Romans 5:10-11 - Saved by the Life of God's Son

Romans 5:10-11 - 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. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

Message: To be reconciled with God through Jesus Christ

Time: The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans from the Greek city of Corinth in AD 57, just three years after the 16 year old Nero had ascended to the throne as Emperor of Rome. Persecution of Christians wouldn't begin until AD 64. The church was experiencing times of relative peace. From where he wrote, Corinth, was a hotbed of sexual immorality and idol worship.

What the Lord is Saying:

Set-up
In these verses, Paul continues through the benefits of righteousness. Chapter 4 gave illustrations of righteousness, primarily through the witness of Abraham, though David was also mentioned briefly. But, Abraham more specifically was shown to be righteous apart from works, apart from circumcision, apart from the law; thus, overall, he was declared righteous by faith. Romans 3:21 got Paul started off on this complete description of righteousness by faith and God imputed Jesus' righteousness to man when man believed in Jesus, that he lived, died and rose from the dead; this places our faith in Christ, in accordance with grace. Our sins are not counted against us anymore. Christ died for us.

Chapter 5 then starts to give us benefits. We have peace with God and we have joy in tribulation. And then, starting verse 9, we have salvation from wrath. The wrath of God will come down on man at some time. Maybe it is the tribulation wrath. Maybe it is the wrath at the judgment seat. No matter when, wrath will come. And the point of these verses, 9-11, is to show that man has been saved from this wrath.

Wrath has also been described in chapter 2. The Jews were told they would be judged according to truth, by their works, and with impartiality from verse 1 to 16. The wrath of God is inescapable.

In verse 9, Paul more clearly shows me that I have been justified by Jesus blood. Blood was the means by which Old Testament saints were declared free from sin. Their sin was paid for by the blood of an animal, through a sacrifice. But, Christ's ultimately and completed covers the sin of the called out ones.

Reconciled when we were enemies
Verse 10 is a sobering truth for Paul clearly puts forth that when not in Christ, we are enemies of God. We are contrary to the ways of God. With God, it is either/or. There is no middle ground. The fact that God is impartial shows us that all people are judged fairly and consistently and all people have the same need for salvation.

Verse 6 stated that I was helpless. Verse 7 I was hardly a righteous person (I was not righteous). Verse 8, I was a sinner. But, Christ died for me. As an enemy, God did something incredible and reconciled me to God through the death of Jesus, God's son. I was not reconciled to God through Jesus while I was a good person or moving toward goodness or practicing good works or possessing church disciplines and ordinances, but I was reconciled while I was God's enemy, a sinner.

Saved by His Life
Verse 10 states another "much more then." This phrase came up in verse 9 as well. To me, it is a statement of "wait, there is more." It's a phrase that makes sense coming from Paul because Paul is all about clarifying His points and confirming them over and over.

So, now that we are reconciled. Again, belief in God resulted in being reconciled. This is a past event and a permanent event. This is a done deal. This isn't something that can just suddenly go away. This is God's covenant to man. I think people struggle with this principle because we now have so few good examples of covenants. The covenant of marriage is fleeting. It has been for 50 years as a person has clearly been show to fall in and then, out of love. What has been clearly shows is the importance of a right foundation. And so without good examples of covenants, we start to think that being reconciled to God through Christ is a revolving door rather than a known certainty. But, in verse 4 and 5 of this chapter, I saw hope being confirmed through a tribulation. We have a certainty that we are in Christ. So, I am reconciled.

I am saved by the life of Jesus. This is a future event. I will be saved by his life. Throughout Paul's explanation, there are 3 main points.

1. We have been reconciled to God. We have been declared righteous. Our belief in God imputes righteousness to us.
2. We have hope. This hope is a confidence in a future event. Right now I have hope. 
3. We will be saved by His life in the future. When the wrath of God comes, in the future, I will be saved by the life of Jesus. 

Thus, past, present, and future. Jesus lived a perfect life, and thus He became the perfect substitution. Throughout the Old Testament, substitution were made for sin, but they weren't perfect. Man's sin was being written off by an animal. In Jesus, man's was reconciled by the work of another man. There was a likeness of the same kind. I am saved by the life of Jesus.

I am rich because Jesus has reconciled me
"And not only this." Again, Paul cracks me up. No, wait, there is more. Paul testifies of more truth.  In verse 2, Paul uses the word "hope" to describe the peace we have with God in that we exult or boast in God. We have a lively and triumphant joy because of the faith that we have. We are certain of our future with the glory of God. In verse 3, I exult or have lively and triumphant joy in tribulations. I can now look at tribulations in a new light. They confirm my faith. And now here in verse 11, I exult or have a lively and triumphant joy in God through Jesus because I have been reconciled.

By faith I receive reconciliation. I was an enemy of God (verse 10). I am now reconciled (verse 10). I am a friend of God. It's a declaration of praise: "I am a friend of God."

The result of being declared righteous, of justification:

• Peace with God through Christ (Romans 5:1)
• Access into the grace & presence of God through Christ (Romans 5:2)
• Experience of Exultation and Joy in tribulation (Romans 5:3)
• The love of God poured out in our heart (Romans 5:5)
• The indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5)
• Deliverance from future wrath of God (Romans 5:9)
• Present continuing salvation in Christ our life (Romans 5:10)
• Reconciliation through Christ with God (Romans 5:11) 

Promise: From Tabletalk, April 8: The position we enjoy in Christ today ensures that we will fully experience all of His benefits tomorrow.