Immediate Results of Justification.
To be acquitted of guilt through the death of Jesus is the most elementary blessing which the gospel brings to our condemned race, shut up in its prison-house of wrath. But it cannot come alone. It opens a door of hope through which each reconciled sinner may look forward unto a new world of lovely blessings following in its train. Hope is the keyword of this section, therefore exultant hope of future glory; and the three ideas which successively emerge in its very rich and vivid sentences are these: (1) Our hope reposes on this new relation, established between us and God, that we are at peace with Him. (2) Our hope is not impaired but confirmed by our present tribulation. (3) Our hope is warranted by the proof which we already possess of the love of God for us.
I. There is room now in men's hearts for the hope that God will bless them with that glory which is His own blessedness, since now they are at peace with Him (vers. 1, 2). Enemies of God could never expect to behold His glory, or be satisfied with His likeness. His friends may. Standing thus near, within sight of that Eye that kindles with a Divine delight over His banished brought back; standing thus near, introduced by the Hand that was pierced, and accepted in the Beloved who was slain, what is there for a justified believer to fear? What is there not for him to hope?
II. It is far off, that glory of God which we hope for; at least, it is still in the future. The present is for all of us a life of trouble. Our mean, grieved, dying days, do they not flout and mock at such splendid expectations? Quite the contrary. In the long run life's trouble is found rather to confirm our hope. The Christian who perseveres under trouble is an approved or accredited believer. Is it not clear that, when the tested Christian finds his faith has proved itself genuine, his hope will wax so much the more confident?
III. The triumphant hope of a justified believer in what God is yet to do for him finds a still more sure and inexpugnable foundation of fact in what God has already done to prove the greatness of His love.
J. Oswald Dykes, The Gospel according to St. Paul,p. 113.
References: Romans 5:1-12. Expository Sermons on the New Testament,p. 178. Romans 5:5. G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines,p. 97; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. xiv., No. 829; vol. xxxii., No. 1904; T. T. Carter, Sermons,p. 309; E. H. Gifford, The Glory of God in Man,p. 90. Romans 5:6. Preacher's Monthly,vol. vi., p. 1.Romans 5:6-8. H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. iv., p. 424; W. Hubbard, Ibid.,vol. vii., p. 339; Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. viii., No. 446; vol. xx., No. 1184; vol. xx., No. 1191; vol. xxiii., No. 1345.Romans 5:6-10. H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit,vol. ix., p. 340; Preacher's Monthly,vol. iv., p. 16; Homiletic Quarterly,vol. iii., p. 265.