Justified - Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also rejoice in
our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, endurance produces proven
character, and proven character produces hope. This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s
love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
These are such wonderful, powerful, needed words. We can dig in on the meanings (and I guess I
should) but we don't have to for you to understand them. All of those problems, all of those
struggles, all of that condemnation Paul talked about -- God has a way to deal with it all. That's
what we talked about last week. When we have faith in Christ, God credits Christ's righteousness
to us, so that when we stand before God, He "justifies" us (declares us right with Him). That
happens because Jesus atoned for our sins.

"Therefore" . . .

What a beautiful word here. I can only imagine how anxious Paul was to get to it! Some people
try to dwell on Paul's mentions of sin and judgment, but I can't get past how giddy he is to talk
about God's love and grace. How he can't help but break out into declarations of praise for God's
mercy and greatness. Paul loved to share the love of God. And the love of God is so much more
powerful when we realize what that love has to overcome -- us.

Benefit 1: Peace
I did a video search on "peace" and saw a lot of talking (more or less) about how people need to
be nice to each other. And hey, that's true. But you should know this as well as I do: people will
never be at true peace with someone else until they can be at true peace with themselves,
and we can never truly be at peace with ourselves until we are at peace with God. Well, God
gives us peace with Him when we come to Jesus for salvation. And this is true peace -- not just a
cessation of hostility or an inner sense of calmness. That's such a low bar! No, this is true
harmony and actual well-being, more akin to the Hebrew idea of shalom -- wholeness. That's
peace.

Benefit 2: Grace
I go back to my Veggietales days for this, where they define mercy as not giving someone what
they deserve and grace as giving someone what they do not deserve. Grace (charis) is a powerful
word in Greek. It refers to a beautiful quality in someone that brings delight to others. Over time,
it came also to refer an actual favor or gift that was given to someone without expectation of
anything in return. And that's the perfect definition of salvation! What could we possibly give
God in return for the gift His Son Jesus? Exactly.

Benefit 3: Joy
Paul mentions "rejoicing" several times. Today, like "peace", we have a very impoverished
understanding of what "joy" should mean. It has very little to do with a feeling of happiness; this
is a state of delight -- an awareness of our well-being -- that only comes from knowing God. And
look at the two very different sources of joy: joy in the hope of glory (not our own glory, but
God's; in other words, this is not about having hope in heaven -- this is simply the hope in
knowing that God will win), and hope in affliction. What?! Think about it. Where does life
happen? In struggling through and sometimes overcoming our obstacles. You see, as a Christian,
we believe that there is a purpose and an end to our struggles. In circumstances like today's, that
hope is irreplaceable.

Benefit 4: Love
Love, as always, ties everything together. As you might guess, Paul is talking about agape love.
Let me include the startling New York Life Superbowl commercial in which they accurately
describe the four Greek terms for "love". I have not found a Christian connection in that
company, but I have learned to use the culture's tools when they get something right.

God did not stop with justification. That would have been enough (more than enough). But He
went on to "overfill our cups" by then pouring His love into us by the Holy Spirit who now
indwells every believer. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within
you, reminding you of the unparalleled benefits of being justified in Jesus.