of the Lord helping me this evening,
the scripture that I'll bring to your attention is found in
Romans chapter 5 and verses 6 to 10. Romans chapter 5 and verses
6 to 10. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Romans chapter
5 verses 6 to 10, Martin Luther said of the epistle of Paul to
the Romans, this epistle is really the chief part of the New Testament
and the very purest gospel and worthy not only that every Christian
should know it word for word, by heart, but occupy himself
with it every day. as the daily bread of the soul.
It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is
dealt with, the more precious it becomes and the better it
tastes. Well, as we ponder a little of
it this evening, I trust that it might indeed become more precious
to us under the blessing of Almighty God. Here in these verses, which
I've announced for a text, there is set before us a brief account,
as it were, of the believer's history. Here we see the believer's
past, we see the believer's present, and we see the believer's future. Concerning the believer's past,
Paul writes in verse 6 that we were yet without strength. In
verse 8, he says that we were yet sinners. In verse 10, that
we were enemies. And concerning the believer's
present, he writes in verse 9, being now justified by his blood. And in verse 10, being reconciled. And we see the believer's future
also in those verses, verses 9 and 10. In verse 9, we shall
be saved. from wrath through him. And in
verse 10, we shall be saved by his life. So let us consider,
firstly then, the believer's past. We were yet without strength,
Paul says in verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. We were without strength, that
is completely and utterly powerless. We were completely and utterly
powerless because of our fall in Adam. We were completely and
utterly powerless to do anything truly spiritual because we were
spiritually dead. As Paul says in another place,
and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. And again he says, But God, who
is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, we were dead in sins, hath quickened
us together with Christ by grace are ye saved. What can a dead
man do? What can a dead man do? Absolutely
nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even so,
we could do nothing. savingly or spiritually, for
we were yet without strength, being spiritually dead. We could do nothing to save ourselves,
nothing. We read later in this chapter
of the death that came into the world as a result of Adam's transgression
in verse 12, wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the
world, and death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned." And that death is not only a
physical death, it's also a spiritual death. We were yet without strength
in falling in Adam, the federal head of the race. We were completely
and utterly powerless to give ourselves spiritual life. We
were completely and utterly powerless to keep the law of God. We were completely and utterly
powerless to make amends for our sins. That is, for our transgressions
of the law of God, for our breaking of the commandments of the law
of God. We were completely and utterly
powerless to make atonement for our sin. We could never pay the
debt. Powerless. Without strength. Not the labour of my hands can
fulfil thy law's demands, says the hymn writer. Could my zeal
know respite? No. Could my tears forever flow? All for sin could not atone.
Thou must save, and thou alone. We were without strength to keep
the law of God and we were without strength to escape the curse
of the law. What's the curse of the law? Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. We were without strength to extricate
ourselves from Satan's servitude. We were without strength to escape
the wrath of Almighty God. that wrath which is due to transgressors
of his holy law. We were yet without strength. We were completely and utterly
powerless to justify ourselves before a holy God. Job was brought
to the truth of this. As are all the elect of God.
Job chapter 9 and verse 20. Have you been brought to this? If I justify myself, my own mouth
shall condemn me. If I say I am perfect, it shall
also prove me perverse. Now there are those who think
that they can be justified, counted righteous, by their own works. And this of course is the sandy
foundation of all the religions in the world, actually. whether
it's Romanism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Mormons,
JWs, or any of the rest. They all have this in common.
Good works merit an eternal salvation. Good works will bring us to heaven. How different is the pure and
holy religion of the Lord Jesus Christ Galatians 2.16, knowing that
a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the
faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Again, Paul says here in his
epistle to the Romans, in chapter 3, verse 20, Therefore by the
deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. And that's all the law can do.
The law can do nothing for you except condemn you. That's all
it can do, all it does is condemn. We were powerless to justify
ourselves before God for the law which is holy and just and
good, it finds us guilty. We were yet without strength.
We were sinners, as we read in verse 8. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now what is a sinner? A sinner
is one who commits sin. And what is sin? Well John tells
us in his first epistle, 1 John 3 verse 4, Whosoever committed
sin transgresseth also the law. for sin is the transgression
of the law. So when Paul says that we were
yet sinners, he's saying that we were transgressors of the
law of God. We were constantly, consistently,
and continually breakers of the commandments of God. Now, there are two parts to the
law of God. the Lord Jesus Christ summed
it up perfectly and he said thou shalt love the Lord thy God with
all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind this
is the first and great commandment and the second is like unto it
thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself on these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets but you know We were those who
had no love in our hearts to God, no real love in our hearts
to God, and no real love in our hearts to our neighbours. We were lovers of ourselves.
As Paul writes to Titus, for we ourselves were also sometimes
foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures,
living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. What
a picture is painted here of the Christian before conversion! Foolish, disobedient, deceived,
serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful
and hating. How faithful the Word of God
is! See how faithful the Scriptures are! The Word of God shows us
our true condition. It's like a mirror, which, when
we look into it, shows us all our spots and blemishes. There
are many, however, who seem to go through life, they pass into
eternity, imagining that God will accept them, that God will
receive them into heaven in the end. Because they have never looked
into the mirror of the holy law of God. What would the sinner see if
he really looked in the mirror of the law of God? He would see
in the words of Isaiah that the whole head is sick and the whole
heart faint from the sole of the foot even unto the head,
there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying
sores. They have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment, or the sinner would
see that he is totally unfit for that holy place which is
called heaven. And there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination
or maketh a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's Book
of Life the elect of God they who are
written in the Lamb's Book of Life are brought to see this
that they were yet sinners we are brought to see that we are
all as an unclean thing and all our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags and we all do fade as a leaf and our iniquities like the wind
have taken us away have you been brought to this
to stand before the mirror of God's holy law and to see yourself
as a guilty wretch if we say that we have no sin
we deceive ourselves And the truth is not in us. The word of God does not deceive
us. It opens our eyes to our true
condition. See what Paul writes to the Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2,
wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. verse 12 of that chapter he says
that at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise
having no hope and without God in the world oh what a miserable
condition to be in having no hope and without God in the world
There is no more miserable condition than that. And what a catalogue of sins
does the Apostle speak of in 1 Corinthians 6? Know ye not
that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived. neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." And such
were some of you. And such were some of you. Yes,
this is the believer's past. We were yet sinners. And because of our sin, we were
the very enemies of God. And so Paul says in verse 10
that we were enemies. For if when we were enemies,
he says, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
Now the enmity between God and men is twofold. There is the
enmity of God towards men, and there is the enmity of men towards
God. And so it is written in the book of the Prophet Zechariah.
And my soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me.
A mutual loathing. Concerning the enmity of God
towards men, we read in Psalm 7 that God is angry with the
wicked every day. and in the fifth psalm, for thou
art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness neither shall evil
dwell with thee the foolish man shall not stand in thy sight
thou hatest all workers of iniquity so much for the God loves you
gospel it's a false gospel thou hatest all workers of iniquity
but has not the heart of God ever been toward his people?
Surely the Lord our God has loved his people from eternity yes that's true we do we do read
of the unchangeable the everlasting love of God towards his people
in such places as Jeremiah 31 verse 3 yea I have loved thee
with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee Yes, the Father has loved His dear elect from all eternity,
which is why He chose them in His Son, and which is why He
gave them to His Son in the everlasting covenant of grace, and which
is why He gave Christ to them to be their surety in that same
covenant, to be their covenant head. And yet, they were, by
nature, the children of wrath, even as others. You see, there
was a legal enmity against them because of their sin. The law
condemns them for their sin, it finds them guilty. The law
is, as Paul describes it in his epistle to the Colossians, the
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary
to us. When viewed in Adam then, There
was a judicial enmity against us because of our sin, because
of our transgression of the law of God. But there was not only
that judicial enmity of God against us in the law, there was also
an enmity in our hearts against God. Paul speaks of that enmity
in chapter 8, because the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. The carnal mind, that is
the natural mind, the unrenewed mind, is enmity against God. Note that it is not at enmity
against God, it is enmity against God. Such is the natural state
of man, and such were the believers themselves. As Paul writes to
the Colossians, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled. Well this then is the believers
past. We were yet without strength, we were yet sinners, we were
enemies. Let us go on to consider secondly
the believers present. What is the believer's present
condition? What is his present standing with God? And what's
the cause of so great a change? We see the believer's present
standing with God in verse nine, where the apostle says, being
now justified. And in verse 10, where he says,
being reconciled. The believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ is justified and he is reconciled. Now, what is it to
be justified? What is justification? Well,
justification is the opposite of condemnation. Condemnation
is the pronunciation or the declaration of guilt. Justification is the pronunciation
or the declaration of righteousness. The law finds us guilty before
God, as we've said. There is the condemnation of
the law. He declares our guilt. It pronounces us guilty. Now
we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them
who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world may become guilty before God. So how can those who are
without strength, who are sinners, transgressors of the law of God,
who are enemies of God, how can such ever be justified? or declared
to be righteous before God? This was the great question which
exercised Bildad the Shuhite in the book of Job. In Job 25, how then can man be
justified with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon that
it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How
much less man that is a worm and the Son of Man, which is
a worm. A worm, a creature of the earth,
cruised through the earth, passing dirt through its belly. Well, how can such be justified
before God? We have the answer in the Gospel.
Being now justified by His blood. being now justified by his blood. This is the good news of the
gospel. For when we were yet without
strength in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet for adventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commended his love toward us, in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved by his life, and we shall be
saved from wrath through him. And so all those for whom Christ
died, are now justified. Every single one of those for
whom Christ died is justified. And we note that it was in due
time that Christ died for the ungodly. The alternative reading
in the margin is for when we were yet without strength according
to the time Christ died for the ungodly. According to the time,
what time? or the time appointed by the
Father, the set time that is spoken of by the psalmist in
Psalm 102, a psalm which is entitled, a prayer of the afflicted when
he is overwhelmed and poureth out his complaint before the
Lord, a psalm which speaks so much of the Lord Jesus Christ
and of his sufferings. Verse 13 of that psalm, Thou
shalt arise and have mercy upon Zion, for the time to favour
her, yea, the set time, is come. It's written in Ecclesiastes
that there is a time to be born and a time to die. And so it
was with the Son of God. There was an appointed time for
His birth. But when the fullness of the
time was gone, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made
under the law, to redeem. them that were under the law
that we might receive the adoption of sons there was a set time
for his birth and there was a set time for his death in due time
christ died for the ungodly and it is through the redemption
is through that redemption, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, that the believer is justified or counted or declared to be
righteous. As Paul said in chapter 3, being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to
declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are
passed through the forbearance of God, to declare, I say at
this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. We notice that in the Gospel,
God himself is justified or declared to be righteous. Yes, the Gospel
declares God himself to be righteous. For he has dealt with our sin.
He has dealt with our sin by the punishing of his only begotten
Son in our place, in the place of all his people. For the transgression
of my people was he stricken. Yes, God is counted just, is
seen to be just in his gospel. He is just and the justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. This then is the believer's present
standing with God, being now justified, being now declared
to be righteous, not guilty. But he's not only justified,
he's also reconciled. As the apostle says in verse
10, being reconciled, he says, for if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more being
reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. We mentioned earlier
that the enmity between God and man is twofold. Well, as there
is a twofold enmity, so there is a twofold reconciliation. The judicial enmity of God against
his elect, because of the broken law, has been removed by the
death of Christ. As Paul writes to the Colossians,
Colossians 1.21. And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death. to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. And in the second chapter of
that epistle, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his
cross, The enmity of the law against
the people of God has been blotted out by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Indeed, the law itself, as well
as its enmity, has been taken out of the way, being nailed
to his cross. The law can no longer condemn
those who are in Christ. and those who are the believers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Again in Ephesians, Paul speaks
of Christ, for He is our peace, having abolished in His flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. Divine justice is satisfied,
and He is the propitiation for our sins. Peter says, for Christ
also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that
he might bring us to God. There is the reconciliation.
But what of the natural enmity of our fallen hearts? Of our
corrupted minds against God? How is that removed? Well, that's
removed in our conversion to God. It's removed when the love
of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which
is given unto us. It's removed in the new birth.
In the new birth there is the revealing of that love that God
has for us. That love which is manifested
in the fact that he sent his son to save us. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son
into the world that we might live through him. here in his love, not that we
loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Again John says there in his
first epistle, and we have known and believed the love that God
hath to us. How do we know, how do we believe
it? Because it's shed upon in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. It's been revealed to us. savingly
and spiritually. Oh, this is the love that is
shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. It's that love
that's spoken of here in verses seven and eight. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet perventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commended his love toward us in that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is the love of God which
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. With the new
birth comes a renewed mind. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Like the man out of whom the
Lord cast that legion of devils, there were those that went out
to see what was done and came to Jesus and found the man out
of whom the devils were departed sitting at the feet of Jesus
clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid oh in the
conversion of the sinner there is the renewing of the mind it's
renewed in love and so John says again we love him because he
first loved us And you know, this is the very
essence of real saving religion. It's the love of God, the love
of God. Remember what Jesus said to the
unbelieving Jews. But I know you that ye have not
the love of God in you. What a solemn word of condemnation,
of denunciation. Oh, the grace of God. It turns
a powerless sinner who was an enmity against God, an enemy
of God, it turns him into a Theophilus, a friend of God and a lover of
God. I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my
supplications. It is through faith, which is
the gift of God, that this twofold reconciliation is realised and
experienced in the elect sinner's heart. therefore being justified
by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. This then is the believer's present.
He is justified and he is reconciled. And note that it is not because
of his faith that the believer is justified and reconciled.
It's through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. It is by
his blood. It is by the death of God's Son. Faith, that true and living faith
which is wrought in our hearts by the Spirit of God. It brings
us into the experience of this justification and reconciliation.
It's not the cause of it. It brings us into the experience
of it. Well, let us consider thirdly
and finally the believer's future. We see the believer's future
in verses 9 and 10. much more than being now justified
by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if
when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death
of his son much more being reconciled we shall be saved by his life we have these words in both of
these verses we shall be saved we shall be saved There is not
only a present salvation comprising justification and reconciliation,
but there's also a future salvation. We are saved for time and for
eternity. In verse 9 we read, we shall
be saved from wrath through him. Saved from wrath through him.
There is a wrath to come. There is a wrath to come. Paul
speaks of it in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1. He reminds the Thessalonians. how ye turned to God from idols,
to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come." The wrath to come. He speaks of it
in his second epistle as well. When the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power. Christ speaks of that wrath at
the conclusion of one of his parables and in many other places
of course. In Luke chapter 19 verse 27 He says, But those mine enemies,
which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither
and slay them before me. That is the wrath from which
the believer in Jesus is and shall be eternally saved. The wrath to come. Much more
then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. by virtue of the precious blood
of Christ, by virtue of the blood of the everlasting covenant,
the Lord's people, those who are justified, declared to be
righteous through the finished work of Christ, they are exempt
from that wrath which is to be poured out upon the ungodly and
upon them that know not God. It is through Him. It's through
Him. Thy mercy in Jesus exempts me
from hell. Its glories I'll sing and its
wonders I'll tell, T'was Jesus, my friend, when he hung on the
tree, Who opened the channel of mercy for me. Again the Apostle writes to the
Thessalonians, For God hath not appointed us to wrath, But to
obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, Who died for us. But whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. This is the believer's future.
It's not only by his death that we shall be saved, but also by
his life, that is, by his resurrection. Then in verse 10, for if when
we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. We
shall be saved by His life. His resurrection from the dead
is the guarantee, as it were, of the believer's future resurrection
from the dead. Because I live, ye shall live
also, he said. And so it was prophesied in Hosea. Hosea 13 verse 14. I will ransom
them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death.
O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes. There is to be a future deliverance
from the grave. And this is the glorious hope
and expectation of all the elect of God. It's expressed by the
psalmist in Psalm 49. Verse 15, but God will redeem
my soul from the power of the grave. For he shall receive me. Selah. And by virtue of the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, none of the elect of
God can ever fail. They shall all be brought to
glory. They shall all be brought to
endless bliss. The Lord Jesus Christ is our
great high priest and he is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. by so much was Jesus made a surety
of a better testament. And they truly were many priests,
because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death.
But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood,
wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost, that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. Charles Hodge says in his commentary
on Romans, there is therefore most abundant ground of confidence
for the final blessedness of believers not only in the amazing
love of God by which those sinners and enemies, they have been justified
and reconciled by the death of his son, but also in the consideration
that this same Savior that died for them still lives, and ever
lives, to sanctify, protect, and save them. Yes, the believer's
future is as secure as the covenant from which all these blessings
proceed it's as secure as the covenant from which all this
blessedness, the blessedness of an eternal salvation proceeds
for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but
my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant
of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy upon
thee. And so Paul says, doesn't he,
in chapter eight of this epistle, whom he justified, then he also
glorified. Well, we've considered something
of the believer's past, the believer's present, and his future. The
great question is this, as we draw to a conclusion. Where do
we stand in regard to these things? Where do you stand with regard
to these things? Have you believed on the name
of the only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ? Are you looking
to Him and to Him alone to save you from your sins? Are you trusting
in Him and in His finished work? Blessed are all they that put
their trust in Him. John says, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Well, may the Lord bless His word to each one of us, for the
good of our souls and for the glory of His holy name. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much
more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies,
We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Much more,
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. Amen.