Transcript

Over the past two weeks, we covered Romans 5:6-8 which taught how God’s love for His people was most clearly seen in Christ’s death. We learned that Christ died for us not when we were strong or righteous but when we were helpless and sinful. We were not friends of God but enemies of God.

And the sheer fact that Christ died for those who, in their flesh, hated Him demonstrates the vast difference between the love of man and the love of God.

A man might die for his loved ones (his wife or children or someone he vowed to protect), but no man would willingly die for his enemies.

We also learned about the exclusive nature of Christ’s atonement. We looked at the Scripture’s regular use of definite personal pronouns (us, we, you, those, etc.) when speaking of His people. That is, Christ died, not die for all or everyone or any. No, He died for His. His sheep, His people, His Bride, His church.

So, if the last three verses deal with the degree of God’s love in the cross of Christ, the following three verses declare the strength of Christ to secure eternal peace with God.

Vs. 9: Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 

• I want you to take note that the phrase “much more” is used four times in the following eight verses.
• Paul is using what’s called a “Top-Down” argument, which is an approach that starts with primary truths and then uses those truths to support secondary conclusions.
  • So, in this first use, the primary truth is Christ’s death for sinners.
  • The secondary conclusion of Christ’s death for sinners is His ability to save those for whom He died from God’s wrath.
• In other words, Paul’s saying if Christ was willing to die to secure atonement for the sins of His people, we can certainly trust that such atonement is sufficient to give you peace with God.
• Christ did not die, so we might one day be reinstated as God’s enemies.
• No, if Christ died for you, He will eternally keep you at peace with God through the blood of His cross.
• So, in a sense, Paul is demonstrating the doctrine of eternal security. That is, Christ’s death for a person actually secures something—eternal peace with God.
• Therefore, if you’ve been born again and trust in the righteousness of Christ, you do not have temporary salvation but permanent salvation—permanent redemption—permanent peace.

Ephesians 2:13-17 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility ¹⁵ by abolishing the law of commandments, so making peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Christ is our permanent peacemaker. He has abolished the hostility between God and His sheep by His own blood.

Hebrews 10:10-14 contrasts the temporary Old Covenant sacrificial system made with the blood of animals with the permanent New Covenant sacrifice made with the blood of Christ. The author writes:

“We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

• In other words, not only is His blood sufficient to cover the debt of all your sins (past, present, and future), but He also promises you eternal.
• Now, God cannot promise what could possibly be lost. It would make Him a liar, and Hebrews 6:18 says, “It is impossible for God to lie.”
• Christ does not say you have the opportunity of eternal life if you maintain your obedience.
• Christ does not say you have a chance at eternal life if you can sustain your faith.
• No, Christ says, I will accomplish it all. From atonement and regeneration to justification, sanctification, and glorification—every aspect of our salvation is secured by Me.
  • Paul says in Philippians 1:6, “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
  • John 10:27-29 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
  • Jude 1:24 “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy…”
  • 1 Peter 1:3-5 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Ultimately, Paul is trying to communicate the extent of what Christ’s atonement has accomplished for His people.

Vs. 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 by His life.

• Here we see the second use of “much more.” Remember, Paul, is using a deductive argument. He’s saying, “If God has done the greater thing, then certainly (“much more”) we can trust Him to do the lesser thing.
• If we receive reconciliation with God through Christ’s death, then we can certainly expect redemption and resurrection, and glory through His life!
  • John 5:24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, HAS eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but HAS passed out of death into life.

 Vs. 11: And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

• Paul then redirects us from the blessings to the One who blesses. Not only do we revel in the gifts of God, but also in God Himself.
• He tells us to exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
• The word “exult” means “to exercise an unusually high degree of praise.”
• The gift of salvation through the death of Christ should cause you to praise God.
• To praise Him for His mercy and grace and love.

Psalm 68:3-4 says:

But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God;
Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
Lift up a song for Him who rides through the deserts,
Whose name is the Lord, and exult before Him.

I want you to see that we—the flock of God’s pasture—have an exclusive joy. A joy that is unshared by the world. It is, as Spurgeon said, “A solid joy.” It’s not the fleeting joy of good circumstances or good health or wealth; it is a stable joy rooted in our current and eternal reconciliation with God. No matter what happens to you in this life, if you trust in Christ, you have everything.

You have substance and meaning, and purpose. You are no longer a child of wrath, perverted, and slaves to sin. No, in Christ, God’s grace has restored your nature. You are a child of love who can experience everlasting Joy because of our everlasting God.