Sermon Tone Analysis
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I. Having Been Justified
aorist pass.
participle of δικαιόω
The aorist tense is stative in aspect.
The focus is background.
When a participle is in the aorist, it indicates antecedent time to the main verb.
The main verb in this case is echomen.
The justification preceded our “having” peace with God.
It means that we have been put right with God.
But the emphasis here is on what follows from the fact that we have been justified.
QUESTION—What relationship is expressed by the participle δικαιωθέντες ‘having been justified’?
It expresses the reason for the following clause [AB, BECNT, HNTC, Ho, NAC, SSA, TH; NCV, NET, NIV, NLT, NRSV]: because we have been justified we therefore have peace with God.
QUESTION—Does the aorist participle primarily reflect a past action or present status?
It refers to the past action by which God has accepted believers into their current relationship and status [WBC].
Justification is a once-for-all act of acquitting a sinner that brings him into a new and permanent status [NICNT].
Those who have received justification enjoy the benefit of it now [NTC].
a.
We have peace with God
ἔχομεν: present active indicative.
Because of our having been put right with God, we now experience peace with God.
This refers to an objective peace.
Any subjective feelings of peace follow from the objection peace and reconciliation we now have with God in Christ.
We have this peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That eschatological peace p 254 has become a reality through Jesus indicates that he fulfills OT prophecy.
Commentators often remark that the peace described here is objective rather than subjective.
The former probably receives the emphasis, but it is quite unlikely that Paul would have contemplated separating the objective and subjective sides of peace.
Those who possess the former should surely experience the latter.
b.
We have access into this grace
προσαγωγή, ῆς f: the right or opportunity to address someone, implying higher status of the person addressed—‘approach, access.’
ἐσχήκαμεν: this is in the perfect active indicative.
The perfective aspect is used to emphasize the verbal action.
The emphasis lies on the existing result and present state that obtains as a result of a past action (contra Moo 1991: 308); believers have an ongoing access to grace and continue to stand in grace.
We find ourselves now standing in the underserved favor of God.
God’s disposition toward us who were once his sworn enemies is now one of favor and friend.
Because of this we now exult in the hope of the glory of God.
The genitive θεοῦ (theou, of God) is a genitive of origin, indicating that the glory believers will experience is a gift of God’s grace.
The parallels in Rom. 8 (8:17, 18, 21, 30) demonstrate that this glory is an eschatological reality, not a present possession.
The already–not yet character of Paul’s eschatology emerges in this paragraph.
Believers are righteous in God’s sight, enjoy the eschatological covenant of peace, and stand in the end-time gift of grace.
Nonetheless, the full promises of salvation have not yet been realized.
We still await future glorification, which will involve moral perfection and restoration to the glory Adam lost when he sinned.
Believers are clearly not yet morally perfect, for otherwise they would possess p 255 God’s glory now, and the growth in godly character described in verses 3–4 would be superfluous.
c.
We exult in tribulation
There is no meaningless suffering in Christ.
We boast in Tribulation because it produces endurance.
Endurance produces genuine character.
Genuine character produces hope.
Hope does not DISAPPOINT.
καταισχύνω: to cause someone to be much ashamed—‘to humiliate, to disgrace, to put to shame.’
τὰ μωρὰ τοῦ κόσμου ἐξελέξατο ὁ θεὸς ἵνα καταισχύνῃ τοὺς σοφούς ‘God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to put wise men to shame’ 1 Cor 1:27.
Why does tested character spark hope?
Because moral transformation constitutes evidence that one has really been changed by God.
Thus it assures believers that the hope of future glory is not an illusion.
There is a pattern of growth in the here and now, however imperfect, that indicates that we are changing.
Believers, then, become assured that the process that God has begun he will complete (1 Cor.
1:8; Phil.
1:6).
The gift of the Holy Spirit demonstrates that believers will be spared from God’s wrath in the day of judgment
II.
Christ Died for the Ungodly
Christ did not die for sinners because he detected in them an inclination toward God or (v.
10) a desire to end the enmity toward him.
He died to overcome the enmity and hostility of the ungodly toward God.
In other words, God did not see in any of us a willingness or desire to cooperate or befriend him in any way that led to his actions.
God’s act to send Christ to die for sinners was the only way that such hostility could be brought to nought.
Why?
We were helpless to overcome our hatred for God.
That which was necessary for humans to make even a turn in God’s direction is said to be utterly lacking in us.
While we were still helpless:
pertaining to a state of helplessness in view of circumstances—‘helpless, helpless condition.’
God not only planned when Christ would die but also had in mind the people for whom his death would be effective.
Again the emphasis is on the greatness of God’s love for his people.
The reason for using these various terms is clear.
Paul wants to underscore the greatness and distinctiveness of God’s love in sending Christ to die for those who are wicked and rebellious, who hate him.
It is rare for a human to die selflessly for a righteous man.
It is even more rare for a human to die for just a good man.
How incredible it is that God would send his Son to die for wicked men?
III.
Having Been Justified by His Blood
πολλῷ °οὖν μᾶλλον
The import of the whole is, since Christ has attained righteousness for sinners by his death, much more shall he protect them, being now justified, from destruction.
John Calvin, Romans.
This text contradicts the idea that genuine faith may be lost.
How can one who has been justified by the blood of Christ once again become unjustified?
δικαιωθέντες harkens back to v. 1.
Both the aorist tense of the participle and the adverb νῦν (nyn, now) indicate that righteousness is an accomplished reality.
The righteousness already accomplished by Christ’s death sets up the main point of the verse.
If the obstacle of our sin has already been removed so that we now stand not guilty before him, then we can be confident that we shall be saved (σωθησόμεθα, sōthēsometha) through Christ from God’s wrath (ὀργή, orgē).
The salvation mentioned here is doubtless eschatological, as the future tense shows (so Gundry Volf 1990: 53).
Those who have been justified will be rescued from God’s wrath on the day of judgment (1 Thess.
1:10; 5:9).
a.
While we were enemies
ἐχθροὶ: pertains to being hostile, hating.
It means to be in opposition to another.
The linking verb ὄντες is a present active participle: am being.
So the expression is “for if at the time of our being enemies.”
ὄντες
κατηλλάγημεν: aorist passive participle.
We were reconciled.
This is essentially a restatement of v. 9.
Since then our reception into this favour is ascribed to the death of Christ, the meaning is, that guilt is thereby taken away, to which we should be otherwise exposed.
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