"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also:knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

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. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation."

We might say that this portion of the Epistle to the Romans is the very heart of the epistle, and that this epistle is the very heart of the Bible, wherein the ground of God's salvation is conclusively set forth-it is a textbook, as it were, which demands our careful attention and study. In it, the Holy Spirit through the apostle lays down the principles and foundation of God's gospel; not of salvation for sinners only, but deep and precious instruction for the saints also. It takes us out of sin and its dominion, on to the glory of God, without one charge against us.

This gospel of God existed long before this epistle was written, of course, but here it is proclaimed and expounded; as the law of gravitation existed when God created the worlds, but Sir Isaac Newton explained to us how those mighty orbs are kept in their own paths instead of clashing together. So in Romans, the ways of God in man's salvation are expounded. This brings us to our chapter.

"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God," says the apostle Paul, speaking like a lawyer before the bar arguing his case. In verse 24 of the preceding chapter he says if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, we are justified by faith in Him, and have peace with God; and he cites Abraham as an example. He says, "Now it was not written for his sake alone that his faith was imputed to him for righteousness, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed if we believe on Him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead."

This then is the gospel:Jesus Christ was crucified, offered Himself on the cross for our offences. Many nominally assent to this perhaps without true faith. Romanists will frankly say that He was "delivered for our offences," but it is made of no effect by all they add to it -their Church ordinances must be followed; penances endured ; extreme unction administered to the dying ; masses said for the dead; purgatory endured for the soul's cleansing, and none can say when any will be released from it! But in glorious contrast to all man's ways of meriting heaven, here is God's declaration:"Christ was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Note this, having died for our sins He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father for our justification. He went down to death under the load of our sins. If He had not risen again, we would have no proof that our sins were put away; but since He rose from the dead, we have God's word as our authority that He was "raised again for our justification."

The raising again of our Substitute is the public declaration that righteousness has nothing against Him – therefore nothing against us!

This fifth chapter of Romans gives the blessed, happy results of being justified before God. I wonder if every one of us here has had the thrill of realizing that he is justified before God. What are the results of that justification? First, we have an established peace with God. It means that not one doubt or fear is left in our minds if we accept God's testimony. It means that there is nothing against us on God's books, that our record is wiped clean. There are Christians who do not have that peace, not because they have not been accepted, but because they have not implicit faith in what God has declared.

"By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand." That is the second result, Access- what is it? It means not only that the great barrier of my sins between me and God has been removed, but that I have title to come into God's very presence. Instead of being a stranger at the door of a king, and told by the guard that I cannot enter, I say, "I am a child of the King;" the guard salutes, I go right in and feel the Father's arms around me. Not only are we forgiven, but justified; not only justified, but we have access into God's presence-"access by faith." We can look up to God our Father and give thanks as we eat our meals. We can kneel down at night, and pour out our hearts into His ears just as truly as the little tot can snuggle into his mother's arms and tell her all his little troubles. We can lie on our beds and meditate on God's grace in accepting us in the Beloved; and in the early morning raise our heart and voice in song to Him who loves us.

And not only have we access, but we also "rejoice in hope of the glory of God." That is what we are going on to. I was talking to a brother a few days ago and we agreed that the human heart must have an object; and here we have it, the "hope of the glory of God." If we look at the past, "we have peace with God;" at the present, we have access; for the future, we have the "glory of God" in view-we are going on to it.

A few years ago we had even here in Baltimore, a glorious display of the Northern Lights. Perhaps you remember the marvelous exhibition. The whole sky was aglow with a ruddy light. I went out on a porch facing the north:it was a whole mass of glory! The light started from the horizon, sometimes red, sometimes green, sometimes golden, and the whole heavens beyond were quivering with glory. And I thought to myself, If God paints the heavens of this earth like that, what must it be before His throne! It must be an unspeakable glory, and it all shines in the blessed face of our Lord Jesus! And I was not the least afraid in the presence of that glory, for I had "peace with God," whilst some of His glory was shining before me.

And now it says, "Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also." Now we come right down to earth. God lets us have tribulations too. What does Paul mean by glorying in tribulations? Not that we seek for tribulation, but because by it God is doing something for us:"Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us."
Just a word on these things. Patience means endurance, and that means constancy. It is constancy with God that we need. Imagine one of your loved ones at home being kind to you one minute and unkind the next. It would be very grievous; wouldn't it? One of the precious things about the relationship of husband and wife is, that they know each other so well that they absolutely depend upon and trust in each other. It gives their hearts rest and peace because there is to each other loyalty and endurance that will never turn away. God wants loyalty in His people, and He cultivates it in us through trials which cast us upon Him, the true and faithful One. If we were taken away to glory when we believed, we would not have these experiences of His faithfulness and care. In trouble, how good it is to rest in the arms of One who loves us better than any one else. I was never happier than the night that I was laid on the operating-table, because I knew that God loved me better than I did myself, better even than my wife loved me. So we can sing,

"We know Thee as we could not know
Through heaven's golden years:
We there shall see Thy glorious face,
Here understand Thy tears."

Through our sorrows we know something of the sorrows of the Lord Jesus in His life of love here upon earth. We can be glad of tribulations because of their fruit. Patience results in experience; and experience in hope. And why hope? Because if we have our satisfaction here we will think of nothing else:but if we have sadness here, we think of Christ.

A missionary and his wife were giving themselves to the Lord for His work in Belgium. Before they took up this work the Lord took to Himself a dear little baby girl in whom all their affections were centered, and from the depths of their sorrow they looked to the Lord to find what their loss meant. That little child's spirit had been taken to the glory. God, who knew their hearts, knew that they were too much occupied with her, so He took the baby-and took their hearts too up there with her. Then they gave themselves to this work, and thousands have received the gospel through them. God often takes away near and dear things that our treasure may be laid up in heaven.

"The love of Christ is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." I don't know just how to explain it. All I can say is that if the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts, it will make us rejoice.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." That tells us why it was so long before Christ came into the world. People might say, It is very strange that generation after generation should come and go, men be steeped in sin, and yet it was so long a time before Jesus came. But verse 6 says, "In due time Christ died for the ungodly." Not beforehand, and not too late, but just in time. God had to prove to mankind how much it needed a Saviour. Through all the ages there had not been one solitary man or woman who by his own merit could be justified before God. There was not a single human soul anywhere at any time through all the dispensations that could stand before God and say in truth, "I am without fault." Job thought he could say almost that much, but afterward was obliged to confess, "I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." So in due time "Christ died for the ungodly." The very moment that you come to God and say, I am a sinner, I have been ungodly, He will take away your sin, and give you life eternal. Why? Because "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." The first of these verses speaks of human love, and the second, of divine love. Notice the difference. The very pinnacle of human love is for a man to die for a friend. A little boat came to a landing and left its passengers. Among them was a woman with her child, busying herself with her bundles. Suddenly there was a splash. The mother looked and saw her baby in the water and she jumped in after her. She couldn't swim-and they were both drowned. You say that was an unreasonable thing to do. It certainly wasn't wise. What led the woman to jump after her child. It was just love-mother love. She gave her life for her child. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." God did not send His Son thoughtlessly, like this woman acted. No, in His counsels He had brooded over it. He had purposed to give His Son long "before the foundation of the world." What for? Good people? No, for hard-hearted rebels-for man who had turned away from Him and filled the earth with violence!

The word "commend" here is about the same as advertise. God is preaching everywhere, advertising all over this world that "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." And, strange to say, few people will believe it! It is only when the Spirit of God works with mighty power that He can get one here, one there, to believe it.

"Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." If God has done that marvelous thing, given Jesus when we were enemies, sinners, and ungodly, if He has done that un-paralleled thing, isn't He also going to do the most natural thing in the world, keep those He has justified? Do you get the point? If God has given His best gift to poor wretched sinners when they were ungodly; if Christ has died and gone through the terrors of Gethsemane, the cross, and the grave for sinners, "much more then we shall be saved from wrath through Him."

In the tenth verse is a similar argument:"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." Verse 9 is looking on to the judgment of God. The wrath of God cannot come upon a soul that is justified. Verse 10 is looking upon the flesh, the devil, and the pitfalls and snares that come in the world. We are saved from those by His living power. His living power saves us from all the power of the enemy. Isn't it wonderful grace?

"Not only so," not only have we peace, not only are we looking in hope to the glory; not only are we kept by the power of God, but we "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the reconciliation." Let us then do as Paul did, "joy in God," and remember what God said to Abraham, "Fear not, Abram:I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."

In conclusion, the gospel begins with us in our sins, takes us up where we are, and as we are, justifies us, gives us peace with God, gives us access into His very presence, makes us "accepted in the Beloved," and fills our hearts with joy and hope and peace in believing. A. S. L.