by If you love singing like I do, there’s a moment, especially when singing a hymn, when the words burst alive deep within your heart and you find yourself standing on tippy toes in doxology. Lately I find my heart on tippy toes as I read Romans 5, as the riches of God’s grace in Christ cause my heart to soar.
The climax for me begins in Rom 4:25. Talking about Jesus, Paul writes: “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”
This builds up in chapter 5 which lists the treasure of riches we have received on account of Christ.
- We have been justified through faith in Jesus Christ.
- We have peace with God because of that justification.
- Through Christ we have gained access by faith into God’s grace.
- We now stand in God’s grace. That’s our new position.
- We have a boast in the hope of the glory of God. One day the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of God’s glory as the waters cover the sea.
- We glory in our sufferings because WE KNOW they produce perseverance, character and hope. Our pain is never wasted. Instead, it transforms us and helps us focus on our hope, Christ. Our suffering will not lead to shame because without doubt we know we are loved by God, not abandoned.
- God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.
- We have been given the Holy Spirit.
- When we were still powerless, Christ died for us, the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- If we have been justified through Christ, we shall be saved from God’s wrath through the life of Christ.
- We are no longer God’s enemies; we’ve been reconciled to God through the death of Christ. The wall of enmity is broken forever by the blood of His Son.
- Christ is not just lord of the universe, He is our Lord. We have a new master who calls us co-heirs to his kingdom, friends, sons…
- God’s grace and the resulting gift of righteousness overflows from one man, Christ, to many! All who receive God’s abundant provision of grace receive the gift of righteousness.
- We have crossed from death in Adam to life in Christ. We are a new lineage, adopting a new blessing of life in the second Adam who obeyed instead of the curse of the first Adam that resulted from disobedience.
- This life is eternal through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ for us who believe! In Christ. Through Christ. For Christ. To us who believe. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.” Eph 1:3-14
