The Far-Reaching Riches of Grace
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
The Book of Romans leads us into the deepest mysteries of God and of grace. As we begin its study we feel that we are entering into overflowing waters.
Paul's message in Romans begins with the message of "the Gospel of God, * * concerning [God's] Son"; he declares that he is not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth.
The message of Romans continues with a dark and dismal picture of sin. It speaks first, of the Gentile world, as under sin; it speaks next, of the Jewish world, as under sin; and it concludes with the whole world under sin, and guilty before God.
The message of Romans passes on to the story of Justification. It certifies that salvation is made possible through the Blood of Christ, upon the faith of the trusting sinner.
The message of Romans does not delay, until in the fifth chapter, it has shown the marvelous and superabounding sway of the grace of God over the wreckage and ruin of sin. Wherever sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
By way of introduction to our study, which will involve the first eleven verses of Romans five, we want to show the five great statements in the chapter concerning this super-abounding grace of God.
1. The much more of salvation from wrath (Romans 5:9). "Much more then, being now justified by His Blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." What words could carry a more comforting message than these? They tell us that since we stand justified before God; that is, made just, therefore God's wrath cannot touch us. The wrath of God fell upon Christ, at the same moment that through His Blood justification passed over to us.
2. The much more of security in Christ's Life (Romans 5:10). If, as enemies, we became reconciled by the death of His Son, much more we are saved by His life. The verse before us carries us past mere salvation from sin's penalty, into the deeper reaches of salvation, vouchsafed unto us by a risen and exalted Christ. Had Christ remained in the tomb, the work accomplished on Calvary had been incomplete. In the Living Christ we are kept secure; being saved, we are announced as safe. As long as Christ lives, we know that we too shall also live.
3. The much more of the free gift, as abounding over the offence (Romans 5:15). Sin, through one man's offence, made many dead; the gift of grace made many to live. Here, however, is the wonder of it all: the offence brought death, the free gift brought abounding life. The wicked are dead in their trespasses and sins; the saved are alive in a realm of life that by far surpasses the life from which man fell into death.
Life, as it was in the Garden of Eden, is not comparable to life as it is in Christ Jesus. We passed from the plane of life (through the transgression of one man), down into the plane of death; we pass through the gift of grace (which is by One Man, Jesus Christ), up into a plane transcendently above the plane of our Edenic created life.
4. The much more of the reign in life, over the reign in death (Romans 5:17). How startling, and yet, how true are the words "death reigned!" Death reigned from the moment that sin entered; and it will reign until sin passes out. It is only in the New Heavens and the New Earth, where He maketh all things new, that we are able to read, "And there shall be no more death."
How soul-stirring are the words, "life reigned!" Not that alone, but life reigns much more. To them who receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness, the promise is given "life reigned."
Life with all of its benefactions and blessings; life with all of its power and privileges; life reveling in the personal touch with Christ the Prince of life, these shall be ours forevermore.
5. The much more of grace over sin (Romans 5:20-21). That sin abounds, we know. We see sin and its ravages on every hand. The heart has proved itself "exceedingly sinful"; it is desperately wicked. Sin carries with it, where ever it goes, the hiss of the serpent. It spells nothing but sorrow and pain, and it ends in death and hell.
That grace abounds, we know. Grace superabounds, it overlaps the wreckage of sin; it brings in the blessings of life. Grace is bountiful as we meet Christ at the Cross; it is more bountiful in the daily walk of the believer; it super-abounds in the ages to come. We are all familiar with the Scripture, "That in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."
I. A THREEFOLD VISION OF THE UNSAVED (Romans 5:6-9)
There are three things stated in the verses we have read. Let us take them one at a time:
1. "When we were yet without strength." The picture is that of one who is ungodly, and without any self-power to remedy his estate. We were ungodly, and at the same time we were without strength.
Oh, the helplessness of the sinner in his sins! Ungodly, suggests a sinner without God in the world. It also suggests a sinner who has no thought of God in mind and heart.
Ungodly, and without any self-hope of remedy. Nothing within himself to change his condition, The whole heart sick, the whole head faint.
Without strength. We call to mind the man sick of palsy, who was borne of four. We think of the man at the pool of Bethesda, who, in his helplessness, had no one to aid him down into the pool when the waters were stirred. We think of the woman bound of the devil for eighteen years. Oh, the weakness, the helplessness of the ungodly--they are without God, and without hope in the world.
2. "While we were yet sinners." The picture now gathers color. First we read of the "ungodly." We next read of "sinners." Neither name is complimentary, but both names carry solemn truth. The man who is ungodly, without God, will prove himself to be a sinner.
The ungodly is described as, "without strength"; because of this fact, the sinner is described as obtaining strength from God. Mark the words with care, "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Here is pure and unadulterated "grace." The Cross, in the purposes of God, preceded the salvation of the sinner. This was, of course, a necessity, for the ungodly were without strength. All of this magnifies the fact of grace, Christ was willing to die for us, when there was nothing in us to merit aught from Him.
3. "When we were enemies." How the names which describe the lost, add significance. First, ungodly; next, sinners; and finally, enemies. The unsaved are not only without God, but they are against God. They are not only sinners, but they are sinners, who are at enmity with the Saviour.
As the names which the Spirit uses to describe the unsaved grow in the intensity of their significance, the love and mercy and grace of God grow in their depth of meaning. Christ died for sinners; He died to reconcile enemies. Not only, then, does grace seek to save the ungodly and the sinner, with nothing to commend them to God; but it even goes so far as to seek to save enemies, who are actively antagonistic to God.
II. THE VISION OF GOD (Romans 5:8)
To us, this is a blessed vision, which the Holy Spirit gives us of God. We have just heard how the unsaved were ungodly and sinners and enemies. Now, however, we read, "But God commendeth His love toward us."
We are reminded of Ephesians 2:1-22, which describes the sinner as dead, as walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, as a child of disobedience, as fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and the mind, as a child of wrath then comes the marvelous statement, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, * * for by grace are ye saved." It is this vision of God which is thrown upon the dark background of the exceeding sinfulness of sinners.
How blessed it is when light radiates its glory and beauty, in the midst of darkest night! Grace turns the night to day. How beautiful it is when God, who is light, shines into the heart of the darkened sinner, and turns his night to day! Grace transforms the sinner into the saint.
God does not wait until we are washed from our sins, to love us. He loved us when we were yet sinners. In Revelation it reads this way, "Unto Him who loved us, and washed us." He loved us before He washed us.
III. A VISION OF THE DEATH OF CHRIST (Romans 5:8). "Christ died for us."
We have studied of the sinner in his sins. We have also heard of God and His love. We now come to Christ and His death.
The love of God toward a sinner, had not been able to help the sinner, if it had not been for the death of Christ.
We would like to say, what does the love of God profit, if Christ had not died? God's love could not have saved a sinner; God's grace could not have changed the ungodly; and, God's mercy could not have reconciled enemies, if there had been no Christ and His Cross, with Divine propitiation, and substitution, and reconciliation.
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. The channel through which God's mercy and love and grace operated was the channel of the atoning work of the Son of God. It was at the mercy-seat that God met the sinner, and it is at the mercy-seat that the sinner must meet his God.
For the ungodly, there is mercy; for, "in due time Christ died for the ungodly." For sinners, there is love; for, "Christ died for us." For enemies, there is reconciliation; for, "we are reconciled * * by the death of His Son."
The question which should concern us all is this: Have we received the atonement? The way from earth to Heaven is the way of the Cross. Are we traveling by that route? It any one climb up any other way, the same is a thief and a robber. The door to life stands open. Christ is that Door, and yet, it is necessary for the sinner to enter in: "I am the Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved."
IV. A VISION OF WHAT CHRIST DOES FOR US (Romans 5:9-10)
Here are some of the things noted in our verses:
1. We are justified by His Blood. What rhythmic cadence to the soul is found in the words: "Being now justified by His Blood." Self-justification is quite an art with some people they seek to justify all that they do, no matter how evil are their ways. Justification, with God, is no camouflage of sin; it bears no compromise with sin. Justification is not reckoned by God as a mere excusing of the sinner, or as false standard where there is no basis of truth.
We are justified at infinite cost, even through the Blood of Christ. How the meaning of the Cross grows as we behold its wonderful accomplishments. God, in His marvelous holiness and righteousness, found a way, even the way of the Cross, whereby He might be just, and yet justify the ungodly.
2. We are saved from wrath through Him. The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men. Justification does not change the wrath of God; for God's wrath is just as unchangeable as His holiness or truth. Justification actually removes guilt, by transferring that guilt to the One who loved us, and gave Himself for us.
The unsaved who rejects grace, is doing no more than treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and the revelation of the righteousness of God. There is only one way in which we may escape the judgment of God, and be saved from His wrath that way is the way of the Cross.
3. We are reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Once more a word of marvelous meaning is placed before us. Reconciliation can come only to those who are saved from wrath. If we were under wrath, we could not be reconciled.
Reconciliation is the opposite of alienation. In Ephesians we read: "At that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,"
An alien is a foreigner one who has no part nor lot with a citizen. Reconciliation is being brought into fellowship. Sin separated us from God, the death of Christ reconciled us, brought us back to God; brought us back into the open arms of His love and fellowship.
V. A VISION OF REDEMPTION'S OBTAINMENT FOR US (Romans 5:1-3)
1. We have peace with God. Thank God, the war is over. The enmity is done away. The rebellion is passed. We now have peace, not wrath; rest, not judgment.
"Peace with God" bespeaks perfect fellowship, perfect love. Where peace abounds in two lives, those lives run on parallel lines; they speak the same thing, love the same thing, hold to the same objectives.
"Peace with God" leads to the "peace of God." With all estrangement from God done away, and with peace with God established, we are made ready to entertain peace of soul, peace of heart, the peace of God within.
2. We have access to God. This is the result of peace. We are restored to His presence. We may now enter in to the secret places without fear. The middle wall of partition is broken down. All that separated is taken away.
The last vision of the Bible gives us this story: "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the Tree of Life, and may enter in through the gates into the City."
3. We have hope. Here is something that passes beyond the present vista. Hope is an anchor of the soul, which reaches even unto that within the veil. Hope anticipates the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; hope catches the gleam of the glory of the descending Lord, and ascending saints; hope beholds the majesty of Christ's thousand year reign, and it sees beforehand the New Jerusalem descending from God out of Heaven.
We have hope, and in that hope we do rejoice. The glory of God becomes the thrilling thought of our yearning spirits. We live, looking for that glory to dawn. We live, waiting for the effulgence of that glory to break.
VI. A VISION OF MAN'S RESPONSIBILITY (Romans 5:11)
We should receive the atonement. God has the table spread, the feast is all prepared, atonement with its far-reaching results, is made let us receive the atonement.
We take it to mean that if the atonement is not received, the whole glorious vista of redemption's possible work fades from view. It is the receiving, believing sinner who alone will enter into the provisions of the Cross. The unbeliever, the Christ-rejecter must remain a child of wrath; he must be forever lost to all that God made possible for those who trust Him.
How solemn the thought: The whole of God's redemptive work becomes operative, so far as the individual sinner is concerned, only upon that sinner's "receiving the atonement." Unbelief makes it impossible for God to save. Unbelief makes the Cross of Christ of no effect; it robs the sinner of a Saviour, it robs the Saviour of a possible saint.
The gift of grace abounds unto many; the proffer is made to all, however, the blessings of grace accrue only to those who believe. The gift of grace has come upon all men; but alas, all men will not accept the gift.
Here is a solemn warning to the unbeliever. Beware lest you pass away from the light of life into the darkness of eternal night!
AN ILLUSTRATION
BONES STRONGER FOR HAVING BEEN BROKEN
"Our reconciliation with God is like the soldering of a vessel, which is henceforth strongest in the crack; or as a leg broken, if well set, it is the stronger: so are we upon firmer terms than we were in innocency; there was before the fall a possibility of being at odds with God, which is now taken away." This is a gracious fact. Under the covenant of works it would have been always possible for obedience to fail, and then the reward would have been forfeited; but now, under the new covenant, our Lord Jesus has settled and fixed all that was contingent in it by perfecting His part of the agreement, and therefore all the rest stands sure, and all believers must receive covenanted mercies. Adam might have fallen, and we in him, even had he stood for a thousand years. The second Adam has ended His probation both for Himself and all His seed, and now nothing can intervene to deprive His people of the earned and purchased inheritance. Innocence seemed sure, but perfection is surer. It is something not to have broken the Law; it is far more to have fulfilled it and honored it, so as to be able to say as our Lord has said, "I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do." Chas. H. Spurgeon.