness etc.  dampen the experience of God’s love. 

It is possible to let things slowly come between you and your first love for God.  

If this is so, then Jesus  counsels  you right now to repent and to return to the place of your first love. 

 2.      The Love Of God Is Given To People Who Are Weak, Ungodly, Unrighteous (5:6-8)

 “For while we were still weak (powerless), at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. For  one will scarcely die for a righteous person  - though perhaps for a good person  one would dare even to die -   but God shows  His love for us  in that while we were  still sinners , Christ died for us (5:6-8). 

(i)                  5:6 God’s love comes in a completely unmerited way. God’s love is not motivated by people’s merits or accomplishments (for there are none).  Why God should love weak, ungodly, sinful creatures is entirely mysterious.  I cannot discover any reason why God should love me. Such a thought caused   Charles Wesley (1707- 1788)  to write his hymn, “And Can It Be?” - “Tis mystery all! The immortal dies:  Who can explore His strange design? In vain the first- born seraph tries, to sound the depths of love divine. ‘Tis mercy all! Let earth adore, let angel minds enquire no more.” [1]

(ii)                5:7-8 The amazing love of God  becomes  even more profound   when we consider  the  fact that while for a righteous person a man will scarcely die (though it is conceivable)- BUT  FOR AN UNRIGHTEOUS PERSON?  And yet a holy God sent His Son to die for unrighteous sinners.  “God  shows His love for us in that while we were  still sinners, Christ died for us.” God’s love, as it is revealed in Jesus  is both, unprecedented and unparalleled.  

You just don’t die for a  wicked enemy! 

It’s unheard of!  I, as a human being will not do that. 

But God, the holy God, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil  – He does it!  

What for?  

For His  love‘s sake. 

For the sake of His sheep. 

For the sake of those given  to His Son (Jn 17).  

This is the deep, deep love of God.  This deserves prayerful meditation, and  when that knowledge finally  sinks in,  our  hearts melt with love and thankfulness  to God.

Jesus’ death on the cross for sinners is the supreme manifestation of the love of God.  

There are wonderful moments when the Holy Spirit shows us something of the extent of the love of God, and your heart is flooded with unbearable love. When this happens  you can be very overwhelmed. Such testimonies have not been uncommon in the experiences of God’s people. 

I will mention the example of Sarah Edwards (d. 1758), wife of Jonathan Edwards. She had an experience of the love of God as a result  of a  meditation on Romans 8:34, which resulted  in a renewed sense of the assurance of her salvation.  

It began on  January 20, 1742. [2]

“When I was alone, the words came to my mind with far greater power and sweetness; upon which I took the Bible, and read the words to the end of the chapter, when they were impressed on my heart with vastly greater power and sweetness still.  They appeared to me with undoubted certainty as the words of God, and as words which God did pronounce concerning me. I had no more doubt of it than I had of my being...  I cannot find language to express how certain this appeared... Melted and overcome by the sweetness of this assurance, I fell into a great flow of tears and could not forbear weeping aloud.  It appeared certain to me that God was my Father, and Christ my Lord and Savior, that He was mine and I His.  Under a delightful sense of the immediate presence and love of God, these words seemed to come over and over in my mind, ‘My God, my all; my God, my all.’  The presence of God was so near and so real that I seemed scarcely conscious of anything else.  God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, seemed as distinct persons, both manifesting their inconceivable loveliness and mildness and gentleness and their great and immutable love to me.  I seemed to be taken under the care and charge of my God and Saviour, in an inexpressibly endearing manner; and Christ appeared to me as a mighty Saviour....

The peace and happiness which I hereupon felt was altogether inexpressible.  It seemed to be that which came from heaven; to be eternal and unchangeable...  I seemed to be lifted above earth and hell, out of the reach of everything here below, so that I could look on all the rage and enmity of men or devils with a kind of holy indifference and an undisturbed tranquillity.  At the same time I felt compassion and love for all mankind, and a deep abasement of soul, under a sense of my own unworthiness.... My God was my all, my only portion.

I continued in a very sweet and lively sense of divine things, day and night, sleeping and waking, until Saturday, Jan. 23.  ....At night my soul seemed to be filled with an inexpressibly sweet and pure love to God and to the children of God, with a refreshing consolation and solace of soul which made me willing to lie on the earth, at the feet of the servants of God, to declare His gracious dealings with me and breathe forth before them my love and gratitude and praise.”

Please note. It was as Sarah was meditating upon the Word of God that this experience of the love of God came upon her. It had a great effect  upon her – particularly in the matter of assurance.

 3.      What The Love Of God Accomplishes  (5:9-11)

(i)                 5:9a“Since therefore we have been now justified by His blood…”.  Paul comes back to the unifying theme of justification - the string which holds the pearls together. We are justified by the blood of Jesus. In this we saw the deep love of God for the those who were justified. When an understanding of that love grabs you, it overwhelms you.

(ii)               5:9b “Much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God”.  Here is what makes your love for God so much more profound - when you see what you have been delivered from … the wrath of God!  This is truly something to sing about.   The hymn, “In Christ Alone“ in which this subject is expounded: “In Christ alone, who took on flesh; Fullness of God in helpless babe! This gift of love and righteousness; Scorned by the ones He came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, For every sin on Him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live.“[3] Saved from the wrath of God! You will never  be able to  grasp  the nature of justification,  you will never  appreciate the depth of your salvation until you understand  what you have been saved from, and what it took to make that possible! A.W. Pink, in his great book, “The Attributes of God“ says that  the wrath of God is  “a perfection of the Divine character upon which we need to frequently meditate[4]:

•                That our hearts may be duly impressed by God’s detestation  of sin
•            That we may cultivate a true fear of God in our souls 
•            To praise God for having been delivered us from the wrath that is to come                              

(iii) Reconciliation (5:10,11) Please note that reconciliation begins with God. He reconciled you before you were willing to be reconciled …. Remember? … while we were still sinners (5:8). It is something done to you - look at the language of Scripture: ” … we were reconciled (5:10 x2)…have received reconciliation (5:11).   Grammatically, this whole text is in the “passive voice”. This is being done to you. God takes the initiative. Jesus pays the price.

CONCLUSION

Experiencing the love of God is the antidote to falling in love with this world.  

The Good news is that God has freely poured out His love on His people. The challenge lies in keeping ourselves in the love of God:  “But you, beloved, building  yourselves up in your most holy faith  and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves  in the love of God ....”(Jude 21). 

Make it your business to be always found in the presence of God.

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[1] Charles Wesley : And can it be that I should gain

[2] Iain Murray : Jonathan Edwards: Banner of Truth, pp194ff

[3] In Christ alone : written by Keith Getty & Stuart Townend in 2001

[4] Arthur W. Pink : The Attributes of God: Baker Book House, p.84ff