By Grace Through Faith (Romans 5)

Today’s big idea is Paul’s claim in Romans 5 that we have “peace with God.” This is by grace, through faith, apart from works of the law. By grace we have peace with God, forgiveness of sins, and courage for life. Let’s read Romans 5:1-8 and dive in.

Romans 5:1-8

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word of God. Amen. Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is that song, "Blessings" by Laura Story.

Transcript

By Grace Through Faith, Part Three (Romans 5)

Introduction

Hello, welcome to the Will Preach for Food podcast. I’m Doug, a pastor here at Faith Lutheran Church, based out of Shelton, Washington, a congregation of the ELCA. You can learn more about Faith at our website, www.faithshelton.org. This podcast is being recorded for the 3rd Sunday in Lent, March 12, 2023. I’m preaching through the book of Romans this spring. “By Grace Through Faith” is my series title, and today is week 3, looking at Romans 5.

Today’s big idea is Paul’s claim in Romans 5 that we have “peace with God.” This is by grace, through faith, apart from works of the law. By grace we have peace with God, forgiveness of sins, and courage for life. Let’s read Romans 5:1-8 and dive in.

Romans 5:1-8

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The word of God. Amen. Sisters and brothers in Christ, grace to you and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Peace with God

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God…” The book of Romans insists that God has ALWAYS been about grace, mercy, and kindness. From Moses to Malachi to the Messiah, Jesus, the son of God. God’s very nature is grace, mercy, undeserved kindness. God’s wrath doesn’t need to be satisfied by blood or the law, Paul says. God does not deal with us according to our sins, but, as a parent with their children, God loves us and shows us compassion. We are not at war with God. God doesn’t have a problem with us. We have PEACE with God, because of who God is, God’s nature, and God’s sovereign will. We have peace with God simply because God says so! God loves you—deal with it. In my younger days I used to summarize this gospel as “grace in your face!”

Life is Hard, Everybody Dies

We live by grace. We have peace with God. But faith, trusting in God’s grace isn’t easy sometimes, because, well, we don’t always get to see much evidence of that peace. Life is hard, isn’t it? Like the man in the story, our bodies break down. That 100% mortality rate. Hormones. Politics. Storms, droughts, and cancer. And people can be downright mean to each other. Where is God when it hurts? When I am hurting? Why do bad things happen?

The honest answer is that we mostly don’t know. Mostly, bad things happen because, well, bad things happen. One of the most honest prayers of the Bible is in Psalm 90: Lord, grant me as many good days as bad! Biblically speaking, coming out of life 50/50 is as good an outcome as one can hope for. Sure, some of what we go through is our own darn fault—the consequences of a lifetime of choices, some good, some bad. There are even occasions when we can look at a situation and figure out that God is trying to get our attention! Most of life just happens, though. We are products of our biology, chemistry, and relationships. Technology, politics, social status, and chance. 

Here in Romans 5, I appreciate Paul’s wisdom about these matters. The main thing to know is that God is good. We have peace with God. God loves us. God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. God is with us, in us, for us. So God doesn’t tend to swoop in and protect us from all the bad things. Rather, more often, the Christian experience is that God’s comes with us THROUGH the hard stuff. 

We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5)

Now please don’t ever try to comfort a friend in a difficult situation by suggesting that God is putting them in this situation to make them stronger. But what is true is the faithfulness of God, so that even a time of suffering can be a time of deepening faith and understanding of God’s love. We can learn compassion and mercy; resolve, fortitude, confidence, resiliency, and hope. After the fact, after the crisis, often the prayer of faith is the old hymn: “O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.” 

In the rest of chapter 5, Paul offers up the image of Jesus as “Adam and Eve 2.0.” If the legacy of the first humans is sin, then the legacy of Christ Jesus, “the firstborn of all creation,” is that of grace. If “original sin” is a thing, Paul says, then “Original Grace” is even more of a thing. The gift, after all, is greater than the trespass. Grace trumps the law. “Just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,” Paul says in verse 18, “so also one righteousness results in justification for all people.” Grace in your face. God loves you: deal with it.

Matthew 9:1-8

Paul isn’t making this stuff up. He received it from God. It is exactly what Jesus preached and demonstrated in his own ministry, like in this story from Matthew 9:1-8.

Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some [people] brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”

3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”

4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” 7 Then the man got up and went home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to [regular people].

A group of people bring their friend to Jesus for a healing word. “Take heart,” Jesus says to the man, “Your sins are forgiven!” Maybe not exactly what he or his friends were hoping for at the time. I mean, forgiveness is great, and all that…

Meanwhile, Jesus senses that there are some religious folks who disapprove. They believe that people get what they deserve, that the man’s paralysis is proof of God’s displeasure. (These sorts of religious folks are still around today. I’ve had people tell me that if I would just pray harder, God would answer my prayers and make me healthier, happier, and more prosperous. Good things happen to good people, they tell me, and bad things happen to bad people. These people are also precious children of God.)

But Jesus came to proclaim the kingdom of God that is based in grace, not the law. He has authority to forgive sins, and to prove it, he tells the man to go ahead, get up and walk. And the man does just that. (I do wonder about the relationship between the forgiveness thing and the get up and go home thing. Maybe Jesus knew something about the man’s situation. Maybe Jesus knew that there was some history, some hard feelings, some guilt or shame that would have made going home impossible.) 

“Take heart. Your sins are forgiven,” Jesus tells the man. “Get up and go home,” Jesus tells him. And he does! (Though I wonder how he is received…)

I expect that his friends who brought him to Jesus are delighted, and that the grumpy religious people are only grumpier. The story concludes with the crowds on the verge of freaking out (“filled with awe” is the nice way of saying it), because Jesus demonstrated exousia—power and authority—to forgive sins and bring healing. This is the gospel of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

YOUR sins are forgiven.

Three takeaways. First, this is God’s word for you today: Your sins are forgiven. God is for you. God is with you. Your past does not define you. Your performance in relationship to the law or to God or to the church or to anybody else does not define you, positively or negatively. Here, today, maybe carried here through the prayers or encouragement of faithful friends and loved ones, this is God’s word: you are loved. Your sins are forgiven. You have peace with God. This is simply the case. God loves you: deal with it!

Take Courage!

Second takeaway: Take heart. If you are human, mortal, upright and taking nourishment, you are either going through some hard stuff right now; you are just recovering from some hard stuff, or you are about to go through some hard stuff. This is what it means to be human, mortal, alive. There is much beauty and goodness in the world. There is much suffering and loss in the world. The man brought to Jesus literally can’t walk. And Jesus says to him: take heart, be of good courage. Why? Because his sins are forgiven. His circumstances don’t define him.

So now I say to you: take heart. No matter what you’ve seen, no matter what you’ve done, no matter where you’ve been or what you’ve said: take heart, be of good courage. Neither your past nor your present circumstances define you. God’s grace defines you. And God’s grace is sufficient to carry you through whatever suffering and struggles you are facing. Whatever you are going through, God’s good will for you is to take courage, lean into it, take up your mat, and walk.

Now You Forgive Sins

The third takeaway is this: now it is your turn to forgive sins.  You have been given the exousia of Christ—the authority and power—to proclaim the forgiveness of sins. Congratulations: you are a preacher of the good news. And your congregation is your family. Your kids. Your grandkids. I can’t preach to them because they aren’t here. 

You need to go to them. YOU are their pastor and their church. You are likely the only Bible your loved ones will ever read. So tell them that they are loved. Tell them that their sins are forgiven and they are held in the grace of God. Tell them that God is faithful and that they are never alone. And then carry them to Jesus in your prayers every day. Talk to Jesus about your kids more than you talk to them about Jesus. You have the exousia, the authority and power of God to forgive sins. For the love of Christ: use it!

Conclusion

In the next chapter, Romans 6, Paul begins to describe our life washed in Baptism, free from the law, led by the Holy Spirit, even as we daily struggle between “the Old Me” and “the New Me.” But that’s a word for next time. Today I want to leave you with lyrics of a beautiful song called “Blessings,” written by Laura Story. She sings about God’s faithfulness in those hard times.

We pray for blessings; We pray for peace
 Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
 We pray for healing, for prosperity
 We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
 And all the while, You hear each spoken need
 Yet you love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
 What if Your healing comes through tears?
 What if a thousand sleepless nights
 Are what it takes to know You're near?
 And what if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

We pray for wisdom: Your voice to hear
 And we cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
 We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love
 As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
 And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
 And long that we'd have faith to believe (chorus)

When friends betray us and when darkness seems to win
 We know that pain reminds this heart
 That this is not, this is not our home

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops?
 What if Your healing comes through tears?
 And what if the thousand sleepless nights
 Are what it takes to know You're near?

What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life
 Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
 And what if trials of this life
 The rain, the storms, the hardest nights: are Your mercies in disguise?

Thanks for listening today. I hope this podcast series is helping you fall more deeply in love with the God who created you, who loves you, and has a purpose for your life. God loves you: deal with it!  To learn more about Faith, go to our website, www.faithshelton.org. I hope you’ll “like” us, subscribe, donate, or sign-up for our newsletter. You can subscribe to this podcast on most podcast platforms, including Spotify, Apple, and Google. Chas and Nadia, thanks for your production work on this podcast every week. All glory…