Romans 5:5-8

Justification – The Beginning of the Journey

God has a full and complete salvation in mind for each of us.= God’s salvation is not stagnant. It is dynamic! We are going someplace. This salvation is a journey togeth= er with God that starts with being justified.= Justification changes our outward position before God. We are no longer condemned but jus= tified by God. The result of being justified is that we have peace toward God and are brought into the realm of grace. Grace becomes our standing. This is wonderful.<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> But God’s salvation does not= stop here. In Romans chapter 5, it= seems that Paul could hardly contain himself.&nb= sp; In verse 3 he says “And not only so…” Then in verse 9, “Much more then…” Again in v= erse 10 he repeats “…much more…” And in verse 11 he says again R= 20;And not only so…”

The Goal of Salvation – Brought Into the Glory of God

The goal and destination of this journey is to enter into the glory of God (Rom 5:2, 8:29-30, Heb. 2:10, 2 Cor. 3:18). When we first received the Lord Jesus, we had no idea what was in st= ore for us. Our initial thought m= ay have been that we needed Jesus and He could do something for us. But in a good sense, we got “= ;caught” by God. He has begun a good w= ork in us and will not stop until He completes it (Philippians 1:6). We may have been content to know t= hat our outward position has been changed.&nbs= p; But God has so much more in view for us (I Cor. 2:9)! Starting with chapter five of Roma= ns, Paul begins to go further to unveil another aspect of God’s complete salvation. God is not content= to stop at changing our position outwardly.&n= bsp; He will continue to work in us to change our disposition inwardly. <= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>

Tribulations are Part of the Process of God’s Full Salvation=

In verse 3 Paul mentions tribulations (a pressing together, pressure, trouble, affliction, distress, anguish).&n= bsp; Sometimes things happen in our lives that we don’t like or understand. Nothing touches o= ur inward being like tribulations. Tribulations have a way of breaking down our strong self and opening= us up to need the Lord in a real way. We need to realize that God causes all things to work together for o= ur good (Rom 8:28 – see note 28-3, Recovery Version). With the Lord, our tribulations ar= e not in vain. They can produce som= ething for us and work out an eternal weight of glory (2 Cor. 4:16, 17). But tribulations alone don’t work.

God’s Love Has Been Poured Out in Our Hearts

For us to cooperate with God’s sovereign arrangements in our lives, we need a motivation. This motivation i= s His love. His love has been poure= d out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5). Thayer in his Greek Lexicon states= : “The Holy Spirit gives our s= ouls a rich sense of the greatness of God’s love for us.” The Lord draws us and woos us by H= is love. God disarms and conquer= s us not by His might and power but by the gentleness of His love. The Lord’s love is available= to us in our tribulations. Shall we= not yield to His love? Shall we n= ot let His love win us over? “= Thy mighty love, O God constraineth me…” (Hymn 431) =