In the studies of Romans 5 so far we have seen that the point of these verses is to assure Christians of their salvation. They are to know that they are eternally secure in Christ so that they might be able to rejoice in God fully. In this study we find the same idea. So far we have learned: (1) We can be sure of salvation because God has made peace with us through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. (2) We can be assured of salvation because, through that same work of Christ, we have been brought into a new relationship with God in which we continue to stand. (3) We can be assured of salvation because of the sure and certain hope that we shall see God. (4) We can be assured of salvation because of the way we are able to react to sufferings in this life. We see God’s purposes in them and therefore rejoice in them, which unbelievers cannot do. (5) We can be assured of salvation because God sent Jesus Christ to die for us, not when we were saved people, as we are now, but when we were God’s sworn enemies. In this study Paul provides yet another argument or, what is probably more accurate to say, draws his previous arguments together (vv. 9-11).

To understand what is happening in these verses we have to realize that “saved” is used in at least three different ways in the Bible, in three different tenses. Sometimes it refers to something past (are you saved? Yes, I am.), at other times to something present (“I am being saved.”) Paul himself uses this second way in 1 Cor. 1:18. Third, you could think in future terms and answer the question by saying, “No, I am not saved yet, but I will be when Jesus returns.” It’s important to see that it is in the third sense, the future sense of salvation that Paul speaks here. He is not denying the other tenses, particularly not the first. But he is thinking of the judgment to come and is saying that because we have already been justified by God on the basis of the death of Christ, we can be certain of being saved from the outpouring of God’s wrath in the final day. We can put it like this: If God has already justified us on the basis of Jesus’ atoning death, if He has already pronounced His verdict; any verdict rendered at the final judgment will be only a confirming formality.

The last verse of our text, which also marks the end of the first half of Romans 5, says that now, having been reconciled to God, “we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” What exactly shall we rejoice in, if we are to “rejoice in God”? We can rejoice in any one of His attributes. Our passage suggests these: (1) God’s wisdom. Even at this point in our study we can marvel at wisdom so great as to be able to save powerless, ungodly, sinful enemies. There is also a display of God’s wisdom in the way suffering works for our good, as Paul has shown in verses 3 and 4. (2) God’s grace. We rejoice in God’s grace because, in our case, grace is favor not merely to the undeserving but to those who actually deserve the opposite. What do “enemies” deserve after all? They deserve defeat and destruction. God did not treat us that way, however. Rather, He saved us through the work of Christ. (3) God’s power. Scripture speaks of God’s power being displayed preeminently at the cross. The power of God was revealed at the cross when Satan’s power over us was broken. (4) God’s love. The only place we can learn of God’s love is at the cross. It’s when we look at the cross that we begin to understand what love is and how much God has loved us. (5) God’s immutability. We have seen immutability as something for which unregenerate men and women hate God, because He does not change in any of His attributes. But in our regenerate state we find this something to rejoice in, since it means that God will not waver in His love and favor toward us. Having loved us and having sent the Lord Jesus Christ to save us from our sin, God will not now somehow suddenly change His mind and cast us off. His love, grace, wisdom, and other attributes will always remain as they have been, because He is immutable.

The last verse of this section of Romans 5 says, “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ…” But do we rejoice? Have we actually come as far as Paul assumes we have in verse 11? Honesty compels us to admit that often we don’t rejoice in God. Why is that? Here are a number of reasons for the sake of our self-examination: (1) A failure to grasp the truth of justification by faith only. (2) A failure to meditate as we ought, that is, a failure to think about what we do know. (3) A failure to draw the necessary conclusions from the Scriptures.

I don’t know if these are your failures (if you have failed to rejoice in God) or whether there is some other hindrance in your case, as there may be. But whatever the cause, anything that keeps us from rejoicing in God is inappropriate and should be overcome by us. I challenge you to overcome it. I challenge you to think about these great truths, meditate upon them, learn how great the love, power, wisdom, and grace of God toward you are. Then glory in God, as those who have known God throughout the long ages of human history have done before you. It will make a profound difference in your life, and you will be a blessing to others.

Romans 5:9-11 Reflection Questions:

Paul constantly keeps in mind how justification or being “declared to be in the right” works out in practice. Describe the past, present, and future aspects of the work of God in verses 6-11.

Paul’s argument in verses 5-11 takes the form – familiar in various systems of logic, not least Jewish ones – of a “how much more.” If someone has struggled up a sheer rock face, against all odds, to get to the top of the mountain, they are not likely to give up when, at the top of the vertical wall, they are faced with an easy stroll on a grassy path. How does this analogy explain verses 9-11?