Good morning, everyone. Good
to see everybody here. We are here to worship Christ,
exalt him, glorify God and exalt Christ
and what he's done for us, saved us by his grace. If you would
go ahead and turn to Romans chapter five, we're going to begin verse
six this morning. And as you can see on the screen,
The title of my message is Much More in Christ, and it's taken
from verse nine out of these verses that I'm gonna be going
over. In our study through the Book
of Romans here over the last few months, the Apostle
Paul, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has taken us step
by step and brought us to where we are today. in chapter five
and verse six in our study this morning. He began in chapter
one saying that he was called to be an apostle as he wrote
this letter to the church there at Rome. An apostle was a special
messenger or an ambassador that was sent by Christ. His authority
and doctrine were given to him directly by Christ. He states
that also that he wasn't ashamed of the gospel. He says, he says,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it. And that salvation
is not for the Jews only, but it's also for Gentiles, for all
other nationality, no matter what creed or race you might
come from, that salvation is for all. all those that God chose
from the foundation of the world and give to Christ out of every
tribe, kindred, and nation. Paul also points out in chapter
2 of Romans God's impartial judgment on both Jew and Gentile. And
he does this in Romans 2 beginning at verse 11. where it says, for
there is no respect of persons with God, for as many as have
sinned without the law shall also perish without the law,
and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the
law. For not the hearers of the law
are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. God demands perfect righteousness,
and the only place that that's to be found is in Christ. is
in his righteousness alone, in his perfect work, as he obeyed
God's law in every jot and tittle, and then he went to the cross.
He went to the cross and shed his blood that we might be justified
before this holy God. He also closes out chapter two
with his argument against circumcision having anything to do with a
person's justification before God. when he states what a true
Jew is in Romans 2, beginning at verse 28. It says, for he
is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision,
which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew, which is one
inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and the spirit,
and not in the letter, whose praise is not of man, but of
God. The Jews would then protest.
Well then, what advantage do we have then as a Jew, being
a Jew? Paul begins chapter three with
stating the advantages of being a Jew when he says that they
were committed the oracles of God. They were given all those
pictures and types in the Old Testament that pointed them to
the Messiah, the coming Messiah, which was to come through their
lineage. Then he points out that no matter whether you are a Jew
or a Gentile, that by nature there is none righteous, no not
one. No man born of Adam is righteous
by nature. We're all born in the same shape.
Then he points out the remedy for our sinful condition and
our condition in Adam in Romans 3 beginning at verse 21. He says,
but now the righteousness of God without the law, without
our obedience to the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. Now Paul begins in chapter four
dealing with two men, Abraham and David. whom the Jews greatly
admired. He does this by proving that
both Abraham and David were not saved by their works, but by
the righteousness of Christ, the coming Messiah. He does this
with Abraham in Romans four, beginning verse one, where it
says, what shall we say then? That Abraham, my father's pertaining
to the flesh have found. For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath wore off the glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture?
Abraham believed God, and it was accounted, or imputed, unto
him for righteousness. And then with David, the king
of Israel, in Romans four, beginning at verse six, even as David also
described it, the blessedness of the man, that blessed man,
unto whom God imputed righteousness. without works, saying, blessed
are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute or charge them with their sin. Paul describes
and defines the divine manner of justification in chapter three
and chapter four. He begins chapter five in verse
one of Romans with therefore being justified. Then he continues
in chapter five to discuss the fruits and the consequences,
the blessed consequences of our having been justified by the
death and the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. This
morning, we will talk about Christ's death being the manifestation
of the love of God toward his elect. And we'll begin that in
verse six of Romans five, where it says, for when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Paul had shown that all of salvation from justification to the new
birth and on to final glory is all of God's free in his sovereign
grace in Christ and in Christ alone. Absolutely no part, no
part of salvation is earned or deserved by a saved sinner. This and the following verses
prove this without debate. The next phrase, for when we
were yet without strength. This describes the natural, sinful,
and fallen condition of all whom Christ saves. By nature and by
practice, we're all totally impotent and we're helpless to save ourselves. This impotence describes our
whole persons, our hearts, our affections, and our wills. We, by nature, have no power
to save or cleanse ourselves. We have no power to make ourselves
righteous before this holy God. We also have no power to believe
in Christ because of our natural ignorance, rebelliousness, and
self-righteousness. And I don't care what the free
willers tell you, you cannot come to God unless he comes to
you first. He makes us willing in the day
of his power. God has to make us willing. By
nature, we won't come to this God, the God that justifies the
ungodly. The sinner being without strength
or ability to save himself is why it was stated back in Romans
5, 5, the Holy Spirit must be given unto us. The next phrase,
in due time, here in this verse 6, Paul shows how salvation is
a sovereign purpose and decree of Almighty God. God the Father
sent his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world at the
appointed time to save his people from their sins. Galatians 4,
beginning at verse 4, says, but in the fullness of time But when
the fullness of time was come, 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. And because
you are sons, God had sent forth the spirit of his son unto your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. I'm gonna go back just a little
bit and sidetrack just a minute as far as when the fullness of
time was come. and talk a little about the phrase
here in verse 5 of Galatians 4, where it says,
receive the adoption of sons. Adoption is a blessing of grace.
It is one of those blessings that is quoted in Ephesians 1
through verse 3, where it says, blessed be the God and Father
by Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. According he has chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world That we should be
holy and without blame before him in love Having predestinated
us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will The adoption of sons existed
before it was ever received by the center Receiving it does
not add anything to it. It was in God's designation and
determination from all eternity the God who predestinated his
chosen ones unto it by Christ, and that according to the good
pleasure of his own will, it was provided, it was laid up
and secured for them in the everlasting covenant. And as part of that
grace given them in Christ before the world began. But sin intervening,
whereby the law was broken. in Adam. Obstacles were thrown
in the way of God's elect receiving and enjoying this privilege in
their own experience, this privilege of being adopted sons. Wherefore
Christ was sent to redeem them from sin and the law and by so
doing remove these obstructions so that they might receive this
privilege in a way consistent with the righteousness and holiness
of God, as well as with the grace and the goodness of God. The
receiving of it shows it to be a gift, a free grace gift, and
not owing to any merit on the sinner's part. Now, as we go
back to our main verse here in Romans 5, verse 6, where it says,
in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Back in the verse we
just got through reading in Galatians 4, Verse four, where the phrase,
when the fullness of the time was come, this is the time agreed
and fixed upon between God, the son, God, the father, God, the
son from all eternity. This agreement was between God,
the Godhead and determined in the council and covenant of peace.
This fullness of time spoken of here is when God, the son
should assume human nature. This time was diligently searched
into by the prophets in the Old Testament and was revealed to
them and predicted by them in prophecies, more particularly
by Daniel in the prophecy of the 70 weeks in Daniel 9, 24
through 27. Now the thought here in verse
six of Romans five is that there is nothing delayed about Christ's
death on the cross of Calvary. His sacrificial death was not
an afterthought. but was the manner in which God
from eternity past had determined he would deal with the sins of
his elect in Christ. The last part of verse six is
Christ died for the ungodly. The ones for whom Christ died
are described as ungodly, which proves that they have no power
to save themselves and nothing about them or within them to
recommend themselves to God. Remember that ungodly does not
mean that lost sinners are necessarily irreligious or immoral according
to human standards. The scribes and the Pharisees
is a good example. They were sincerely and zealously
religious and appeared righteous unto men, but they were still
ungodly according to God's standard. Now, man without Christ without
grace, without faith, he's ungodly. This is why God's grace is so
amazing. This is the type of persons for whom Christ died.
Tells us that in 1 Timothy 1 verse 15. This is the faithful saying
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. This is Paul, the apostle
Paul speaking here. In Romans 5, beginning at verse
7, we'll read 7 and 8. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commanded his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, cried, die for. The
reality and nature of God's love to his people in Christ is such
that it seems unreasonable to the natural man but it is totally
consistent with God's nature and glory in the salvation of
sinners. Speaking of the righteousness,
speaking of a righteous man here in verse seven, there are no
righteous or good man to be found among us, but Paul speaking hypothetically
here as he says this in Romans seven and eight. It is unreasonable
to us and not necessarily amazing that some would die for a man
we would consider to be righteous or be good, but consider how
God demonstrated his love for his elect who were by nature
wicked and evil. Sinners in this context are those
who by nature are unclean and corrupt servants of sins alienated
from and enemies of God. Remember Colossians 16, 21, and
you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled. Remember Paul's design is to
confirm our confidence and our assurance in God's faithfulness
to fulfill his promise of salvation, all condition on Christ alone.
This language removes all notions of salvation condition on the
center in any way. God's love towards his chosen
people is free, it's unmerited, and it's unconditional. 1 John
4 verse 10, herein is love, not that we love God, but that he
loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Romans 5 and verse 9, our next
verse, reads much more than being now justified by his blood, we
shall be saved from wrath through him. Added to the greatness of
God's grace in Christ, having been justified by the blood of
Christ, there is no possibility of future wrath for God's people. In this one chapter, God shows
us in so many ways how we who are justified by his grace through
the redemption that's in Christ Jesus are secure and we're safe
in his love and in his grace. Even God's elect deserve God's
wrath, yet we're not appointed to it. Therefore, the elect are
entirely delivered from it through Christ sustaining it in their
room and in their stead. Wherefore, they are secure from
it, both in this life and in the life to come. We who rest
in Christ have no reason to fear God's impending wrath upon sinners.
Because wrath cannot abide where justice has been satisfied and
righteousness imputed. The whole ground and basis of
our justification of Christ that made satisfaction
for our sin. If we are in Christ, washed in
his blood, clothed in his righteousness, it is impossible for us to perish. Christ himself and by himself
suffered the full penalty of God's wrath for us. I think I've lost my place here.
Christ being the elect substitute went to the cross. He went to
the cross, he suffered, bled, and died, not for sins he committed,
but for sins, the sins of God's elect, as he stood as their substitute
and surety for the sin debt that they owed, but could not pay.
Paying their debt by his shed blood, Christ justified his elect
before the Father. Oh, what manner of love. Romans
5 verse 10 reads, 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. Someone may object, but don't
we have to do our part to bring about this reconciliation? Well,
no, reconciliation was accomplished, it says here, by the death of
his son and when we were enemies, enemies of God. Reconciliation
implies a former state of friendship, though. There was a breach of
that friendship due to the elect's fall in Adam. Therefore, there
must be a making up of it or something done in order to make
reconciliation. This in no way contradicts the
everlasting and unchangeable love of God to his people. It
simply reveals the love of God for his people. This is not a
reconciliation of God to them, but of them to God. Reconciliation
is peace that's established between enemies. God was the offended
one. We were the offenders. God had
to be reconciled toward his people, even when they were enemies.
How was this accomplished? It was solely by the death of
Christ. In Colossians 1, in verse 19, beginning of verse
19, says, for it pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, 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. Well, does this
mean that we ourselves do not have to be reconciled to God?
No, we must and will be reconciled to God in our own minds and experience
by faith in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5 beginning at
verse 19 says, To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the
world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then,
we're ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God. For he hath made him, Christ,
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in him. Our reconciliation to God by
faith in Christ is the fruit and the result of our reconciliation
to God by the death of Christ. The next phrase, saved by his
life, refers to the fact that we are sustained daily and kept
into glory by the resurrected living Lord Jesus Christ, whoever
lives, as our advocate, to intercede for us and preserve us by his
power and by his grace. Romans 8, 34. says, Who is he
that condemneth? It is Christ that died, rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Also, in 1 John 2, my little
children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and he is the
propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for
the sins of the whole world. Now, this of course does not
mean that Christ was the propitiation for all men without exception,
but for Jews and Gentiles, all men, no matter what nationality
throughout the world, whether you're a Jew or whether you're
a Gentile. Also in Jude 24 and 25, says, now unto him that is
able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy to the only
wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power
both now and forever, amen. Christ's work in our salvation
did not stop at the cross or even at his resurrection. It
continues forever to keep us and bring us into final glory
in him. And our last verse we'll look
at is verse 11 here in Romans 5, where it reads, and not only
so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
we have now received the atonement. Not only are we saved by his
life and from wrath through him, not only are we reconciled to
God by son and spirit, not only did Christ die for us while sinners
and ungodly, not only do we glory in tribulations and rejoice in
the hope of glory of God, but we also joy in God. We also joy in God is our covenant
God and father in Christ as the God of all grace, peace and salvation. We join his perfections as engaged
on our side and as he glorified is he glorified in our salvation.
We also joy in the purposes of God. and God's covenant transaction
with his son, as they are made known in the everlasting gospel.
We also joy in all his providential dispensations, which are mercy
and truth, and in our being of him in Christ, and Christ being
made into his wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
And lastly, we joy in all the blessings of grace that we receive
from him, and the glory of which is his due, The means by which
saints come at this joining and glorying in God is not only has
Christ already perfectly satisfied all the conditions as our surety
and representative, evidenced by his resurrection, but by faith
we also join God the Father. We rejoice in God's redemptive
character as a just God and a savior. We know that God is not only
the source and originator of our salvation, but he has also
engaged his entire being to save us eternally. The phrase by whom
here, of course, is by Christ. Notice again how our reconciliation
to God is attributed to Christ. All the work of the Holy Spirit
in us is a direct effect of Christ's work for us. Atonement is not
made by us but received by us, which denotes the application
of the atoning blood and sacrifice of Christ to the believer's conscience
and the Spirit's witness to us and of our interest in it by
faith. The office of faith is simply
a recipient of it, a fruit and effect of what Christ accomplished
in his atoning death on the cross. It is not faith nor anything
else that a sinner might do or be unable to do that makes atonement,
but only Christ. God's gift of faith enables God's
elect to receive the atonement or experience it by looking to
Christ alone for all salvation. It is also the foundation of
our hope and our future glory. We are now by faith able to receive
Christ's righteousness, which alone brings atonement, meaning
literally reconciliation. All blessings of grace through
Christ are promised by God to any sinner who comes to him for
salvation, pleading the merits of the shed blood and imputed
righteousness of Christ. And that's key, pleading the
merits of the shed blood and imputed righteousness of Christ.
Now, if a sinner comes to God for salvation this way, pleading
Christ alone for all his salvation, be assured that God has made
you willing in the day of his power. Why would sinners expect
salvation and eternal blessings based on their own righteousness,
which is no righteousness at all, when they can have this
salvation and this blessing all based on the very best of the
Son of God, the very righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ? In
closing, Romans 5 9, I'll read again, much more than being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Well, if God is so pleased to
have slain you by his law, it showed you that there's no hope
in anything that you do or the anything you've been able to
do. No hope at all. in your works as it relates to
being saved or being justified before God. If he slain you by
his law and caused you to see your helplessness and your hopelessness,
to stand before him in and by your own works, enter God's rest. As Mark's message last week says,
enter God's rest today. Flee to Christ. Stop going about
to establish a righteousness of your own. plead to Christ
for all of salvation, understand and know that by Christ's blood
alone, by his blood alone, God has justified all of his elect
and saved them from wrath to come.