An Exposition of Romans 5; Part 1

As we have been talking about improving the traffic and content at this blog, we have decided that consistent content is a key. As a result of that, we began the "Tuesday Link of the Week" this week. We also have what we are beginning today, an Exposition of Romans 5. This exposition will appear every Thursday. When it is finished, we will undertake another series.

Before we get started with that, I need to explain two things: First, let's look at the term "exposition." Exposition simply means to expose something. So we will take Romans 5 verse by verse, and at times word by word, and try to draw out deep meaning expose exactly what the author (Paul) is trying communicate to Christians in Rome, as well as what God is revealing about his character.

Why Romans 5? There are several reasons. Do not skip past this part and go on to the actual exposition; this is really important for us as we set out on this journey. Romans 5 is filled with teaching on justification and faith and peace and love and propitiation and atonement and lots more. Some of these are really big and scary words for the average Christian or seeker. But they are key elements to understanding your relationship with God. We cannot shy away from them simply because they are seemingly difficult to understand. My hope is that this study will leave us all with a greater understanding of Jesus and how we relate to him. I also hope it will leave us with a resource that we can look back to in future days for our benefit and the benefit of others.

Another reason for studying Romans 5 stems from a conversation with a friend I had a few weeks ago. She was concerned about her salvation and her security. I do not think she is alone. Many people stand on a shifting-sand faith, and Paul is teaching us about a faith of substance that is not moved by our disobedience but is held firm by a perfect and saving Jesus. It is crucial for us to understand our positional relationship with God the Father, and Romans 5 addresses it.

Since I have already written a lot today, I will be quick with the actual exposition piece this week.

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.


I once heard someone say that if you see the word "therefore," you must ask yourself what it is there for. That is a cheesy saying, and I do not like cheesy sayings, by my love of truth outweighs by dislike of anything cheesy, and this statement is true. So, we ask, what is the "therefore" there for. Paul has just spent time writing about justification and mentions it again here. He then gives us one of the gifts we have as a result.

The word "justified" here is the Greek word "Dikaioo." It means to render righteous. Tuck that away for a minute, and we will come back to it.

Faith is a big word that has so much meaning and nuances. It packs a lot of truth. Too much for us to get into in great detail. We could, and probably will, do a series on defining faith. For our purposes here, let's say that faith is the combination of trust and surrender and has at its root an understanding of authority. As my son learned to trust in me, he was more willing to jump into a pool where the water was over his head. As a result of that trust, he surrendered his well being and jumped into what would have been death for him had I not been there.

I got in my car this morning and took my daughter to school. My 2001 Saturn is the vehicle that brought my daughter to school. Faith is the vehicle that brings us to justification. Tuck that away for a minute and we will come back to that.

That leaves us with peace to close this part out. Martin Luther says, "The Apostle (Paul) here means that peace of which all the prophets speak, namely, spiritual peace. This peace consists properly in an appeased conscience and in confidence with God, just as conversely the lack of peace means spiritual anxiety, a disturbed conscience and mistrust against God."

So we can say this confidently from scripture: "Faith is what brings us to the place of being rendered right, which leads us to an appeased conscience and confidence with God."

Live in that peace. Christ died for you to have it!