We know, when a sentence starts off with "therefore" that we ought to be looking back at what this sentence is referencing that has been stated previously. In this case, Paul is talking about being justified by the blood of Christ. I think there are three things that Paul has written in the previous verses that really jump out and tie into what he is saying here.
1. Christ died for the ungodly. (Romans 5:6)
- This verse tells us that Christ died, his blood was shed, for the sins of the ungodly, whose just punishment would have been eternal condemnation - separation from God. However, Christ died for those sinful creatures who hated God, and shed His blood for them.
- So, we can then insert Paul's sentence - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood
2. Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
- Paul tells us in this verse that we are the ungodly ones that Christ died for. We are the ones that hated God, that hated the light in favor of darkness. We are the ones that Romans 1:18-32 is describing. We are the ones that desperately needed a perfect Savior. We are the ones Christ died for, to rescue us from our just condemnation.
- So, we can then insert Paul's sentence - Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood
3. We are justified by faith. (Romans 5:1)
- I included this verse, because it also talks about being justified, but it doesn't mention blood. We need to look at what Paul was talking about before we said we are justified by faith - he describes the faith of Abraham, and then says we too are justified by faith.
- So, how are we justified (made righteous) by faith, and also justified (made righteous) by the blood of Christ? When Christ's blood was shed, He was taking the punishment that satisfied God's wrath over our complete sinfulness - from beginning to end - the debt we owed was paid in full.
- The only way we can be counted as righteous then, is through faith in His shed blood. We are justified by faith in his blood, the blood that made our justification possible.
For me personally, I wish I could grasp more what Jesus did when He erased my debt through His sacrifice. The fact that He died for me, an ungodly, evil creature, and made it possible for me to be counted as righteous...I think if any of us truly understood what took place here we would be on our knees day and night, praising Him!
much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God
In the second part of verse 9, Paul talks about the wrath of God. There has been a movement in churches today to move away from speaking of the wrath of God and focusing on the love of God alone. While God is perfect love, He is also perfectly just - which means He cannot overlook sinfulness, nor can it be in His presence. God, being perfect in every way, would cease to be God if He for a moment tolerated sin in any way, which is why the finished work of Christ on the cross was so desperately needed for us to enter in to a restored relationship with God.
Paul does not dodge the issue of the wrath of God, instead he says that we are spared from the wrath of God because of the blood of Christ. Not only did the blood of Christ make it possible for us to be counted as righteous, but it saved us from the just wrath of God at the same time!
I think that the order that Paul chose to write the beginning of Chapter 5 is interesting. He didn't start by saying we have been saved from the wrath of God, and you have been justified as well. Instead, Paul said you have been justified by faith in verse 1, then told us we now stand in His grace, and gave us two reasons to rejoice (in the glory of God and in our sufferings) , then explained that we are justified by the blood of Christ, and now, finally, he includes that we are also saved from God's wrath.
It is important that we don't get this turned around. We are not saved simply to keep from going to hell. We are not saved simply to get to heaven. We dare not live our life as a Christian thinking our main objective is to stay out of hell and get to heaven - this is not how Paul laid it out. We ought to seek a clear understanding of what happened when Christ died on the cross.
He made it possible - through faith in His blood - to be counted as righteous (meaning our sins, no matter how many, are no longer counted against us). Which in turn means that we can now enter into a restored relationship with a perfect and holy God for eternity!
Oh, and by the way, we are saved from a complete and eternal separation from Him where evil and torment will have full reign (hell), and instead will enjoy being in His presence where He dwells (heaven) forever!
While heaven and hell can be motivators, they should always be seen in their connection to the presence of God, or the lack of His presence. We are saved to a restored relationship with God, this is the miracle every single one of His children experiences, and our lives become a living sacrifice for Him! We miss the point badly, and steal glory from God when we reduce our salvation to simply getting to heaven or staying out of hell - it's so much more, and so much better than that for those who know Him!
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