From This to That
Romans • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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This evening, we dive into Romans chapter 5. Our focus of study is the first 11 verses and they present a pattern of sorts that we will look at in depth.
That pattern: is from this… to that. As I read this passage, I see a radical transformative process taking place.
Our God… is the God of transformations.
What kind of Transformations does God specialize in? He takes the old… and makes them new! He has provided a way for our spirit to be transformed from sinner… to saint! He has given us the opportunity to come out of the dark and into His marvelous light! He has offered us the chance to come out of our brokenness and into wholeness.
God wants to transform ALL of us. He wants to move us from where we are (or were) in sin, and into a place of redemption, forgiveness, and new life!
I am glad to have experienced His transformative work in my life! Not only did He change me… but He is still working on me! This does not mean His work was incomplete… it means my God… through grace… is still completing me! As it says in Philippians 1:6
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
Jesus has not yet returned… but He is coming soon! And we know what the end of the story looks like! Between now… and then… God continues to carry out His good work in us TO COMPLETION… because He is FAITHFUL to complete us!
God is continually taking us… from this to that.
Now, this and that can represent a lot of different things in our lives.
This might be sickness, that would be healing.
This might be addiction, that would be freedom.
This might be worry, that would be peace.
This might be fearful, that would be assurance.
This might be lost, that would be found.
This might be old sinner, that would be new creation.
Now, so far I have talked about transformation. That USED TO BE this. but in the middle of this is something important. God transforms our reality (if you will) through something we must highlight. God’s transformative work… often comes through His power of deliverance. God delivers us from sickness, addiction, worry, fear, etc… He delivers us… from the mess we have made of ourselves.
Sin… wasn’t God’s problem to solve… it was our mess we created. It was a problem we have no answer for.
But God… provided for His creation… the answer for all sin. Why would He do this? Because of His love for what He had created.
God’s love for us endures forever. His love for us is real… and transformative to our lives. When we fully grasp the nature of God’s love… when we become fully persuaded of God’s love and power… it will change us from the inside out. We will realize just how much God is for us!
So let’s dive into chapter 5 to see God’s transformative love at work. And it starts off with one of the most significant transformations a person could ask for...
From Sinner… to Justified.
From Sinner… to Justified.
1 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.
Oh man… this is a GOOD one! Romans 5:1 says we (believers) have been justified through faith. What does this mean to us?
Justification is the process in which an unrighteous person is made righteous in the eyes of God. It is not just a restorative process… IT IS A RENEWAL PROCESS.
I like to fix up older cars. I like to take things apart, figure out how they work, and put them back together cleaned up and functioning better. One thing I’ve learned over the years of doing this is: just when you get one system back up and running, something else alerts you of trouble and needs attention.
No matter how much pretty paint you put on it or how many hours and parts you through at it… it is still an old car. Sometimes I might miss a small detail or overlook a wire connection that comes back to haunt me. Restorative work is tedious and never ending.
Jesus doesn’t just restore… HE RENEWS.
Renewal defined is similar to restoration: to make like new again. But when we are talking about spiritual renewal… it goes further than that. Spiritual renewal is also known as regeneration which literally means to be… BORN AGAIN.
This term is used only twice in the NT: In Matthew 19:28 and Titus 3:5. The concept, however, can be found throughout the entire NT.
Jesus described what this meant to Nicodemus in John 3:1-12. Jesus literally said a person must be born again… not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. This is an inward recreating of a person spiritually - a life TRANSFORMATION!
THIS IS NOT SOMETHING WE CAN DO ON OUR OWN! It is something we must receive from Jesus. Here’s why.
In order for us to be recreated spiritually, the old self has to die… has to be done away with. Sin comes with the inescapable consequence of death. SOMEONE HAS TO DIE FOR OUR SINS. Jesus came to this earth… to take our place in this death.
When we call on the name of Jesus to be saved… something amazing happens.
His death on the cross… becomes our death to sin - Galatians 2:20
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
His sinless life… becomes our sinless life.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
His grave becomes the grave for our old self.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
His resurrection to new life becomes our resurrection to new life.
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
This was all done through Jesus!
Our justification comes by FAITH in Christ! Through faith we have gained access to the grace of God in which we now stand!
When God justifies… He charges the sin of man to Christ and credits the righteousness of Christ to the believer.
It is a transformation through spiritual deliverance that can only come through knowing Jesus!
This is a MAJOR this to that change! From sinner to saved… by the blood of the Lamb.
Next, Paul goes on to highlight a few more areas in which God transforms us as believers.
From Hopeless to Hopeful
From Hopeless to Hopeful
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.
I find this passage really interesting because Paul kind of gives us a genealogy for… HOPE.
What is a genealogy? It is a history of how a family came to be.
So and so begat so and so… and so on. It gives a list of ancestors that leads up to the existence of a certain person or family.
Here, Paul gives us a path , if you will, to hope… and it’s a path you might not expect.
The path begins with… suffering.
Oh man… from justified believer to suffering saint! Talk about a shift in the gears! But church, we know with faith comes suffering. We have not experienced it like some others have… but it will come. And when it comes… we will have a choice: to allow that suffering to become perseverance OR our breaking point. Suffering produces perseverance. Our faith is strengthened through suffering.
God will certainly help us through… but the key is to remain FAITHFUL to God.
Secondly, perseverance turns into character. Good character is something that is valuable today. Character defined is one of the attributes or features that make up and distinguish an individual. We are not talking about just any attribute… we are talking about GODLY ATTRIBUTES.
The stronger we become in our faith, the more Christ-like we become in our walk - NO MATTER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. We will be known for our Godly character.
Lastly, character moves to hope - a hope that does not put us to shame. The word translated here as hope (elpis) is different from the typical meaning we know in the world. This is not wishful hope, it is a confidence from God concerning His promises, which makes it sure and leaves no room for doubt, because it is based on God’s Word.
The more faithful we are… the more we will see God come through. The more we trust Him, the stronger our hope becomes. Why? Because we WILL see His promises fulfilled. And with each fulfilment comes stronger assurance.
I kind of see this passage like this… God wants to move us from victim… to victorious.
This world is tough… and persecution will come. We can either lie down as the victim… or rise up as the victor! Our victory has been secured in Jesus… the battle has already been won. If we desire to be transformed in this way… then we must walk the path… and not get caught up in our own perception of things.
Closing
Closing
Paul closes out this passage with some words I want us to read in closing. Romans 5:6-11
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.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
God has taken care of our greatest need, and He will continue to care for us in our journey of faith. His love is real… and He went the distance for us.
He didn’t do any of this because we were qualified… He did this because we were in desperate need. And now, we have the opportunity to know His love, be justified through Christ, and to be transformed daily by His power.
God is doing a good work! Let’s remain open and receptive to what the Lord desires to do in us, and through us!