WHAT TO EXPECT
Romans 5:1-11 NET.
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.) 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, because we have now been declared righteous by his blood, we will be saved through him from God’s wrath. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life? 11 Not only this, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received this reconciliation.
Our modern-day godless culture teaches us that we are all the same – that we are all in the same boat. It teaches that differences do not matter, either because nothing matters since there is no God, or if there is a God, he does not care about what we believe or confess if we just try to get along with one another. But the gospel message is that there is a difference between a believer and an unbeliever. There is a difference now, and that difference is reflected in what we do. There will also be a difference later. Believers in Christ and unbelievers do not share the same destiny.
Today’s passage comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul. He was introducing himself and the gospel he preached to the Roman Christians. In this first part of chapter 5, he explained to the Roman Christians what they could expect to happen in their lives since they have come to faith in Christ. Some of those things are positive experiences, and some are the absence of negative experiences. That is, sometimes he explains why Christians no longer must experience what they would if they had not been saved by grace.
I want to talk about those negative experiences first. This passage details …
What to expect now if you have not responded to the gospel:
Expect war with God (1).
Paul said that we have peace with God. But that “we” does not include everyone. It only includes those who have been declared righteous by faith. If you have not placed your faith in Jesus Christ, then expect to live your life at war with the God who created the universe.
Every day I turn on the news, I hear about the devastation that happens when war goes on. Those who start wars are guilty of that devastation as it affects both sides. War is a terrible thing, and it causes suffering and death, and the longer it continues, the more damage it does.
Christians are at war, too, but there are differences in the war we are fighting. God is not our enemy. He is our ally, and he has given us all we need to fight our enemy and win. There is no congress in heaven debate the extent to which Christians will be supplied with the weapons of our warfare. We have God’s complete arsenal on our side because we are on his side.
The unbeliever cannot say that. Not only is the unbeliever left to his or her own devices, but they have picked a fight with the largest superpower.
Expect no access to God’s grace (2).
Paul says that believers have obtained access by faith into God’s grace. Unbelievers do not have that access. They are forbidden to go to the throne room of heaven and meet with God.
Every morning when I turn on my laptop to do my devotions, I must gain access to the computer first. I must type in my code, and if I do not do that, I cannot get access. It doesn’t matter how powerful my computer is, it is useless to me without access. I can bang and punch at my computer all day long, and it would not work for me without that access. If you are an unbeliever, and you wonder why the world just does not seem to work for you, the problem is that you don’t have access to God’s grace.
Expect unproductive suffering (3-4).
You are going to suffer in life just like everyone else does – but with this difference. Your suffering will wear you down and leave you in despair. It is going to make you bitter and selfish and cruel. The older you get, the worse it is going to get.
Expect empty hearts (5).
You are going to have heart trouble that even the best cardiologist will not be able to treat. It won’t show up on an x-ray, but your heart will be empty. It will be missing a key ingredient. Christians have this ingredient, but unbelievers do not. It is God’s love – first poured out in our hearts, then poured out from our hearts.
Expect a helpless and Christless life (6-8).
No matter how much you have, you will live your life unsatisfied. No matter how powerful you become, you will always know that it will not be enough. If you ever think about the cross, you will never realize that God did that for you. But you will fail to accept that gospel truth, and it will be like the one piece of the puzzle that you failed to find. Your life will come to an end, but it will never be complete.
Expect to live as an enemy of God (10-11).
When war wages, lots of innocent people are caught in the wrong place. They become victims even if they were never soldiers. Just by being on the wrong side, they are targets. Such is the case with the unbeliever. You might say you have nothing against God, you just don’t personally want to be a Christian. But there is no neutrality in the war with God. You are either his friend or his enemy. So, since you have never chosen Christ as your Savior, the life you live will be like a refugee, trapped in the war zone.
The result of living such a life is going to be decided by Christ on what the Bible calls Judgment Day.
What to expect later if you have not responded to the gospel:
Expect to be declared unrighteous on Judgment Day (1,9).
Paul says that believers have already been declared righteous by faith. But those who refuse to put their faith in Christ are awaiting a court date in which the only possible verdict is guilty. Unless one has been declared righteous, the outcome of judgment is already a given.
Expect the shame of God’s condemnation (2).
Believers can rejoice in the hope of God’s glory in their future, but unbelievers can only expect to weep tears of shame when they are condemned to be destroyed for their sins in hell.
Expect to endure God’s wrath (9).
Believers will be saved from God’s wrath, but unbelievers will have to experience it. God’s wrath is his final and permanent destruction of everything that will not make it into his new heaven and earth. It is a horrible fate. It is the second death, and it is so much worse than the first.
In one of the final visions of the Book of Revelation, John sees the wrath of God as a great war, a great winepress, and a great banquet. Jesus rides into this war as its commander. He is riding a white horse, and he is wearing a robe dipped in blood.
Then, suddenly the war becomes a winepress. Jesus is stomping the grapes. The winepress is called the furious wrath of God.
Then, the image changes again. It becomes a buzzard feast. All the birds flying in the sky are commanded to feast on the flesh of the kings, generals, powerful people, horses, and those riding them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, and small and great! All of them will have been killed by the sword, and all the buzzards will gorge themselves on their dead flesh. That is the second death, and that is the fate of everyone who will experience the wrath of God.
What Paul says about believers is Oh so different. Here is…
What to expect now if you have responded to the gospel:
Expect peace with God now (1).
We have peace with God now, and that influences how we live now. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We can pray to God because our Lord Jesus Christ has provided access to him.
Expect access to grace and all its benefits (2).
We can stand firm in our faith because all of God’s love and power and purpose is ours. We may not feel very glorious as we live our lives today, but we know his glory is our destiny, and that helps us to stay committed.
Expect the Holy Spirit to turn your suffering into hope (3-5).
We are not promised a life without suffering, but we are promised that none of the things we experience will be meaningless. Suffering for us begins a chain of events that when followed to its end produces hope. That hope is not just wishful thinking, but confident expectation.
Expect a heart full of God’s love (5).
We have been blessed by God pouring out his heart into our hearts. We first experience that extravagant love in our own forgiveness. Then, it spills over into our relationships with others, causing us to forgive them, which softens them to the gospel. Then, those whom we have forgiven learn of God’s love from us, put their faith in Christ themselves, and the cycle starts over again.
What to expect later if you have responded to the gospel:
Expect to be saved from God’s wrath (6-11)
Paul’s final argument is based on what Christ has already done for us on the cross. By his death on the cross, Jesus reconciled us to God. Reconciliation turns an enemy into a friend. Since we stand reconciled, we have no fear of the wrath of God on Judgment Day because we have already been saved from that wrath.
We Christians can talk about salvation in all three tenses. We can say we have been saved because what God begins by his grace he will complete by his power. If he starts something, he’s going to finish it. We can also say we are being saved because we are presently experiencing his grace in the life we are living now. We wake each new day asking the Lord to give us enough of his grace for one day at a time. We can also look into our future – our destiny. We can say we will be saved. We are not going to die the second death. Jesus is coming for us to complete the work he began on the cross. He reconciled us to God on the cross. When he comes again, it will be to bless us with permanent life, not destroy us with permanent death.
So, Paul asks “if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, since we have been reconciled, will we be saved by his life?” His life – the life that Jesus is living now – is an immortal, eternal, permanent life. That is the life we will inherit from him on his return.
So, as you can see – there is a great deal of difference between the believer and the unbeliever. If anyone who hears these words is concerned that you might not be saved – seek him today while he may be found. If you sincerely seek Christ, he will not hide himself from you. Repent of your sins and seek the safety of the Savior.
But if you are a Christian today, you can take comfort in Paul’s words. You can live a victorious Christian life no matter what comes your way because you have already made the most important decision you will ever need to make. Faith in Christ is the victory because his blood has already paid the price for that victory.
jeffersonvann 