Romans 5:1-11

Scripture:

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Devotion:

Paul wrote his letter to the Romans to a congregation he had never visited, laying out the fullest explanation of the gospel found anywhere in his writings. By the opening of chapter five, he has spent four chapters establishing that no one is justified before God by their own effort, and that righteousness comes only through faith in Jesus Christ. Having established that foundation, he turns to describe what that justified life looks like, and it begins with peace: peace with God, obtained through our Lord Jesus Christ, and access by faith into a grace in which we now stand.

From there, Paul does something unexpected: he moves from justification directly into suffering, telling the Roman believers that they can rejoice in hardship because suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Anyone who has read James recognizes this pattern immediately. Trials test faith, and tested faith produces steadfastness. Suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character. Two different writers, addressing two different congregations with two different sets of concerns, arrive at nearly the same conclusion about what hardship is for.

Paul roots this hope in something more solid than a formula, though. He grounds it in the character of God displayed at the cross. While we were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. While we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son. The love that sustains us through present suffering is the same love that reached us before we had done anything to deserve it, and if God proved that love at our lowest point, Paul argues, we can trust Him to carry us through every trial that comes after.

This is the New Testament ground beneath James's instruction to count trials as joy. Joy in suffering rests on a God who has already shown, at the cross, exactly how far His love will go for people who could offer Him nothing in return.

HEAR about it:

Explain:

How does Romans 5:1-11 deepen your understanding of James 1:1-4? What do the parallel words, trial and suffering, testing and endurance, steadfastness and character, reveal about how God works in hardship?

Prayer and Reflection:

Take a few minutes to sit quietly and reflect on the passage you read today. Let the Holy Spirit bring to mind what stood out to you and why. Then spend some time in prayer. Pray for the people around you, for your outlook on this day, and for the needs you are carrying in your own life.

Father, thank You for showing Your love at the cross before I had done anything to earn it. Help me trust that the same love that reached me as an enemy will carry me through whatever trial I am facing today. Let the peace I have with You through Jesus steady me when suffering tempts me toward despair instead of hope. In Jesus' name, Amen.

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