Salvation Experienced... Peace with God

Romans five takes up the question, what does it mean to experience peace with God? Paul’s “therefore” stands on everything already laid down in Romans: all flesh is condemned under sin, Abraham was counted righteous by faith, and justification comes as a gift, not as wages earned. Paul’s first benefit of justification is peace with God, and that peace assumes the hard truth that sinners were enemies, children of wrath, abiding under judgment. God’s love does not mean sin was ignored. God’s love was demonstrated when Christ died for sinners and made enemies into sons.

Paul then shows that justification gives right standing with God. Christ opens access into grace, like the torn veil declaring that sinners may stand before the Father and cry, “Abba, Father.” Paul’s language is not bare theory. Peace with God means real access, real standing, and a real household where strangers become fellow citizens with the saints.

Paul also gives hope as a benefit of justification. Hope is “the fuel that takes you where you want to be,” and the justified person boasts because salvation rests on God’s work, not human achievement. When hope gets placed in temporary things, discouragement, anxiety, and hopelessness follow when those things go away. When hope rests in the glory of God, the soul has fuel for eternity.

Paul presses further and says afflictions themselves become a place of boasting. Trials press on the soul like a foot squeezing a tube of toothpaste, and what is inside comes out. Sin revealed under pressure becomes an opportunity for repentance, endurance, proven character, and deeper hope. Romans five does not call affliction pleasant, but it does call it useful in the hand of God.

Paul then points to the love of God poured into the heart through the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s indwelling is the internal sign of the new covenant, the reality behind baptism and the Lord’s table. While sinners were still sinning, Christ died, and God gave the experience of his love, not to the righteous, but to the ungodly made alive.

Paul closes the chapter by grounding every benefit in the contrast between Adam and Christ. Adam’s one transgression brought sin, death, and condemnation to all. Christ’s one act of righteousness brings justification, life, and the gift of righteousness to those who receive grace. Where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, and grace now reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ the Lord.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Peace begins with honest enmity. Paul’s peace with God only makes sense when the prior condition is named without softening it. Sinners are not spiritually neutral people who need minor improvement, but enemies under wrath who need reconciliation. The sweetness of peace grows deeper when the danger of judgment is taken seriously. [35:27]
• 2. Grace gives standing, not striving. Christ brings access into the grace in which the justified person stands. The torn veil means approach to God is not built on religious performance, but on the finished work of Jesus. Assurance begins to settle when standing before God is received as a gift rather than maintained as a wage. [40:17]
• 3. Hope fuels the weary soul. Paul’s hope is not a fantasy or wish, but a grounded confidence in the glory God has promised. When hope is placed in temporary things, the loss of those things drains the soul. Eternal hope gives endurance because God’s glory cannot be taken away by earthly trouble. [42:06]
• 4. Affliction reveals and refines character. Trials press on the heart and reveal what is actually inside. The exposure of sin is not the end of hope, but the doorway to repentance, perseverance, and proven character. God uses pressure to make hidden realities visible so holiness can become more than theory. [45:27]
• 5. Christ answers Adam’s ruin. Adam’s sin explains why death reigns over all humanity. Christ’s righteousness explains how grace reigns over death for those who receive the gift. Justification rests on the obedience of the one man, Jesus Christ, not on the unstable obedience of sinners.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [27:44] - Salvation Experienced: Peace With God
• [28:25] - What Does Peace Mean?
• [30:51] - Romans 5 In The Flow Of Justification
• [33:26] - Benefits And Basis Of Justification
• [35:27] - Peace With God Instead Of Wrath
• [40:17] - Right Standing And Access To God
• [41:45] - Eternal Hope In God’s Glory
• [44:55] - Hope In Afflictions And Trials
• [50:30] - God’s Love Poured Out By The Spirit
• [56:08] - Assurance Through Christ’s Blood
• [58:38] - Adam, Sin, And Death
• [61:10] - Christ, Grace, And Righteousness
• [63:02] - Receive Christ’s Righteousness Today
• [64:19] - Grace Reigns Through Jesus Christ

Bible Reading

Romans 5:1-21
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, 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. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” [27:38]

Ephesians 2:3
“among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” [35:53]

John 3:36
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” [37:13]

2 Corinthians 5:21
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” [01:02:41]

Observation questions

1. In Romans 5:1-11, what benefits of justification are named in the passage itself? Try to list them from the text in order. [35:15]
2. In Romans 5, what words does Paul use to describe people before reconciliation with God, and what do those words show about their condition?
3. According to Romans 5:3-5, what chain of results comes out of suffering, and where does that chain lead? [47:02]
4. In Romans 5:12-21, what repeated contrast does Paul make between Adam and Christ, and what comes through each one? [01:01:10]

Interpretation questions

1. Romans 5 says peace with God comes after being enemies of God. Why is it important not to soften that starting point when talking about salvation? [35:27]
2. Paul says believers have “access” into grace and “stand” there. What does that suggest about a Christian’s relationship to God now, not just in the future? [40:17]
3. Romans 5 says believers can rejoice in afflictions. How can that be true without pretending that suffering is easy or pleasant? [44:55]
4. Paul grounds justification in the contrast between Adam and Christ. Why does that matter for assurance, especially for people who know their own obedience is unstable? [56:08]

Application questions

1. Peace with God begins by admitting the truth about sin and wrath. Is there any way you tend to describe your sin too lightly, as weakness or struggle, while avoiding the language of enmity, guilt, or repentance? [36:14]
2. Christ gives access into grace, and believers now stand before God as sons and daughters who can cry, “Abba, Father.” When you pray, do you approach God more like a stranger trying to earn a hearing, or like a child welcomed by grace? What tends to pull you in one direction or the other? [41:23]
3. Hope is only as strong as the thing it is resting on. What temporary thing are you most tempted to build your hope on right now—health, money, family stability, reputation, comfort, plans—and how has that affected your peace? [42:06]
4. Affliction reveals what is really inside. When pressure has squeezed you lately, what has come out of you—anger, fear, self-pity, prayer, patience, bitterness, trust? What might God be exposing so that real repentance can happen? [45:27]
5. God’s love was shown while we were still sinners, not after we made ourselves worthy. Where do you still find yourself acting as if God’s acceptance must be maintained by your performance? [54:54]
6. Assurance rests on Christ’s blood and life, not on your ability to keep yourself saved. When you feel shaky before God, what do you usually look at first—your recent obedience or Christ’s finished work? How could that pattern begin to change? [57:09]
7. Adam explains why sin and death feel so normal in this world, but Christ explains why grace can still reign. In what area of life do you most need to believe that grace is stronger than your sin, your past, or your discouragement? [01:04:19]